Also, no longer does aforementioned Doberman pup crawl forward until he's sitting on top of the shift knob. Going down 19th Ave without the luxury of shifting is.... interesting. Learn from our mistakes; the 996 is not a car that appreciates being started from a stop in fifth gear. It'll go, but it's going to sound like it's about to die. And everyone will stare, go "aha!, he's stalling his car", and then look confused as you lug on, business as usual.
We don't get angry stares from the old people in front of Stacks in the morning. 996 + Tubi mufflers + cold mornings + even staying under 2k = dirty looks. We found ourselves apologizing every Saturday and Sunday morning as we took the dog to Fort Funston. I don't know what kind of looks our neighbor got--his exhaust was quiet and stock, but his idea of starting from a stop was to rev to 4k and grind the gear slowly in, and then continue to ride the clutch. (The neighbor's transmission eventually crapped out on him, while we were on a NYE trip together in Napa. We thought he was joking/being lazy/being drunk when he called us for help getting to the destination. Apparently not.)
The best part: nobody tries to race the XC60. Long gone are the days where we'll be trotting innocently through traffic, staying in one lane, going the same speed as the car in front of us, when a Golf will catch sight of us, honk several times, then maze-travel his way slowly through traffic and then flash his hazards triumphantly at us. Young Asian kids in e46 m3's were very pull-right-up-next-to-us-and-rev happy. I think a lot of people don't grasp the difference between a sports car and a sporty car--Acura TL-S drivers had an odd fascination with us that we never understood. Thankfully, if we did want to get away, the car had great fourth gear, mid range torque. It's about the curve, more than the peak numbers. And honestly, out of all the fabulous cars in the Bay Area, why pick an old Porsche? There are so many cooler cars to the ricer's disposal here.
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