Discussion
Hello PH,
Unfortunately, my last Readers’ Car thread has a sad ending:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
My 981 GTS was stolen off the driveway at the beginning of the month, not recovered and declared as a total loss.
RIP etc.
The 981 had a bit of a unicorn spec (buckets, X73, etc), and with prices of 981’s climbing (combined with insurance refusing to recognise this, nor spec…), I decided that my 981 journey was complete and I wouldn’t be replacing it with another one.
With a semi-recent job change, I’m doing far less miles too. I’ve had a hankering for a modern classic for a while, enjoyed Porsche ownership and the surrounding community/events, so a 996 became the target next car.
I was originally drawn to a C4S. I still think they’re one of the best looking 911’s ever made, and I’d wager that good examples will continue to rise proportionately to the way that 996 Turbos are.
However, I’ve always been drawn to early 996’s. I like that the 3.4’s are proven to be less borkable, and then purist in me like’s the idea of cable throttle, with the added plus that they are substantially lighter than the C4S. I’m also a RWD fan.
The downside of hunting for an early 996 is that they aren’t exactly ten a penny, especially when nerds like me decide that they want a specific spec.
Non-negotiables:
97-99 car
C2
Manual
Coupe
No aero kit
Negotiables:
Factory LSD a plus
Non-sunroof model
No Graphite Grey interior.
I was away for a few week on holiday after the car was stolen, and had time to begin a proper hunt. Emailed no less than 13 Porsche specialists (lol) and dealers to keep a look out for a car, set alerts on all of our favourite sites. I was in no rush and prepared to wait for the right car, but I know myself and my impulsive nature too well…
A notification from C&C on a Monday morning showing a car 200 miles away meant impulsive took over. Call with the seller, video walk around, folder whatsapped over…placed a deposit and agreed to collect a few days later.
1998 C2
Ocean Blue / Space Grey
72k miles
Factory LSD
Sunroof (we have to make compromises)
Porsche PCCM+ upgrade (CarPlay)
Full suspension refresh 3-4k miles ago
Gearbox rebuild 12 months ago
It’s a lovely car, and thankfully the 200 miles drive back was largely boring and uneventful.
I also have some plans, the (almost) first point of call is to address two things I’ve noticed that need sorting:
- bit of a creak from the OS front at slow speeds. Feels/sounds like a t/r end.
- increased NVH at idle. I’m convinced it isn’t a misfire/combustion related; the rev counter is arrow straight, its constant rather than intermittent,it goes away with the smallest bit of throttle - to me it points to engine mounts.
I also found a bit of a snagging list from an inspection last year in the bible of paperwork:
The wrong bolts on the engine mounts hopefully lean into my NVH issue theory.
The coolant items are a little bit more concerning. I know it’s a case of dropping the engine to get a replacement tank in.
With the above in mind, it’s booked into my local specialist in a couple of weeks to have a poke about.
Above, I said ‘almost’ re the first point of call. It’s because I’m an impulsive idiot and had already decided that the wheels needed changing.
I’m a massive fan of Turbo Twists, IMO they’re one of the all time great wheel designs. So within 24 hours of picking the car up I’d already sourced and picked up a set:
(Passing these off as additional gym weights to my wife was unsuccessful)
For those of you who care, the rears are genuine 993 Turbo hollow spokes, so 10J rather than 11J as seen on the wider bodied 996T/C4S. The fronts are slightly more interesting; the seller got them from RH years ago to run 8.5J rather than 8J (same size as a 996 GT3 I’m lead to believe), and even had them refurbished to have the outer rim machined in to match the OEM Porsche wheels. So, they’re not genuine, but light and look identical, with a wider footprint. I also like oddities like this.
PS2’s fitted (period correct, plus I couldn’t get PS4’s in the sizes I wanted…), trial fitted (I wanted to check clearance against the standard shocks with the wider wheel and 235 vs 225…we’re just about fine:
Super happy.
Wheels are now off as I need to seal them, plus I’ve ordered some disproportionately expensive centre caps (man mathed against the cost of the wheels) and a 12mm spacer for the rear to match the additional extra poke of the front.
Other plans:
Audio.
The drive home from Manchester concluded that PCCM+ is great, but the standard speakers (despite having the hi-fi upgrade) are…dogs
t.
Diving into a bit of an audio rabbit hole one evening, I ended up buying:
4 x Hertz 100.3 coaxials (replaces the dash/rear speakers and tweeters)
Super_paulie adaptors
Adaptor cables
According to owners, the standard door woofers become noticeably better when the other speakers are upgraded, I assume possibly clashing frequencies/phasing with the original paper Nokia units, so I’ve decided to hold off replacing those.
Suspension.
Despite the dampers looking fresh, suspension has moved on it the past 28 years.
I was all set for buying a set of Ohlins R+T, but doing some digging, it seems that upgrading the dampers + a set of spring and decent geo may be better suited to my use case (complaint road car, no track).
I want to get the wheels on and go for a drive before committing, if there’s no catching/rubbing of the wider wheels against the standard suspension, I’ll look at the Koni Actives plus H+R springs that appear to be tried and tested by 996 owners. If they catch, I’ll order the Ohlins.
Following this, ARB’s.
I’ve also had an idea regarding a valved exhaust. PSE wasn’t available on the .1’s, but I have button blanks and some smart friends…one for winter.
-
It appears this has been a bit of a brain dump/ramble, so if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading my nonsense.
As a TL:DR - bought a 996, want to get it to feel and sound like it could be a newer Porsche whilst still retaining all of the 996 character which makes it so brilliant to drive.
Cheers!
Unfortunately, my last Readers’ Car thread has a sad ending:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
My 981 GTS was stolen off the driveway at the beginning of the month, not recovered and declared as a total loss.
RIP etc.
The 981 had a bit of a unicorn spec (buckets, X73, etc), and with prices of 981’s climbing (combined with insurance refusing to recognise this, nor spec…), I decided that my 981 journey was complete and I wouldn’t be replacing it with another one.
With a semi-recent job change, I’m doing far less miles too. I’ve had a hankering for a modern classic for a while, enjoyed Porsche ownership and the surrounding community/events, so a 996 became the target next car.
I was originally drawn to a C4S. I still think they’re one of the best looking 911’s ever made, and I’d wager that good examples will continue to rise proportionately to the way that 996 Turbos are.
However, I’ve always been drawn to early 996’s. I like that the 3.4’s are proven to be less borkable, and then purist in me like’s the idea of cable throttle, with the added plus that they are substantially lighter than the C4S. I’m also a RWD fan.
The downside of hunting for an early 996 is that they aren’t exactly ten a penny, especially when nerds like me decide that they want a specific spec.
Non-negotiables:
97-99 car
C2
Manual
Coupe
No aero kit
Negotiables:
Factory LSD a plus
Non-sunroof model
No Graphite Grey interior.
I was away for a few week on holiday after the car was stolen, and had time to begin a proper hunt. Emailed no less than 13 Porsche specialists (lol) and dealers to keep a look out for a car, set alerts on all of our favourite sites. I was in no rush and prepared to wait for the right car, but I know myself and my impulsive nature too well…
A notification from C&C on a Monday morning showing a car 200 miles away meant impulsive took over. Call with the seller, video walk around, folder whatsapped over…placed a deposit and agreed to collect a few days later.
1998 C2
Ocean Blue / Space Grey
72k miles
Factory LSD
Sunroof (we have to make compromises)
Porsche PCCM+ upgrade (CarPlay)
Full suspension refresh 3-4k miles ago
Gearbox rebuild 12 months ago
It’s a lovely car, and thankfully the 200 miles drive back was largely boring and uneventful.
I also have some plans, the (almost) first point of call is to address two things I’ve noticed that need sorting:
- bit of a creak from the OS front at slow speeds. Feels/sounds like a t/r end.
- increased NVH at idle. I’m convinced it isn’t a misfire/combustion related; the rev counter is arrow straight, its constant rather than intermittent,it goes away with the smallest bit of throttle - to me it points to engine mounts.
I also found a bit of a snagging list from an inspection last year in the bible of paperwork:
The wrong bolts on the engine mounts hopefully lean into my NVH issue theory.
The coolant items are a little bit more concerning. I know it’s a case of dropping the engine to get a replacement tank in.
With the above in mind, it’s booked into my local specialist in a couple of weeks to have a poke about.
Above, I said ‘almost’ re the first point of call. It’s because I’m an impulsive idiot and had already decided that the wheels needed changing.
I’m a massive fan of Turbo Twists, IMO they’re one of the all time great wheel designs. So within 24 hours of picking the car up I’d already sourced and picked up a set:
(Passing these off as additional gym weights to my wife was unsuccessful)
For those of you who care, the rears are genuine 993 Turbo hollow spokes, so 10J rather than 11J as seen on the wider bodied 996T/C4S. The fronts are slightly more interesting; the seller got them from RH years ago to run 8.5J rather than 8J (same size as a 996 GT3 I’m lead to believe), and even had them refurbished to have the outer rim machined in to match the OEM Porsche wheels. So, they’re not genuine, but light and look identical, with a wider footprint. I also like oddities like this.
PS2’s fitted (period correct, plus I couldn’t get PS4’s in the sizes I wanted…), trial fitted (I wanted to check clearance against the standard shocks with the wider wheel and 235 vs 225…we’re just about fine:
Super happy.
Wheels are now off as I need to seal them, plus I’ve ordered some disproportionately expensive centre caps (man mathed against the cost of the wheels) and a 12mm spacer for the rear to match the additional extra poke of the front.
Other plans:
Audio.
The drive home from Manchester concluded that PCCM+ is great, but the standard speakers (despite having the hi-fi upgrade) are…dogs
t.Diving into a bit of an audio rabbit hole one evening, I ended up buying:
4 x Hertz 100.3 coaxials (replaces the dash/rear speakers and tweeters)
Super_paulie adaptors
Adaptor cables
According to owners, the standard door woofers become noticeably better when the other speakers are upgraded, I assume possibly clashing frequencies/phasing with the original paper Nokia units, so I’ve decided to hold off replacing those.
Suspension.
Despite the dampers looking fresh, suspension has moved on it the past 28 years.
I was all set for buying a set of Ohlins R+T, but doing some digging, it seems that upgrading the dampers + a set of spring and decent geo may be better suited to my use case (complaint road car, no track).
I want to get the wheels on and go for a drive before committing, if there’s no catching/rubbing of the wider wheels against the standard suspension, I’ll look at the Koni Actives plus H+R springs that appear to be tried and tested by 996 owners. If they catch, I’ll order the Ohlins.
Following this, ARB’s.
I’ve also had an idea regarding a valved exhaust. PSE wasn’t available on the .1’s, but I have button blanks and some smart friends…one for winter.
-
It appears this has been a bit of a brain dump/ramble, so if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading my nonsense.
As a TL:DR - bought a 996, want to get it to feel and sound like it could be a newer Porsche whilst still retaining all of the 996 character which makes it so brilliant to drive.
Cheers!
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