996 Long Distance

[Lumply]

As a newbie Porsche driver and recently retired (time on my hands) I would be interested to know what overseas destinations members here have taken their cars. My furthest in a Ford Prefect in 1971 was a 12 day leisurely drive to the Persian Gulf and back (easier in those days).

So, early next year I wish to drive down the coast of Portugal, France and eventually Italy in the 996, return. Interested to know what preperations should be made etc to ensure a trouble free trip

[Pericoloso]

It's a modern enough car ,just basic common sense on tyres and brakes ,no existing faults before the trip starts etc.

I don't own a Porsche but I do go on silly long trips in a 22yo car ,5700 miles in 44 days this year round Italy.

[Lumply]

Ah brilliant sounding experience. Thanks

[poppopbangbang]

Top the oil, fill the tanks and send it. They're capable of doing huge distances on a regular basis if they've had the most basic of maintenance in the relatively recent past.

At one point I was doing 70K miles a year odd in mine and regularly clocking 3000 miles in a week.

[Lumply]

Wow that's really impressive, I would have trouble staying awake! Thanks for sharing. I would have a comprehensive health check beforehand (the car and me)

[sidewayssteve]

For me the thing that made the biggest difference for long journeys was swapping out the seats. I found the standard 996 seats too short in the back. After putting in some 997 sports seats from eBay, long distances have been much more appealing.

[Lumply]

Good point I'll be more aware of comfort levels, so far no discernible probs

[river_rat]

Have a read of the thread in Holidays and Travel section where a guy has just done a 12 day road trip in a 1989 year 911.

[marine boy]

Our first family Porsche drive was Oxfordshire to Maranello, took 2 weeks and wandered across Europe and over the Alps, great memories

My longest drive in one go was over 1000 miles or 23.5 hrs in my 964 C2 driving from Maranello to Droitwich

These cars were designed and built for long drives, just give your car a check over, top up the fluids and air pressure and go

[Yourmumsmum]

Get the front bumper off and check the radiators are in good nick - the cooling system is poorly engineered and the rads are very exposed to leaves and rot. You will need full cooling performance in hotter countries. Easy and cheap DIY job to replace.

Replace your brake fluid with racing spec if anything more than a few years old. Transforms brake feel and performance.

Clean or change your MAF sensor- these deteriorate quickly and make a massive difference.

Get a set of Michelin PS4s. Nothing else comes close.

If your battery is old consider a new one.

If budget allows, and not had any suspension work for a while, consider a full suspension refresh with Porsche M030 suspension and new bushes etc. Not cheap but transforms the car.

Remove the catalysts - you’ll thank me in the alpine tunnels when you hear your flat 6 in full song.

Enjoy the trip!

[Lumply]

Thank you. Major service scheduled for October. IMS RMS clutch and water pump while she's in followed by a full health check and oil/filter change (obviously) before the trip. Tyres maybe if absolutely necessary

[icekay]

I find the long distance type travel in Europe to be incredibly kind on these sort of cars, you will be cruising at 75mph or thereabouts for the majority of the time, engine barely ticking along, good on brakes and suspension - there is a reason cars in Germany are sold with huge miles and look brand new.

Just make sure to do the general maintenance checks as said above, and for peace of mind have some sort of roadside assistance in place.

[NNH]

Yourmumsmum said:

Get the front bumper off and check the radiators are in good nick - the cooling system is poorly engineered and the rads are very exposed to leaves and rot. You will need full cooling performance in hotter countries. Easy and cheap DIY job to replace.

Replace your brake fluid with racing spec if anything more than a few years old. Transforms brake feel and performance.

Clean or change your MAF sensor- these deteriorate quickly and make a massive difference.

Get a set of Michelin PS4s. Nothing else comes close.

If your battery is old consider a new one.

If budget allows, and not had any suspension work for a while, consider a full suspension refresh with Porsche M030 suspension and new bushes etc. Not cheap but transforms the car.

Remove the catalysts - you’ll thank me in the alpine tunnels when you hear your flat 6 in full song.

Enjoy the trip!

The dampers and bushes will be done for by 70-80k, and the M030 upgrade plus new bushes will transform the car. I owned a 996 in the USA on M030s, which was my daily driver for 2 years and ~60k. That included a coast to coast drive, which was perfectly comfortable.

I've also owned a 987 in Europe, which we used for lots of long-haul trips to Greece, Romania (twice), Croatia., the Arctic Circle, etc. As another poster has mentioned, these cars are very happy on long fast cruises.

[Nerdherder]

icekay said:

I find the long distance type travel in Europe to be incredibly kind on these sort of cars, you will be cruising at 75mph or thereabouts for the majority of the time, engine barely ticking along, good on brakes and suspension - there is a reason cars in Germany are sold with huge miles and look brand new.

Just make sure to do the general maintenance checks as said above, and for peace of mind have some sort of roadside assistance in place.

Yeah this.
Also check if you can upgrade your navigation to the latest version (or just use your smartphones maps solution) and load up your music collection into the car before taking off on the tour.

Yourmumsmum said:

Get the front bumper off and check the radiators are in good nick - the cooling system is poorly engineered and the rads are very exposed to leaves and rot. You will need full cooling performance in hotter countries. Easy and cheap DIY job to replace.

Replace your brake fluid with racing spec if anything more than a few years old. Transforms brake feel and performance.

Clean or change your MAF sensor- these deteriorate quickly and make a massive difference.

Get a set of Michelin PS4s. Nothing else comes close.

If your battery is old consider a new one.

If budget allows, and not had any suspension work for a while, consider a full suspension refresh with Porsche M030 suspension and new bushes etc. Not cheap but transforms the car.

Remove the catalysts - you’ll thank me in the alpine tunnels when you hear your flat 6 in full song.

Enjoy the trip!

Swapping for performance parts is total BS (imho) for grand tours, if your parts are worn it's a worthwhile consideration. Special exhausts and rigid suspension get annoying quickly on long trips.

Edited by Nerdherder on Thursday 8th August 19:51

[Yourmumsmum]

Nerdherder said:

Swapping for performance parts is total BS (imho) for grand tours, if your parts are worn it's a worthwhile consideration. Special exhausts and rigid suspension get annoying quickly on long trips.

Edited by Nerdherder on Thursday 8th August 19:51

M030 perfectly compliant for long trips and decat gives noise above 4K revs with no drone below. Both perfect choices for long trips.

[Pericoloso]

Don't fix what ain't broke.

It's a few thousand miles on tarmac ,not the Dakar rally...

[Nerdherder]

Yourmumsmum said:

Nerdherder said:

Swapping for performance parts is total BS (imho) for grand tours, if your parts are worn it's a worthwhile consideration. Special exhausts and rigid suspension get annoying quickly on long trips.

M030 perfectly compliant for long trips and decat gives noise above 4K revs with no drone below. Both perfect choices for long trips.

Possible yes, but completely unnecesary too.
Additional noise for really long tours gets boring too, to me.

[Yourmumsmum]

Nerdherder said:

Yourmumsmum said:

Nerdherder said:

Swapping for performance parts is total BS (imho) for grand tours, if your parts are worn it's a worthwhile consideration. Special exhausts and rigid suspension get annoying quickly on long trips.

M030 perfectly compliant for long trips and decat gives noise above 4K revs with no drone below. Both perfect choices for long trips.

Possible yes, but completely unnecesary too.
Additional noise for really long tours gets boring too, to me.

Of course not necessary and I'm only suggesting things worth doing if parts are worn. Simply passing on my experience from long-term 996 ownership.

When I first got mine I wouldn't have relished a long trip as the suspension was long past its best. I tolerated it for a couple of years while considering all the suspension options. Went with OEM M030 on the advice of other owners and it's proven to be very good on long trips and not even close to being rigid. Also replaced coffin arms and bushes etc. The difference was genuinely transformational and I went from being a bit disappointed in the car to being completely in love with it. Handling is such a crucial part of enjoyment of a car and I think most owners only replace parts when something breaks - I definitely have no regrets in doing a full overhaul and wished I'd done it sooner.

I also wanted it to sound better and found the cross pipe mod droned at motorway speeds. Rotting back boxes forced a change and I went with catalyst removal and M&M back boxes from Carnewal with no cross pipe or gundo hack. There is zero drone below 4,000 revs so motorway stints are nice and refined but it sounds epic when opened up.

Gearbox and diff issues also forced an overhaul and chose to upgrade to an LSD. I was surprised how much of a positive difference that made on general driving enjoyment.

All of these things have been very favourable changes and not at all negatives on a long trip.

[Lumply]

Thank you for sharing your experience and it has been taken on board
I've opened a seperate thread asking for advice about battery maintenence during a 3-4 week period of the car not being driven Sept/Oct

[ooid]

Yourmumsmum said:

Get the front bumper off and check the radiators are in good nick - the cooling system is poorly engineered and the rads are very exposed to leaves and rot. You will need full cooling performance in hotter countries. Easy and cheap DIY job to replace.

Replace your brake fluid with racing spec if anything more than a few years old. Transforms brake feel and performance.

Clean or change your MAF sensor- these deteriorate quickly and make a massive difference.

Could not agree more. Last thing you want ending up with an over-heated porsche in a foreign country, in the middle of town! I've replaced all my cooling system of 986 a few years ago, before a euro trip (France/Strasbourg). It made huge difference, no issue or hassle in tunnels or heavy traffic. Both radiators, cooling fans, water pump and even thermostat changed. Made huge difference. Enjoy !