Living with a 996 turbo - the good, the bad......the turbo
Discussion
The beginning
Back in 2010 I fancied a change of car and a Porsche 911 turbo looked just what I needed. I’d been running a lovely 3.2 Carrera as a daily (and a Caterham 7 HPC as a weekender) but using a 20+ year old car although fun was getting harder to maintain and I didn’t want to run her into the ground. A 996 turbo was top of the list.
In June 2010 I started to look (thread is here), but with no nice examples coming up and the arrival of daughter No.2 I didn’t have time to spend and decided to take a break from looking and ended up buying a BMW 535d Touring to tide me over!
The hunt
Roll-on to September 2011 and the itch had returned and this time needed to be scratched. My second search began (thread here) for my elusive 996 turbo.
My ideal spec was:
• Seal/slate grey
• Manual
• Sports seats
• Black leather
• Below 50k miles
• 2002 onwards (facelift with glovebox)
• Unmodified
When you’re not looking there always seems to be a glut of good cars for sale. The minute you start to look that rich supply of cars seems to dry up. There’s only so many times you can click and refresh the Pistonheads classifieds and the extra time in the holiday season only made the hunt harder.
By January 2012 I decided a new course of action was required and put a call in to all my local Porsche Independent Specialists (JZ Machtech, 911Virgin, RSJ Sportcars, Northway and Portiacraft) with a brief for my ideal car.
Nothing had come up by late February when I went skiing to France. After a few days away and whilst sitting at Geneva airport on the way back I spotted RSJ Sportcars had just added a slate grey 996 turbo to their stocklist. There were no pictures as it hadn’t been prepared yet. By the time I landed at Luton airport, Joel from RSJ had already called me and left a message. As it was late I emailed back and arranged to drop in at lunchtime the next day.
The One
After a test drive, inspection and a bit of haggling I’d bought myself a Porsche 996 turbo (X50).
My cars spec:
• Slate grey
• Manual
• Standard seats
• Black leather
• 36k miles
• 52 plate
• X50 pack
I picked up the car in early March. The level of detail the RSJ team goes into preparing their cars in fantastic, my car had new disks, front bumper resprayed and the rear wheels repainted plus a detailing and waxing before I picked her up.
I'm a perfectionist with my cars and in the past 4 months I’ve had a few minor issues resolved. A rattle around the dash was cured (an occasional creak from the rear window/sunroof has stopped but Joel assures me they will take a look again if it restarts). I picked up a puncture in one of the rear tyres and on removal of the tyre the paint hadn’t taken properly when the rear alloy had been resprayed so that was refinished. A month later whilst cleaning I noticed a slight ripple in the paint on the rear bumper, which I had noted but hadn't raised, but felt needed attention (probably caused by heat from the exhausts) so I asked Darren to repaint the bumper which he did to sort it out.
The aftersales service has been nothing short of remarkable, especially for a used car.
Living with a 996 turbo
Role on 5 months and 4k miles my 996 turbo has really grown on me. You learn how to use the power to best advantage, the car can be a relaxed cruiser but always has the burst of X50 pace when required. Even then there’s little drama and the way it has coped with the wet weather we’ve had is stunning.
The lack of sports seats hasn't bothered me, the standard seats are very comfortable. The X50 pack was a nice extra which I hadn't bargained on getting as part of the deal!
Here are a few photos I’ve taken since we’ve had the dryer spell of weather:
The only downside to date that nobody tells you about the lack of original tyres for these cars. This generally means you have to buy a pair of tyres with the same size and N rating. Other than that it’s been hard to fault.
Anyone thinking about buying a 996 turbo, just do it there are good cars out there and buying from a good independent makes life a lot easier.
A special thanks to Joel, Darren, Martin and the team at RSJ who’ve gone out of their way to make sure my car is a true pleasure!
***************************************************************
UPDATE - Living with a 996 turbo, one year one - 22nd May 2013!
Well I've now put circa 12k miles on in 14 months and loved every minute of it.
The 996 turbo really is an amazing car to live with. On a nice day it's a pleasure to stretch it's legs when the opportunity arises and it devours the tarmac. It really excels when the weather is bad and you want to get from A-to-B quickly without any drama, it's simply unflappable. With other cars you wish you were in a normal car, the turbo sticks to the road and doesn't put a wheel out of place.
I haven't had too many surprises, a couple of rear tires (due to a nail in one of the rears), a clutch cylinder and regular oil top ups.
After sales service and support from the team at RSJ has been great. The couple of jobs, service, MOT have all been booked in and carried out drama. Thankyou
Hope everyone is enjoying their 996 turbo as much as me!
***************************************************************
Back in 2010 I fancied a change of car and a Porsche 911 turbo looked just what I needed. I’d been running a lovely 3.2 Carrera as a daily (and a Caterham 7 HPC as a weekender) but using a 20+ year old car although fun was getting harder to maintain and I didn’t want to run her into the ground. A 996 turbo was top of the list.
In June 2010 I started to look (thread is here), but with no nice examples coming up and the arrival of daughter No.2 I didn’t have time to spend and decided to take a break from looking and ended up buying a BMW 535d Touring to tide me over!
The hunt
Roll-on to September 2011 and the itch had returned and this time needed to be scratched. My second search began (thread here) for my elusive 996 turbo.
My ideal spec was:
• Seal/slate grey
• Manual
• Sports seats
• Black leather
• Below 50k miles
• 2002 onwards (facelift with glovebox)
• Unmodified
When you’re not looking there always seems to be a glut of good cars for sale. The minute you start to look that rich supply of cars seems to dry up. There’s only so many times you can click and refresh the Pistonheads classifieds and the extra time in the holiday season only made the hunt harder.
By January 2012 I decided a new course of action was required and put a call in to all my local Porsche Independent Specialists (JZ Machtech, 911Virgin, RSJ Sportcars, Northway and Portiacraft) with a brief for my ideal car.
Nothing had come up by late February when I went skiing to France. After a few days away and whilst sitting at Geneva airport on the way back I spotted RSJ Sportcars had just added a slate grey 996 turbo to their stocklist. There were no pictures as it hadn’t been prepared yet. By the time I landed at Luton airport, Joel from RSJ had already called me and left a message. As it was late I emailed back and arranged to drop in at lunchtime the next day.
The One
After a test drive, inspection and a bit of haggling I’d bought myself a Porsche 996 turbo (X50).
My cars spec:
• Slate grey
• Manual
• Standard seats
• Black leather
• 36k miles
• 52 plate
• X50 pack
I picked up the car in early March. The level of detail the RSJ team goes into preparing their cars in fantastic, my car had new disks, front bumper resprayed and the rear wheels repainted plus a detailing and waxing before I picked her up.
I'm a perfectionist with my cars and in the past 4 months I’ve had a few minor issues resolved. A rattle around the dash was cured (an occasional creak from the rear window/sunroof has stopped but Joel assures me they will take a look again if it restarts). I picked up a puncture in one of the rear tyres and on removal of the tyre the paint hadn’t taken properly when the rear alloy had been resprayed so that was refinished. A month later whilst cleaning I noticed a slight ripple in the paint on the rear bumper, which I had noted but hadn't raised, but felt needed attention (probably caused by heat from the exhausts) so I asked Darren to repaint the bumper which he did to sort it out.
The aftersales service has been nothing short of remarkable, especially for a used car.
Living with a 996 turbo
Role on 5 months and 4k miles my 996 turbo has really grown on me. You learn how to use the power to best advantage, the car can be a relaxed cruiser but always has the burst of X50 pace when required. Even then there’s little drama and the way it has coped with the wet weather we’ve had is stunning.
The lack of sports seats hasn't bothered me, the standard seats are very comfortable. The X50 pack was a nice extra which I hadn't bargained on getting as part of the deal!
Here are a few photos I’ve taken since we’ve had the dryer spell of weather:
The only downside to date that nobody tells you about the lack of original tyres for these cars. This generally means you have to buy a pair of tyres with the same size and N rating. Other than that it’s been hard to fault.
Anyone thinking about buying a 996 turbo, just do it there are good cars out there and buying from a good independent makes life a lot easier.
A special thanks to Joel, Darren, Martin and the team at RSJ who’ve gone out of their way to make sure my car is a true pleasure!
***************************************************************
UPDATE - Living with a 996 turbo, one year one - 22nd May 2013!
Well I've now put circa 12k miles on in 14 months and loved every minute of it.
The 996 turbo really is an amazing car to live with. On a nice day it's a pleasure to stretch it's legs when the opportunity arises and it devours the tarmac. It really excels when the weather is bad and you want to get from A-to-B quickly without any drama, it's simply unflappable. With other cars you wish you were in a normal car, the turbo sticks to the road and doesn't put a wheel out of place.
I haven't had too many surprises, a couple of rear tires (due to a nail in one of the rears), a clutch cylinder and regular oil top ups.
After sales service and support from the team at RSJ has been great. The couple of jobs, service, MOT have all been booked in and carried out drama. Thankyou
Hope everyone is enjoying their 996 turbo as much as me!
***************************************************************
Edited by g7jhp on Wednesday 22 May 13:37
ZeroH said:
Why does your turbo have a C4S front splitter?
If it came with it then this is the second turbo I've seen from RSJ with the incorrect front splitter on a turbo.
Why is it when someone posts a positive post on PH there are always people who have to look for the negative?If it came with it then this is the second turbo I've seen from RSJ with the incorrect front splitter on a turbo.
No idea. The previous owner may have changed the splitter.
I viewed my car when it had just arrived, before it had been prepared by RSJ so I got to see it 'warts and all' with the current splitter on.
An OPC may go to the effort of changing it (for originality and warranty) but I wouldn't expect an independent to do so and I actually prefer the look of the C4S splitter over the standard turbo version.
Front splitters on 911's should be viewed consumables, they occasionally get scraped (which is why I don't like the [painted aerokit type).
Thought I'd write a quick update on life with my 996 turbo and just noticed I've had the car for exactly 7 months today!
The Bad
A couple of weeks ago when the weather turned noticibly cooler the engine warning light came on. So I dropped in to RSJ and Martin plugged it in, noted an oxygen sensor warning had come on and reset it asking me to advise if it came on again, which it did.
I arranged to drop it off and when I did asked them to have a look at the clutch which had been light at times and heavy at others. Joel has on hand and when he tried it he agreed something definately wasn't right, suggesting the clutch slave cylinder.
The Good
RSJ replaced the faulty oxygen sensor and clutch slave cylinder.
All I can say is WOW, I was shocked at how light the clutch is and my 996 turbo now feels and the whole car is so much better!
Thanks again to the RSJ team for their support when called upon!
The Bad
A couple of weeks ago when the weather turned noticibly cooler the engine warning light came on. So I dropped in to RSJ and Martin plugged it in, noted an oxygen sensor warning had come on and reset it asking me to advise if it came on again, which it did.
I arranged to drop it off and when I did asked them to have a look at the clutch which had been light at times and heavy at others. Joel has on hand and when he tried it he agreed something definately wasn't right, suggesting the clutch slave cylinder.
The Good
RSJ replaced the faulty oxygen sensor and clutch slave cylinder.
All I can say is WOW, I was shocked at how light the clutch is and my 996 turbo now feels and the whole car is so much better!
Thanks again to the RSJ team for their support when called upon!
StuB said:
Missed this thread before, but yet another happy X50 owner, though mine's not stock, but does have 2 smokin' barrels quite often 
Thanks Stub...very happy owner they are outstanding value.I had a lift in a 997 C2s the other day and I honestly prefer the interior in my 996 turbo!
If anyone is undecided on one go and try one they're fantastic cars and so capable.
markcoznottz said:
EvoSlayer said:
Only if they have been replaced, only one part# for turbo front splitter plus C4S wasn't even available when turbo was released in 2000.
Bet the cars had coil overs/ lowering springs at some point. Only one reason people fit c4s front splitter, and that's to get over speed humps easier in lowered car. monthefish said:
g7jhp said:
A quick update after 14 months....
Go on then....
- *************************************************************
Well I've now put circa 12k miles on in 14 months and loved every minute of it.
The 996 turbo really is an amazing car to live with. On a nice day it's a pleasure to stretch it's legs when the opportunity arises and it devours the tarmac. It really excels when the weather is bad and you want to get from A-to-B quickly without any drama, it's simply unflappable. With other cars you wish you were in a normal car, the turbo sticks to the road and doesn't put a wheel out of place.
I haven't had too many surprises, a couple of rear tires (due to a nail in one of the rears), a clutch cylinder and regular oil top ups.
After sales service and support from the team at RSJ has been great. The couple of jobs, service, MOT have all been booked in and carried out drama. Thankyou
Hope everyone is enjoying their 996 turbo as much as me!
- *************************************************************
monthefish said:
g7jhp said:
monthefish said:
g7jhp said:
A quick update after 14 months....
Go on then....- *************************************************************
Well I've now put circa 12k miles on in 14 months and loved every minute of it.
The 996 turbo really is an amazing car to live with. On a nice day it's a pleasure to stretch it's legs when the opportunity arises and it devours the tarmac. It really excels when the weather is bad and you want to get from A-to-B quickly without any drama, it's simply unflappable. With other cars you wish you were in a normal car, the turbo sticks to the road and doesn't put a wheel out of place.
I haven't had too many surprises, a couple of rear tires (due to a nail in one of the rears), a clutch cylinder and regular oil top ups.
After sales service and support from the team at RSJ has been great. The couple of jobs, service, MOT have all been booked in and carried out drama. Thankyou
Hope everyone is enjoying their 996 turbo as much as me!
- *************************************************************
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff