Re: 911 Turbo: Starts from 2nd Gear, Radio

>
> I am interested in your opinions or impressions so far with your new 
> Porsche.  I currently have your former .... '02 996/911 TT with the six 
> speed manual.
>
> How does the new one with the Triptronic compare?

I've only had it for a week, but here's what I was told by the sales rep
and 
what I've noticed on my own:

- The 2008 has more power (around 500hp). It'll hit 60mph in 3.4 secs as 
opposed to 3.9 with the 2002.

- The tiptronic switches gears lightning fast! It's truly amazing. My
sales 
rep tells me that it's only in the last model year that the tipronics have

become so fast that they actually outperform the manual from 0-60. After 
driving it, I believe it.

- The exterior styling seems almost identical. The exhaust pipes and head 
lights look a bit different and the "hips" around the back wheels seem a
bit 
wider to me. I'm sure there are other differences that a true enthusiast 
would probably notice.

- The biggest change for me personally was the interior ammenities. When I

had my '02, the out-of-the-box GPS capabilities were rather poor. There
was 
no integrated cell phone support. If you're into MP3s, the CD-player in
the 
'02 didn't play them [at least mine didn't at the time]. The system in the

2008 is totally upgraded with all of the features mentioned above plus
lots 
of other interesting things that I haven't fully explored yet. One of the 
many key reasons I snubbed BMW in favor of Porsche is BMW's ludicrous 
"i-drive" technology, where virtually everything is controlled with a
single 
dial. The 2008 Porsche has a far more intuitive simple system in my
opinion.

About the 2002: I bought mine in 2002 and kept it for three years until 
moving from San Diego to Chicago. You don't really need a car in Chicago
so 
I sold it and then bought the 2008 when I moved back to San Diego.

2002 was a strange year for the Porsche Turbo. Although I *loved* my 2002 
when it was working, it had a LOT of problems (as opposed to my previous 
2000 911 which ran flawlessly). I won't bore you with all of the details 
here but it suffices to say that everything that could go wrong with that 
car DID go wrong -- this despite the fact that it was purchased brand new.

When I sold it, I swore I'd never buy another Porsche. Then a few months
ago 
I was skimming through some kind of consumer rating guide that rates used 
cars and just for fun, I figured I'd look up Porsche 911. What's weird is 
that the 2002 got **horrible** reliability reviews whereas the models
years 
on either side of 2002 (00, 01, 03, 04) got decent reviews. I have no idea

why, but 2002 was apparently just a crappy year for Porsches. They turned 
out a lot of lemons -- or at least the consumer ratings would indicate
this 
to be the case. If your 2002 is running ok for you, you're safe. If you
had 
a lemon, you would've known by now. Guess you got one of the good ones. :)

Overall, even though I've only had the '08 for a brief period of time, I 
certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend the upgrade if you're considering

it.

Hope this helps,

Jules