993's - is Varioram essential ?

[Patrick Rennison]

Looking for a 993, there are two cars which are of interest to me at the moment but neither are varioram. Should I bide my time and wait for a Vario car or should I just buy on condition and not worry about the extra 12bhp ?

[toppstuff]

In a word, no. Don't worry about it.

Condition matters most IMO.

Pre-varioram cars are damn fine cars.

As an aside, I gather that tuners like Ninemeister ( www.ninemeister.com) regard the non-varioram as more tunable than the varioram.

IMO, condition is more important.

[Pickled Piper]

It's not essential. If all other things are equal then it is preferable.

Do a search on here, much has been posted about the merits of Varioram. It's more about useable mid range and less peaky performance rather than just 12bhp.

pp

[paultje]

It's been much talked about before but:- the pre-varioram cars have Type 21 gearboxes that have slightly shorter ratios in 4th, 5th and 6th than the 1996+ models (Type 20 boxes). Soooo, what you gain in power you lose on the ratios. Buy on condition & history. Good luck I'm sure you will enjoy trying them out!!

[gaity]

That can't be a given, my 96MY 4S is varioram with type 21 box.

[AJAX50]

I spent many months lookoing for a top 993. I wanted a late , low miles c2 or c4, not an S. Having come from a Griff. via a Boxster S I was disappointed with the way the Vario cars I drove performed. Out of interest I tried a low miles (27K) 95MY C2. It really impressed, the way it went once it was over 4000 rpm, it felt much quicker than the Boxster. I suspect that the performance difference between Vario and non-Vario is non-existent. Indeed Road and Track got better performance from their earliest tests of a C2 the non-vario car than later (standard) models.
The key question is what type of perfomance do you want, Vario with a progressive increase in power as the revs rise or that fantastic push and noise from 4500 to the red line from a non Vario.
9M say they can get 290-ish bhp out of a non-V car from remapping, but more importantly improve the mid-range as well as the peak, I intend to treat my car to a visit to Warrinton.
If I was starting again I would again buy a simple unmolested non-Vario car.

[paultje]

gaity said:

That can't be a given, my 96MY 4S is varioram with type 21 box.

I think the change-over happened in 1996, so some varios may have the T21 box.

[abarber]

paultje said:

It's been much talked about before but:- the pre-varioram cars have Type 21 gearboxes that have slightly shorter ratios in 4th, 5th and 6th than the 1996+ models (Type 20 boxes). Soooo, what you gain in power you lose on the ratios. Buy on condition & history. Good luck I'm sure you will enjoy trying them out!!

As above, some '96 993's have Type 21 and Varioram.

Get one, particulary a C2 and they feel noticably quicker, especially in the mid range.

Al.

>> Edited by abarber on Monday 11th April 17:24

[ninemeister]

The best ever (uncorrected) NVR remap result was 313bhp (albeit with the engine fitted into a 3.2 Carrera & running std 993 heat exchangers but with simple silencers in place of the cats) whereas the best standard VR result to date is 308bhp. Either way, 300+bhp is typical from a live remap of a stock 993 with either intake.

There really is very little to choose between them, the VR is better in the 2000-3000rpm range where the system actually works to some effect but on a 3.8 993 with RS cams struggled to make 314bhp, whereas the NVR is better from 6000-7000 and is capable of supporting an engine producing near 360bhp (964RS Motec +1 at 350+bhp, 964 3.8 Motec 355bhp). I know what I would choose, but my parameters are somewhat skewed from the norm......

The G50-21 gearbox is much preferred for track use however.

[AJAX50]

Well there we have it, the N-V is a peaky engine with a close ratio gear box, great for the enthusiastic driver, whilst the Vario is a softer engine with wider spaced gears, bit of a boulavard cruiser really. Was the 95 MY the last of the real 911's?