Help a n00b... v. 997.2TT vs. C7Z06 and upgrade options for both...

[RideZX6R]

First off while I am new to 6SOL (is that an acronym here? ha), I'm not new to forums. I've been on many in my time - Most commonly (lately) is Corvette forum as I'm now on my 4th Corvette (3 C5s, 1 C6 Grand Sport).

 

So before you yell at the new guy for not searching... I did do some (re)searching here and on 6speedonline (and Corvette forum for the related items) so I know 'just enough to be dangerous' about 997s - Please correct me if need be or bear with my new-to-porsche info...

 

The current situation...

I'm putting my 2012 C6 Grand Sport up for sale in 2-3 weeks here (after some fresh brake pads and tires and a detail) and I will be then looking for an upgrade of sorts. The budget is ideally $75-85k but could be stretched to as much as $95k (but that is the max) for the right car.

 

I want something I *could* drive every day, and use as an only car if need be. I carpool with a friend to work most days so I don't *need* a daily driver necessarily but I would like the ability to drive it back and forth to work in the annoyingly bad Seattle traffic, if the weather is nice. I also plan on tracking the car 4-6 weekends a year (HPDE), I might see the 1/4 mile for fun with friends 1-2 times a year, will probably also do 2-4 highway/roll race events (airstrip attack type stuff) per year. I don't plan on making HUGE power, I'd be happy with something in the 650-700whp range (isn't it crazy that 700whp isn't HUGE these days? nutty), I'm not trying to WIN airstrip events, just looking for fun at them. Also, please note that I do have E85 at my disposal.

 

With that in mind, I'm considering a few cars...

 

-997.2 911 turbo with PDK

-C7 Z06

-M4 DCT 

-991 GTS PDK (used)

 

The M4 has safely established it can make 500+ with basically E85 and a tune and not much else - However the additional 100whp is looking like either a LOT of bolt ons or a turbo swap. So I'm not really interested in it as much simply because that's a lot of cash, and the car will likely need to be bought new - which is a big bit of depreciation.

 

The 991 GTS is basically on the list as it'd be trackable (as it's kind of the diet GT3), and quick. But I can't afford a 991 turbo, and love the looks... I doubt I'll buy one, but I owe it to myself to drive it.

 

*OH, and since someone will ask - No a GTR isn't on the list. They're fat, stiff, and ugly - I'm simply not interested in them*

 

So the real contenders are the C7Z and the 997.2 turbo.

 

The obvious stuff is the new C7Z has a removable roof this year which is awesome and something the 997 doesn't offer (yes, I know I could buy a cabrio, but I won't), and it's a brand new car - so it'll have a warranty, lots of equipment and obviously take a huge depreciation hit compared to the 997, which will likely depreciate too, but not as fast or as much. It also has a wonderful 8 speed auto which basically shifts as fast as a PDK and is smooth in the city as well. The performance data recorder is something that I don't think Porsche offered in 997s, I don't think they offered the ventilated seats either.

 

The less obvious stuff is the C7Z also makes low 600s at the wheels, a small pulley, tune, blower spacers headers, and E85 will keep it cool enough to make high 600/low 700s pretty consistently. And to be fair, anything more than those mods I wouldn't be interested in doing - maybe porting the blower but definitely not swapping it or doing a cam, etc. This should cost about $3k to do, and the car won't really need any other mods besides tint (and maybe pads and fluid for HPDE days) for the first little while.

 

Both cars you can get CCBs on, but I likely wouldn't get either with them. So I'll just say that off the bat.

 

So that leaves the 997.2 turbo with some blanks I need to fill in. Given the budget it looks like since I want a PDK, I'd be looking at an 09-11 MY car. So I'm curious...

 

-It looks like the Sport Chrono package, Adaptive suspension, and nav are the big options I'd want. Is there other options that are desirable/recommended?

 

-Is the adaptive suspension worth it and is it user-controlled (couldn't find into on this - is it like magnetic ride on corvettes - switchable by a button/dial?)

 

-Are the PDKs in the 09-11 reliable? Are there things to watch out for?

 

-What needs to be done to get in the 650ish whp ballpark (with E85 and without)? Will the car be reliable at that power level? Ideally how much should it cost (in parts only - assume I can do the work myself, besides a tune obviously)

 

TL;DR - Read the italicized parts and answer if you can.

 

Thanks all!

[09turboS]

Hey. I started a thread regarding sell my mustang and buying a 997.2 turbo, I haven't gotten any feedback either.  So i was thinking we should work together on this and mabey we get some results?  Let me know you thoughts.