996 C2 or C4?

[cardigankid]

Can anyone comment on how how the driving experience differs between the C2 and the C4. I have always thought that the optimum solution was C2 with PSM but there are some nice looking C4's out there.

[Wetwipe]

this has been done to death over the last year and if you do a search you will find some handbags at dawn comments from some of the crew. its almost as bad as the manual V tip debate

i ran a c2 for a year and loved it. its handling and feedback were sublime and when pushing on it really felt alive.

so when moving up to a turbo i was really concerned that i would lose some of the driving pleasure because of the 4wd. not a bit of it. yes you do use a different style of driving and set the car up for the corner slightly differently but christ on a bike the pork 4wd is good. when you are mid bend and you can feel all that grip its sublime

as usual dont listen to what anyone says on here regarding preference or feel. the only way to decide is get out there and try a c2 and c4 and then go from there.

good luck

[steve.B]

The other thing to consider is that being 4wd doe's not mean that the drive is equal to both rear and front wheels.
I had a C4S until recently and on a trip up to Scotland and around there fantastic roads I done in a set of rears with little wear on the fronts.
I now drive a 997 C2S and to be honest its hard to judge the cars being different model but I find no difference in road holding.
Hope it helps

[cardigankid]

Wetwipe said:

so when moving up to a turbo i was really concerned that i would lose some of the driving pleasure because of the 4wd. not a bit of it. yes you do use a different style of driving and set the car up for the corner slightly differently but christ on a bike the pork 4wd is good. when you are mid bend and you can feel all that grip its sublime

as usual dont listen to what anyone says on here regarding preference or feel. the only way to decide is get out there and try a c2 and c4 and then go from there.

good luck

I take the point and I will. I have driven a turbo which was like the Starship Enterprise, but never a C4 or C4S.

[cardigankid]

steve.B said:

I now drive a 997 C2S and to be honest its hard to judge the cars being different modelHope it helps

I know it seems a naive question but how different? Did try a search by the way, plenty of handbags but didn't get anything relevant.

[Paracetamol]

C2 eveytime..had a C4..its dull and looses steering feel..

[Geneve]

As said, it's been done to death in the past, like 'Tip v Man'

Personally, I much prefer the C2s, but for me a 911 should be Coupe, manual, normally aspirated, rwd, and as light as possible for puropose.

Porsche GB lent me a couple of C4s (a manual cab and a a tip 4S) during the winter of 2004, whilst they had one of my classics for display. Just confirmed my preference for the C2s.

However, for the average person looking for a 996, with a budget/spec/colour/condition priorities, these normally take presedence over whether it is 2wd or 4wd. People end up with a C4 and claim that it's safer and others end up with a C2 and claim that it's better to drive.

[cardigankid]

So is the C4 thing pretty much all about safety?

By the way, talking about classics, Scottish Motor Services in Glasgow have got the most immaculate 911 (a 964 I think) Turbo Targa, 8,000 miles up and looks it. Red/Black, absolutely mint. Trouble is, they want £39k for it.

[Geneve]

cardigankid said:

So is the C4 thing pretty much all about safety?

No, that's a common misconception. It's about traction.

[cardigankid]

Just to pursue what you are saying a little further, does the traction mean that it is faster, in that it will lap a given circuit faster, or that it is safer, in that it won't let go in an alarming manner?

[Silver993tt]

C4/TT will be noticeably quicker when it's wet and/or the surface in uneven.

[Geneve]

4wd is far more justifable on a TT, where c.400bhp is being delivered through a much narrower power band. The system allows the power to be distributed to the wheels with the most traction, important where optimum performance is needed on a loose surface - hence its origins in rallying.

[Silver993tt]

My 993tt is much more confidence inspiring and certainly much quicker in the wet than my Boxster S ever was. This also applies in the dry to a large percentage of UK roads which have a poor quality surface on which the Boxster S didn't have the traction of the 993, particularly in the curves.

Edited by Silver993tt on Saturday 4th August 15:59