996 c4s is this best value Porsche out there right now

[mollytherocker]

A good early 997 Carrera is pretty good value if bought with care. Early 20's?

[Por911T]

Ive have a 996 turbo, a 996 C4S, 996 C4 and now have a 997 turbo and have to say the '4S was a fantastic well rounded drivers car. So good in fact my view on the car hasn't been tainted by the much quicker turbo. Great value great car bargain price.

[ktlcyprus]

Por911T said:

Ive have a 996 turbo, a 996 C4S, 996 C4 and now have a 997 turbo and have to say the '4S was a fantastic well rounded drivers car. So good in fact my view on the car hasn't been tainted by the much quicker turbo. Great value great car bargain price.

Your one lucky guy the 996 c4s my first 911 so your opinion is great to hear considering you have have so many..I love my C4s xxx

[ktlcyprus]

KungFuPanda said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

I'm in the same position as you having bought a 996 C4S three months ago. Love the car.

The C4S shares a lot of parts with the turbo though. Brakes, suspension, aircon rads, coolant rads so general maintenance of a turbo compared with a 996 C4S would be pretty similar I reckon. Also, the turbo runs with the Mezger engine which is a lot more solid than the regular engines found in the C2 and C4 variants. With the turbo engine, you don't have to worry about bore scoring or IMS and RMS problems so much. Sure, you may have to change the turbo for a new unit at 100,000 miles but I'd rather that than have to deal with a whole engine rebuild with new parts. I love my C4S but I'd have a turbo in a heartbeat.

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

[ktlcyprus]

KungFuPanda said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

I'm in the same position as you having bought a 996 C4S three months ago. Love the car.

The C4S shares a lot of parts with the turbo though. Brakes, suspension, aircon rads, coolant rads so general maintenance of a turbo compared with a 996 C4S would be pretty similar I reckon. Also, the turbo runs with the Mezger engine which is a lot more solid than the regular engines found in the C2 and C4 variants. With the turbo engine, you don't have to worry about bore scoring or IMS and RMS problems so much. Sure, you may have to change the turbo for a new unit at 100,000 miles but I'd rather that than have to deal with a whole engine rebuild with new parts. I love my C4S but I'd have a turbo in a heartbeat.

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

[ktlcyprus]

KungFuPanda said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

I'm in the same position as you having bought a 996 C4S three months ago. Love the car.

The C4S shares a lot of parts with the turbo though. Brakes, suspension, aircon rads, coolant rads so general maintenance of a turbo compared with a 996 C4S would be pretty similar I reckon. Also, the turbo runs with the Mezger engine which is a lot more solid than the regular engines found in the C2 and C4 variants. With the turbo engine, you don't have to worry about bore scoring or IMS and RMS problems so much. Sure, you may have to change the turbo for a new unit at 100,000 miles but I'd rather that than have to deal with a whole engine rebuild with new parts. I love my C4S but I'd have a turbo in a heartbeat.

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

[uktrailmonster]

ktlcyprus said:

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

There is most definitely a risk of a rebuild on a 3.6. My 996 3.6 was rebuilt by Hartech due to bore scoring at 55K miles and it's certainly not the only one! However, having said that I'd still buy one - but with a rock solid warranty in place.

[ktlcyprus]

uktrailmonster said:

ktlcyprus said:

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

There is most definitely a risk of a rebuild on a 3.6. My 996 3.6 was rebuilt by Hartech due to bore scoring at 55K miles and it's certainly not the only one! However, having said that I'd still buy one - but with a rock solid warranty in place.

if you look on internet I'm sure you will find horror stories on the turbo also in fact any car..A well respected porsche specialist in Cardiff reakons gen 1 997s are far worse than 3:6 996s and he's been in business for 20years plus..It's all luck of the draw..

[FeelingLucky]

Tino Lazarou said:

.I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily

An astonishing thing to claim when comparing the fastest 996 to the slowest.
Faster on paper, and much much faster in practice.

I also take issue with the daily comment, clearly you've never driven a Turbo, the ridiculous torque makes it fabulous daily, and an excellent drive when not "on it"

Por911T said:

Ive have a 996 turbo, a 996 C4S, 996 C4 and now have a 997 turbo and have to say the '4S was a fantastic well rounded drivers car. So good in fact my view on the car hasn't been tainted by the much quicker turbo. Great value great car bargain price.

I will concede the C4S is the best looking 996, I would have bought one, but found the prices of Turbos too close to ignore.

[ktlcyprus]

Some interesting points thanks...But when I upgrade eventually will defo want a 997..996 turbo just don't push my buttons,it's kinda like a ugly woman who's great in bed..lol.

[FeelingLucky]

I'd take an ugly woman who's good in bed every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
But then again, I never was too shallow....

[ktlcyprus]

FeelingLucky said:

I'd take an ugly woman who's good in bed every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
But then again, I never was too shallow....

Hehehe

[gerlewis]

This thread is of interest to me, as I am considering spending money on a 911 and have been reading up for a while now. (Having previously owned hot hatches and skylines and a cayenne.)

I have never driven a 911, so this is all based on preference, and things I've read:

The best value Porsche (911) seems to be the 'Carrera 2'.

I say this as rear wheel drive is more appealing, to me at least. I've even read of C4S owners removing the 4 wheel drive components. This, coupled with only the small power hike of the C4S, extra weight, and the 50% price hike, means its really hard to overlook the C2.

Admittedly the wide-body of the C4S is more attractive.

Personally, I also prefer the original 996 headlights (sans the amber indicator section), they seem to flow better with the smooth 1990's shape of the car. Whereas the revised headlights look forced and angular.

The 996 C2 seems a whole lot of bang for the buck. I would prefer a 997 C2, but its a struggle to justify the 100% price increase over the 996.

Just my 2 cents based on many hours of trying to pick my next car!

Ger

[mattiselvis]

ktlcyprus said:

I defo agree the gen 1 997s cant compare with 996 c4s the gens 2s areamazing def an improvement in looks etc.In fact think nicer than 991.

Can't agree with that tbh. Gen 1 997s are better in every way than the 996 c4s. Value might not be the same thing, but in terms of looks, performance and handling they're on another level IMHO.

[BullyB]

I decided to go for the 996 C4S Convertible after much reading/researching. I could have got a nice 997 but just couldn't pull my eyes off the 996 - I think it is much better looking outside but a bit dated inside. It had to be the C4S with the PSE.
I wanted a road trip car for trips to Scotland & Europe (only been to Wales so far). I have an E36 M3 for hooning about in so the C4S ticked all the boxes for me.
To be totally honest, it is taking some time to fully appreciate the car and at first I didn't think it was that good... now i have done some more miles and got used to it I'm well impressed.

2 complaints: black is a bloody nightmare to keep looking good and the headlights are so bad I would class them as dangerous. Make sure you get Xenon's!

[LordHaveMurci]

mattiselvis said:

Can't agree with that tbh. Gen 1 997s are better in every way than the 996 c4s. Value might not be the same thing, but in terms of looks, performance and handling they're on another level IMHO.

More opinions than facts around here for sure.

[mollytherocker]

One correction. 996 C4S has the same power as the 996 C2. 320bhp. The pre facelift model had 300bhp.

[jimmy p]

jonttt said:

993 coupe , £30k now, £100k next year, now thats value lol

Hope not, after just selling mine I would be gutted!!!

[monthefish]

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

The turbo doesn't really cost more to maintain. I have seen C4S running costs and my turbo was no more expensive to run.

Not sure exactly how an n/a engine makes it 'a better daily', and the turbo engine is not prone to the wide reported engine problems of the C4S/C2/C4 (whatever your view is on how common these issues are).

Not knocking the C4S at all - it is a great car - but I personally think the turbo is the best value Porsche out there right now.

[ktlcyprus]

monthefish said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

The turbo doesn't really cost more to maintain. I have seen C4S running costs and my turbo was no more expensive to run.

Not sure exactly how an n/a engine makes it 'a better daily', and the turbo engine is not prone to the wide reported engine problems of the C4S/C2/C4 (whatever your view is on how common these issues are).

Not knocking the C4S at all - it is a great car - but I personally think the turbo is the best value Porsche out there right now.

Just bit excessive for a daily and if it's not a Manual the margin is even less in terms of performance,but u got a muted exhaust not higher fuel and servicing costs and an uglier looking car..U also got pay a fair amount more to buy to begin with,it all adds up..