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Honest question from a non car/Porsche enthusiast, why is this interesting and not Just Another Car -- and a (nice but) unremarkable, incredibly expensive one a

by tga 3y ago

Honest question from a non car/Porsche enthusiast, why is this interesting and not Just Another Car -- and a (nice but) unremarkable, incredibly expensive one at that?

speedgoose 3y ago
Same question as a car enthusiast who wish for a Porsche every Christmas.
NorwegianDude 3y ago
It's a driver's car, and a collectable. In what way is it unremarkable?
tomcam 3y ago
911 owner here. Porsches are super responsive and in my view handle the way a car just naturally should if I abstracted the idea of a car. Or so I thought until I drove a Tesla. I am going to sell my 20 year-old Porsche and replace it with one. Even their lowest price model feels wonderful to drive. But to answer your question, this one has enormous horsepower, and would probably feel sensational to drive. Porsches also have an incredible sound, which does appeal to me. From what I can tell, most people seem to choose a car based on its looks (even the truck drivers I interviewed when looking for a farm truck), and I don’t really respond that way, so I may not be typical. I imagine Porsches look a lot better, but that just doesn’t mean much to me.
- dreamcompiler 3y ago
  I've never owned one but I've driven friends' 911s. They're amazing cars. But now I own a Tesla Model Y. This is the "Mom's SUV" of Teslas, and it is in every way a better car than a 911, including being faster and more fun to drive. For $275,000 you could buy three Model S Teslas. And of course the Model S is much faster than the Model Y. Porsche's time of overpriced bespoke ICE cars is past.
- rootusrootus 3y ago
  But the only way a Tesla is in any way comparable to a Porsche is straight line speed. I'm happy with my Model 3 as a daily driver, it's pretty great. And wicked fast. But Porsche it is most definitely not. I'm kinda/sorta working on my wife to convince her that we should replace the Tesla with a Taycan. Still electric, but drives like a Porsche.
  - tomcam 3y ago
    Somehow I adapted instantly to the way Tesla likes me to drive. But yes, Porsches have a very distinct and wonderful Porsche feel to them.
dharmab 3y ago
Superfastmatt made a great video asking the question "What's so great about Porsche?" It's about as long as an episode of TV and answers the question very well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdJYiRROeAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdJYiRROeAc If you don't have time for the full episode, jump to his drive of a modern 911: https://youtu.be/rdJYiRROeAc?t=428 https://youtu.be/rdJYiRROeAc?t=428
sumoboy 3y ago
Many car brands have cult like followers who are insanely loyal to supporting. Some of these brands like Porsche, BMW, Corvettes, and Mustangs have a long history cars that people will spend insane amount of money to buy new or restore old. The 911 if you've never drove one is just simply a fun car to drive anywhere but one could pull up to a race track for a few laps and it's a very capable car. Porsche is really good at marketing over the past 20+ years producing limited editions of car driving up the value. The sport model here is just that with dealers adding $100k to $200k additional markup fees because the numbers produced are so low, more demand than supply. The 911 is a great car to drive, fairly reliable as a daily driver and very popular with c-level buyers. On the track it's benchmark which many compare themselves so while this sport model is more than capable for 99%, the Porsche GT3 and GT3RS models are even more expensive with bigger performance upgrades. Porsche has zero problems selling these cars as fast as they can make them.
- wrboyce 3y ago
  Porsche purposely keep supply lower than demand, and you can’t just walk into a dealership and buy a new 911 or even get on the waiting list. You’d be advised to buy say a Macan and a Boxster first, then maybe they’d consider letting you pay a deposit for a 911 and waiting years for delivery.
  - kenhwang 3y ago
    The 911 and Boxster are built on the same assembly line, which is at full capacity. If anything, it's easier to get a 911 than a Boxster right now because they're prioritizing the capacity towards 911s. They're expanding supply, it's just not growing faster than demand is. But yes, buying a Macan or Cayenne tends to move you up on the waitlist. Existing owners do get prioritized.
kenhwang 3y ago
Let's use keyboards to explain since the HN crowd tends to be much more familiar with those. Regular cars are like regular rubber dome Logitech keyboards, EVs are like smartphone on-screen keyboards. Does a mechanical keyboard actually allow better typing than those keyboards? Probably yes, but very marginally to the point where it really doesn't matter. But why do people get mechanical keyboards anyway often at 4x+ the cost? The mechanical switches have better tactile feedback. The materials of the keycaps and body are often better. There's significantly more customization and personalization options available. That's sorta the same way with Porsche. You could get a mass market Corvette or Tesla that performs just as well for track times or transport for cheaper, but the Porsche will have better feedback (steering, pedals, shifter, chassis) and better customization options. The Sport Classic would be like a limited edition collectable mechanical keyboard. Pretty pointless for someone who just needs a keyboard, but if you collect keyboards, it'd be a very special keyboard that very few others would have. Like a typewriter with usb-c.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  >Let's use keyboards to explain since the HN crowd tends to be much more familiar with those. Let me go even simpler. There's still a market for expensive mechanical watches that only tell the time, yet cost more than the most expensive smart watches, and are less acurate than cheap Casios. In short, some people just appreciate beautiful mechanical cool shit and are willing to pay through the nose for it, regardless of specs and benchmarks.
  - throw0101b 3y ago
    > There's still a market for expensive mechanical watches that only tell the time, yet cost more than the most expensive smart watches, and are less acurate than cheap Casios. And the mechanical watches will still be repairable and usable one hundred years from now: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BCO1lNSw-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BCO1lNSw-E * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE4E6eUulhw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE4E6eUulhw * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaVx5LJ7t_c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaVx5LJ7t_c

by tga 3y ago

Honest question from a non car/Porsche enthusiast, why is this interesting and not Just Another Car -- and a (nice but) unremarkable, incredibly expensive one at that?

speedgoose 3y ago

Same question as a car enthusiast who wish for a Porsche every Christmas.

NorwegianDude 3y ago

It's a driver's car, and a collectable. In what way is it unremarkable?

tomcam 3y ago

911 owner here. Porsches are super responsive and in my view handle the way a car just naturally should if I abstracted the idea of a car. Or so I thought until I drove a Tesla. I am going to sell my 20 year-old Porsche and replace it with one. Even their lowest price model feels wonderful to drive. But to answer your question, this one has enormous horsepower, and would probably feel sensational to drive. Porsches also have an incredible sound, which does appeal to me. From what I can tell, most people seem to choose a car based on its looks (even the truck drivers I interviewed when looking for a farm truck), and I don’t really respond that way, so I may not be typical. I imagine Porsches look a lot better, but that just doesn’t mean much to me.

dreamcompiler 3y ago
I've never owned one but I've driven friends' 911s. They're amazing cars. But now I own a Tesla Model Y. This is the "Mom's SUV" of Teslas, and it is in every way a better car than a 911, including being faster and more fun to drive. For $275,000 you could buy three Model S Teslas. And of course the Model S is much faster than the Model Y. Porsche's time of overpriced bespoke ICE cars is past.
rootusrootus 3y ago
But the only way a Tesla is in any way comparable to a Porsche is straight line speed. I'm happy with my Model 3 as a daily driver, it's pretty great. And wicked fast. But Porsche it is most definitely not. I'm kinda/sorta working on my wife to convince her that we should replace the Tesla with a Taycan. Still electric, but drives like a Porsche.
- tomcam 3y ago
  Somehow I adapted instantly to the way Tesla likes me to drive. But yes, Porsches have a very distinct and wonderful Porsche feel to them.

dharmab 3y ago

Superfastmatt made a great video asking the question "What's so great about Porsche?" It's about as long as an episode of TV and answers the question very well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdJYiRROeAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdJYiRROeAc If you don't have time for the full episode, jump to his drive of a modern 911: https://youtu.be/rdJYiRROeAc?t=428 https://youtu.be/rdJYiRROeAc?t=428

sumoboy 3y ago

Many car brands have cult like followers who are insanely loyal to supporting. Some of these brands like Porsche, BMW, Corvettes, and Mustangs have a long history cars that people will spend insane amount of money to buy new or restore old. The 911 if you've never drove one is just simply a fun car to drive anywhere but one could pull up to a race track for a few laps and it's a very capable car. Porsche is really good at marketing over the past 20+ years producing limited editions of car driving up the value. The sport model here is just that with dealers adding $100k to $200k additional markup fees because the numbers produced are so low, more demand than supply. The 911 is a great car to drive, fairly reliable as a daily driver and very popular with c-level buyers. On the track it's benchmark which many compare themselves so while this sport model is more than capable for 99%, the Porsche GT3 and GT3RS models are even more expensive with bigger performance upgrades. Porsche has zero problems selling these cars as fast as they can make them.

wrboyce 3y ago
Porsche purposely keep supply lower than demand, and you can’t just walk into a dealership and buy a new 911 or even get on the waiting list. You’d be advised to buy say a Macan and a Boxster first, then maybe they’d consider letting you pay a deposit for a 911 and waiting years for delivery.
- kenhwang 3y ago
  The 911 and Boxster are built on the same assembly line, which is at full capacity. If anything, it's easier to get a 911 than a Boxster right now because they're prioritizing the capacity towards 911s. They're expanding supply, it's just not growing faster than demand is. But yes, buying a Macan or Cayenne tends to move you up on the waitlist. Existing owners do get prioritized.

kenhwang 3y ago

Let's use keyboards to explain since the HN crowd tends to be much more familiar with those. Regular cars are like regular rubber dome Logitech keyboards, EVs are like smartphone on-screen keyboards. Does a mechanical keyboard actually allow better typing than those keyboards? Probably yes, but very marginally to the point where it really doesn't matter. But why do people get mechanical keyboards anyway often at 4x+ the cost? The mechanical switches have better tactile feedback. The materials of the keycaps and body are often better. There's significantly more customization and personalization options available. That's sorta the same way with Porsche. You could get a mass market Corvette or Tesla that performs just as well for track times or transport for cheaper, but the Porsche will have better feedback (steering, pedals, shifter, chassis) and better customization options. The Sport Classic would be like a limited edition collectable mechanical keyboard. Pretty pointless for someone who just needs a keyboard, but if you collect keyboards, it'd be a very special keyboard that very few others would have. Like a typewriter with usb-c.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>Let's use keyboards to explain since the HN crowd tends to be much more familiar with those. Let me go even simpler. There's still a market for expensive mechanical watches that only tell the time, yet cost more than the most expensive smart watches, and are less acurate than cheap Casios. In short, some people just appreciate beautiful mechanical cool shit and are willing to pay through the nose for it, regardless of specs and benchmarks.
- throw0101b 3y ago
  > There's still a market for expensive mechanical watches that only tell the time, yet cost more than the most expensive smart watches, and are less acurate than cheap Casios. And the mechanical watches will still be repairable and usable one hundred years from now: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BCO1lNSw-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BCO1lNSw-E * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE4E6eUulhw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE4E6eUulhw * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaVx5LJ7t_c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaVx5LJ7t_c