996 Carrera vs 997 Carrera S. Power!!!

996 Carrera vs 997 Carrera S. Power!!!

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Discussion

Paul O

Original Poster:

2,723 posts

184 months

Wednesday 23rd October 2013
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So, was out on a run a few weeks back with SCD club and Spearsy (also a member on here) was in his early model 996 Carrera behind me. I was in the 997S Cabrio.

We got a lovely wide straight carriageway in 2nd gear with fantastic visibility so I put the boot in 2nd and up through some of 3rd gear (only to national speed limit obviously smile ).

I was curious to see just how much faster the 997S was over the standard 996 and Spearsy seemed game.

So, boot down and off we both went and crikey what a difference those 400cc's make in the 997! Looking in the mirror, the 996, trying hard as he might was loosing ground and becoming less of a presence and more of a dot with every passing second. The struggling 3.4 engine just couldn't compete with the might of the more modern 3.8 Porsche.

997 = winner! Whoop!!

"Really?" I hear you cry! "Did it make that much difference??!"

Well, actually, no. That is all a complete lie. The 996 was stuck up my chuff the entire time and try as I might it remained planted exactly where it was until we got to the next roundabout.

A 3.4 996 Carrera it would appear, has pretty much exactly the same ingear speeds as a 2005 3.8 Carrera S.

hmmmmphh!! wobble

Waitforme

1,194 posts

165 months

Wednesday 23rd October 2013
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Slipstream effect ?

mollytherocker

14,366 posts

210 months

Wednesday 23rd October 2013
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There wont be much in it. The 996 is either 300 or 320 bhp and the 997S is 355 but heavier, especially the cab!


911p

2,335 posts

181 months

Wednesday 23rd October 2013
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Coincidentally they both have the exact same power to weight ratio, so an unsurprising result really!

7.1 C2S Cab - 355bhp, 1560kg, 227bhp/tonne
6.1 Carrera - 300bhp, 1320kg, 227bhp/tonne

smile

anonymous-user

55 months

Thursday 24th October 2013
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911p said:
Coincidentally they both have the exact same power to weight ratio, so an unsurprising result really!

7.1 C2S Cab - 355bhp, 1560kg, 227bhp/tonne
6.1 Carrera - 300bhp, 1320kg, 227bhp/tonne

smile
Exactly, another mystery solved............ wink

Paul O

Original Poster:

2,723 posts

184 months

Thursday 24th October 2013
quotequote all
911p said:
Coincidentally they both have the exact same power to weight ratio, so an unsurprising result really!

7.1 C2S Cab - 355bhp, 1560kg, 227bhp/tonne
6.1 Carrera - 300bhp, 1320kg, 227bhp/tonne

smile
Well, I never knew that.

1560kg!!! Wowza, the 7.1 needs a diet!

Callughan

6,312 posts

193 months

Thursday 24th October 2013
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track and very high speeds is where the main difference is esp with 74S

jakesmith

9,461 posts

172 months

Tuesday 29th October 2013
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I had a similarly dissapointing experience racing a Nisan 350Z or 370Z recently in my 997 4S cab, not till about 120+ did I start to pull away. Only the turbos are really fast cars these days, I doubt the 997 4S would pull much away from a Boxster S or BMW 330d/335d etc

peralta

81 posts

205 months

Thursday 31st October 2013
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I bought a 996 C2 new in 2002 and can confirm that it was as fast or faster than the 997 C2S that I changed it for two or three years later. Seem to remember that the Autocar road test timed it at 10.1 sec 0-100mph.

csmith319

372 posts

164 months

Thursday 31st October 2013
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Completely agree - the visual difference can be very slight in a drag race. I was on the Autobahn in my old Z4 3.0 Si, with a friends 997.1 S cab - very little in it up until 90ish - then the 911 would start to pull away, and over 120 it would pull away significantly. However, now I have mine - that small difference in shove feels a lot more from behind the wheel!

steve singh

3,995 posts

174 months

Thursday 31st October 2013
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Spot on - once you get cars doing 0-100mph in around 10 seconds, the ability to blow a car away is very limited.

Even on a runway the definition of embarrased appears to be a car length or two - you cannot notice that on the road.

I've resigned myself that my next car will have to be 300bhp+ per tonne to feel a step up !!!

Olivera

7,174 posts

240 months

Thursday 31st October 2013
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peralta said:
I bought a 996 C2 new in 2002 and can confirm that it was as fast or faster than the 997 C2S that I changed it for two or three years later. Seem to remember that the Autocar road test timed it at 10.1 sec 0-100mph.
IIRC that Autocar 996 C2 was almost certainly a ringer from Porsche. This was in order to compete with the ringer 360 Ferrari which was as fast as the 430 Scuderia.

Olivera

7,174 posts

240 months

Friday 1st November 2013
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Very likely IMO. Autocar didn't get anywhere near these figures in the facelifted 996, gen1 997 and even gen1 997S. I think only now that latest PDK 991s Carreras are able to beat this time. Even Chris Harris himself on this site was discussing the first GT3 - "it was barely any faster than the admittedly suspiciously fast 996 C2 launch cars".

Olivera

7,174 posts

240 months

Friday 1st November 2013
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
You can disagree and ignore the evidence, but an early 996 Carrera 3.4 achieving a 10.1s 0-100mph is not credible. The 996 turbos at the time were only just dipping under 10 seconds, and the later 996s and 997s with superior p/w ratios were slower. Even Chris Harris who drove the cars at the time stated they were suspiciously fast. Do you have any corroborating evidence showing other recorded times close to 10.1s?

Hungrymc

6,688 posts

138 months

Friday 1st November 2013
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I think all manufacturers play some games to substantiate different claims (economy causes some ridiculous behavior from many).

But I think the key point is that once you're into the realm of these reasonably quick cars, it becomes very hard to find really clear differences in performance on the road. It's a reason why I've stopped chasing performance, its kind of irrelevant as long as your car is quick enough to be fun and excite you.

Hilux2400

231 posts

137 months

Friday 1st November 2013
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I share the view that once the 0-60 time drops below 10 sec most cars are pretty quick within the legal limits.

Apart from a 911 I also own a few other vehicles one of which is a 1.4 Diesel Yaris. It has a 0-60 time of about 10 sec but its mid range between 40 and 70 is outstanding for such a small engine. At these sort of speeds it seems to hold its own very well with much more expensive cars. Obviously not in 911 category, but pretty quick. I also own a Merc 316 Sprinter which is another vehicle with excellent mid range performance and equal to many cars.

The same goes for a Renault Traffic van or a Merc Vito with the biggest engine. They are both surprisingly quick once on the move.

H

Magic919

14,126 posts

202 months

Friday 1st November 2013
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Hilux2400 said:
I share the view that once the 0-60 time drops below 10 sec most cars are pretty quick within the legal limits.
I'm not sure sub-10 to sixty is a big deal on this part of PH.

Terminator X

15,120 posts

205 months

Friday 1st November 2013
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At least the OP has the better looking car wink

TX.

Terminator X

15,120 posts

205 months

Friday 1st November 2013
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Olivera said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
You can disagree and ignore the evidence, but an early 996 Carrera 3.4 achieving a 10.1s 0-100mph is not credible. The 996 turbos at the time were only just dipping under 10 seconds, and the later 996s and 997s with superior p/w ratios were slower. Even Chris Harris who drove the cars at the time stated they were suspiciously fast. Do you have any corroborating evidence showing other recorded times close to 10.1s?
How did Porsche manage that then when t'internet tells us not to bother trying to up the power of them as it's impossible?!

TX.

Gmund

77 posts

145 months

Sunday 3rd November 2013
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I recently had a straight line race against my mate, me in my Boxster 3.4S, him in his MK6 GTI Edition 35. I stayed in 3rd at about 40mph thinking I was going to tear past him. He must have been in 2nd, and left me out there!!! I know he had the advantage of turbo, but I really struggled to pull back what I lost.