No, this is not a tale about how my MC beat a Porsche on the track, but better!!

Yesterday, I go to the barbershop (a place loaded with testosterone) and when I pull up, so does a new Porsche Carrera S. Out the door come two of the barbers to look at my car. Neither care anything about the Porsche. They are all over my car, inside and out, and are asking all about it. Apparently somewhat upset the Porsche driver said, "that's a girls' car". About that time, two girls come out of the store next door, and look at my car, and say "Wow, nice car", they then walked right by the Porsche and said nothing. At that point, I had to agree with the Porsche driver, and said, "Yep, I guess you are right, it does attract girls!!!"

 

HA...ha... what a chode....serves him right....

 

Hehe, good story. Sounds like his Porsche purchase was all about image, from the way he spoke about your MINI.

 

Poor Porker Driver. He'll be "member" of the month at the teeny weenie club meet.

 

I have got to admit I would not have ignored the Porsche. I was recently at a car dealer (I was looking at BMWs) and they had two Carreras parked nose to nose. One was a yellow coupe and one was a silver cabrio with a matching silver cabrio roof. These were two very impressive looking cars to me.

That is not to say that the Porsche guy in your situation didn't have issues.

 

I'm sure there is some jealousy here becase I love Porsches but most of the guys I see driving them are such "posers." It is almost like the bad reputation that "vette" jockeys had a few years ago. Speaking of "girls" car....I see a surprising amount of women in Atlanta driving Porsches.

I paraphrase Enzo Ferrari who said his biggest disappointment was 'the people who could most enjoy his cars could not afford to own them'...what he meant was young people with the reflexes and nerve to take advantage of the performance but still......

The car I see as the enthusiasts car in Atlanta is the M3.....many of them are modded with serious people behind the wheel.

 

People have their own motives for car purchases...

Some people buy them for status, some for performance, some for style, some simply from recommendation or even peer pressure.

I have the pleasure and luck to own both a Porsche 911 and MINI Cooper S. They both have benefits and drawbacks. They drive quite differently, and I own them for different reasons.

I will say that the Porsche has to be the best engineered vehicle I've ever had the good fortune to drive... As I drive newer ones and they impress me even further. Wonderful cars. Period.

I like the MINI just fine... it's a $20K car engineered like a $40K car... the Porsche is on a whole other level, however. No contest... sorry, friends.

I've met some great people in both communities of ownership... I will add that the best people are the ones who absolutely love their cars... the people who just drive them (any marque, actually) as a conveyance are not the advocates or passionate enthusiasts... just not "car people"... they're the ones who don't wave back... they're the ones who don't even know about these lists...

We're all car people here... I just hate bashing on owners via generalizations... I put up with "Jeep vs Hummer" wars for too long, too... you get posers in any circle - ignore them.

If a guy is totally geeked out about his Ford Festiva I'll listen to him... he may have some valid points, too - I'll either learn something, be entertained by his fervor, or both. It's all good.

 

Ahhhhh,....... the voice of reason, responsibility and emotional maturity.......there is no place for you on this board

You are absolutely right of course.......and I do love Porsches.

 

Its funny, because I'm lucky enough to own a Porsche too (3 actually '56 Speedster '59 A Coupe and '98 993C2s) and my Mini S JCW- which gets the most comments of all of my cars. As another voice of reason had said, the Mini has a broader apeal and still has a bit of novelty to it. Its funny how people react to cars; I had a '67 MB 280 SL and that was the proverbial chick magnet - don't ask me why but girls loved it.
I have always noticed that guys gravitated towards the Porsche type of cars and girls ignore them. My wife wouldn’t give the new GT a second look, but show her the MB SLR and she goes nuts.
It’s a great debate from a psychological level and I'm sure the manufactures love this type of stuff as to how to get the next hit on the market. I look at those Honda or Scion box cars and wonder who in the world would buy that.
Anyways, one up for the Mini! The best car, bang for the buck. It won't will any 24 hours of Le Mans, but who cares.

 

I also like Porsches, but its funny because he could tell that it pissed off the guy with the Porsche. If he had really been into cars, he might have come and looked at the MINI and demonstrated that he wasn't the stereotypical snobby Porsche owner, but rather the kind of Porsche enthusiast that really knows his car and can appreciate other cars. I have met plenty of the enthusiast type who love their Porsche for its abilities more than the name (although they do love the name :smile: ) and they tend to be the kind of car folk who will talk to you enthusiastically about your car if it excites you.

As for the Scion box thing, it kinda grows on you. We have one as our 'inexpensive, rack up the miles, and haul crap around' vehicle and it serves its purpose very well.

 

I've ridden in twin turbo'd p-cars that were putting down 500+ hp that just made your stomach grip your spine when launching to 150+. But I would still rather my MC, for a few reasons. I can afford the MC, I can afford to insure the MC, the MC has just a level of uniqueness that the P-cars dont (I see 3-4 times the Porsches than I do Coopers), and I like having a back seat (no matter how disfunctional it is).

 

Horse of a different color:

So I am coming into a rest stop from Charleston SC headed to Columbia and I see an early 90's Ferrari 348 Challenge Track Car, full race set-up. And I get out to get a drink and guy looks over at the S and says, how do you like it, I of course reply like all S lovers, and he says to me. I love car they are super cool, as a matter of fact on a recent track day I had one blow by me through the corner and was pretty amazed. So the mechanic that was with him starts in on how cool the MCS's are and off goes the conversation... heh heh. I will say this though, the ferrari was pretty cool, but hella loud when they cranked it up.

Was a pretty bizarre experience, but none the less car lovers are car lovers... Anyway, just my 2 cents.....

 

Just put a pokemon sticker on the Porsche Carrera S and that'll get the me! me! me! look at me! attention the driver needs.


ive yet to buy a car to impress anyone but myself.

 

Hehe...I had my first track day a few weeks ago and there were ALOT of Porsches there. While I was obviously in the novice class with other novices, I was able to pass a few of the Porsches which at first got some balking, not only that they were getting passed by a MINI, but a MINI driven by a girl. After a while though, they calmed down and seemed interested in my car and any time I came up behind them they waved me over quickly rather than making me sit behind them for a minute. Also, one of the instructors that gave me a ride in his Porsche seemed really interested in my car and talked to me about it for quite a while. Of course, most folks that go to the track and things like that are car lovers, and as SCar Go said, car lovers are car lovers

 

I do not think that there is a stereotype for Porsche owners being snobby. Perhaps there is a bit of projection happening in these forums. Judge the individual as an individual. Several people have both Porsches and a MINI (well, MCS)--me included. Love the car, hate the driver?

 

You're joking, right?

-mike

 

 

I hope no one interpretted my post as a slam against a Porsche. I owned a Porsche and enjoyed it. What amazed me was that this guy pay $ 130+ for the car and I paid a fraction of that, and yet no one was interested in his car. You could hear the rush of air, as his ego deflated.

 

porsches really never draw that much attention unless you're a car guy/gal. i mean they pretty much all look the same to the casual observer. that said, i want one sooooooooo bad.

 

IMO, don't bother. They're kind of a bore to drive, especially on public roads. This is coming from someone who has driven a 996 Targa a whole lot, and gotten very used to the characteristics of the car, etc, so it's not that I can't appreciate it for what it is.

This isn't intended to knock the Porsche drivers here -- to each his own, and obviously lots of people like Porsches a lot. For me, though, I feel that a MINI is way more fun: lots more tossable, you don't feel like a **** in it, and just overall way more smiles per mile.

I would, however, like to check out my friend's 997 and see whether they've improved the driving characteristics significantly over the 996. I know they sure improved the look and feel, both exterior and interior -- the 997 is just gorgeous.

-mike

 

I grew up with my uncle always having porsches in his garage. See them all the time and riding in them when you are that young only really does one thing and that is it makes you think of the cool factor. Now adays when i see a porsche on the road i can almost instantly name the model (in most cases) but it still is just another porsche unless it is a gt2 so i would go with a the porsche is more for the cool factor than any thing else unless you are an enthusiast then you understand the whole reason why porsches were built and developed

 

Funny you should mention this as my Festiva has a larger engine (1.8L turbo) and about as much power as my modded MCS (19%, GIAC) but is nearly 1000lbs lighter. The MCS is undoubtedly a better track car, but the Festiva is a lot more fun and better at going places unnoticed really quickly. It's like having a +2 cloak of invisibility in a rocketship Better gas mileage, lot more cargo room, and smoother ride too--even with the GAB struts set full hard. Turn-in and acceleration make the MCS feel positively sluggish and dull-witted in comparison. Of course chicks don't dig riding in such an embarrasing deathtrap, but I can't think of a more anti-poseur car.

 

I learn something new every day. I thought you were kidding. My brother had a Festiva that got like 50 miles to the gallon or something and my son's scooter could outhandle and out muscle his festiva. But then I did a google for ford festiva and found that there are festiva enthusiasts - no less enthusiastic than MINI owners and for a lot less money. And some were almost good looking.

Sorry for any ignorant prejudgment.

 

I think what we're really getting down to is whether someone is a true enthusiast for their car or if they are a poser. With porsches you tend to get a lot of posers (the whole reason for that SUV they now make). Those are people that have the money or want you to think they have the money to have a 'porsche'. they don't care about what the car can do and frankly most rarely use the power or handling available to them. These type of people usually do buy the car because of how it will look to others.

On the other hand there are a whole lot of true enthusiasts that buy a porsche, ferrari or even lamborghini for what they can do. the looks of a car are always subjective, but the performance isn't. Some folks just happen to be lucky enough to have the means to afford the higher end of the automotive spectrum. I've met ferrari owners that didn't know anything about the car besides that it made them look good (in their minds). On the other hand I've met plenty that had a ferarri that drove it like it was meant to and truly appreciated the car. True enthusiasts usually appreciate other cars for their strengths, even if they wouldn't own the car. These people will almost always appreciate a MINI.

 

The Cayanne is a rocketship. It feels really stable at high speed (which cannot be said for 90% of SUV's out there). Although I am more partial to it's brother, the V10 Diesel Toureg.