The default trim option for the 997 was most surfaces in the interior color (either plastic, leather, or soft-touch paint), with some parts, such as ventilation vents, steering wheel trim, PCM surround, and door openers, in flat Vulcan Grey or galvanized silver paint. In case of the 997.2, the PCM surround is black. There were four other trims available as option, each consisting of at least five different options:

1. Dashboard trim, shift knob, and handbrake lever
2. Ventilation vent surrounds
3. 3-spoke multi-function wheel
4. Door trim including door handle, armrest, and door opener surround
5. Center console

Ticking all five boxes in Macassar, Sycamore, or Carbon would set you back more than €7,000 back in 2006, so it’s pretty rare to find a car that has everything. This means that cars with these options are sought after, and there’s also a healthy trade in things like center consoles as people like to upgrade their interiors. I’m generally not a big fan of the trim on on the steering wheel as it is very busy.

Macassar

This is a dark streaked wood that probably looks best with Cocoa interior, as shown here. This is an official Porsche photo, showing all options. This is something that I would associate more with Jaguars or Mercedes vehicles, but it does add a touch of class.

Sycamore

This is a lighter brown. I don’t think it looks great with Sand Beige, but it might add a nice accent to the darker interior colors. This car is sand beige with all Sycamore options. Did I mention that I don’t like how busy the steering wheel looks?

Carbon

This is probably the most sought after, but reportedly prone to cracking, especially on the steering wheel. As a sixth option, the outer door sill trim could be had in carbon as well. This is certainly the sportiest looking option, if visible carbon is your thing.

This image shows a car with black interior and the carbon center console and shift knob/handbrake lever in carbon.

Aluminum look

Besides the five standard options, the aluminum option offered three additional options:

• Instrument surround in aluminum (instead of Vulcan Grey)
• Sports seats backs (also instead of Vulcan Grey)
• Outer sill covers in stainless steel.

The aluminum options were cheaper than the three other trim  variants. I think the aluminum look provides a nice contrast with a black interior, if not taken too far. The center console and steering wheel would probably be too much for me. I would certainly prefer the painted center console to tie it together with the exterior. I actually had a hard time finding pictures, so here’s a poor quality screenshot from the 997 sales brochure, showing a car with Cocoa interior.