993 or Tesla Roadster?

993 or Tesla Roadster?

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Discussion

ooid

Original Poster:

4,049 posts

99 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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Might look like a very stupid question but here we go smile

I have been planning to get a decent 993 coupe but the prices almost similar to second hand (rare) Tesla roadsters! Considering the running costs of Tesla, according to the early adapters, its pretty low except the battery change. Since the launch of Tesla 3 model, it looks like the parts and batteries will be much more affordable in the future.

Did a test drive on both, to be honest both of them absolutely great driving experience but somehow different to compare!




david hockney

1,198 posts

152 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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993 C2 manual coupe......

hunter 66

3,887 posts

219 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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Roadster ..... much rarer and a true piece of history of the future .....
seeing the new Tesla 3 it is now clear ....of course I still have a 993 GT2R evo for a little track work ....old style..

Geneve

3,857 posts

218 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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I had the use of a Tesla Roadster, briefly.

Lots of novelty value, with sunning acceleration, but range is limited and the Elise is a far better 'sports car'. It's also early Tesla technology, and I'd be concerned about the replacement costs of the power pack components.

A really good aircooled 911 is a jewel to behold IMO, and should always thrill the senses, in a way that no electric car can match.

Don

28,377 posts

283 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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993. Last of the air-cooled. vs Tesla Roadster. Ultra-rare, iconic piece of history.

Difficult choice. A nice one to have!

Of the two the 993 will be more easily supported into the future as a classic car. The Tesla, on the other hand, is vanishingly rare and is likely to present problems, whilst being oh so collectable.

Despite being a Porsche nut I'd probably go Tesla.

ooid

Original Poster:

4,049 posts

99 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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The running costs looking quite the advantage for Tesla to be honest. Comparing to 993 (although it's air cooled, there are still loads to be worried about) and considering that our petrol running cars becoming true dinosaurs, it will be much more expensive to keep them in the road.

PGNSagaris

2,926 posts

165 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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993. Without hesitation.

Cheib

23,110 posts

174 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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Way too early to judge the Tesla roadster as part of automotive history...sure it's the first product from might become a corporate behemoth but it's simply a step in the evolution of electric cars surely ? They've been around the best part of 100 years. One thing is for sure its technology will date massively relative quickly and who the hell knows how easy it will be to buy batteries for it in 20 years time. I suspect not very.

996TT02

3,308 posts

139 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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Have restored a few cars and currently one resto underway. Also do a lot of maintenance on my own.

Of late, while buying parts or restoring/replacing them, I find myself repeating this phrase far too often:

Were this an EV, this part simply would not exist, nor any equivalent, so there is nothing to maintain.

With an EV, as far as the motor goes (I am not up to speed on them, but here goes) probably the only things that will ever need replacing are the brushes (unless brushless, see my disclaimer above), commutator (as previous) but certainly bearings.

No valve seats to wear. No valve stem seals to wear. No camshafts. No lifters. No followers. No gaskets. No cylinder heads. No shell bearings. No water pump. No starter motor. No cambelts or chains. No coolant hoses. No plugs. No multitude of oil seals. No fuel pumps. No ignition system. No fuel injection system. No filters. No oil change. No oil pump. No pistons. No bores. No cranks. No conrods. No radiators. No emissions devices. No exhaust system. No catalysers. Gearboxes? Do they have any? No nothing else to wear.

An IC engine, when you think about it, is a crazy way to generate power, it is so complicated. We just accept this but never step back to think about the reality. Crazy amounts of heat, crazy temperature fluctuations, lots of ancillary systems just to make it run, basically you have a system that converts a flammable liquid into rotary motion.

The batteries? Yes of course they cost $$$. But replacements will be sourceable indefinitely, for as long as electric power will exist. Whatever format they come in, they will always be deconstructable and cells replaceable, or alternative types usable. Apart from the cost, there really is no issue. IIRC the T Roadster uses 18650 LiIon batteries, several thousand of them. I have 2 pairs in my drawer right now. Not Tesla items, just generic, to power torches. 18650s are also found in cordless power tools and laptops. Should they no longer be available, a similar cell can certainly be made usable.

Quite frankly unless serviceability is deliberately built in to an EV, I don't know what there is to service as far as the core functions go.

Yes I'm a petrolhead. But unless there's something really wrong with the way the T-Roadster drives, for the long term I'd take it over a 993 all day long.

I can imagine a time when obtaining liquid fuels will be difficult. When governments prohibit using an IC engined car. And so on, whereas I can't imagine an EV ever being legislated out of existence except at that time when all forms of personal transport are. Thankfully I don't think any of us will be around then.

ooid

Original Poster:

4,049 posts

99 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
quotequote all
996TT02 said:
No valve seats to wear. No valve stem seals to wear. No camshafts. No lifters. No followers. No gaskets. No cylinder heads. No shell bearings. No water pump. No starter motor. No cambelts or chains. No coolant hoses. No plugs. No multitude of oil seals. No fuel pumps. No ignition system. No fuel injection system. No filters. No oil change. No oil pump. No pistons. No bores. No cranks. No conrods. No radiators. No emissions devices. No exhaust system. No catalysers. Gearboxes? Do they have any? No nothing else to wear.

An IC engine, when you think about it, is a crazy way to generate power, it is so complicated. We just accept this but never step back to think about the reality. Crazy amounts of heat, crazy temperature fluctuations, lots of ancillary systems just to make it run, basically you have a system that converts a flammable liquid into rotary motion.
Could not agree more!. I love porsches, owning both mid engine and rear engines previously have a strong feeling that they are literally becoming an absolute nightmare to keep it in even for weekend fun! (unless you are a super specialist collector)

Would be good to get some feedback from Tesla owners,if there is any? I do know actually two friends who owns 993 and tesla roadster currently. One keeps worrying about the engine light or MOT dates (even though the car is in mint condition), the other does not.

jeffsutherland

1 posts

95 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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I loved my 911 years ago and the current Porsches are still awesome and much faster at the top end than the Tesla Roadster I bought six years ago. Yet after buying three Teslas and putting a downpayment on the new Model 3, I feel that gasoline engines are truly obsolete. Shifting to me seems antiquated. The Roadster's full on torque at low end is the only car that can produce the same stomach churning performance as the F4 Phantom that I used to fly. Also the maintenance on a gas car is very high. It's been more than a year since I had my Roaster's annual check up and I probably won't get one until they deliver my battery upgrade to 400 mile range.

Gasoline is smelly, dirty, costly and funds the petro wars which together with environmental pollution is destroying our planet. Electricity for me is free. I have more solar electricity than I can use and am giving electricity away.

So I am waiting for the all-electric Porsche. Trust me, an electric car is faster, cheaper to run and maintain, safer, and easier to upgrade.

BubblesNW

1,710 posts

182 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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jeffsutherland said:
I loved my 911 years ago and the current Porsches are still awesome and much faster at the top end than the Tesla Roadster I bought six years ago. Yet after buying three Teslas and putting a downpayment on the new Model 3, I feel that gasoline engines are truly obsolete. Shifting to me seems antiquated. The Roadster's full on torque at low end is the only car that can produce the same stomach churning performance as the F4 Phantom that I used to fly. Also the maintenance on a gas car is very high. It's been more than a year since I had my Roaster's annual check up and I probably won't get one until they deliver my battery upgrade to 400 mile range.

Gasoline is smelly, dirty, costly and funds the petro wars which together with environmental pollution is destroying our planet. Electricity for me is free. I have more solar electricity than I can use and am giving electricity away.

So I am waiting for the all-electric Porsche. Trust me, an electric car is faster, cheaper to run and maintain, safer, and easier to upgrade.
Great first post, welcome. Sounds like you don't follow the herd, certainly nice to see that on here.

alcatraz236

197 posts

151 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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jeffsutherland said:
Trust me, an electric car is faster, cheaper to run and maintain, safer, and easier to upgrade.
I understand what you're saying but I personally couldn't care less about any of that, I want the best drivers car, I want to feel the mechanics of the car and hear the bark of the exhaust, I love the smell of petrol and oil, if it breaks I'll fix it.

ooid

Original Poster:

4,049 posts

99 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
quotequote all
Perhaps what we needed here from Porsche to come up with a new EV on 550 spyder chasis! biggrin



718 was a strange move rolleyes

SRT Hellcat

7,016 posts

216 months

Saturday 2nd April 2016
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EV will never provide the same visceral experience of a 911 or any other petrol engine car. But the modern day stuff seems to be all about numbing the experience and the precision, art, skill of driving. Perhaps for the masses that is what they want. I do not own a vehicle with stop start technology. But then I am not into crap shopping econo cars. I own stuff that I like to drive. Each cars nuances are engaging. Be in charge of my own destiny and or stupidity. When I am old and decrepit and no longer have the faculties to drive I'll buy an auto pilot EV. Until then I will continue to enjoy that feeling of being alive. EV's. You can STWTSDS

perrin21

7 posts

118 months

Saturday 27th August 2016
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I have the Roadster Sport and have covered 30k very fast miles in it over 2.5 years. The car has so far cost almost nothing to run. A set of 4 tyres is £400 and it doesn't need regular servicing, just a Pem clean which is easy to do at home. The sport model has adjustable suspension so you can easily dial out the understeer. Don't be confused, it's not a Lotus, tesla actually changed everything including the wheel base and every external panel and ancillary item. They kept 7% of the Lotus parts and usually any breakages are from this parts bin so literally cost pennies. One owner broke an indicator stalk as he caught it getting into the car, £10 replacement part new. The car is a bargain and has the performance of a 991 C4S which is no slouch. Once you drive a Roadster, no other experience is comparable, it's that unique. You also get looks from Model S owners that are disbelief that it's a real Tesla Roadster as there is under 35 in the U.K. In right hand drive. Very special and very rare with the running costs of a skateboard. If the values continue to appreciate it will be a good future investment too as every new tesla is mass produced. Buy with confidence that this is not an unreliable car, I've used mine and it's been a reliable peach to own. This isn't no autopilot shopping EV, it's a real driving experience. Check out Chris Harris early review of a roadster on YouTube, that's a model 1.0 version and the 2.5 is much better. He loved it. The car has character and screams inside when you push it. It's great fun, free to tax and £4 per 200 mile charge is great too.

Edited by perrin21 on Saturday 27th August 11:24

IMI A

9,410 posts

200 months

Saturday 27th August 2016
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I'll take the skateboard..

SRT Hellcat

7,016 posts

216 months

Saturday 27th August 2016
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IMI A said:
I'll take the skateboard..
That would be my choice also and I have never had the balance for a skateboard smile

Carlson W6

857 posts

123 months

Sunday 28th August 2016
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In 2013 i owned an Audi RS6 and a good friend of mine decided to buy a Tesla Roadster.To cut a long story short he asked me to test drive it for him and i went out on empty rural roads for an hour.
The thing was an absolute blast and i remember saying to my friends at the time it was the closest feeling i think one could have to piloting a fighter jet on wheels around the roads.It was stupid quick (and i also own a Kawasaki ZZR1400 with 200bhp).The response off the throttle was like nothing i had ever experienced.
The most striking point apart from the absolute immediate throttle resonse giving 100% of the torque available at any point of the rev range was the fact that i could drive like a complete hooligan on the empty country roads but upon arriving in a village no pedestrians or potential police would have been alerted to the fun i had been having up until the 30mph limit.It was quite strange driving so fast in silence.That is where the fighter jet analogy comes from,it was as if i was breaking the speed of sound and leaving the noise behind me.But no one in the surrounding area could hear me hoofing it,yet if i had been in a petrol sports car making progress like that i would have arrived in the village to disdainful look from all and sundry.

I came back so enthralled that i asked the Tesla dealer about purchasing a Roadster.Because myself and my friend would have bought two,i was offered an outstanding deal.I then researched the write down on Tax and spoke in length to my accountant and it became clear that over 5 years the Tesla would be an extremely,almost unbelievable propostition financially.

I then went through period of soul searching.I had never had a sports car (always rally cars-integrale,impreza etc) and had recently got a grown up RS6.
The Tesla had awakend my interest in sports cars but i started to think about the prospect of owning one.Trips to Nurburing would be out of the question due to the 200 mile range on the Roadster.I then had a moment of clarity.I realised that sooner,rather than later we would all HAVE to be driving an electric vehicle,they are the future like it or not.I asked myself if i was denying myself the chance of enjoying a proper petrol sportscar by accelerating the move into an Electric vehicle before they became compulsory.

Despite the attractive price of the Tesla,the warranty that it was offered with and the huge tax incentive the whole episode resulted in me walking into OPC Bristol and buying a 997 Turbo.I do not regret that decision one bit and in the first year did my first trip to Nurburing with my 12 year old son as passenger.

Edited by Carlson W6 on Sunday 28th August 18:34


Edited by Carlson W6 on Sunday 28th August 18:35

ORD

18,086 posts

126 months

Sunday 28th August 2016
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I thought the OP was joking at first.

993 every day and 20 times each weekend.