Back in Black, this man's journey back into a Porsche.

Well, that didn’t last long.   

While my Audi RS3 will probably go down in history as my best overall sports car, I still strayed. Kinda sounds like I need counseling but let me explain.   

I obsessed over the New Audi’s depreciation from day one.  I should really be driving  Kia Stinger given my income level, so I rationalize my $tupidity by claiming that my cars are an investment as well as transportation. This lie I tell myself and others works better with older cars.   

This is indeed an "old" car.  2010 was over 10 years ago, though its hard to believe.  Pic taken on Colorado's Peak to Peak Hwy this fall.

My unfaithfulness toward the Audi is also because I love Porsches more than I can explain.  Those Carrera roots go deep under every racetrack in the world. I really dig that connection and history.  Also they have always been so purpose-built.  They are attractive merely by coincidence and in such a no nonselse way. I’ve never gotten over my white 993 Carrera 2S, and never will.  Porsches are my kryptonite.

While I doubled my investment selling the 993, no amound of money could fill the hole selling put in my heart.  If course I rationalized selling pretty well, but now that it's been gone I realized i'll never be the same.

Opportunity knocked 18 months after buying the damn RS3, I wasn't quite done enjoying it but when you can buy locally, quickly and with confidence it can be quite motivating.  I managed to trade in the RS3 for this C4S with  Alex, a buddy that happens to be a classic German car broker.  This was just the kind of dumb move I was interested in making!

These were the only pics I saw before buying the car. I don't recommend such foolishness, but I do well with my gut. Frankly, knowing Alex, I couldn’t really go too wrong. 

The 997.2 has been explained in many YouTube videos by may self-proclaimed video journalists.  This information age we live in is quite exhausting.  But I’ll sum it up here if you still have a rotary phone.

• No bore scoring or IMS bearing failures as  prevalently found in the preceeding 996 and  997.1 variants.  So you're free from worry of failures or the strain proactive treatments. Moreover, you're also free of annoying conversations where you give or receive advise on these issues all the damn time.
• Direct injection!   More power from smart engineering.  The 997.2 brought this technology into the Carrera and it's cool.       
• None of the steering vagueness of the newer electric steering.  The 997.2 was the end of the line for good old hydraulic steering now romanticized just like manual steering was 20 years ago. Yes, it will be sorted out eventually, but presently the electric steering is a dissapointment to enthusiasts and magazine writers.
• The 997.2 (or any 997 variant) is an agreeable size.  It is much larger than the more “classic” Porsches of the 90’s but the upside is that it now seems lean and mean compared to the massive obesity of more current Carreras.

The  997.2 fits squarly between these two cars in size.

I certainly dig AWD and I've always thought it would please me in Colorado where the mountains have lots of shady switchbacks that can be slippery in spring.  Frankly, i'm in the minority but I'm okay with that if I keep taking my pills.

Besides the "4S" on the badge, the full width reflector tells you this is AWD.  And the noise will tell you about the Tubi exhaust underneath!  I'm way to cheap to buy such an exhaust, but buying it on a used car makes it free. Woo hoo.

PDK?    It's not as boring as a traditional automatics.  PDK was the only affordable option.  All you nostalgic bastards have driven the prices out of reach for a manual transmission.  Frankly my arthritic ankle and torn rotator cuff thank the PDK. Besides, with all the vaping and Starbucks I consume I often need my right hand free  

I immediately swapped controls away from the tan leather. Black alcantara wheel, shifer & e-brake we’re essential upgrades. Flappy paddles came with the new wheel, which was much appreciated over stupid bottons Porsche provided back in 2010.

Black?  I hate black, but it dose look good.  It's hard to keep clean, but it is quite easy to touch up.    That said a ceramic coating from Tyler and a subscription to the local Autowash has proven to make the color acceptable.  But to be honest, I’ve not kept many cars longer than the life of a set of tires, so what am I worrying about?

Fear of scratches haunts my days and nights.
Many panels covered in wrap,  full ceramic too.
Thanks to Tyler White at Simply Clean

Now buying more car than you can afford is a special kind of stupid, but I like to think that I have a certain brilliance.  Buy German and don't buy Italian, for starters.   Utilize a reasonable amount of intelligence and education along with professional guidance and a Porsche can be relatively inexpensive once you survive the initial purchase.  Certainly you should be prepared for the unexpected and don't defer maintenance, but a suprise expenses in a well selected 997.2 can be quite unlikely.  

My ultimate dream is to swap my way back into a 1998 993 Carrera 4S or 2S  eventually.   A lofty dream indeed since  90's cars are skyrocketing.  The 997.2 is  growing momentum as a classic on it's own, so somehow I’ll make due.   Poor me.

 

Bonus content below, my son Cameron’s Jeep XJ Project walk around.