996 Turbo: First Day of Ownership!

[thegoose]

The car looks nice, glad you're enjoying it.

The window film should just peel off, although a Stanley knife blade might help get it started at the edge. Careful when you get to the bottom, go easy and try to make sure you get it all in one (if it snaps off below the seal you'll have to take the door card off to get to it). You may need something like brake cleaner, panel wipe or even petrol (all to be used with care) to remove glue residue from the glass, then clean with normal glass cleaner.

[mikep240]

Great looking car Science Teacher. As others have said, welcome to the club.

I also bought my 996 turbo from Joel at RSJ, still love it as much now 26 months later as I did when I first got it. They are a great dealer to buy from in my experience, so I kind of know where you are coming from on that front.

Joel also talked me in to having GT silver wheels on my Arctic car-they set it off a treat! Enjoy yourself learning about just how capable these cars are, as the guys have said, they are just superb bits of kit. The fact that they appear to be appreciating is just the icing on the cake.

[Siko]

Seems like RSJ is a good place to buy from. Curious as to why their silver 996 Turbo hasn't sold yet, it's a manual in a decent colour combo and sounds (and looks) great plus it's very keenly priced from a very well respected dealer. I read the thread about it on 911uk but nothing given away on there, bit too far away for me to go down on the off chance tbh, but maybe someone on here has seen it in the flesh?

[ScienceTeacher]

monthefish said:

There is very little turbo lag, verging on none in my opinion, and besides the 3.6 lump will have more thrust than your old 3.4's, even before the turbo comes into effect.

You are right there is all round more oomph than the 3.4's of course. I do sense a slight girding of loins when I promptly put the foot down, though. My dad's Range Rover Classic Tdi from 1994 was extraordinary in this regard . The lag was so bad that you could announce to you companion that this is what turbo lag feels like before the modest boost hit. I believe the there is an old top gear video of Chris Joffy (sp?) doing just this.

[ScienceTeacher]

Siko said:

Seems like RSJ is a good place to buy from. Curious as to why their silver 996 Turbo hasn't sold yet, it's a manual in a decent colour combo and sounds (and looks) great plus it's very keenly priced from a very well respected dealer. I read the thread about it on 911uk but nothing given away on there, bit too far away for me to go down on the off chance tbh, but maybe someone on here has seen it in the flesh?

He has sold it.

[cheekyone]

Very nice looking car - Like the dark wheels - Can't wait till the spring & get out more when it's dry

[hygt2]

There's lag even on a standard car. Most noticeable when in the same gear and you vary the throttle input when going over dips or crests - like you back off partly for 0.5s and then going back on the throttle, there is a lag. Not bad for a turbo car but not the electric response from a good N/A engine.

[ScienceTeacher]

Well I'm now on about the 500th day of ownership of my manual '04 996 Turbo and nearly at 73,000 miles. I don't expect to be selling it any time soon. I have hardly driven the car at all hard and I am learning how it handles every journey,, but do not have the opportunity to drive it that much. Some points of interest:
- It's a good car. I take it now to Nineexcellence and I am very pleased with their expertise and service. Joel at RSJ has also been a pleasure to deal with.
- It's averaged 23mpg over 9,000 miles.
- Servicing and maintenance has cost me ~ £6,000. Don't be fooled if anyone tells you they're cheap to run. Items include: Major service, various coolant plumbing, pads, battery tray patch, both actuators, front top mounts, heat shields, rear tyres (just old, not down on tread), and various maintenance bits.
- Car suffers from intermittent pad warning light. An upstream wiring problem so others on here have kindly told me. Reading quoted £1,300 for the fix; Autoelectrix in Swindon between £140 and £320. They knew the problem well; Reading didn't... guess who Reading were going to send the car too... £1K profit to them. It doesn't happen often, but I should take it in shortly.
- Slight rattle from sunroof. Felt tape?
- Brakes seem worryingly weak. A combination of 1: They are 2: I'm probably carrying more speed 3: I am not used to nailing the pedal and also the brakes seem better when warmed up a bit. Ken says they're OK. Braided hoses will improve the pedal response a bit, but worryingly might involve replacing brake pipes (1over the engine ... !) This suddenly brings the worst case risk of raising the price of the upgrade by almost an order of magnitude.
- Lapis blue and baby poo look really good in the metal and quite chic. Not sure that's a recognised term (chic) amongst pork fans. Loads of smart cars seem now to be in a version of Lapis, especially MacLarens, and baby poo seems also to be more popular.
- Boosts usually to 0.6, sometimes 0.7 and I once saw 0.8.
- Careful long distance cruising will keep up to 30 mpg; aggressive low gear boost sees 15.

I cannot think sensibly of what to replace it with. I'd like a 6.2 GT3 but I'm into cruising and GT3 s are less suited to this and my little lad can't get in the back. The Turbo is great on the motorway and really hauls ass effortlessly. A GT3 would be more frenzied I suspect. I think I prefer the 996 to a 997, but wouldn't turn down a like for like swap, basically because a '7 is a bit newer. Apologies no more pics. Will try to rectify.

[monthefish]

ScienceTeacher said:

- Servicing and maintenance has cost me ~ £6,000.

The appreciation in value will pick up that tab.

ScienceTeacher said:

I cannot think sensibly of what to replace it with.

There isn't anything, certainly not within about £20-30k of the turbo's value.

I sold mine. It was a mistake. I know this now.

[Rockster]

ScienceTeacher said:

Well I'm now on about the 500th day of ownership of my manual '04 996 Turbo and nearly at 73,000 miles. I don't expect to be selling it any time soon. I have hardly driven the car at all hard and I am learning how it handles every journey,, but do not have the opportunity to drive it that much. Some points of interest:
- It's a good car. I take it now to Nineexcellence and I am very pleased with their expertise and service. Joel at RSJ has also been a pleasure to deal with.
- It's averaged 23mpg over 9,000 miles.
- Servicing and maintenance has cost me ~ £6,000. Don't be fooled if anyone tells you they're cheap to run. Items include: Major service, various coolant plumbing, pads, battery tray patch, both actuators, front top mounts, heat shields, rear tyres (just old, not down on tread), and various maintenance bits.
- Car suffers from intermittent pad warning light. An upstream wiring problem so others on here have kindly told me. Reading quoted £1,300 for the fix; Autoelectrix in Swindon between £140 and £320. They knew the problem well; Reading didn't... guess who Reading were going to send the car too... £1K profit to them. It doesn't happen often, but I should take it in shortly.
- Slight rattle from sunroof. Felt tape?
- Brakes seem worryingly weak. A combination of 1: They are 2: I'm probably carrying more speed 3: I am not used to nailing the pedal and also the brakes seem better when warmed up a bit. Ken says they're OK. Braided hoses will improve the pedal response a bit, but worryingly might involve replacing brake pipes (1over the engine ... !) This suddenly brings the worst case risk of raising the price of the upgrade by almost an order of magnitude.
- Lapis blue and baby poo look really good in the metal and quite chic. Not sure that's a recognised term (chic) amongst pork fans. Loads of smart cars seem now to be in a version of Lapis, especially MacLarens, and baby poo seems also to be more popular.
- Boosts usually to 0.6, sometimes 0.7 and I once saw 0.8.
- Careful long distance cruising will keep up to 30 mpg; aggressive low gear boost sees 15.

I cannot think sensibly of what to replace it with. I'd like a 6.2 GT3 but I'm into cruising and GT3 s are less suited to this and my little lad can't get in the back. The Turbo is great on the motorway and really hauls ass effortlessly. A GT3 would be more frenzied I suspect. I think I prefer the 996 to a 997, but wouldn't turn down a like for like swap, basically because a '7 is a bit newer. Apologies no more pics. Will try to rectify.

My 2003 Turbo's brakes are very good. Haul the car down in short order from speed. The fronts lasted around 120K miles. The rears are fine now with over 146K miles on the car.

Be sure you get the brake fluid flushed/bled every 2 years.

When I first got my car -- used with just 10K miles on it -- the brake disc holes were plugged up with rust/brake dust. It seems about all the 1st owner did was roll the car out of the garage to wash the car then put it away again. I had to take a round file and clean out the holes.

Nominally max. boost is 0.7 bar. But the boost level can vary. If the torque demanded by the driver can be satisfied with less boost, then you will not see 0.7 bar. If the DME determines more boost is necessary then you can see 0.8 bar, and I've even seen 0.9 bar at higher elevations of nearly 9K feet.

I've never managed 30mpg. The best I've managed is probably 28mpg but barely. 26mpg is more like it and my work commute and some bit of city driving has this down to the high to mid teens.

Felt is good for curing rattles. My 2003 manifested rattles with its 1st owner and the car was in the shop for this a few times. My car is quiet now.

No pad warning light for me. But the engine manifests some misfires once in a while on a cold start. Same cylinders: #3 and #6. Recently had new plugs and coils installed -- the coils were original with 145K miles on them -- and while the engine perked up a bit the misfires persisted. Tech thinks the misfires are from a couple of lazy/sticking injectors. Engine never misfires at any other times, so I'm not too worried about it.

Lapis blue is a great color. My 2002 Boxster is Lapis blue and the color has held up very well. After a wash and a rub down the car still draws compliments. People can't believe the car has over 302K miles on it.

Oh, my Turbo is arctic silver with black interior. I feel like a Swiss banker when I drive the thing. Need a Swiss bank salary though to maintain the car and deal with the issues over the years. The Turbo is not an inexpensive car to maintain/service and if any issues arise... Oh boy.

Have never tracked my cars and I don't get a chance to really push the Turbo that hard. It is so fast one really needs wide open spaces and I got a chance to enjoy the car, if you know what I mean, when I used to drive half way across the USA -- the western part -- and my routes had me covering lots of relatively empty highway in the desert areas.

But in more populated areas, areas with traffic, forget about it. Just a quick run up through a gear or two when getting on the freeway but around here the limit is 65mph and that doesn't give the Turbo a chance to stretch its legs.

Great GT car. I have not had a chance to take it on a long road trip now since mid-2012 but I hope to when I can take some vacation time hit the road again with it.

[mudy]

Between rockster and the op this thread is beautifully written - what an enjoyable Sunday morning read!
As a fellow 911 turbo owner (albeit an '88) I know how expensive these old girls can be - every visit to the garage is at least a grand, sometimes 2!
Great, characterful cars - I can see why the 996 tt is now worth so much - still so much car for the money, what else would you buy?

[csmith319]

ScienceTeacher said:

Well I'm now on about the 500th day of ownership of my manual '04 996 Turbo and nearly at 73,000 miles. I don't expect to be selling it any time soon. I have hardly driven the car at all hard and I am learning how it handles every journey,, but do not have the opportunity to drive it that much. Some points of interest:
- It's a good car. I take it now to Nineexcellence and I am very pleased with their expertise and service. Joel at RSJ has also been a pleasure to deal with.
- It's averaged 23mpg over 9,000 miles.
- Servicing and maintenance has cost me ~ £6,000. Don't be fooled if anyone tells you they're cheap to run. Items include: Major service, various coolant plumbing, pads, battery tray patch, both actuators, front top mounts, heat shields, rear tyres (just old, not down on tread), and various maintenance bits.
- Car suffers from intermittent pad warning light. An upstream wiring problem so others on here have kindly told me. Reading quoted £1,300 for the fix; Autoelectrix in Swindon between £140 and £320. They knew the problem well; Reading didn't... guess who Reading were going to send the car too... £1K profit to them. It doesn't happen often, but I should take it in shortly.
- Slight rattle from sunroof. Felt tape?
- Brakes seem worryingly weak. A combination of 1: They are 2: I'm probably carrying more speed 3: I am not used to nailing the pedal and also the brakes seem better when warmed up a bit. Ken says they're OK. Braided hoses will improve the pedal response a bit, but worryingly might involve replacing brake pipes (1over the engine ... !) This suddenly brings the worst case risk of raising the price of the upgrade by almost an order of magnitude.
- Lapis blue and baby poo look really good in the metal and quite chic. Not sure that's a recognised term (chic) amongst pork fans. Loads of smart cars seem now to be in a version of Lapis, especially MacLarens, and baby poo seems also to be more popular.
- Boosts usually to 0.6, sometimes 0.7 and I once saw 0.8.
- Careful long distance cruising will keep up to 30 mpg; aggressive low gear boost sees 15.

I cannot think sensibly of what to replace it with. I'd like a 6.2 GT3 but I'm into cruising and GT3 s are less suited to this and my little lad can't get in the back. The Turbo is great on the motorway and really hauls ass effortlessly. A GT3 would be more frenzied I suspect. I think I prefer the 996 to a 997, but wouldn't turn down a like for like swap, basically because a '7 is a bit newer. Apologies no more pics. Will try to rectify.

I'm surprised RSJ hadn't sorted a lot of his stuff before selling it on - old tyres, heat shields etc - these should have been spotted and sorted. Annoys me when I hear of specialists who sell at a premium but actually just detail a car and do nothing more than a private sale... If have gone back to Joel and made a point of this - I did and to be fair he paid for some of the work is needed done, but it's still disappointing.

[Adam B]

Congratulations OP - looks lovely in lapis (not sure I could live with savannah but glad you like it), nothing like the boost

monthefish said:

There is very little turbo lag, verging on none in my opinion, and besides the 3.6 lump will have more thrust than your old 3.4's, even before the turbo comes into effect.

Nonsense IMHO, every turbo has some lag although modern tech and twin turbos have done a good job at reducing it, also agree that the basic lump is torquey enough to give you some decent performance before the turbos kick in. Every generation of 911 turbo has improved responsiveness slightly, my 997 turbo seems a fraction less laggy than the 996s I tried but is so noticeable in the circumstances the OP describes (low revs low speed) I don't understand the little/no lag comments.

Maybe just rose tinted specs, hey I own a 911 turbo so I have a pair too but I can at least see out of them

For a view on turbos and lag I like this guys approach (from 5.15)

https://youtu.be/ISIUGwt_t6w

[chriscoates81]

Try putting your foot down in a 996 turbo at 30mph in 2nd gear, thats when i notice a bit of lag, not so much any other time.

[Adam B]

Same goes for 1st gear at 10mph, 3rd gear at 40mph, 4th gear at 50mph etc

You can't beat the basic engineering of a turbo, of course you drive around by dropping a gear. Same for needing to keep an n/a engine at high revs to keep at peak power. But do deny less responsiveness of max turbo power is just silly IMHO

Edited by Adam B on Sunday 31st July 17:12

[chriscoates81]

But at 30 you can't really put it in 1st to keep revs up.

[monthefish]

Adam B said:

monthefish said:

There is very little turbo lag, verging on none in my opinion, and besides the 3.6 lump will have more thrust than your old 3.4's, even before the turbo comes into effect.

Nonsense IMHO, every turbo has some lag although modern tech and twin turbos have done a good job at reducing it, also agree that the basic lump is torquey enough to give you some decent performance before the turbos kick in. Every generation of 911 turbo has improved responsiveness slightly, my 997 turbo seems a fraction less laggy than the 996s I tried but is so noticeable in the circumstances the OP describes (low revs low speed) I don't understand the little/no lag comments.

Maybe just rose tinted specs, hey I own a 911 turbo so I have a pair too but I can at least see out of them

It's all relative.
Have you ever driven anything turbo'd from the 80's?

Even if you drive an N/A car, and floor it at 15mp in 5th gear, it'll take time for the engine to come on cam and take off. It's just with a turbo (and more so, two of them) that 'take off' is more pronounced.

I maintain that the 996 turbo has very little turbo lag, verging on none.

[monthefish]

chriscoates81 said:

Try putting your foot down in a 996 turbo at 30mph in 2nd gear, thats when i notice a bit of lag, not so much any other time.

Try the same thing in a GT3. Won't be any quicker.

[chriscoates81]

monthefish said:

Try the same thing in a GT3. Won't be any quicker.

OK I thought it would be, it's been 3 years since I've driven my last n/a 911. The booster I had in June when my car was in for servicing but that had pdk and was a 2.7 so probably was better in that respect as would be higher up the reg band in the same gear.

[Bieldside]

halfpenny43 said:

Lovely car and nice story.
I'm off to test drive a 996 Turbo in the next day or two and decide if I want to swap my 993 C2 for it.

Please do continue to update your journey with the car.

Don't go there
Keep your 993
A real Porsche
I have a 9934S and and a 991 GT3
The 993 all day long
Never ever to be sold !