My first Porsche and 911: 997.1 C4S content
Discussion
Firstly a bit of my car history as I've owned a bunch of performance cars before including a blobeye Impreza, an Evo VIII, several 6 cylinder BMWs (most recently an M140i) and a Renault Sport Clio R27 F1 Team. I always had a soft spot for Porsche and 911s and was determined to own one at some point. I think my 911 fetish thing started in the 80s playing with a Le Mans Scalextric set that had bronze and silver 911s?
Anyway, skip to Christmas just gone and my mother-in-law mentioned she wanted to sell her 911 and that I should make her an offer for it. As the M140i wasn't being used and was waiting to be sold (we'd bought a T5.1 last summer to act as camper, bike and dog wagon) I figured I could use the proceeds of that to help fund the 911. Having been in and around it before I knew I liked it and that it would suit me. I made a slightly cheeky offer which was accepted on the basis that it would be an easy and straightforward transaction on her part.
This weekend I went down to London, collected the car and took it to Parr Porsche for a PPI including borescope. The results of this were positive (I'll share details of this in a later post) so I transferred her the cash, insured/taxed it and drove home.
The car is a very late gen 1 997 4S manual with circa 37k miles. It doesn't have many options except for a sunroof which I reckon is a nice to have for a road car. It's been well looked after from a servicing point of view but has been used very sparingly and kept outside. Paying mates rates for it means I can justify some mods to bring it up to date aswell as get it in totally tip-top condition - more on that later when I cover the Parr PPI report. There are a few things on the to-do list that I'd appreciate some help/advice on.
Anyway, enough waffle, here she is:
Anyway, skip to Christmas just gone and my mother-in-law mentioned she wanted to sell her 911 and that I should make her an offer for it. As the M140i wasn't being used and was waiting to be sold (we'd bought a T5.1 last summer to act as camper, bike and dog wagon) I figured I could use the proceeds of that to help fund the 911. Having been in and around it before I knew I liked it and that it would suit me. I made a slightly cheeky offer which was accepted on the basis that it would be an easy and straightforward transaction on her part.
This weekend I went down to London, collected the car and took it to Parr Porsche for a PPI including borescope. The results of this were positive (I'll share details of this in a later post) so I transferred her the cash, insured/taxed it and drove home.
The car is a very late gen 1 997 4S manual with circa 37k miles. It doesn't have many options except for a sunroof which I reckon is a nice to have for a road car. It's been well looked after from a servicing point of view but has been used very sparingly and kept outside. Paying mates rates for it means I can justify some mods to bring it up to date aswell as get it in totally tip-top condition - more on that later when I cover the Parr PPI report. There are a few things on the to-do list that I'd appreciate some help/advice on.
Anyway, enough waffle, here she is:
This is lovely, I wasn’t bothered about 911’s for years and I have become slowly more drawn to them over the years to the point that I need to own one at some point. I love the design of the 997’s and this looks a really nice spec, I will look forward to seeing your journey with this.
Edited by Carlos24 on Tuesday 18th May 22:30
Carlos24 said:
This is lovely, I wasn’t bothered about 911’s for years and I have become slowly more drawn to them owe the years to the point that I need to own one at some point.
Don't panic, you're just going through the male menoporsche. It's perfectly normal and happens to us all 
BTW, great car OP!
Fantastic looking car. I wouldn't worry that it hasn't got a lot of options, t's quite simple to retrofit a lot of options that weren't on at the factory, so there's always things to do in the long run. 37k is outstanding for this, especially on that engine. I normally scream inside when I see a low mileage Porsche, but this is usually the 996/986 era for bearing reasons.
On that topic though, it needs to be driven so enjoy it!
On that topic though, it needs to be driven so enjoy it!
TheDukeGTi said:
Brave man, PPI'ing your mother-in-laws car! What if it'd come back a lemon?! 
I think I'd just buy it regardless.
Yeah I was thinking about that all the time I was waiting for the report to come back but thankfully didn't need to negotiate further! When she originally bought it I'm not sure the common issues were so common and well known about. I told her about about RMS and borescoring. At first she thought I was being overly cautious getting it PPI'd until she started reading the internet which suggests all 997.1s will blow themselves up immediately. I still might get issues but I'll do everything I can to try to avoid them... I think I'd just buy it regardless.Thanks for all the compliments everyone. Onto initial impressions...
I drove pretty gingerly back from London up the M40 to Warwickshire, getting used to the general feel of the car. What hit me first was the fantastic ergonomics and brilliant almost wraparound visibility. Everything is exactly where you want it to be and even though it's a low car you have a great view out and to the sides, these things immediately made it feel friendly. When I got home I couldn't believe it was mine parked on the driveway.
On Sunday I spent the morning giving it a good clean before topping up with Tesco 99 and heading out for a good blast around Edge Hill, Banbury and Southam.
I adore the sound of the engine. I love how complicated it sounds, like there's just loads of complex engineering happening really fast right behind your ears. It has the standard, non-PSE exhaust and I've already decided that I want something a bit less subtle to make the most of it.
The steering is wonderful. There are no dead spots, just an even weighted balance to it with loads of feedback but somehow damped so that things are not too busy/edgy. This seems to be in perfect balance with the suspension which is firm but nicely damped and not rock solid. The whole car just carves and flows down the road and feels planted. The gearbox is slick once it has some warmth in it. All the controls are similarly weighted and predictable, feeling like the engineers spent ages calibrating everything to work as a complete package (I guess they've had plenty of practice with previous generations).
I love the way it looks, all simple and sleek with Shakira hips but without loads of fussy details of more modern cars.
Can you tell I like it yet?
I can already and easily tell that this is the most complete performance car I've owned by a long way. This makes sense given it was designed as a sports car from the outset. I know that a C4S with a sunroof is not the purest's choice but I can't believe how good it is as a fast road car and I've only just scratched the surface. I can't imagine how good a GTS or GT3 must be
I drove pretty gingerly back from London up the M40 to Warwickshire, getting used to the general feel of the car. What hit me first was the fantastic ergonomics and brilliant almost wraparound visibility. Everything is exactly where you want it to be and even though it's a low car you have a great view out and to the sides, these things immediately made it feel friendly. When I got home I couldn't believe it was mine parked on the driveway.
On Sunday I spent the morning giving it a good clean before topping up with Tesco 99 and heading out for a good blast around Edge Hill, Banbury and Southam.
I adore the sound of the engine. I love how complicated it sounds, like there's just loads of complex engineering happening really fast right behind your ears. It has the standard, non-PSE exhaust and I've already decided that I want something a bit less subtle to make the most of it.
The steering is wonderful. There are no dead spots, just an even weighted balance to it with loads of feedback but somehow damped so that things are not too busy/edgy. This seems to be in perfect balance with the suspension which is firm but nicely damped and not rock solid. The whole car just carves and flows down the road and feels planted. The gearbox is slick once it has some warmth in it. All the controls are similarly weighted and predictable, feeling like the engineers spent ages calibrating everything to work as a complete package (I guess they've had plenty of practice with previous generations).
I love the way it looks, all simple and sleek with Shakira hips but without loads of fussy details of more modern cars.
Can you tell I like it yet?
I can already and easily tell that this is the most complete performance car I've owned by a long way. This makes sense given it was designed as a sports car from the outset. I know that a C4S with a sunroof is not the purest's choice but I can't believe how good it is as a fast road car and I've only just scratched the surface. I can't imagine how good a GTS or GT3 must be
Looks like a great find and nice it stays in the family.
I’m a big fan of the sun roof and was pretty much the only extra I really wanted. Lovely on a sunny day.
Looking forward to see where you go with the upgrades. Mine has just gone over 90k miles so a bit jealous of your barely run in one!
I’m a big fan of the sun roof and was pretty much the only extra I really wanted. Lovely on a sunny day.
Looking forward to see where you go with the upgrades. Mine has just gone over 90k miles so a bit jealous of your barely run in one!
All I got offered was diesel Focus 
There is something about a 997. I had absolutely no interest in Porsche until I was about 35, when all of a sudden they seemed like a good idea.
I have only ever driven one, which I didn’t get on with, yet for some reason I still want one.
I really need to try another to see if I can get rid of the idea (or push me into something expensive).
In any event, I shall enjoy following your exploits with this one.
There is something about a 997. I had absolutely no interest in Porsche until I was about 35, when all of a sudden they seemed like a good idea.
I have only ever driven one, which I didn’t get on with, yet for some reason I still want one.
I really need to try another to see if I can get rid of the idea (or push me into something expensive).
In any event, I shall enjoy following your exploits with this one.
So agree with how you feel about it. I have a 997.1 C2S (and a T5!) and I absolutely love it. Mines had a Hartech rebuild, exhaust and intake mod and £5k on Ohlins fitted and set up by the amazing Centre Gravity and it’s sublime. Old school feel without being old. Quick enough to be fun (est 380bhp) and can wring it through the gears on a good road without being irresponsible but not too quick that it’s frustrating (had plenty like that). Not so precious that I have to clean it every weekend or park at the furthest reaches of every car park. A real sweet spot.
I sometimes think of getting another quick car (the 997 is staying) and browse GT3s, turbos, 458s, 488s, macs, but I don’t want one of those enough to go to the expense when I love the 997 so much. It’s saving me money!
The suspension on this is THE best money I’ve ever spent on a car.
I really hope you stay in love with it and it stays in the family. Mine gets nabbed by my daughter. She’s 24 and it cost £42 to have her added on the insurance. Nuts.
I sometimes think of getting another quick car (the 997 is staying) and browse GT3s, turbos, 458s, 488s, macs, but I don’t want one of those enough to go to the expense when I love the 997 so much. It’s saving me money!
The suspension on this is THE best money I’ve ever spent on a car.
I really hope you stay in love with it and it stays in the family. Mine gets nabbed by my daughter. She’s 24 and it cost £42 to have her added on the insurance. Nuts.
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