997.1 3.6 v 3.8s

[M1800S]

Hello

Been looking for an s, had one inspected yesterday and it needed more work than i wanted to do so back on the hunt.

Just seen a nice 3.6 advertised local to me.

Can you guys that have driven or owned both give me your opinions on how much better the 3.8s is? The pasm is appealing if i get it on track but it would only be now and then if ever, the s i looked at needed new rear shocks, wishbones, tyres soon, front discs plus plenty more besides.

cheers

[Paul O]

Drove a 997.1 3.6 Tip and it was noticably slower in pickup than the manual 3.8 that I bought.

However! It didn't put me off the car. I quite liked it. The S feels more like a handful, the 3.6 felt just nice. Didn't buy it as it was missing heated seats.

3.8 is also nosier (in a good way, but I have got PSE). The 3.6 was very quiet.

PASM waste of time in my opinion. Crashy, crashy ride. Track only.

Would I buy a 3.6? Yes. But if you want that accelleration giggle, you need the S.

[paul0843]

Don't discount main dealers.. Once everything has been taken into consideration
I have found them not as unreasonable as I thought they would be.
2 tears warranty and cars prepared properly..
Picked up a c4s cab with powerkit from bristol today..
Proper screamer..
Paul

[cuse92]

When they were still new, I tried the 3.8 and bought the 3.6 and did a few of my own mods (lighter wheels, different springs, a short shifter and a sports exhaust system and air filter was it, really). If you read contemporary reviews about the two, in my view they are spot on and tell the story better than I can - a number of reviewers thought the base 3.6 was the pick of the bunch. To me it seemed to be much revvier and was more fun on the road, it is plenty fast enough for anything you can do legally, and I never felt left out by not having PASM. If you are doing track work as I said it seemed more willing to rev, is fast enough and is also 20kg lighter to start with, mostly in the right part of the car.

[M1800S]

The local car turned out to be a tip which was a shame, there are no cars local to me that are right. I will keep an open mind and try the 3.6 cheers

[burman]

The 3.8 S has a very nice standard spec -- much more expensive when new, so you perhaps have more choice and a good chance of finding a spec that you like.

[Pentoman]

I initially wanted a C2S but tested a C2. Somehow I convinced myself it would be too slow, but the moment I squeezed the pedal it was clearly not the case. I'm still looking, but unless I engaged in a lot of drag racing I'd be more than happy with a 3.6. They are a lot cheaper - around 3k for early cars. The downside is that they are clearly less desirable (and less common) and I am guessing this would probably sting come resale time.

OP - can you tell me more about the cars you've seen so far?

End of last year I saw a bargain 05 C2S with 60k at £23 - but on second viewing noticed it had paint running all down the sills from the worst quality paint repair!
Drove a lovely 05 C2 at £24k but never bought it for a range of reasons.
Been to RSJ but am holding out for something that's great value. I've got time to wait. There are bargains around but they are snapped up in under 24 hours. And there seems to be a share of optimistic pricing around too. I need to ring up and ask what they'll really take for these cars, but a bit short of time.

[M1800S]

I nearly bought a car at RSJ but then thought i would see if i could save some money, had a car inspected that was a bit tatty cosmetically but i was hoping it had been properly looked after mechanically. Needed new rear shocks, wishbones, front discs, tyres soon, rms leaking + a lot of other bits needing attention, i wanted to put the car on a maintenance plan with my local specialist the list of faults was 2 pages long. To do the suspension bits above inc tyres and vat was about £4k. I could of used the car as it was, had 12 months mot and fsh. The thing i was most worried about the bores being scored were fine. It was about the lowest price S manual for sale and could of bought for less but the amount of work was too much and it would of still looked tatty. What i dont want to do is buy a car that looks mint but with the same faults so will probably go through one of the main specialists so i have a warranty

[drpep]

Sounds like you want to visit a main dealer and take the 2 years peace of mind that they will sell you. I have never owned a Porsche whose warranty didn't pay for itself. Even my current GT3 is having a new exhaust fitted soon under warranty as its started blowing.