Monday 24th December 2012

PH buying guide: Porsche 911 Turbo (996)

Hot hatch money for a 190mph's worth of 911 Turbo? Catch it while you can...

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The word 'Turbo' holds a special place in the Porsche lexicon, so the arrival of a new 911 Turbo in 2000 was an eagerly anticipated event. Based on the 996 bodyshell but with the facelifted headlights, the big change for the new Turbo model was a switch to water cooling for the engine.

Search for Porsche 911 Turbos (996) here

Turbo equals big power and surprising value

However, the Turbo used a modified version of the 993's motor in twin-turbo 3.6-litre form. It delivered 420hp and 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds with the standard six-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel drive. A five-speed Tiptronic auto was an option, which slowed the 0-62mph time to 4.9 seconds, while top speed for the auto was 185mph compared to the manual's 189mph.

Porsche offered the X50 upgrade for the 996 Turbo from 2002, upping power to 450hp. This became standard for the Turbo S model that arrived in 2005 and shared the X50's 0-62mph time of 4.0 seconds and 192mph top speed. The Turbo S also came with carbon ceramic brakes discs as standard, an option on non-S Turbos.

A Cabriolet version of the Turbo pitched up in 2004, which was only a year before the Turbo gave way to the new 997 in 2005, though the Turbo S continued in production alongside the 997 for a short period.

Yours for the price of an average hot hatch

By the time production ended, 22,062 996 Turbo models of every type had been built. The numbers break down as:

996 Turbo coupe: 16,965
996 Turbo Cabriolet: 3534
996 Turbo S coupe: 600
996 Turbo S Cabriolet: 963

The 996 Turbo is now one of the most affordable supercars you can buy. Prices start from around £17,500, but the bulk of cars for sale are gathered in the mid to high 20s. A very late 996 Turbo S with low miles and perfect history can command £40,000.

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Owner's view
"I have owned my 2003 car since 2009 and I'm the fourth owner. It was and is my dream car and I haven't been disappointed during the 20,000 miles I've covered during this time."
Roger Critchley

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Buying guide contents:

Introduction
Powertrain
Rolling chassis
Body
Interior

Search for Porsche 911 Turbos (996) here

Thanks to RPM Porsche for providing the car for the pictures

[j_s14a]

I think it's a bit presumptuous to say prices have "bottomed out", they could still fall MUCH further. There's no precedent, as the air cooled Turbos never fell this far.

I wouldn't even call £17,500 a bargain, for £4k you could have a MKIV Supra twin turbo auto, which with basic mods costing under £1k, would be just as fast (if not a little quicker) as the 996 turbo from a rolling start.

Also, for those expecting a prestige car, the interior feels pretty low rent, with plenty of cheap plastics.

I'd still love one though, despite some quirks andquality issues. Nothing this side of a GTR will cover country roads with such pace.

[j_s14a]

RobCrezz said:

4k for a mk4 tt supra? Where?

There's a tidy, almost stock example in black on MKivsupra.net currently for £4,750 Ono, £4k ones do appear regularly now though. Do keep in mind that these are autos though, 6 speed manuals are still usually £8k+. The auto gearbox is VERY good though, and reliable upto approximately 450lb/ft, which is just beyond the limits of tuning on stock turbos anyway.

[j_s14a]

dme123 said:

Somehow I doubt most people considering £17.5k for a 911 Turbo is cross shopping for a 90s Japanese coupe with a terrible image and very Japanese styling you know.

A cheap Porsche Turbo has an equally poor image as a '90s Japanese coupe.

For the car enthusiasts among us (not the badge enthusiasts), if you were to actually try a Supra you'd discover they're an incredibly underrated car. The build quality puts the Porsche to shame, the engine sounds much nicer than the Porsche (IMO), and it's RWD. They're much cheaper to run and tune, and they're still a great looking car if they've not had an awful body kit and tacky wheels attached.