996 Turbo to GTO-3R
Discussion
I have had a Porsche 996 TT for 3 years now - fantastic car & utterly reliable, its never seen the inside of a Porsche garage except for servicing.
Situation has changed, new job in London means that I drive her now perhaps twice a week, 3 tops, so long story short, after discounting TVR's, Exige S's etc I looking for a GTO-3R.
Few questions I wonder if anyone can help with :
Warranty - is there anything offered on a used car (2-3 years old) bought through a dealer (like Mole Valley)
Ride height - how low at the front is it, speedbump / multi-story carpark issues ? Is that front splitter easy to remove / replace if it gets scraped ?
I will do 3-4k miles in the car a year and plan to keep her 2 years - is that OK (from a reliability and resale position)
Any help appreciated.
Cheers.
Situation has changed, new job in London means that I drive her now perhaps twice a week, 3 tops, so long story short, after discounting TVR's, Exige S's etc I looking for a GTO-3R.
Few questions I wonder if anyone can help with :
Warranty - is there anything offered on a used car (2-3 years old) bought through a dealer (like Mole Valley)
Ride height - how low at the front is it, speedbump / multi-story carpark issues ? Is that front splitter easy to remove / replace if it gets scraped ?
I will do 3-4k miles in the car a year and plan to keep her 2 years - is that OK (from a reliability and resale position)
Any help appreciated.
Cheers.
USS Bozeman said:
I have had a Porsche 996 TT for 3 years now - fantastic car & utterly reliable, its never seen the inside of a Porsche garage except for servicing.
Situation has changed, new job in London means that I drive her now perhaps twice a week, 3 tops, so long story short, after discounting TVR's, Exige S's etc I looking for a GTO-3R.
Few questions I wonder if anyone can help with :
Warranty - is there anything offered on a used car (2-3 years old) bought through a dealer (like Mole Valley)
Ride height - how low at the front is it, speedbump / multi-story carpark issues ? Is that front splitter easy to remove / replace if it gets scraped ?
I will do 3-4k miles in the car a year and plan to keep her 2 years - is that OK (from a reliability and resale position)
Any help appreciated.
Cheers.
Warranty...as AG said is available from Kerridges weather you buy from a dealer or not ( requirement being that it is serviced as per Noble service intervals) Price £990 for 2 years, great policy no claims limit, all parts covered, excluding W&T. Situation has changed, new job in London means that I drive her now perhaps twice a week, 3 tops, so long story short, after discounting TVR's, Exige S's etc I looking for a GTO-3R.
Few questions I wonder if anyone can help with :
Warranty - is there anything offered on a used car (2-3 years old) bought through a dealer (like Mole Valley)
Ride height - how low at the front is it, speedbump / multi-story carpark issues ? Is that front splitter easy to remove / replace if it gets scraped ?
I will do 3-4k miles in the car a year and plan to keep her 2 years - is that OK (from a reliability and resale position)
Any help appreciated.
Cheers.
Ride height is OK, only problem is when you have 2 roads joining at an angle to each other, I have never come across a speed bump it cant go over (you might have to take a high one at an angle)
Splitter is just bolt on, new one cost approx £120 or for more clearence you can get carbon ones, or just take it off and leave naked.
Resale....I think the large drop has already happened, I am guessing in 2 years look at maybe £5K drop for a 3R. (all IMO and assuming buying private and selling private, will be a lot more if you buy and sell to a dealer.)
same here, never found a bump i couldnt tackle. Most hot hatches lowered will have issues before the Noble. Buy in winter and sell in summer and you may get away with a 5k drop, especially as your mileage is going to be low. I am aiming to do your 6k in 8 weeks!!!
If you vcan push the boat out why not get an M400. TBH i have always felt the M12 lacking in outright performance ( not cornering tho!!).
If you can get the warranty i would go private and get a pro to have a look over the car. Those two things would have saved me spending 7k+ in 3 months of ownership. Also get Titanium silver and Burgendy leather as thats the best colour combo
If you vcan push the boat out why not get an M400. TBH i have always felt the M12 lacking in outright performance ( not cornering tho!!).
If you can get the warranty i would go private and get a pro to have a look over the car. Those two things would have saved me spending 7k+ in 3 months of ownership. Also get Titanium silver and Burgendy leather as thats the best colour combo
To echo part of aj"s comments; why not go for the M400. I have recently sold mine but when I bought her I backed to backed it with a 996tt and a gt3 and as you say the porsche is a very capable car, but for me the M400 was (as a drivers car) a better car (and faster)
All depends what floats your boat.
Tony.
All depends what floats your boat.
Tony.
Goes really well with Gunmetal [quote=USS Bozeman]I have had a Porsche 996 TT for 3 years now - fantastic car & utterly reliable, its never seen the inside of a Porsche garage except for servicing.
Situation has changed, new job in London means that I drive her now perhaps twice a week, 3 tops, so long story short, after discounting TVR's, Exige S's etc I looking for a GTO-3R.
Few questions I wonder if anyone can help with :
Warranty - is there anything offered on a used car (2-3 years old) bought through a dealer (like Mole Valley)
Ride height - how low at the front is it, speedbump / multi-story carpark issues ? Is that front splitter easy to remove / replace if it gets scraped ?
I will do 3-4k miles in the car a year and plan to keep her 2 years - is that OK (from a reliability and resale position)
I did exactly what you are contemplating, only I bought an M400.
I had the 996TT from new for about eighteen months, I'm glad I owned it but I wished I had had the M400 instead.
If you like to drive without interferance from Big Brother electronics you will love this car.
Ownership is a very "hands on" experience and you will no doubt fall foul of the odd Noble idiosyncrasy but I find all of that a plus part of ownership.
By the way the M400 doesn't have a front splitter so it won't ground so easy.
F.C.
Situation has changed, new job in London means that I drive her now perhaps twice a week, 3 tops, so long story short, after discounting TVR's, Exige S's etc I looking for a GTO-3R.
Few questions I wonder if anyone can help with :
Warranty - is there anything offered on a used car (2-3 years old) bought through a dealer (like Mole Valley)
Ride height - how low at the front is it, speedbump / multi-story carpark issues ? Is that front splitter easy to remove / replace if it gets scraped ?
I will do 3-4k miles in the car a year and plan to keep her 2 years - is that OK (from a reliability and resale position)
I did exactly what you are contemplating, only I bought an M400.
I had the 996TT from new for about eighteen months, I'm glad I owned it but I wished I had had the M400 instead.
If you like to drive without interferance from Big Brother electronics you will love this car.
Ownership is a very "hands on" experience and you will no doubt fall foul of the odd Noble idiosyncrasy but I find all of that a plus part of ownership.
By the way the M400 doesn't have a front splitter so it won't ground so easy.
F.C.
USS Bozeman said:
Was thinking of a 3R, now steering towards a 400......damn !!
I would go for the 3R, then spend a couple of grand on it (exhaust, intercooler) a super Trevor remap, then you will have a car that is more powerfull than a standard 400, plus about 7k in the bank.Unless you intend to track it a lot, the 3R is the better road car.
Edited by alex s on Wednesday 4th July 10:38
alex s said:
USS Bozeman said:
Was thinking of a 3R, now steering towards a 400......damn !!
I would go for the 3R, then spend a couple of grand on it (exhaust, intercooler) a super Trevor remap, then you will have a car that is more powerfull than a standard 400, plus about 7k in the bank.Unless you intend to track it a lot, the 3R is the better road car.
Edited by alex s on Wednesday 4th July 10:38
USS Bozeman said:
alex s said:
USS Bozeman said:
Was thinking of a 3R, now steering towards a 400......damn !!
I would go for the 3R, then spend a couple of grand on it (exhaust, intercooler) a super Trevor remap, then you will have a car that is more powerfull than a standard 400, plus about 7k in the bank.Unless you intend to track it a lot, the 3R is the better road car.
Edited by alex s on Wednesday 4th July 10:38
Which does not sound much, until you see what they make standard!
I think I got another 30-40bhp just changing the exhaust and a bit of mapping on my 3R. Then I stated making big changes 
.
As Alex says the 3R is a better road car. It'll still run rings around a lot of other cars on the track, within the limits of tyres that have tread and actually work well in the wet.....
In the future if you did go track crazy you'd be swapping out all the M400 shocks etc so a 3R is a better starting point.
.As Alex says the 3R is a better road car. It'll still run rings around a lot of other cars on the track, within the limits of tyres that have tread and actually work well in the wet.....
In the future if you did go track crazy you'd be swapping out all the M400 shocks etc so a 3R is a better starting point.
alex s said:
Indeed, plus very few(one if i remember right, M400 made anywhere near the quoted power) 390 bhp is relistic with a exhaust, intercooler and a remap.
Depends on what you mean. Most of the lower power M400s posted on here had various issues that once corrected restored power to within 5% of the stated.Mine made on the nose without any fiddling, but then I am rather anal about its servicing and have good sympathy for the car.
J
joust said:
alex s said:
Indeed, plus very few(one if i remember right, M400 made anywhere near the quoted power) 390 bhp is relistic with a exhaust, intercooler and a remap.
Depends on what you mean. Most of the lower power M400s posted on here had various issues that once corrected restored power to within 5% of the stated.Mine made on the nose without any fiddling, but then I am rather anal about its servicing and have good sympathy for the car.
J
The one I was talking about was yours!!
Dont know of another standard 400 that has been dynoed that made quoted power...plus 5% is quite a big differance on a 425bhp car!!
Yes I know tvr, Audi etc dont make quoted power either.
My point is that a 3R with an exhaust and intercooler and a remap, will be very close(within 5%!!!) of an M400 for a lot less money, but are still better suited to road use.
Its strange, I laways thought my self that the 3R was the better road car but now ( and no offence meant to anyone)I thnk the better driving position, gearbox linkage and turning circle might have tipped the balance for me toward the M400.A 2005 3R might be the best allround in that case?
Def agree with the 2005 3R with roush exhaust, map and IC.
If I got the M400 linkage, I think I would have one of the best Nobles out there IMO (and Matt FP's
)
I had the upgrades above done and now have 400 bhp and 400 lb-ft, but interestingly, my torque curve is 1500-2000 rpm lower in the rev range than an M400's (stock or modded) and as such is a more "useable" power delivery on the road.
The Rouch mods have made a massive and brilliant improvement to an already terrific car to drive. Well worth the 7% of the price I paid for the car 2 years ago. (44k)
If I got the M400 linkage, I think I would have one of the best Nobles out there IMO (and Matt FP's
)I had the upgrades above done and now have 400 bhp and 400 lb-ft, but interestingly, my torque curve is 1500-2000 rpm lower in the rev range than an M400's (stock or modded) and as such is a more "useable" power delivery on the road.
The Rouch mods have made a massive and brilliant improvement to an already terrific car to drive. Well worth the 7% of the price I paid for the car 2 years ago. (44k)
alex s said:
So is Trevor telling porkies?
The one I was talking about was yours!!
Dont know of another standard 400 that has been dynoed that made quoted power...plus 5% is quite a big differance on a 425bhp car!!
Yes I know tvr, Audi etc dont make quoted power either.
My point is that a 3R with an exhaust and intercooler and a remap, will be very close(within 5%!!!) of an M400 for a lot less money, but are still better suited to road use.
Nope. My car was indeed "spot on", but then I looked after it from the off.The one I was talking about was yours!!
Dont know of another standard 400 that has been dynoed that made quoted power...plus 5% is quite a big differance on a 425bhp car!!
Yes I know tvr, Audi etc dont make quoted power either.
My point is that a 3R with an exhaust and intercooler and a remap, will be very close(within 5%!!!) of an M400 for a lot less money, but are still better suited to road use.
Most M12's, regardless of variant, haven't made the 'quoted' figure either on their first run. Greg's is just the latest example where a little fettling and sorting the issues made huge gains.
Yes, you can get a 3R to a similar place, but then why do non-M400 owners always either giggle or go quiet when I take them out in mine. And that's before Adrian's taken them out in his
Nothing wrong with playing with 3R engines, it's just that the 'issues' that affect M400 power are just as likely to occur on a 3R. If you therefore buy either and give it to a compentant service place you'll get similar %age gains.
Finally, I'm not sure you would really notice the difference between 409 and 426...
J
sjc said:
Its strange, I laways thought my self that the 3R was the better road car but now ( and no offence meant to anyone)I thnk the better driving position, gearbox linkage and turning circle might have tipped the balance for me toward the M400.A 2005 3R might be the best allround in that case?
The 3R is the better road *only* car. The M400 is a compromise to improve track and fast A road performance. Get me in a 3R and a M400 down a really bumpy B road and I'd be faster in the 3R.Horses for courses, but take the bumps out and an M400 is a *stonking* car. Add in terrible bumps and off-camber stuff and you need far better skills to outrun a 3R in an M400.
J
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