Knackered old Porsche with loads of miles - 996 content
Discussion
Posting after being bugged to!
So lets cut to the chase:
Original IMS, original engine, original gearbox.
Built for commuting across Europe and the top end of Africa at speed it can carry 96L of fuel, generate it's own 240V mains supply, has three GPS receivers and one GLONASS receiver, a sat phone, telemetry, remote diagnostics, it's own specific lightweight Facom tool kit & spares package, 48hour emergency food and water, holds 10L of engine oil, can wade 0.5M of water, has BS5051 spec seal sealing tyres along with TPMS, a lot of underbody protection and a Tomtom!
It can also give quite a reasonable account of itself around a circuit and is capable of over 420 miles range at a 125mph cruise.
Spiny GoPro Video
Mechanically the car is quite different to a standard narrow body C4 (which it started out as). Brakes are 350mm front with Brembo 6 Piston calipers, rears are 330mm with what were the original front calipers. Master cylinder is larger accordingly and the ABS & PSM have a none standard calibration to suit. Dampers are Ohlins and are essentially a modified version of their 996 Turbo R&T kit with damper valving and spring rates specific to this car along with redesigned lower and upper mounts to suit. Front uprights are modified to carry a slightly different and much strong wheel bearing along with the brake caliper mounts. Top mounts are all sphericals and specific to the car/Ohlins damper package. Lots of other bits are on spherical bearings, track rods are stronger, rack mounts are stronger, PAS solid lines are formed Ti, brake lines are formed Ti etc. etc. drive shafts are standard but with Kluber grease. Clutch is standard from the Porsche dealer, release bearing is packed with Kluber again but otherwise standard....
The motor is "standard" as above, it has been opened to replace a few variocam bits when they wore out but has never had the heads off, never had an IMS (it's a decent 3.4 with the dual row bearing) and has had two RMS seals with each clutch change. It's just coming up to it's next clutch service at 305K miles. It has very low loss exhausts with no cats and a single silencer per bank which also double as rear quarter crumple zones, equal length exhaust manifolds, low loss induction/filtration, 82mm throttle body, ECU calibration is specific to the car, various bits of engine loom are Type 55 in DR25, the coils are none standard (mainly for sealing so it can wade), oil system is quite different with a more efficient breather system, much improved baffling and a larger capacity sump. It is comfortably up on where it was when it left Germany even at these miles. There are also various other bits like semi-solid engine mounts, a gear linkage and cable setup that is specific to the car etc. etc. It compression tests bang on what Porsche say it should. Uses 0.3L of oil per 1000 miles if below 4000RPM or 0.6L if above 5500RPM and what little evidence of bore scoring there is in there is no worse than on a 50K mile Duratec.
Due to the fact the nose is packed with fuel it also has additional bumper bar supports, a strengthened boot floor and both tanks run with bags and foam. The primary tank has redundant pumps with proper lift pumps and a collector whilst the secondary tank has a low pressure transfer pump to feed the main tank once it is below 50% level - this method keeps the weight distribution more correct as fuel is burned. It is also possible to return fuel to the second tank if it is necessary to fuel another vehicle from this car. Unfortunately due to the fact it has a front diff it is not possible to use a single 100L bag tank as per the race cars do, on the bright side this does avoid having the filler in the centre of the boot lid which would rather give the game away.
The above controls the transfer pumps, countermeasures and wet/dry mode. There is also a 3.375 litre AFF fire suppressant system designed to defeat a fuel or engine fire for long enough to safely exit the car.
A lot of work went into packaging and weight reduction. The car has no aircon (removed to boost engine cooling as well as reduce weight, it will hold below 88 degrees at 6800RPM in 6th for as long as the fuel lasts), less sound deadening, a lot of Ti fasteners and excess threads removed, various bits of suspension that on the standard car are cast solids are now machined hollow items, exhaust system is much lighter than standard, no rear wiper, aircraft battery etc. etc. so whilst it has a lot of kit onboard and is 4WD it is actually only 13KGs more than a Mk1 GT3 and has fairly respectable corner weights for what it is:
It's not a pretty car by any means but it was never built to be. It was built to be strong and reliable. Whilst it has paint every so often it spends a lot of time looking like this:
Occasionally doing things that Porsche's shouldn't, like moving hay bales:
And at one point earlier this year had a good go at killing every flying insect in France over an 8 hour period:
There is way more on it than mentioned above as it has developed over many years but listing every nut and bolt isn't really practical, not to mentioned I can't remember everything that's not standard! Whilst it does get seriously well looked after and a lot of components on it are lifed rather than replaced when they fail I still think it needs a lot of credit for always making it back home and generally being an incredibly practical and incredibly reliable fast transport. It is after all 17 years and 300K miles old..... and it'll see 400K out before it's 20th!
So lets cut to the chase:
Original IMS, original engine, original gearbox.
Built for commuting across Europe and the top end of Africa at speed it can carry 96L of fuel, generate it's own 240V mains supply, has three GPS receivers and one GLONASS receiver, a sat phone, telemetry, remote diagnostics, it's own specific lightweight Facom tool kit & spares package, 48hour emergency food and water, holds 10L of engine oil, can wade 0.5M of water, has BS5051 spec seal sealing tyres along with TPMS, a lot of underbody protection and a Tomtom!
It can also give quite a reasonable account of itself around a circuit and is capable of over 420 miles range at a 125mph cruise.
Spiny GoPro Video
Mechanically the car is quite different to a standard narrow body C4 (which it started out as). Brakes are 350mm front with Brembo 6 Piston calipers, rears are 330mm with what were the original front calipers. Master cylinder is larger accordingly and the ABS & PSM have a none standard calibration to suit. Dampers are Ohlins and are essentially a modified version of their 996 Turbo R&T kit with damper valving and spring rates specific to this car along with redesigned lower and upper mounts to suit. Front uprights are modified to carry a slightly different and much strong wheel bearing along with the brake caliper mounts. Top mounts are all sphericals and specific to the car/Ohlins damper package. Lots of other bits are on spherical bearings, track rods are stronger, rack mounts are stronger, PAS solid lines are formed Ti, brake lines are formed Ti etc. etc. drive shafts are standard but with Kluber grease. Clutch is standard from the Porsche dealer, release bearing is packed with Kluber again but otherwise standard....
The motor is "standard" as above, it has been opened to replace a few variocam bits when they wore out but has never had the heads off, never had an IMS (it's a decent 3.4 with the dual row bearing) and has had two RMS seals with each clutch change. It's just coming up to it's next clutch service at 305K miles. It has very low loss exhausts with no cats and a single silencer per bank which also double as rear quarter crumple zones, equal length exhaust manifolds, low loss induction/filtration, 82mm throttle body, ECU calibration is specific to the car, various bits of engine loom are Type 55 in DR25, the coils are none standard (mainly for sealing so it can wade), oil system is quite different with a more efficient breather system, much improved baffling and a larger capacity sump. It is comfortably up on where it was when it left Germany even at these miles. There are also various other bits like semi-solid engine mounts, a gear linkage and cable setup that is specific to the car etc. etc. It compression tests bang on what Porsche say it should. Uses 0.3L of oil per 1000 miles if below 4000RPM or 0.6L if above 5500RPM and what little evidence of bore scoring there is in there is no worse than on a 50K mile Duratec.
Due to the fact the nose is packed with fuel it also has additional bumper bar supports, a strengthened boot floor and both tanks run with bags and foam. The primary tank has redundant pumps with proper lift pumps and a collector whilst the secondary tank has a low pressure transfer pump to feed the main tank once it is below 50% level - this method keeps the weight distribution more correct as fuel is burned. It is also possible to return fuel to the second tank if it is necessary to fuel another vehicle from this car. Unfortunately due to the fact it has a front diff it is not possible to use a single 100L bag tank as per the race cars do, on the bright side this does avoid having the filler in the centre of the boot lid which would rather give the game away.
The above controls the transfer pumps, countermeasures and wet/dry mode. There is also a 3.375 litre AFF fire suppressant system designed to defeat a fuel or engine fire for long enough to safely exit the car.
A lot of work went into packaging and weight reduction. The car has no aircon (removed to boost engine cooling as well as reduce weight, it will hold below 88 degrees at 6800RPM in 6th for as long as the fuel lasts), less sound deadening, a lot of Ti fasteners and excess threads removed, various bits of suspension that on the standard car are cast solids are now machined hollow items, exhaust system is much lighter than standard, no rear wiper, aircraft battery etc. etc. so whilst it has a lot of kit onboard and is 4WD it is actually only 13KGs more than a Mk1 GT3 and has fairly respectable corner weights for what it is:
It's not a pretty car by any means but it was never built to be. It was built to be strong and reliable. Whilst it has paint every so often it spends a lot of time looking like this:
Occasionally doing things that Porsche's shouldn't, like moving hay bales:
And at one point earlier this year had a good go at killing every flying insect in France over an 8 hour period:
There is way more on it than mentioned above as it has developed over many years but listing every nut and bolt isn't really practical, not to mentioned I can't remember everything that's not standard! Whilst it does get seriously well looked after and a lot of components on it are lifed rather than replaced when they fail I still think it needs a lot of credit for always making it back home and generally being an incredibly practical and incredibly reliable fast transport. It is after all 17 years and 300K miles old..... and it'll see 400K out before it's 20th!
MrMoonyMan said:
That is just all kinds of awesome.
Where and generally how fast have you had it running at proper speeds?
I've driven routes in South Africa where you can hold quite a speed for quite a long time!
Let us skip over where. Including fuel stops over 1000 miles it can average 110mph+ without much fuss or driver work load. Here's one from a long time ago where it was no where near the spec it is now:Where and generally how fast have you had it running at proper speeds?
I've driven routes in South Africa where you can hold quite a speed for quite a long time!
125mph averages are possible but the work load is pretty high to do that and as I get older you do need to take into account the reactions and concentration age too.
One thing that is worth a mention is the intelligent shift lights:
(ignore the sweets, ET crossing!) These not only act as gear dependent shift lights but also show throttle mode, fuel transfer status, torque reduction when the PSM is active and can also be configured to show brake pressure should it be required. Eagle eyed among you will also spot this is a later dial setup with DegC rather than DegF and generally a bit of a cleaner design.... doesn't stop them bubbling though
(ignore the sweets, ET crossing!) These not only act as gear dependent shift lights but also show throttle mode, fuel transfer status, torque reduction when the PSM is active and can also be configured to show brake pressure should it be required. Eagle eyed among you will also spot this is a later dial setup with DegC rather than DegF and generally a bit of a cleaner design.... doesn't stop them bubbling though
MrMoonyMan said:
Of course, sorry to ask.
That's a really impressive average speed there. I've done 1000 miles in one go before but not at that sort of speed!
And as for the wading, has that been put to the test yet?
Yes several times, most recently last week when there were flash floods in the UK. The airbox is across the rear of the engine bay and inducts from the high pressure area below the rear wing, level with the bottom of the rear screen almost. The coil packs have potted connectors on an autosport for each bank so they have no issues with water ingress the coil boots themselves are sealed to the heads with a non setting sealant. All the electronics in the car are at drivers chest level. Porsche generally wade well as the engine is not the first thing the water finds but with some basic modifications and some sealed plugs in various places this one can go quite a bit deeper than a standard one. That's a really impressive average speed there. I've done 1000 miles in one go before but not at that sort of speed!
And as for the wading, has that been put to the test yet?
jimmy156 said:
Yes please, what kind of job / hobby / life entails those sort of requirements? Sounds very interesting! Also sound like the sort of job where we won't get an answer 
Motorsport! 
Sorry it's not international man of mystery or similar!Edited by poppopbangbang on Sunday 12th June 22:57
rallycross said:
Superb to see a Porsche being used like this, they used to be known for this tough ability before they became the car of choice for city boys ( look up Vic Elford here)
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/...
It's very interesting when you start digging into something like a 996 to be honest. They have a reputation for breaking with various engine dramas but the early 3.4 litre cars do seem bomb proof. The big thing is when you start looking at the design of the shell, the suspension pickup points, the hollow cast aluminum rear subframes, the engine installation etc. etc. it's very, very race car under there, even with strut type front suspension. They are fundamentally a well designed, strong car that with some upgrades can really excel. http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/...
GreatGranny said:
Not sure I would have ditched the A/C if I was spending 8+ hours in the car through Europe in the summer.
Must get a little warm :-)
It very rarely gets used during the day so that's not too much of a concern. Even in the middle of the summer it's not much past 22 degrees at night even way down South. Must get a little warm :-)
C70R said:
I got as far as this, and had to re-read. Nice little Easter Egg, unless you're not talking about 007-type kit.
It changes the mode of the "parking sensors", turns off power to the rear lighting circuit and puts the display screen into a differnet display mode. Not quite James bond but useful if required.BrotherMouzone said:
Don't neglect your 911uk thread please 
There's not a lot to update you all on since the last big one to be honest. All it's done is worked hard and carried on clocking up the miles. With it being the busy time of year it's earning the money that gets spent on it's upgrades right now Not sure how much of 911uk I can clutter up with "driven it somewhere again" type threads
Megaflow said:
Can we have a link to the 911uk thread please.
There's not a thread as such, no build thread or similar I'm afraid, just a variety of posts about bits getting done/upgraded. I should go back through my photos really and try to piece a build thread together.... but it would be LONG!Some more random pictures I have dug out, no particular order just gives a little more insight into the cars life:
1170 miles, that's not dirt up the rear near the lights.... that's brake dust. Hence going to larger rears.
Because what problems could sticking a few laps in cause when you're already at a circuit.....
Lighting upgrade, now runs ex LMP1 LEDs.
GPS, 3G, Wifi, UHF antenna that lives inside the engine cover.
3AM, near 2K miles completed.
Inside the sump at 270K miles odd.
Front brake test fit. They fit fine despite everyone saying it was impossible to fit what are essentially Cayenne Turbo calipers to a 996.
Fresh wheels, they came off to be stripped and crack tested as at 250K miles I wasn't 100% sure they were still good to go. They were and were tarted up to go back on.
Birthday, currently three weeks off being 17 years old.
Old spec flat floor. From an aero POV it worked, it just wasn't very good for sliding on....
A lot of the fasteners on the car are Ti, mainly because it makes it a lot more serviceable as they never corrode.
Not sure if this is current or old spec as they masters look the same.
Lift pumps.
Front brake clearance under what are standard Porsche 18" wheels isn't exactly massive....
A better view of the SLM.
No travel sweets in this centre console!
Practical car, it's basically a van.
Nice patina on the badge
1170 miles, that's not dirt up the rear near the lights.... that's brake dust. Hence going to larger rears.
Because what problems could sticking a few laps in cause when you're already at a circuit.....
Lighting upgrade, now runs ex LMP1 LEDs.
GPS, 3G, Wifi, UHF antenna that lives inside the engine cover.
3AM, near 2K miles completed.
Inside the sump at 270K miles odd.
Front brake test fit. They fit fine despite everyone saying it was impossible to fit what are essentially Cayenne Turbo calipers to a 996.
Fresh wheels, they came off to be stripped and crack tested as at 250K miles I wasn't 100% sure they were still good to go. They were and were tarted up to go back on.
Birthday, currently three weeks off being 17 years old.
Old spec flat floor. From an aero POV it worked, it just wasn't very good for sliding on....
A lot of the fasteners on the car are Ti, mainly because it makes it a lot more serviceable as they never corrode.
Not sure if this is current or old spec as they masters look the same.
Lift pumps.
Front brake clearance under what are standard Porsche 18" wheels isn't exactly massive....
A better view of the SLM.
No travel sweets in this centre console!
Practical car, it's basically a van.
Nice patina on the badge
treetops said:
So a Motorsport courier...if it wasn't time critical you'd be in a van.
It's not really glamorous is it? I bet you do it just because it's fun.
I engineer our cars at the other end because that's fun but the journey is part of it. If we have late parts/upgrades then I'll generally carry them as normally I'll head out after the trucks. Realistically any excuse to blat about the place is a valid one It's not really glamorous is it? I bet you do it just because it's fun.
EJH said:
How are the LEDs? Do they scatter like some HIDs can or are they better? Suspect someone who does serious miles (and things properlt) is in a place to know!
Great thread and thank you for sharing!
They are in a H7'ish package and the reflectors have been modified to cut the beam pattern down so there is very little scatter. They are much better than most HIDs, draw less power and provide a much better quality of light, these are passively cooled too with a heat sink in the wheel arch to disipate the heat whereas a lot of aftermarket ones are fan cooled which is fairly brave all things considered.Great thread and thank you for sharing!
Edited by poppopbangbang on Monday 13th June 22:38
ALBA MELV said:
Great thread.
How long do you plan to keep the 996? Until X miles, Y years old or simply until you feel it is time for a replacement?
Do you get bored of hooing across Europe with spare parts?
There isn't really anything I could replace it with that does such a good job. It's very much an all weather car and being 4WD with excellent stability control etc. does make it very, very good in wet and poor conditions. It also does the odd none work trip each year usually with some Rally type organisation or other.How long do you plan to keep the 996? Until X miles, Y years old or simply until you feel it is time for a replacement?
Do you get bored of hooing across Europe with spare parts?
I don't really get bored as a lot of the trips are essentially my commute to work so I'd be doing them anyway and much prefer to do them in this.
djdest said:
It's hardly much room though! I can't help but think an RS4 or similar would be the obvious fast load mover!
Passenger seat comes out to allow a formula type car gearbox to sit down the passenger side. Other than that it's jump batteries, ECUs, bits of gearbox, end plates etc. that get hauled about which fit in the back with ease. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff