996 Turbos

[Disco]

Hi guys, first time posting in this section ! - I’m looking at a 996 Turbo cabriolet, manual to buy. I’ve had old Porsche before, but know very little about the 996 Turbo.

I know on the standard 996 you have to worry about the IMS, but the turbo has a different engine and I understand that means no IMS problems?

Anything else I need to be wary of? It’s done 96k, so quite reasonable and presents well, drives nicely and has a fair amount of poke, but generally what do I need to look out for ?

Thank you !

Disco

[stretch]

I would be looking at the bills to see if there's been any evidence of suspension refresh works. The 996 range usually needs a full suspension refresh around the 70k mark Stuff like coffin arms, bushes, brakes etc. A pre-purchase inspection would be worth doing for the sake of a few hundred quid.

This thread might help .https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/top ... &t=2009837

[Disco]

Thanks for this Stretch. I think you’re right about the pre-inspection, well worth the money !

All the best, joe

[tob_today]

It has the Mezger engine so no worries about the typical M96/7 engine issues like IMS, bore scoring, etc. I would definitely recommend a PPI from trusted expert. These things can be big money to maintain, so I'd be looking for lots of paperwork evidence showing caring owner at respected indy, otherwise deferred maintenance can be money pit. Then PPI will give you added peace of mind on top.

[stretch]

Joe, don't rule out the early manual 996 C2. From what i have read the turbo's are not that engaging to drive. No experience of this myself though, and i am biased.

8889ba1a-271c-40d8-aa5b-5b4b2790aa28-IMG_2456 by stretch1985, on Flickr

[tob_today]

Lots of options with 996's, very different cars with different characters. I've got 996.1 C2 + 996.2 GT3 and I've driven C4S's and Turbos.

My personal choice is narrow body + rear drive. The bigger body cars have more heft to them, which many like. People argue about 2wd vs 4wd, depends on preference. I prefer more steering feel of 2wd.

The turbos are great long distance cars, with big power delivery. Although I'm a NA guy personally.

Plenty of choice, just depends what you are looking for.

[hot66]

with the turbo the 'block' is the Metzger unit as used in the gt3 etc so thats sound .

Its all the ancillaries etc that you need to check out as quality of fittings were shite. I had a really nice low milage manual car which had been mapped with reportedly over 500 bhp and it went like a rocket and was exceptionally clean. Even then though I had a minor coolant leak from the alloy pipe that ran the length of the car, it had perforated where the clamp that held it to the body was. As is always the case, only way to replace the pipe was an engine out job, which itself is approx 10 hours out and and back in again ! Also with this block, you need to keep an eye on the coolant pipe sleeves as these are bonded in and many a GT3 and turbo have had these fail and dump coolant everywhere. Solution is either to pin them or as we did , get them welded in place whilst the engine was out.

As above though ... although my car was very quick, once the novelty wore off I didnt enjoy it as much as I thought. My mates early 1998 C2 manual on factory sports suspension is more fun to chuck down the lanes .

[Sam]

Driving a wide body 996 feels pretty identical to slapping a lake with a scaffold board.

[964RS]

Check all suspension, all brakes and lines and all coolant pipes and rads. All fail and all are relatively expensive to sort. At that mileage I'd like to see lots of bills for things already replaced/sorted.

I ran a 996 Turbo as a daily back in the early 2000's. It's still the only car that made me wet myself with laughter when it came out, it was just ridiculously quick at the time and the turbo made you giggle like a school girl. They are a 1000x better than a standard 996 in any form imho...

[Disco]

All fantastic help, even Sams comment about throwing a sausage down the Dartford Tunnel made me giggle.

If truth be told, I’ve got an expensive m6 cabriolet, that whilst an amazing car for me, is something that is un-drivable by the wife- she’s p*ssed that I’m the only one that drives nice cars, so wants one for herself. A 911 Turbo is a bucket list car for me, but I can’t afford the 997 Turbo and don’t see them appreciating in the next 5 years.. the 996 is something that I’ve warmed to more recently, I like the stance.. and I feel that ( cost of ownership aside ) they’re only going up, long term.

Having lost the best part of a spleen on the M6 cab, I feel like I need a breather from depreciation.

I love the idea of driving like a loonie around county lanes, but really, it’s going to be a daily driver for her with me cleaning it at the weekend and maybe taking it on a few European jaunts.

Cheers

[hot66]

Big question to ask then is …. Does she want a 996 turbo ?

They’re not exactly luxury cars or expensive feeling cars inside.

[abzadams]

I've just jumped out of an early 911 and into a late turbo, having sold my 72 T recently.

My reasons were the context of of where I am living (Glasgow) and having a small family I wanted something that was more usable in the Scottish weather and a little safer.

I read all the buyer guides, did my homework and most people here have summed it up what to look for. I had a PPI done and it did highlight some issues which the dealer did for me as part of the deal. There is also some ongoing things that I will take care of over time, much as I did with my early car.

I only picked my car up last month, so I haven't had huge mileage on it (apart from driving it back up to Glasgow), but I was surprised how many 'nods' there were to my early cars. Yes its heavier, but also a lot of fun as people have said and at the moment it suits MY needs. I tried narrow bodied (2wd and 4wd) and an X51, but was always drawn to the Turbo, for looks and I actually liked the way it drove. Im looking forward to getting mine upto the hills when the weather improves for a good blast. I did come back through N Wales and had a few runs through Snowdonia and it was great.

I know this post was originally about problems with Turbos but it moved to views on the turbo, bottom line is, ask 100 people, you will get 100 different answers, try a few, but only you will know if a car suits you or not!

[Sam]

> ask 100 people, you will get 100 different answers.

Yeh but 99 of them will never have even plank-lake-slapped, so you can’t trust them even a little bit.

[Disco]

Big question to ask then is …. Does she want a 996 turbo ?

They’re not exactly luxury cars or expensive feeling cars inside.

Very true, I’m hoping to get a feel for a tip tronic turbo next week. The manual cab is a no go. I spoke with a PPI company that had already seen the car and advised that it had been over-reved. I thought that was what the cut out was for - so not something I’m going to take forward.. shame really, presented very well.

Joe

[hot66]

depends what level of over-rev it is .... banging into the rev limiter on the way up I dont see as an issue ( every car I've ever had I done this to ) ... over revs on the down the shift is a different matter