It was a spur of the moment event so I didn't get enough pics of the car to make a proper topic in the Review section. :bah:
I went out on a Ferrari club cruise for breakfast yesterday morning and was passenger in this particular '97 993 Carrera.
On the return trip the owner said "If you wanna have a drive just let me know....".....I said "Umm, yeah, umm....if you don't have a problem then why not!"....."You have a drivers license and own a fast car yourself so I can't see why not..."
So he pulled over and in I got.
First thing I noticed is the offset pedals, my legs were angled to the left (RHD remember) which felt very weird. I took it slow at first as I was getting used to it all.
The indicator stalk is on the opposite side to my car so I kept turning on the window wipers instead of indicating.
ops:
This car was a tiptronic (unforunately) and I left it in auto mode initially, which was just plain boring IMO. It felt so clinical and with nothing to do I really wasn't impressed at all.
Much better once I started changing gears with the wheel-mounted buttons, still not as good as having a clutch but its still a Porsche so I can't complain. At slow speed and light throttle the changes are very slow and jerky, quite a strange and akward feeling infact. Put the foot down and change (without lifting) and its a different story, obviously nothing like the CS or F430 systems I've tried but not bad for a nearly 10yo car.
The sound of the air-cooled engine is nice too, sounds rough and raspy but I like it....and at idle its not too different from a (stock) WRX actually (both have boxer engines in the end).
The interior is a bit of a let-down, not a big fan of it. The exterior is a different story though - still the sexiest shape in the 911 lineup IMO.
So all up I spent ~45mins behind the wheel, and though I wasn't over-awed it was still nice to add a 911 to my list of driven cars.
I would really like to own a manual 993 Carrera S oneday though, maybe in a couple of years.