Guards Red 996
Discussion
Thought I'd start a thread on the 996 after reading the likes of PopPopBangBang's - even if mine will massively pale in comparison to his tricked out monster.
So around 3 months ago, I started getting the itch to realise a bit of a lifelong dream to own a Porsche. I do a lot of miles with work and have a diesel BMW for that task, so this was purely for something to enjoy on the weekends and hopefully get more into track day action having had a bit of fun on some in the past. I started the hunt with a Cayman, which was lovely and balanced - but I couldn't help but look into 996's, I've had a model 996 GT3 since I was about 12 and always wanted one! The search started with a ropey blue Cat C, which cemented the fact that I wanted one, but not that one. A bit of searching later, and I came across a Guards Red Carrera 2 with the aero kit and a few extras like the M030 suspension and an LSD! No modifications bar a Fabspeed exhaust.
I went and viewed, immediately wanted it and 3 painstaking weeks later it was eventually on the driveway
I've had it a month now and its started off strong, needing a slave cylinder (on warranty thankfully) within a few weeks. I'm hoping with the extensive history of the car it shouldn't be too much of an arse to own, but I'm ready to shoulder anything it throws my way. Being a 1998, its got the dual row bearing and ferrous liners, which is allegedly the most reliable combo - time will tell!
Pics -
So around 3 months ago, I started getting the itch to realise a bit of a lifelong dream to own a Porsche. I do a lot of miles with work and have a diesel BMW for that task, so this was purely for something to enjoy on the weekends and hopefully get more into track day action having had a bit of fun on some in the past. I started the hunt with a Cayman, which was lovely and balanced - but I couldn't help but look into 996's, I've had a model 996 GT3 since I was about 12 and always wanted one! The search started with a ropey blue Cat C, which cemented the fact that I wanted one, but not that one. A bit of searching later, and I came across a Guards Red Carrera 2 with the aero kit and a few extras like the M030 suspension and an LSD! No modifications bar a Fabspeed exhaust.
I went and viewed, immediately wanted it and 3 painstaking weeks later it was eventually on the driveway
I've had it a month now and its started off strong, needing a slave cylinder (on warranty thankfully) within a few weeks. I'm hoping with the extensive history of the car it shouldn't be too much of an arse to own, but I'm ready to shoulder anything it throws my way. Being a 1998, its got the dual row bearing and ferrous liners, which is allegedly the most reliable combo - time will tell!
Pics -
Edited by CornedBeef on Friday 13th April 12:25
_Neal_ said:
Liking that a lot, pretty much my ideal spec 996. Those hard black sports seats look superb too.
ETA - How many miles has it done?
Its on about 110k, so looking well for the mileage! A fair bits been done over the years and its been well cared for which shows. ETA - How many miles has it done?
Bonus pic of it about to go on the ramp for the slave cylinder
spot the old 911 to the left.
Thanks chaps! I always loved guards red, and it does add a bit of excitement to the drive next to the dirty grey E92...the guy who sold me it has one in an identical spec, but painted in speed yellow and I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of them side by side.
I'm hoping to get underneath it at some point in the next few weeks and do a bit of cleaning up/undersealing, they definitely cope well considering the age rust wise but there are a few tatty bits I spotted when it was up on the ramps. Not bad for 19 years though!
I'm hoping to get underneath it at some point in the next few weeks and do a bit of cleaning up/undersealing, they definitely cope well considering the age rust wise but there are a few tatty bits I spotted when it was up on the ramps. Not bad for 19 years though!
JS1500 said:
Paul Dishman said:
Lovely car, well done! My SC was Guards Red, I've always thought 911s look good in it.
Would you mind revealing how much it cost you?
I hope it was significantly more than I paid for mine or I'll be gutted!Would you mind revealing how much it cost you?
I paid £18.5k in the end, it seemed at the more expensive end but I loved the spec and it's had a tonne of work done over the past year or two that I'd probably need to do on a slightly cheaper one.
Fastlane thats bloody lovely, nice low miles too.
I've got a bit of an oil related question for the 996 owners - PPBB in particular with his mega mileage. What oil are folks running? I asked the garage who serviced it last so I could get some top up oil and they've put 10W60 in, I think normally they're better suited to 5W40 or 10W50 according to other things I've read?
I've got a bit of an oil related question for the 996 owners - PPBB in particular with his mega mileage. What oil are folks running? I asked the garage who serviced it last so I could get some top up oil and they've put 10W60 in, I think normally they're better suited to 5W40 or 10W50 according to other things I've read?
I might switch over to 10W50 on the next oil change then, it seems fairly happy for now on this. The oil pressure is around 1.5 bar when up to temperature, its nice having a gauge to tell me information like that, the BMW doesn't even have a water temperature gauge.
All has been ticking over nicely in the meantime, not much to report really. I took it out for a good lengthy drive with a few mates all around the South Downs, Portsmouth and back up via Hindhead tunnel (lots an lots of dropping a gear and flooring it for the noise
)
Nicer pictures will come via a friend with an SLR, but I really liked this one!
All has been ticking over nicely in the meantime, not much to report really. I took it out for a good lengthy drive with a few mates all around the South Downs, Portsmouth and back up via Hindhead tunnel (lots an lots of dropping a gear and flooring it for the noise
)Nicer pictures will come via a friend with an SLR, but I really liked this one!
Edited by CornedBeef on Friday 13th April 12:26
Yeah its always ran at around that level, if I turn on the AC it bumps it up a bit at idle thanks to the revs being a little higher. The coolant currently sits at about 90C, is it better for the block to run a little cooler then? I'll have a little look into that as a winter job, along with cleaning/sealing the underside!
Does anyone know how to remove the side skirts on these for an inspection? I cleaned and sealed my E46's back when I had them, and removal was really easy with them just being clipped on.
Does anyone know how to remove the side skirts on these for an inspection? I cleaned and sealed my E46's back when I had them, and removal was really easy with them just being clipped on.
dannyDC2 said:
Fair old mixture of metal there! How does the DC5 do against the 996?
We did have a mix on the go! FWD, RWD & 4WD among all the other differences there. The owner of the Integra has some better pictures of the day to send through, his is a nice and very well kept car. I thought they were a really good match, being on public roads there weren't too many opportunities to really go for it but when we did they were pretty similar. I think the plans to head to Bedford next Spring and we can have a proper comparison there along with the rest of the group which will be a fun day.SidewaysSi said:
How are these for baby/kid seats? I often think of getting one to replace my Elise as it would mean I can take the family out but I can't bear to part with the Lotus!
It's not something I have to contend with, but I reckon you could fit child seats in the back. You can't fit actual sized humans back there above 4 foot tall!The FVD sump seems like a reasonable price actually, as does the thermostat. I'll be looking into fitting them before Spring next year in preparation for any track work - the thermostat seems like a good call regardless of that.
Found a bit of a design flaw today when checking the oil! On the aero 996's the opening for the little engine fan has no screen/filter, so large chunks of conker shell in my case found their way in. Anyone with an aero'd 996 should have a look and clear out the little fan - on that note, is it purely there to remove some hot air from the engine bay? Seems like a weird feature, obviously the actual cooling system runs to the front where you'll find radiators and their own fans!
Before -
After -
Before -
After -
Edited by CornedBeef on Friday 13th April 12:26
Used the car at my friends wedding over the weekend, a good excuse to put some miles on it while the weathers dry! The cars running smoother at idle now its getting regular use, it has managed to burn through most of the tank of petrol having only covered 240 odd miles though...glad I have a diesel for work!
I've got a whole free Saturday coming up, so I'm seizing the chance to have a miserable time on my front driveway and clear out all the arches/underside - hopefully everything's clean underneath but we shall see.
I've got a whole free Saturday coming up, so I'm seizing the chance to have a miserable time on my front driveway and clear out all the arches/underside - hopefully everything's clean underneath but we shall see.
Edited by CornedBeef on Friday 13th April 12:27
So I've done a very silly thing and washed the only key for the car in the wash (as well as the BMW key for good measure). It worked fine last night but now the LED is going a bit nuts, I'll see how it is when I get home again to the car.
So preparing for the worst - anyone know the best option for new 996 keys? I've so far contacted Porsche Reading, they want £364 (!) for a new key! So hopefully theres a better option out there, or that's our first (self inflicted) bill.
So preparing for the worst - anyone know the best option for new 996 keys? I've so far contacted Porsche Reading, they want £364 (!) for a new key! So hopefully theres a better option out there, or that's our first (self inflicted) bill.
Sunnysider said:
CornedBeef said:
So I've done a very silly thing and washed the only key for the car in the wash (as well as the BMW key for good measure). It worked fine last night but now the LED is going a bit nuts, I'll see how it is when I get home again to the car.
So preparing for the worst - anyone know the best option for new 996 keys? I've so far contacted Porsche Reading, they want £364 (!) for a new key! So hopefully theres a better option out there, or that's our first (self inflicted) bill.
My local indy supplied and programmed a new key for my boxster for circa £140.So preparing for the worst - anyone know the best option for new 996 keys? I've so far contacted Porsche Reading, they want £364 (!) for a new key! So hopefully theres a better option out there, or that's our first (self inflicted) bill.
Fast Bug said:
Sunday the 5th of November at Ports Down Hill, at 8.30/9.00 in the morning. There's a food van there so catering is covered, views of the Solent and some quiet roads at that time of the morning.
It's the first meeting, and probably the wrong time of year as some cars will be tucked away for the winter. I've organised it via the 996 Carrera page on Facebook.
I'll be there in my Ocean Blue C2 manual
I'm part of that group! You may have seen me whinging about my car key on the group today...It's the first meeting, and probably the wrong time of year as some cars will be tucked away for the winter. I've organised it via the 996 Carrera page on Facebook.
I'll be there in my Ocean Blue C2 manual
I reckon I can make that actually, its about an hours drive - would be good to see some other 996s. Are other cars welcome? I've got a few others who would probably be up for a drive over.
Bit of a boring update, but with winter coming (or here) and with some spare time yesterday I got the car jacked up and cleaned out both rear arches. I then sealed them both with a couple of coats of Dynax UC - it seemed to be the flavour of choice!
Horrendous jacking up of the car on the gravel -
Doesn't look too bad, then I removed the (very annoying to put back) arch liner to reveal heaps of mud!
After a good old hosing down and one dead sponge later, it looked a lot better.
Gross work, but also very satisying. I tidied it up more than the above, dried it off and gave the whole arch/lip a few coats of the underseal before putting everything back together. I've also treated the leather to some conditioner too this weekend! No pics of that because it just looks the same
Cars soldiering on nicely too, plenty of driving done recently and aside from using a lot of fuel its been solid!
Horrendous jacking up of the car on the gravel -
Doesn't look too bad, then I removed the (very annoying to put back) arch liner to reveal heaps of mud!
After a good old hosing down and one dead sponge later, it looked a lot better.
Gross work, but also very satisying. I tidied it up more than the above, dried it off and gave the whole arch/lip a few coats of the underseal before putting everything back together. I've also treated the leather to some conditioner too this weekend! No pics of that because it just looks the same
Cars soldiering on nicely too, plenty of driving done recently and aside from using a lot of fuel its been solid!
Edited by CornedBeef on Friday 13th April 12:27
Little update, I've done around 1500 miles since purchase and all is well really. I've decided to run the car through winter, but to try and avoid the main salty roads like motorways and still use the 3 series for commuting/boring bits. Does anyone know how well 996's fare with rust? It's 19 years old now and the sills are covered by the side skirts, which means there could be some hidden crusty jugglers. I have of course undersealed the arches!
This is when PPBB will come along and take the mick for even questioning it.
Also, grabbed a picture while visiting the parents on a weekend with a much larger Pork!
This is when PPBB will come along and take the mick for even questioning it.
Also, grabbed a picture while visiting the parents on a weekend with a much larger Pork!
Edited by CornedBeef on Friday 13th April 12:28
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