The 997 Appreciation Thread

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Remember, you can always replace the entire roof with a carbon one, like the bloke from CLR has done to his 996

For my part I'm happy with my non sunroof car, but I never ever had a problem with any sunroof in other cars.
Even the one in my 20 y.o. FFRR doesn't leak, rattle or malfunctioned once.

Also the sunroof has a long tradition on 911's, just like the rear wiper.
The former thanks to Harald Wagner

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Mariosbt said:

So few remarks / comments on here re: 997’s . Anyway ... f*ckit, my 997 doesn’t have a sunroof or a rear wiper & if I could do it with a click of my fat f*ckin fingers I would get rid of the aircon, satnav & cruise control also! Don’t use any of that crap. All you need is the sound from that flat 6

Mine doesn't have either as well. And no satnav (but PCM 2.1 screen). I very seldomly use cruise, but I can see why people want it.
But no aircon???? Not a chance!!!

With temperatures here on the continent again rising to 35° C today, driving a non-opentop car without aircon is just not feasible. I would know, since the aircon in my old FFRR stopped working. A good excuse to use the 911 just some more

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Ideal spec? Mine of course

manual 997.1 C2 with almost no options
No sunroof, extended leather (standard in the UK, iirc), basic seats, sports pack with lsd, passive sports suspension (-20mm), 19“ wheels. Basic stereo and it doesn‘t even have sat nav (but has the pcm screen, just no gps module).

Honestly, the best spec is the one you have. They are all great. And they actually are very good in basic spec allready.

The one I have was the right car to buy for me at the time and it still suits me perfectly today. Only option (european market) that was mandatory for me was the extended leather.

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Well, that is rather sad.
If it where a manual and it where 2019 maybe it would sell.

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RDMcG said:

One pedestrian thing to be aware of is how dated all of the electronics are...no bluetooth, silly little map, no Apple or other interfaces, obsolete nav, no voice control and of course none of the modern reversing cameras, adaptive cruise control and so on.

I know this is PH and we only care about raw white knuckle excitement ( as world class driver, powerfully built director and carrier of my own custard tin I can confirm this), but when I do drive my 997 I notice this.

I have retrofitted Bluetooth but the 997 does not have a Porsche Classic retrofit yet, so you have to go aftermarket if this matters. The Tesla OTOH is just plugged into the web in myriad ways.

Me too, I have retrofitted a Bluetooth that works phenomenally well. Since I know the road 9.5 out of 10 journeys, I don't need sat nav very often. When I do, I have my phone just below the HVAC resting on the transmission tunnel. Other than spirited driving, it stays where it should. I use the Waze, Navigon or Google maps app with sound enabled. Also running in the background is a radar app that warns me of speed traps.

(BTW my 997 is an odd spec with no sat nav from the factory. I do have the PCM 2.1 with the screen and everything, but no gps module.)

Now I just need to run a radio app or a podcast and I'm good to go. Since all is streamed from the same device, the interaction of three apps running with audio out works really well.

I have also experimented with having the phone resting on the steering wheel column in the line of sight, but in the 997 I prefer it as described above.

No rear view camera tough. Heck, I don't even have parking sensors!!

I really like the 997 for what it is, a very simple sports car that still drives beautifully and is so well engineered, but that is still a very analogue car.

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Another one from a short road trip.

460 miles @ 78 mph @ 28 mpg

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S8QUATTRO said:

so tempted right now to get a 997 as a daily driver instead of a Panamera (sensible choice but dont need the extra seats)

I've seen a few below £20k now that have long term owners and seem straight cars..

Does the auto box kill the enjoyment of having a 997? I'll be doing 75 miles a day on the motorway.... I dont want to go down the road of two cars again, rather have one nice one that I use lots

LanceRS said:

If most of your mileage is on the motorway, you’re changing gear anyway. Get the manual, then you get to have fun once you get onto the proper roads.

^^what he said. Autoboxes shine in start stop traffic. And that is the only time I sometimes get bored of driving a manual, especially with so many people creeping along in traffic
On the motorway, a manual is absolutely easy to handle. Go for it and go for a manual one!

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Slippydiff said:

Slippydiff said:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11022801?c...

£84K. That’s Eighty Four Thousand Pounds ... !!!

Probably my favourite CSR conversion to date, but £84K for 15 year old 2S with 122k miles on odometer is madness.

So, further to my original post, I found this on YT last night :

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xc9JwvSf-lc

Clearly there’s resprays and there’s resprays.
A complete panel off, glass out, change of colour respray job, done properly, won’t have been cheap. But the project looks to have been more of a complete restoration AND a CSR upgrade, rather than just a CSR upgrade, so some of the additional expense is justified.

Chucking £130K at a 100+K mile Gen 1 997 S that’s worth what ? £15-20K max, still seems a somewhat questionable choice if you don’t keep it for 5-10 years to get some enjoyment from driving it.

Great Video, thanks for posting!

Just WOW! Basically a newly built car.

As mad as it seems, I'd love to do something like this much rather than spend 150k + on a depreciating modern Porsche/Ferrari. But I'd drive it afterwards

And if going this far, I would have enlarged the engine to 4.0 with some X51 parts thrown in for good measure.
Imagine that glorious X51 intake manifold spider and a carbon airbox
Around 420 HP is achievable and would be absolutely awesome!!

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Heathrow said:

RPM do an aftermarket axle lift conversion with a discreet install - it's pricey but works well. Otherwise ask them to raise the ride height slightly.

They use the KW Hydraulic Lift System.



A true work of art! But quite complex to instal I imagine.

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First snow this season !

I really should get those snow tyres on now .....

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David W. said:

I’ve recently advertised a set on PH wheels if anyone’s looking.

I'm covered with a set of Carrera III shoed with ContiWinterContact TS810S. A great setup btw


I presume these are yours?
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11072178?c...

Great price!

RiccardoG said:

Filibuster said:

|https://thumbsnap.com/Ck1TdcjU[/url]

First snow this season !

I really should get those snow tyres on now .....

So festive! Does it live on the street? If so, a proper used Porsche!

I'd love to have mine out the door ready for use, but it just gets too much damage like that here in London (witness my other cars, totally ruined after 5 years due to other's negligence. Mind you... I still think that fixing the bodywork would still be cheaper than the parking fees!

It actually lives in a private underground parking garage, but I leave it outside from time to time as I like watching it from the appartement
While it is not made of sugar and gets used in all conditions, sleeping with a constant 18°C in the dry and with no sunlight certainly helps keeping a car in good nick!

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Kalic said:

You need some more long runs to get a proper average mph
For comparison, mine has an average of around 45mph over a similar period of time.

Lovely looking thing, btw. The colour really suits the car!

ETA
Only just seen the total mileage of the car
What is the story behind why it wasn't driven more often?

Edited by Filibuster on Friday 18th December 15:46

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steve1968 said:

How’s that ,Forest Green for a change

This is sooooooooooo nice!!!!!!! Dark green 911 just ooze class.

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I absolutely prefer the 997.1 rear lights, they are much cleaner looking and good old bulbs suit the 997 better.




On the other hand, I prefer the 997.2 front....
The fog light (DRL) / indicator unit is just smaller and better integrated with the air intake. Much more elegant looking, imho.

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GTSjohn said:

Hi - daft question, are these headlight upgrades, or just running lights/indicators? I ask as I've searched Dectane and can't find a website for them . A number of aftermarket suppliers seem to have rear lights and running lights, but no sign of headlight upgrades, which is what the car really needs. If anyine can point me in the direction of good headlight upgrades for my .2GTS, Dectane or other, it would be much appreciated!

AFAIK there are no aftermarket headlights. He was referring to the fog/drl/indicator unit.
With your .2 GTS I presume you have Xenons? Are they not bright enough??

I myself have good old Halogen on my .1 C2. Currently running with some high end Osram/Philips bulbs, but I intend to upgrade with some H7 LED in the near future. Osram have released the first TÜV approved H7 LED lights recently (but they are just approved for some VW/Audi/Skoda).

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Almost passed the Swiss MFK (MOT, needs to be done every 2 years) today with my 997.1 C2 @ 337k km today.

I just washed it in the carwash, also with underside program and went for it. Passed everything with flying colours, but got rejected due to the H&R +10mm (front) and +30mm (rear) spacers.

I thought I get a pass due to it being a German car originally (Typenschein X), having German ABE's for the spacers and making the stance < +2% wider, without having to get them registered in the cars papers.

And since these specific spacers don't have a separate Swiss document, I can't get them passed, unless I'd get them approved, which is several thousand CHF.

Solution: fit the summer wheels without spacers, show the car to the MFK, pass (and maybe refit them, if I can be arsed).

I hope this gives you an idea how easy car life can be on the island. And you thought German TÜV is strict...

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SFO said:

Mariosbt said:

RiccardoG said:

MariosBt, you should really run the a/c from time to time, use it or lose it as they say! If nothing else to avoid a world of pain from it packing up.

On another topic, took out my 997 from winter & lockdown storage and will be taking it for its yearly service next weekend. Had forgotten what a great car it is to drive!

Cheers for the info. I wasn’t aware the AC could go kaput if not used.

The seals dry out and gas leaks out. Seals very expensive to fix. Using AC lubricates the seals.

This. I've read that a minimum of letting the A/C run for 10 minutes every month is advised.

I couldn't have a car without A/C (bar the classic) and find it extremely helpful during all four seasons to defog the windows.

Cruise is nice from time to time, but I could easily live without it.

Edited by Filibuster on Wednesday 17th March 13:34

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gizlaroc said:

Heat it with a hair dryer or heat gun and it will just roll right off.

Takes 2 or 3 minutes to get the lot off.

Be careful with that heat gun!!! You could seriously damage your paint with one of these!!