996 Turbo: First Day of Ownership!
Discussion
I've always wanted one. I drove one first in 2002 when I was 24 on a test drive up the M4 from AFN Chiswick. Tony Reeves was the salesperson, if I remember. Lovely chap.
Fast forward 13 years and I've owned 2 regular '98 996's. Great cars but I was always worried about IMS / bore score etc. I took them to Hartech and was delighted with the service, but 400 mile round trips were a pain. I also didn't like the fact that these cars were sneered at a bit by beards and some looked tatty.
I've never bought from a dealer before and really thought I wouldn't but yesterday picked up a 2004 lapis Turbo from RSJ. It looks simply perfect. I was amazed. Every bit was detailed and refurbed and Joel was impeccably professional and straight. I've been looking for a good Turbo for a while and have had some near misses. Good ones seemed to go within hours. Mine has 64k miles (lowish) and had been sold by RSJ twice before. I bought it before the pictures were on the website as I trusted Joel and he emailed me the pictures and described the provenance. The lapis looks indigo and richly gorgeous. The rub is that it has Savannah seats. Everything else was exactly as I wanted, though. Genuinely, and very pleasingly, the seats go well with the paint and look really smart! My wife loves them.
It drives like a tank and has much heavier controls than the NA 996's. The start up sequence sounds much more impressive, too; mechanical, instant, urgent. On the drive back to Oxford I did not manage full thrust at any point, despite fairly open roads. There is turbo lag if you are on low throttle and and lowish revs, but the boost is massive when it comes. I tended to keep it in higher gears so found myself being thrown forward just as I started to go too fast. This was my memory from 2002, also: relentless surge just when you think it's time to back off. Back then in 4th gear the car was able to pile on another 20mph in seconds when already in licence losing territory. The car seems very balanced and sure footed where the NA 996's felt lighter and more flighty at the helm. The instrument interface and controls look and feel much stouter and more professional than my '98 cars. I thought this would be the case and the facelifted late model turbo's are much better iniside than earlier versions, despite this being played down by sellers of earlier cars.
I will write more if people can bear it, when I have become better acquainted.
Fast forward 13 years and I've owned 2 regular '98 996's. Great cars but I was always worried about IMS / bore score etc. I took them to Hartech and was delighted with the service, but 400 mile round trips were a pain. I also didn't like the fact that these cars were sneered at a bit by beards and some looked tatty.
I've never bought from a dealer before and really thought I wouldn't but yesterday picked up a 2004 lapis Turbo from RSJ. It looks simply perfect. I was amazed. Every bit was detailed and refurbed and Joel was impeccably professional and straight. I've been looking for a good Turbo for a while and have had some near misses. Good ones seemed to go within hours. Mine has 64k miles (lowish) and had been sold by RSJ twice before. I bought it before the pictures were on the website as I trusted Joel and he emailed me the pictures and described the provenance. The lapis looks indigo and richly gorgeous. The rub is that it has Savannah seats. Everything else was exactly as I wanted, though. Genuinely, and very pleasingly, the seats go well with the paint and look really smart! My wife loves them.
It drives like a tank and has much heavier controls than the NA 996's. The start up sequence sounds much more impressive, too; mechanical, instant, urgent. On the drive back to Oxford I did not manage full thrust at any point, despite fairly open roads. There is turbo lag if you are on low throttle and and lowish revs, but the boost is massive when it comes. I tended to keep it in higher gears so found myself being thrown forward just as I started to go too fast. This was my memory from 2002, also: relentless surge just when you think it's time to back off. Back then in 4th gear the car was able to pile on another 20mph in seconds when already in licence losing territory. The car seems very balanced and sure footed where the NA 996's felt lighter and more flighty at the helm. The instrument interface and controls look and feel much stouter and more professional than my '98 cars. I thought this would be the case and the facelifted late model turbo's are much better iniside than earlier versions, despite this being played down by sellers of earlier cars.
I will write more if people can bear it, when I have become better acquainted.
Thanks sor the seriously positive response! A couple more things: the wheels do look good, but they are actually GT silver as fitted to Turbo S's. The light in the photo is rotten and they are more silver than grey, and newly finished!
The brake pedal is heavy and just like my first hard top NA 996. I like it - you've got to push it harder to stop sooner. My second NA 996 was a silver cab and had a very sensitive brake pedal, annoyingly so, perhaps that's how hairdressers like it... It was tricky to balance when I was vainly heel and toeing round country B roads.
Question: the windows have a light tint which appears to be stuck on to the glass. This isn't really me. Can it easily be removed? If so, what does it cost, can they do a proper job (!) and where?
The brake pedal is heavy and just like my first hard top NA 996. I like it - you've got to push it harder to stop sooner. My second NA 996 was a silver cab and had a very sensitive brake pedal, annoyingly so, perhaps that's how hairdressers like it... It was tricky to balance when I was vainly heel and toeing round country B roads.
Question: the windows have a light tint which appears to be stuck on to the glass. This isn't really me. Can it easily be removed? If so, what does it cost, can they do a proper job (!) and where?
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.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.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.
- 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.
Thank you gents for your excellent contributions. Just got back from a short trip to Brive with my dad to go to a wedding and visiting a friend near Tours. Mainly autoroute but some hilly country roads near Brive and some lively D roads between Limoges and Tour. The car was supreme on the autoroutes and lively company on the D roads, but it was tempting to go far too fast. Although there are fewer cars on the roads there are more combine harvesters. I include the trip computer details and a couple of pics. First tank of petrol averaged 30.1 mpg...
Aubazine
Preuilly sur Claisse
Economical.
Aubazine
Preuilly sur Claisse
Economical.
Edited by ScienceTeacher on Tuesday 9th August 19:16
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