PORSCHE 911 COUPE READER REVIEWS

My car

I have owned Porsches for 25 years now. I've had quite a few. My current car is a 2008 997 Turbo Tiptronic. I had a 2004 996 Turbo Tip before this one.

The 997 Turbo is the best car I have driven. Not just for speed etc, but for all reasons - it is an all round dream. It is used daily - I am driving 1k miles per month, with sitting in traffic for about half of that. I also drive it fairly 'actively' when I can. The twin turbos have variable vanes on the 997, so the boost comes in gradually from lower down, without much throttle. Love it.

It is the perfect supercar for anyone who needs to do miles. Other hi-performance cars are in the workshops most of the time if you need to use them alot. The handling on this 4wd car is excellent, with goes without saying. It sticks like glue. I love my car, which says alot as I have owned so many 911s.

Maybe the satnav screen could be better, or possibly a bluetooth phone system instead of SIM insert module would be more convenient (I have a different phone nbr for the car - was same set up in my 996 Turbo) - otherwise a perfect recommendation. Highly recommended.

My car

A couple of weeks ago I traded my 2007 manual 997 Targa 4 in for a ex-demo 997 Carerra S, the newer "facelift" model with the new PDK gearbox and a few more gadgets that the Targa.

First the good bits - the cars interior is very well put together and the sportshift works really well, also there are none of the squeaks and rattles that I had with the Targa-4, the re-engineered power plant makes a much, much nicer noise and, as usual the handling is superb.

Now the bad, when driving around town with the gearbox in full "automatic" mode the 'box won't change down to first when you come to a stop, the sat-nav keeps resetting itself, the stereo volume resets itself to the lowest possible setting and cannot be changed unless you stop and restart the engine, and as there is no rear hatch (unlike the Targa) the Carerra is no where near as useful as an everyday car.

OK, I knew about the rear-hatch when I bought the car, so that one is down to me, but the other flaws and niggles are enough to really take the shine off this car. This is, in all probability, my last 911.

My car

I have owned a 996, 3.6, for four years. Altough it is great to drive, I found this car much less reliable than I thought it was. This is a key issue as the first thing I expect from a car is to be able to reliably take me from A to B; and I am afraid it has failed this basic test a number of times, including while on holiday which is particularly irritating. Among others, the engine had to be replaced after 50,000 miles and the CD reader/ navigation system has repeatedly broken down. I have had to regularly go to the garage between servicing times to fix other things such as various oil leakages or a non working light switch.

I have also found that Porsche is rather mean when a problem occurs shortly after the warranty expiration (which is itself a mean 2 years).

In summary, it has certainly not lived up to my expecations. I have owned less prestigious german cars before, but none of them ever let me down as this Porsche has.

My car

Having just stepped out of a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera into a 997 Turbo, I am giving up on a overwhelming wedge of glorious noise but am gaining a stunningly engineered car that you can: park; transport passengers in comfort and slice through traffic without worrying that a cyclist is lurking behind your A pillar. Both are four wheel drive and will hit 60 in under four seconds. Both will grip like a limpit in all weather conditions. When the conditions are perfect, the Superleggera is nigh on unbeatable; for the other 95% of the time the Turbo is the only place to be!