997 C2

[Wozy68]

Right.

As this site is full of doom and gloom st the moment, ref engine failure, up and coming 991 and the further depreciation on the 997 .....yada yada yada, I'm thinking stuff that, the 997 is becoming a bit of a bargain and alot of car for the money.

So I'm thinking of buying one. So no doom stories please of engines blowing up, must get it inspected, do not buy yellow ones with pink interiors because of more depreciation yada yada yada, I'll deal with it when and if I have to.

Anyway to my question.
Being a present and previous owner of 'old' Porsches, ie a rather lovely 968CS at the mo and three oil cooled 911s in the past, I'm thinking beacuse prices have gone into free fall and become within my meagre budget of going modern and buying a bog standard non PASM 911 C2 thats for sale on PH.

I'm not too bothered about going C2S because budget dictates that I go for the best car condition I can find, and can't see me really missing the extra bhp. Also I'm sure I read somewhere that the standard car rides better on 18" wheels.

The C2 will not be tracked, but just used for fast road driving over in Spain a couple times a year.

Question is, what do people think of the 'basic' early gen 1 911.

Edited by Wozy68 on Tuesday 10th January 10:09

[anonymous-user]

Wozy68 said:

and three oil cooled 911s

Oil cooled, now there's a novelty.

But seriously I'd go for it. Base 911s are often the purest drive and then they get loaded up with stuff that you don't really need on the more expensive versions.

[nick997]

I had one, didn't seem lacking in performance for every day use. Go for it.

[cragswinter]

got to be honest i failed to notice that much of a diffrence & if it was me buying i'd be looking at a well specced 3.6 over a poorly specced 3.8.

i think you do generally find some lovely specced 3.6s as well

[Wozy68]

uktrailmonster said:

Oil cooled, now there's a novelty.

Ok ok, air cooled for the pedantics amongst us.

Also please excuse the shocking spelling and grammar of my first post..... absolutly shocking.

[TheDeadPrussian]

I had one of the first RHD 997 C2 off the production line, it was a great car, but it had some of the usual 'early-adopter' niggles.

The top suspension mounts on both of the front wheels were subject to warranty work - they creaked loudly when going over speed humps and undulating road surfaces etc and the top mounts had to be changed - I don't think this affected every car and so was not a re-call, but it was fairly common.

The car was first-rate and I moved out of it after a year into a C2S; there was not a huge difference in performance and certainly not one that showed up in everyday use.

Highly recommended.

[MrCooke]

When you think about it oil cooled is actually a much better representation of the system than air cooled.

[anonymous-user]

MrCooke said:

When you think about it oil cooled is actually a much better representation of the system than air cooled.

Well I've thought about it and I'm still thinking air-cooled is more accurate. Probably that's why Porsche decided to call it that too.

[HoHoHo]

Wozy68 said:

Right.

As this site is full of doom and gloom at the moment, .....yada yada yada:

As always

Wozy68 said:

So no doom stories please of engines blowing up

Try and find a link to the last two threads that have been started by owners who's engines have blown up, rather than threads suggesting an engine will blow up - you'll struggle.

Wozy68 said:

Question is, what do people think of the 'basic' early gen 1 911.

A great car and from what I've read it's underrated

[mollytherocker]

uktrailmonster said:

MrCooke said:

When you think about it oil cooled is actually a much better representation of the system than air cooled.

Well I've thought about it and I'm still thinking air-cooled is more accurate. Probably that's why Porsche decided to call it that too.

It is both air and oil cooled.

MTR

[anonymous-user]

mollytherocker said:

It is both air and oil cooled.

MTR

I can't think of any car that isn't oil cooled though, can you?

[mollytherocker]

uktrailmonster said:

mollytherocker said:

It is both air and oil cooled.

MTR

I can't think of any car that isn't oil cooled though, can you?

I suppose that is correct, but the 911 goes much further in terms of the dry sump, nearly treble the amount of oil, coolers and the small matter of travelling around the car to cool it!

MTR

[nsm3]

Same as the old pre-1992 Suzuki GSXR's, they were oil/air cooled IIRC, but commonly termed as oil cooled?

Anyhoo's, I suspect that a C2 would be a more than adequate road going sports car (can you get PSE on the 997 C2?) - also, do they not pump out the same power as a 996 C4S?

My thinking is the standard C2 will be the best buy of the 991's, knocking out 350 bhp (only 5 shy of a gen 1 997S) and still "reasonable" money? The S variants will be out blowing my GT3 into the weeds (which you could reasonably argue is a bit fiesty for road driving in the UK), but with a price tag too high for me to consider them good VFM.

[RiccardoG]

To the OP, I have also considered the early 997 C2s (see my profile for some other C2 comments) and test drove one that was for sale at Dove House Motor Co back in Dec (advertised T £25.9k). That 997 was one of the very first ones (Sep 04) which is partly why I didn't follow it up, however, apart from that it was a lovely car which was very enjoyable to drive.

The main options which you'll be missing out on a C2 vs C2s are:
- The engine upgrade
- The larger brake calipers in red
- Single exhaust exits (duals are an option on C2)
- Xenon lights (an option on the C2)
- PASM (an option on the C2)
- 19" wheels (an option on the C2)

I also noticed that some C2s don't have the extended leather on the door tops and dashboard surround. Definitely not a deal breaker for me, if anything, at 7 years of age, you may see these starting to peel off, so almost a plus not to have them.

911 Virgin have one on sale at £29k, its been there for ages (since Oct?) so they may want to do a deal on it now, although the spec is very basic it has low miles.

[Wozy68]

RiccardoG said:

To the OP, I have also considered the early 997 C2s (see my profile for some other C2 comments) and test drove one that was for sale at Dove House Motor Co back in Dec (advertised T £25.9k). That 997 was one of the very first ones (Sep 04) which is partly why I didn't follow it up, however, apart from that it was a lovely car which was very enjoyable to drive.

Many thanks for the info ref the S. Matter of interest, why would you not go for an early example?

[Steve Baker]

Bought my first Porsche in Nov 2011...............25k miles,2006 C2 in Cobalt Blue with a lot of the options. Went for a drive last Sunday to Southend..........95 mile round trip, absolutely love it! Having moved from a Turbo charged 2.0 litre VAG the drive is very impressive and immediate being Normally aspirated. Brings a huge grin to my face, best thing I have ever done. I drove C2 and 'S' before purchase and must say they don't all drive the same, you will know a good one as soon as you drive it. I was lucky I think as I managed to get 'S' 19'' rims, Xenons with wash and PASM on my C2! For my money a well specced, low mile C2 with toys was preferrable to an 'S' and I don't regret it.
Good luck and hope you find a good un.

[anonymous-user]

I have a 997.1 C2, on 18s, manual, standard seats. Its a Mar 06 car and I have had it since April 10

as for options it has Bose (OK), Nav (get a tom tom), telephone prep (crap fiddling to swap sims all the time)

Its a smashing steer.

I have driven many other 997 variants now (not a turbo S yet) and - for normal road driving - I think the base spec C2 is a nice balance between absolute speed, power, acceleration and handling versus staying safe and legal.

When its time to change, I am certain I will stay with something close to the base spec. in the range again (either 997.2 or 991) but, particularly if a 991 ends up being the replacement, I think it will be harder next time round to go for manual rather than PDK.

However, I can easily see why other people do opt for a high spec S, or a 4 or a Convertible or a turbo or a GT3 - they are all smashing!

[RiccardoG]

Wozy68 said:

Many thanks for the info ref the S. Matter of interest, why would you not go for an early example?

Its a bit of a preconception I'd say, however, general consensus is to avoid cars which are from the first few runs of production as they usually have more issues than later ones. Whether this is still relevant 7 years on is probably questionnable, but when in doubt I decided to spend my money elsewhere (not that I have).

[barriejames]

Do buy a speed yellow one dont listen to doom, the one I sold had 50 plus phone calls a silver or blue one would I think not have had the same interest!! Good luck finding a speed yellowone cheap I always look incase something yellow and interesting comes up (SY 997 c4s cab manual, black leather, yellow belts and dials) if anyone knows of one) and in two years in has not!!

[oilslurper]

responding to the OP.

I run a 54 plate 997 C2 (nov 04), pretty much standard spec with the 19" wheel upgrades and some other extra bits and pieces. Have had it for 15 months, use it every day and its a joy. For me, not being an out and out speed freak but appreciate having the power, it really hits the mark. Great grip, well balanced and precise steering and goes when it has to - basically all the 911 traits.

Cost wise, well, Ive had to spend out abit, due the the odd gripe, mainly down to me not being thorough enough when I did the pre purchase checks and hey its a 7yr old car. Fortunately nothing too serious, just the bits round the egdes, exhaust, leaky door seals and air con (that hurt!).

Have driven a mates C2S Gen1 on a number of oocasions and the only real difference I noticed was the slightly tighter suspension (down to the PASM I guess) and greater grunt at the top end, oh and the xenons!

I plumped for the C2 as a C2S at the same price would have had way higher milleage and would not have been in as good nick, overall havent regreted it one bit.