997 as a daily commuter - (100 miles per day)

[allatsea]

Not quite the same, but did a 100 mile round trip commute in a 996 C2 for nearly 2 years. Woking to Portsmouth and back, mostly A3. Loved it and worth every penny of the mid 20s mpg. Did over 30K miles, 1 set of boots, same clutch and still tight at the end and normal servicing. IMS/RMS didn't pop, before someone asks. Now 430d Cab, better fuel consumption, newer, some would say nicer interior, but a better commute? In reality no, just not the same. Don't let anyone persuade you otherwise.

[SkinnyPete]

I've had lots of fast saloons and whatever, yes they are great and yes I love them, but none of them can compare with a Porsche 911 or Cayman and I mean that most sincerely.

[tuffer]

Not every day but I often use mine for the business commute, usually around 120 mile round trip. No big issue, pdk so easy life. Bonus is that if I am coming home late its a quick journey ;-)

[Panthro]

swarwi said:

Nice! - my commute is going to be from Reading to Hursley (just past Winchester), guess if i get bored of the A34/M4 i can also blat through the countryside and take the long way home, you have no idea how much i miss, driving for drivings sake. :-)

That's a pretty good commute, plenty of A and B roads to chop it up a bit if you choose to. I commute from Reading to Greenford at the moment and it is a ball ache, but next month I'm changing jobs so will be commuting to Farnborough. I think a 911 will be ok for your commute, but personally if it were me I'd buy myself a 640d.

[tuffer]

Panthro said:

swarwi said:

Nice! - my commute is going to be from Reading to Hursley (just past Winchester), guess if i get bored of the A34/M4 i can also blat through the countryside and take the long way home, you have no idea how much i miss, driving for drivings sake. :-)

That's a pretty good commute, plenty of A and B roads to chop it up a bit if you choose to. I commute from Reading to Greenford at the moment and it is a ball ache, but next month I'm changing jobs so will be commuting to Farnborough. I think a 911 will be ok for your commute, but personally if it were me I'd buy myself a 640d.

Enjoy:

[diabolik]

Hi, we also use a 997 for daily commute. Mrs diabolik drives the car daily just for a few miles home to rail station and return, I tend to use it once to twice weekly for commuting, 100m to 200+m round trip. On motorway is absolutely great,can be relatively frugal if you use cruise control and IMHO is comfortable (well certainly better than my BMW with M sport suspension and RFT), however I have adaptive seats, which can help. Main problem is in traffic jams on teh M25 where I would prefer to have an automatic gearbox as my 911 is manual with a short shifter, which does not help.

Would I recommend it as daily drive for 100+ miles? Honestly I would probably also consider a 640d or, if don't want a diesel, a M135i. Different proposition but still a great car.

[hygt2]

I use my 996T manual as a winter daily hack for central London and occasionally motorway commute. I don't find the manual taking more effort to drive than my previous 996T Tip. If it is mostly motorway driving, manual/tip/pdk makes little different in terms of any extra effort you need to drive the car. However, if you enjoy driving something with a clutch, the manual will be the most satisfying over a pdk which in turn is more satisfying over a Tip.

[Markanoid76]

The road out to Hursley will make the motorway jaunt worth it. Come back via Andover and Newbury when you get your 997 as you'll have a blast on that road. Fantastic ebb and flow from Hursley.

[Tydeides]

I've done 105000 miles mostly on the M4 in my 997 C4S tip. Currently in the garage though and using another car as tyre wear seemed to be the most expensive element, lasting 15-20k, and costing £1500 a set. Road noise is a little high, but ability to press on late at night worth it IMHO.

Avg mpg is 27

Out of interest was considering a disco, why did you ditch yours?

[swarwi]

Hi, thanks to all for your help,

we tested both the C2s and the C4s, and we will look to get into a c4s PDK - am going to hold out for a Targa if i can.

@Tydeides: As for why we are selling the Disco 4 HSE, its a great car no doubt about it, its done nearly 100K now, reading above id say pretty similar running costs to a 911, (if the land rover goes wrong it is very expensive to repair so extended warranty an absolute must & make sure it covers the air suspension and turbos.)

we get 24 avg MPG, the missus loves the new Disco Sport HSE so jumping into one of them

cheers,

[Jim909]

I do about 90 miles per day commute, i bought a F30 330d about 9 months ago for exactly this, it does the job very well, comfortable, quiet, amazing stereo and average 44 mpg, but its just so dull, I shall be getting out of it very soon.

Get the 997 and take the back road when ever possible!

[swarwi]

Hi guys,

i thought id send a reply to this original thread i posted back in the year, after much deliberation on gen.1/gen.2 - c2s, c4s, manual PDK, my head was spinning!

I then did a Porsche day at Silverstone and decided PDK was for me, i loved the Manual, but worried about the wife who would also use car.

We ended up with a 2008 gen2 C2S PDK purchased a few months back, it has the following spec
Basalt Black
Sports Chrono
Vented Seats
Heated Seats
Bose
Memory seats
Extended PCM 3 module with navigation

So whats it been like to use everyday, absolutely AMAZING,its super easy to drive in traffic and when theres a bit of open road makes for an enjoyable few seconds :-)

im seeing an average of 26MPG

I also did what many have done before, and have owned big powerful diesels that on paper can out tourque a massy fergasun tractor to try and get a balance between speed and economy.

yes the DMS remapped 535D was fast but i think it lacked one single thing.

Driver Engagement... and that emotion which can not come close to a strong balanced car weather you drive it fast or slow.

Other things id like to share during that 'new car paranoia' phase which is over now :-)

im no mechanic and cant confirm if any noises you may hear are good, bad or ugly, but this is my own real-world everyday driving experiance below

Heard a knocking at low revs but when you lifted accelerator they disappeared - after the chap listened for no more than 3 seconds, turned out to be the DFI pump and absolutely nothing to worry about

Heard a very very small whine when the AC was on and traveling at low speeds 8mph, spoke to local dealer again they said Nothing to worry about, everything was working just fine.

Im using around 1 litre of oil every 800-1000 miles, again this was sh**ting the life out of me, (not even our old RS4 used that much) until i read the manual and learn't it was absolutely normal

now after a few months, im learning that these cars are for drivers, they were built to be driven, that does not mean bouncing it off the red line everytime you drive it, but just enjoying it slow or fast.

so wanted to thank all of you for your advice during this post and i am one happy Porsche owner and more importantly everyday porsche driver.

[Magic919]

My first engine used that much oil. The second one hardly uses any.