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My Car Dilemma... help!

From my experience, as long as it's not an early model, the Aston is much more reliable than a Porsche. The engines are good for at least 250K, and the average long-distance fuel consumption is surprisingly close to a 911.

Having had a couple of PDK Gen2's and an Aston, I can say they are very different. On a twisty mountain road, the 911 is king, on the other hand, the Aston makes you feel like a king.

If you love out and out performance driving then go for a Gen2 911 with a PDK - it's superb. Get a centre bypass and a gundo (or let Paul at PCW modify your centre box whilst he does the gundo) and it will sound as good as it drives.

But if your the type who occasionally drives like a hoon, but must of the time has the 'fast enough for points but too slow for prison' style then its worth looking at an Aston - you only live once - or twice ;-)

Also if you're a bit shy, or like to fade into the background then I'd also go for a 911, as the Aston gets a lot of attention.

People will come up to you in the petrol station and talk about your car, they will shout 'nice car' all the time, women with give you a cheeky smile and a wink, and you will get lots of people taking photos or driving along beside you videoing you - which is embarrassing when you are picking your nose.

Alternatively, you could just keep your car and the cash.

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As has been said above, the Porsche is the "drivers' car" and the Aston is a "feelgood car".

My problem with the Aston was its relative lack of sophistication - sure it is beautiful and beautifully made but it feels like a big clumsy lorry to drive compared to the 997. And they do feel big. Manoeuvring in tight spaces was always a heart in mouth experience - if you go for the Sportshift version you will need to master left foot braking. Other things to annoy you are the instruments which are illegible in sunlight and the even more archaic satnav. Also as mentioned before, the costs of maintenance can be eye watering. Check the price for shock absorbers (the fronts will be leaking) as an example.

The 997.2 I have now feels so much more complete and is unbeatable on a fast cross country run. Of course there are things that are not perfect and they are way more common than a Vantage if such things matter to you.

As Les says the attention you get in an Aston comes as a bit of a surprise. There is a lot of love for all things Aston Martin and people never stop telling you so. Each journey becomes an occasion. I never used it to pop to the supermarket for example whereas the Porsche is used all the time.

It is a difficult decision.

Incidentally a friend who has the Maserati says "never again".




[/quote]
 
Phil 997 said:
TonyC911 said:
Phil 997 said:
Tony, heres my 2p for you to contemplate. I had an Aston Martin theres no doubt they are pretty but they are much more expensive to maintain and IMO the 911 is a better drivers car.

So in Summery IMO hang on to the gen1 and enjoy relativly cheap 911 ownership in a car thats done its depreciation :thumb: :thumb:

Thanks Phil, that is a really interesting take on my situation!

Wise words! :thumb:

On reflection, I think what does mar my driving experience is that I find my cars gearbox very notchy (especially from cold) and not as slick as I expected. Perhaps I should investigate that further, before I make any rash decisions??

Tony, the thing with the tip box is it learns your driving style so unless your hooning everywhere it adopts a lazy style ,this can be reset by a quick kickdown but it soon releans the lazy town driving style ,I fitted a sprint booster to my tip gen1 it was the older 3 mode type and the controller was small enought to hide in my unused ashtray but this cheap devise fools the tip into thinking your driving more aggressivly and keeps the tip box in a more alert mode . the other thing to consider is changing the gearbox fluids do a bit of research and look at some of the racing fluids I used a gulf performance fluid this may well remove some of the notchiness as would semi solid engine mounts . and poly transmision mounts (but they do add some NVH) but its a bit of a trade off and does make the car feel more GT like. lastly I did read that you can have the tip box tuned but I didnt do this as the changes I made were enough for me. :thumb: :thumb: if you can't face radical mods just yet then try replacing your engine mounts and maybe transmission mounts with new OE and then report back on the tip box ,I think you will be surprised .dont forget the engine doesnt sit on the mount like most cars it hangs from the mount and its been hanging on those mounts with all that weight since 2007 no wonder they have stretched a bit and perished and as such the gearbox is now not as smooth as it was when new. :thumb:

Thanks again to everyone for your opinions and even better your real world experiences!

Phil - thanks for your comprehensive response, however I should point out that my 997 is a manual :oops:
 
Option 1! If your car has had an engine rebuild and is a good example then I wouldn't change it to a 997.2. Concentrate the cash on making it a great gen 1 with better ICE/satnav, subtle upgrades and freshening the paint or interior leather. Invest in a SSK to really make the manual shine. If it's a weekend toy I wouldn't upgrade it to a gen 2 for extra performance as unless you're timing laps I doubt the difference would be so obvious on the road between the two... especially a well sorted gen 1.

If however you're wanting to explore something other than Porsche then go for it! Aston's are amazing but crazy expensive to run in terms of servicing. The Maserati makes an amazing noise, but it comes with expensive servicing too.
 
I've got the best of both worlds in my manual 997.1 c2s & an auto Grantourismo 4.7s. For cars that are considered rivals they are night and day.
Maser makes you feel like a king. Porsche makes you feel like a racing driver.
I'm contemplating a gt3 to replace the c2s which would increase the difference between the German car and Italian car even further.
Get out & try some cars to see what suits you best. It's a buyers market so test drives should be easily obtained.
Personally I would stick with your 997 if your only car.
 
TonyC911 said:
Phil 997 said:
TonyC911 said:
Phil 997 said:
Tony, heres my 2p for you to contemplate. I had an Aston Martin theres no doubt they are pretty but they are much more expensive to maintain and IMO the 911 is a better drivers car.

So in Summery IMO hang on to the gen1 and enjoy relativly cheap 911 ownership in a car thats done its depreciation :thumb: :thumb:

Thanks Phil, that is a really interesting take on my situation!

Wise words! :thumb:

On reflection, I think what does mar my driving experience is that I find my cars gearbox very notchy (especially from cold) and not as slick as I expected. Perhaps I should investigate that further, before I make any rash decisions??

Tony, the thing with the tip box is it learns your driving style so unless your hooning everywhere it adopts a lazy style ,this can be reset by a quick kickdown but it soon releans the lazy town driving style ,I fitted a sprint booster to my tip gen1 it was the older 3 mode type and the controller was small enought to hide in my unused ashtray but this cheap devise fools the tip into thinking your driving more aggressivly and keeps the tip box in a more alert mode . the other thing to consider is changing the gearbox fluids do a bit of research and look at some of the racing fluids I used a gulf performance fluid this may well remove some of the notchiness as would semi solid engine mounts . and poly transmision mounts (but they do add some NVH) but its a bit of a trade off and does make the car feel more GT like. lastly I did read that you can have the tip box tuned but I didnt do this as the changes I made were enough for me. :thumb: :thumb: if you can't face radical mods just yet then try replacing your engine mounts and maybe transmission mounts with new OE and then report back on the tip box ,I think you will be surprised .dont forget the engine doesnt sit on the mount like most cars it hangs from the mount and its been hanging on those mounts with all that weight since 2007 no wonder they have stretched a bit and perished and as such the gearbox is now not as smooth as it was when new. :thumb:

Thanks again to everyone for your opinions and even better your real world experiences!

Phil - thanks for your comprehensive response, however I should point out that my 997 is a manual :oops:

Ah sorry Tony thought it was a tip, if its manual and notchy then the engine mounts and transmission mounts still apply and add an SSK or GT3 shifter with the metal bushes. you will be amazed at the transformation for a few hundred quid . :thumb: :thumb:
 

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