El 'Beast v. 996 Porsche C4S
Discussion
I spent the weekend in a porker! (
) Dad is thinking of one of these so he managed to get one for the weekend, on an extended test-drive.
Obviously, i ragged the
out of it and had a few drag races with Sir Beast.
Here are my thoughts (and comparisons):
Firstly, i understand that these are different types of cars for different purposes. Thus, a direct comparison is a tad pointless. Anyway:
LOOKS:
I LOVE the 996 looks. Although the 993 is iconic, the 996 does it for me (although show me a 993 GT2/Turbo and i shall change my mind...again). I love the shape of the thing and the way the back end "slopes".
Equally, i love the S1. I think it is beautiful. The lines, position of the tailpipes, aerial...i love it all.
Verdict: Dead heat
INTERIOR:
C4S:
Come on Porsche! if your paying that much you should get a better interior than that. HOWEVER, during the weekend it grew on me and i began to enjoy the "functionality" of it. I began to think that a luxurious interior just wouldnt "suit". It fits. It works. sorted!
The elise interior is as basic as a fat birds knicker collection (no thongs ya'see
). But, it works. I cant think of a way to improve it without adding weight or substantial cost. Although, perhaps lotus bought into its own rhetoric, and stopped short of exploring other possibilities of sprucing up the interior, in the name of "saving weight".
Verdict: Both *relatively* poor. They are disappointing, given the gorgeous exteriors. Porsche gets it though.
PERFORMANCE:
C4S: effortless, if a little "chunky/lardy". It is undeniably fast. I should have lost my licence this weekend 
. It's fast in a non-obvious way as well.
What happens when you buy a new game/watch/cam-corder/digital camera? What do you do? You read the instruction book to find out what each and every function does and how you do it.
But, when you come to use it/play with it on a regular basis, you use one (or two) functions and only a handful of buttons. Am i right or what?
Its the same with the porker. It doesnt matter if you've forgot how to use every "function" because the "function" you'll use everyday is more than adequate for everything. it is so quick and responsive that even an idiot could operate it (
hello! 
)
I guess what i am trying to say is that it has useable power in the real world. it pulls from 60 like a train and just doesnt stop. HOWEVER, i think that the 4wd affects performance. It just feels lardy at times (the excess weight?). It needs a couple of blowers....
El 'Beast on the other hand has adequate power. My modifications make mine fairly quick although the porsche is in a different league....even during drag races!
Verdict: Porsche
HANDLING:
The porsche handles like a big chested girl in a tiny boob-tube...it doesnt quite "fit", but we'll forgive it anyway! . Seriously, I'm sure it is great and that a competant driver would have it taking corners rapidly...i couldnt. I thought that it understeered a bit, but thats just probably me. The 4wd system works well and it sort of feels like it hunchs down around corners. It is good, but i think you need to be a good driver to unlock its potential (not that it has been developed for cornering). The ride was good and it was responsive. This car did everything well. It was hard to fault on anything really.
The elise handles like halle berry looks in swordfish. Just. Perfect.
Verdict: Elise
Final Verdict:
I can sort of understand now, when porsche owners say that their car was "uninspiring" or "boring" to begin with, however now are completely happy with it. Its sort of like your old porn mags.
You remember? you were desperate to see some snatch so you ignored other "points" (like their smile). It is only when you are older and re-look at them mags do you appreciate what fine art work they are (whilst shouting: "great tits" ). Same with the 996. You have to revisit it, work with it and get used to "its" method of "thinking". It truely is awesome. A fine piece of technology. I think it is expensive, but you cant buy that kind of performance, reliability and looks down at yes car credit. (no...you cant )
El 'Beast on the other hand is just raw. It scares me in the wet and gets the adrenaline running in the dry. When your feeling down, its just what the doctor ordered. It fulfills the brief spectacularly. I will never sell El 'Beast i love him that much (unless i have to).
If i could only have one, it would be Sir Beast (despite losing in the above criteria), simply due to the smile per pound ratio, cornering ability and sense of occasion when you get in and feel your seat rumble from the mighty 1.8 lump!
Seriously, the 996 comes a *mighty* close second. Had it been nearer £50k rather than nearer £70, it would have won. easily.
Having said that, the 996 Turbo remains my all time ultimate car (followed by the F40 and miura). I hope to have one, one day. I just need to test drive/steal one to confirm my decision.
Anybody know where Dazren lives? 
) Dad is thinking of one of these so he managed to get one for the weekend, on an extended test-drive. Obviously, i ragged the
out of it and had a few drag races with Sir Beast. Here are my thoughts (and comparisons):
Firstly, i understand that these are different types of cars for different purposes. Thus, a direct comparison is a tad pointless. Anyway:
LOOKS:
I LOVE the 996 looks. Although the 993 is iconic, the 996 does it for me (although show me a 993 GT2/Turbo and i shall change my mind...again). I love the shape of the thing and the way the back end "slopes".
Equally, i love the S1. I think it is beautiful. The lines, position of the tailpipes, aerial...i love it all.
Verdict: Dead heat
INTERIOR:
C4S:
Come on Porsche! if your paying that much you should get a better interior than that. HOWEVER, during the weekend it grew on me and i began to enjoy the "functionality" of it. I began to think that a luxurious interior just wouldnt "suit". It fits. It works. sorted! The elise interior is as basic as a fat birds knicker collection (no thongs ya'see
). But, it works. I cant think of a way to improve it without adding weight or substantial cost. Although, perhaps lotus bought into its own rhetoric, and stopped short of exploring other possibilities of sprucing up the interior, in the name of "saving weight". Verdict: Both *relatively* poor. They are disappointing, given the gorgeous exteriors. Porsche gets it though.
PERFORMANCE:
C4S:
effortless, if a little "chunky/lardy". It is undeniably fast. I should have lost my licence this weekend . It's fast in a non-obvious way as well. What happens when you buy a new game/watch/cam-corder/digital camera? What do you do? You read the instruction book to find out what each and every function does and how you do it.
But, when you come to use it/play with it on a regular basis, you use one (or two) functions and only a handful of buttons. Am i right or what?
Its the same with the porker. It doesnt matter if you've forgot how to use every "function" because the "function" you'll use everyday is more than adequate for everything. it is so quick and responsive that even an idiot could operate it (
hello! ) I guess what i am trying to say is that it has useable power in the real world. it pulls from 60 like a train and just doesnt stop. HOWEVER, i think that the 4wd affects performance. It just feels lardy at times (the excess weight?). It needs a couple of blowers....
El 'Beast on the other hand has adequate power. My modifications make mine fairly quick although the porsche is in a different league....even during drag races!
Verdict: Porsche
HANDLING:
The porsche handles like a big chested girl in a tiny boob-tube...it doesnt quite "fit", but we'll forgive it anyway!
. Seriously, I'm sure it is great and that a competant driver would have it taking corners rapidly...i couldnt. I thought that it understeered a bit, but thats just probably me. The 4wd system works well and it sort of feels like it hunchs down around corners. It is good, but i think you need to be a good driver to unlock its potential (not that it has been developed for cornering). The ride was good and it was responsive. This car did everything well. It was hard to fault on anything really. The elise handles like halle berry looks in swordfish. Just. Perfect.
Verdict: Elise
Final Verdict:
I can sort of understand now, when porsche owners say that their car was "uninspiring" or "boring" to begin with, however now are completely happy with it. Its sort of like your old porn mags.
You remember? you were desperate to see some snatch so you ignored other "points" (like their smile
). It is only when you are older and re-look at them mags do you appreciate what fine art work they are (whilst shouting: "great tits" ). Same with the 996. You have to revisit it, work with it and get used to "its" method of "thinking". It truely is awesome. A fine piece of technology. I think it is expensive, but you cant buy that kind of performance, reliability and looks down at yes car credit. (no...you cant ) El 'Beast on the other hand is just raw. It scares me in the wet and gets the adrenaline running in the dry. When your feeling down, its just what the doctor ordered. It fulfills the brief spectacularly. I will never sell El 'Beast i love him that much (unless i have to).
If i could only have one, it would be Sir Beast (despite losing in the above criteria), simply due to the smile per pound ratio, cornering ability and sense of occasion when you get in and feel your seat rumble from the mighty 1.8 lump!
Seriously, the 996 comes a *mighty* close second. Had it been nearer £50k rather than nearer £70, it would have won. easily.
Having said that, the 996 Turbo remains my all time ultimate car (followed by the F40 and miura). I hope to have one, one day. I just need to test drive/steal one to confirm my decision.
Anybody know where Dazren lives?
On the basis the suspension and brakes are the same it really is about the power. The turbo cars have a different engine to the C2/C4 before bolting on the two turbos. They are also more tunable once you get out of the warranty period.
If we ever meet at a PH event I'll show you what it's all about.
DAZ
If we ever meet at a PH event I'll show you what it's all about.
DAZ
dazren said:
On the basis the suspension and brakes are the same it really is about the power. The turbo cars have a different engine to the C2/C4 before bolting on the two turbos. They are also more tunable once you get out of the warranty period.
I was under the impression that the C4 had the same engine without the blowers You learn something new everyday! I think this porsche fascination is going to grow into an obsession 
dazren said:
If we ever meet at a PH event I'll show you what it's all about.
DAZ
Cool! That would be great! Thank you. I can show you what roverpower is all about, should you, for some insane reason, crave it
dragstar said:
Drag, imho the 996 Interior is the best around!
Better than a 360/355/Murcielago/S6/T350
No way! The tvr has the best. NO. The best interior (and even JC agrees) is in the Spyker
The TVR interior is very "special" but the 996 interior imho is close to perfect.
The DB9 of course, being perfect
the DB9 is perfect TVR interiors are the best Porsches are just so bland in comparison (inside and out) ...the sports car for person who just wants to own one...and nearly as common as Mondeos in the south east ...just the next step on the status ladder for Beemer 330 owners IMHO
I'll stick to my Brit sports cars
Porsches are just so bland in comparison (inside and out) ...the sports car for person who just wants to own one...and nearly as common as Mondeos in the south east ...just the next step on the status ladder for Beemer 330 owners IMHO I'll stick to my Brit sports cars
bogie said:
Porsches are just so bland in comparison (inside and out)
fair enough.
bogie said:
...the sports car for person who just wants to own one
That's a bit of a blinkered (sp?) attitude isnt it? what about GT3/2 owners? You could say that about any marque really. If im honest, i bought the elise because i wanted a sports car. How many of you are the same? Or did we all buy an elise because it goes around the track well? in that case, why the need for a soft top? we ALL want to own sports cars.
bogie said:
...and nearly as common as Mondeos in the south east
again, fair enough. There are a lot of elises around as well though. Just look at the number for sale in the classifieds. You will ALWAYS get, with the perceived "best thing out", a percentage of buyers who buy for the prestige, name, style or because they want to be seen. So what? is that a valid point to knock the marque?
bogie said:
...just the next step on the status ladder for Beemer 330 owners IMHO
I'll stick to my Brit sports cars
Again, that's a bit blinkered (IMHO) but it's your opinion so i respect it.
Try a porsche (possibly a GT3) first, then knock it
I have tried a GT3, a 911C4 and C2 - they are geat cars and owned by enthusiasts (GT3s), but I would put money on the proportion of Porsche owners who buy them to pose around in is 10x higher than say with Lotus or TVR ...you have to be quite an enthusiast to put up with all the 'quirks' of the british offerings ...whereas Joe Bloggs on the street just aspires to 'own a Porsche' because it is one.
Porsche sell more Boxsters/911s a week than Lotus/TVR/Noble do in a year - definately common
Im not saying that Porches are bad cars - they are excellent, they drive well, are faster than most Elises, better built etc...I just dont personally like the styling, the image and dont really think they are a 'sportscar' more a fast GT car ...to me a sportscar is lightweight and has 2 seats (and preferably no roof!) - Porsche dont make anything like that do they? ....even their 2 seater mid engine car weighs the same as a family saloon !...and the 911T weighs nearly the same as a 5 series .
Porsche sell more Boxsters/911s a week than Lotus/TVR/Noble do in a year - definately common
Im not saying that Porches are bad cars - they are excellent, they drive well, are faster than most Elises, better built etc...I just dont personally like the styling, the image and dont really think they are a 'sportscar' more a fast GT car ...to me a sportscar is lightweight and has 2 seats (and preferably no roof!) - Porsche dont make anything like that do they?
....even their 2 seater mid engine car weighs the same as a family saloon !...and the 911T weighs nearly the same as a 5 series .
drag, you really need to get a proper job.
C4S - wasn't that once described as the 911 for people who can't drive? Flame suit on.
As for interiors, I agree with the sentiment above on TVR's. If only they got it more right with the seats and driving position. I've found with all that I've been in (Chim, Cerb, T350) that it all feels great except the seats don't have enough lat support and your door-side arm has nothing to rest on while driving - VERY annoying and one of THE things which put me off a Chim... odd I know, but it REALLY pissed me off on the 4 test drives I did.
Porkers are just plain dull inside - which is a shame as such an amazing feat of engineering that the 911 is deserves better. Being german though I guess it's all very well bolted together. Lets hope the new version (which does look V tasty from the EVO shots I saw) comes out better.
As for the Elise, I think it's perfect - no frills, no fecking about, just an outstanding drivers car. Every time I drive mine I laugh out loud - yesterday for instance I just found myself yelling and screaming out loud with joy as I screamed round the revs in 3rd and into 4th at 90mph (on a private road) and the thing just goes banana's - it loves it!
Two entirely different cars, but for 70k I'd rather have a good Elise and an RS4 avant or GT-R34, either of which I'll warrant, wouldn't be far off the tail of the C4S!
>> Edited by s works on Monday 2nd August 17:32
C4S - wasn't that once described as the 911 for people who can't drive? Flame suit on.
As for interiors, I agree with the sentiment above on TVR's. If only they got it more right with the seats and driving position. I've found with all that I've been in (Chim, Cerb, T350) that it all feels great except the seats don't have enough lat support and your door-side arm has nothing to rest on while driving - VERY annoying and one of THE things which put me off a Chim... odd I know, but it REALLY pissed me off on the 4 test drives I did.
Porkers are just plain dull inside - which is a shame as such an amazing feat of engineering that the 911 is deserves better. Being german though I guess it's all very well bolted together. Lets hope the new version (which does look V tasty from the EVO shots I saw) comes out better.
As for the Elise, I think it's perfect - no frills, no fecking about, just an outstanding drivers car. Every time I drive mine I laugh out loud - yesterday for instance I just found myself yelling and screaming out loud with joy as I screamed round the revs in 3rd and into 4th at 90mph (on a private road) and the thing just goes banana's - it loves it!
Two entirely different cars, but for 70k I'd rather have a good Elise and an RS4 avant or GT-R34, either of which I'll warrant, wouldn't be far off the tail of the C4S!
>> Edited by s works on Monday 2nd August 17:32
s works said:
drag, you really need to get a proper job.
I have
kinda. s works said:
C4S - wasn't that once described as the 911 for people who can't drive?
perfect for pops!
s works said:
If only they got it more right with the seats and driving position. I've found with all that I've been in (Chim, Cerb, T350) that it all feels great except the seats don't have enough lat support and your door-side arm has nothing to rest on while driving - VERY annoying and one of THE things which put me off a Chim... odd I know, but it REALLY pissed me off on the 4 test drives I did.
odd? more like
ing insane 
s works said:
Every time I drive mine I laugh out loud - yesterday for instance I just found myself yelling and screaming out loud with joy as I screamed round the revs in 3rd and into 4th at 90mph (on a private road) and the thing just goes banana's - it loves it!
more evidence of insanity
s works said:
Two entirely different cars, but for 70k I'd rather have a good Elise and an RS4 avant or GT-R34, either of which I'll warrant, wouldn't be far off the tail of the C4S!
i'd take a second hand 996turbo and blow everything away (in any weather) and still be able to do the tesco run afterwards
"As for interiors, I agree with the sentiment above on TVR's. If only they got it more right with the seats and driving position. I've found with all that I've been in (Chim, Cerb, T350) that it all feels great except the seats don't have enough lat support and your door-side arm has nothing to rest on while driving - VERY annoying and one of THE things which put me off a Chim... odd I know, but it REALLY pissed me off on the 4 test drives I did"
Agreed - in our Tuscan even though the seats have side 'squabs' they still dont really hold you in position, I can rest my arm on the door side moulding though...other than that the interior is awesome...shame its in Blackpool on holiday at present having a rebuild !
Agreed - in our Tuscan even though the seats have side 'squabs' they still dont really hold you in position, I can rest my arm on the door side moulding though...other than that the interior is awesome...shame its in Blackpool on holiday at present having a rebuild !
bogie said:
shame its in Blackpool on holiday at present having a rebuild !
Probably gone to Moscow instead now
Whilst I admire them hugely Porsches just do absolutely nothing for me at all. Even the Carerra GT. Just leave me cold for some reason.
For £70K I will take a nearly new Noble GTO3R, 340R for sunny days and something sensible for everyday.
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