Porsche 996 or 993 as daily driver ?

But its soooooo sweet, I could NEVER enjoy a non-turbo Porsche again. That's the way all of them should come. And look at all the advantages you get:

The engine that won LeMans in 1998
Full leather interior
Better brakes
Distinctive styling
a REAL spoiler (I think Porsches look horrible without rear spoilers)
HID headlights
Better suspension
Turbo cars are usually well-optioned
AWD (some don't care for it but I love the stability advantage)

 

Interesting topic....

I am flying down to LA this weekend to pick up a Seal Grey 996 to be MY daily driver starting on Monday. My wife was dying for the 996 color and it has taken me quite awhile to find one. Finally did and moved on it. I do like the color. Just have to get me some "Big Yellow" calipers on there now.....

This will be my 3rd Porsche and I think the 996s can be made to look great. Just a little tweaking here and there.....

;-)

 

The only 996 I would consider is the TT. I love that car, but the 993TT more (too expensive now).

 

I'm thinking of a 996 or 997 to park in Reno for next years ski season

btw the housing market here is tanking, great time to buy

 

Did you ditch SoCal for Reno?

 

HuskerBill I'm in Socal right now. I would drive it back up North for you. =)

 

I had a 996TT and it just didn't do it for me. The power was great, and it obviously had plenty of stick, but it was ultimately too much of a compromised car. As a daily driver only, however, that might not be a problem.

Things that annoyed:
- clutch is so soft (over boosted) that take-up feel is non-existent. i usually ended up over-reving a bit to make sure i didn't stall it. i have been driving sticks my whole life.
- stock US suspension is crazy soft and sits high
- gear throw was long and had no feel; way too soft. i had to install an aftermarket shifter to make it bearable.
- interior is not the highest of materials quality. is the same as a standard 996 or a boxster.
- a heavy, turbo, AWD car is not nearly as fun on a track as an NA RWD car. i reverted to a souped up boxster. would love a GT3.
- fairly high oil consumption rate is expected / normal (take some quarts with you on long trips)
- turbo lag / disconnected non-linear feel to power; you never really feel like you are connected to the motor; you press the pedal and wait to see what will happen

Things that thrilled:
- passing / over-taking in the smallest gaps; point the car, press the accelerator, and you are there
- great looking arse; gorgeous car, especially in speed yellow (my color)
- my wife LOVED that car - lol

 

I really think you have made the right decision (for you particular case, that is). You should not buy something out of looks and heritage if you just don't fit in with the way it drives. Taildragger airplanes with control sticks are not for everybody either and are outsold by conventional gear and control wheels probably 100-1 now.

Enjoy it; I am still enjoying my fan car in the same way.

 

One of the best things about the Turbo is how you can customize it for your needs very cheaply. Apparently, you chose not to........here are things you could have done:

1. Removed the clutch hydraulic assist so its set up like a GT2
2. Add coilovers
3. The interior IS much better than a standard car UNLESS you WAY over spec a standard 996. Even so, you can add CF or more leather if you want
4. Remove the FWD stuff, costs almost nothing to do and saves you 100 lbs
5. Something wrong with your car on the oil consumption, sure they use more because of the turbos but I add no more than a quart every 7000 miles
6. Turbo lag - get an ECU tune that REALLY reduces lag significantly - can be done for $700

Best all-around car in the world.....

 

+1, I just picked up a 996 myself, should be here this weekend. I drove one once, and I still remember it to this day, and that was 4 years ago.

Mine also is a daily driver, I traded my Lotus Esprit for it. Sometimes your not looking for heritage to go to the store, you want easy and convenient! I have two other cars that fill the heritage portion of my life.

 

I'm selling my 964.
My work has slowed down and i need to sell this or lose my house..
This car is a lot of fun for a daily driver.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290201389815&rd=1

 

Actually, I did do a few things (short shifter, RoW suspension change, changed motor mounts), but didn't go to the extremes of coilovers and remapping the ECU.

The dealer (and online inquiries) indicated that the oil consumption was very typical for a 996 911 turbo. Dunno how to reconcile that with your experience.

And the 996tt is certainly mod'able, especially to ungoldy power levels. Never claimed otherwise. But the fattest tires and the most powerful motor do not always make for the best car for all tastes. NA and RWD just give a very different experience.

For me the main sins were (track) weight, AWD, and disconnected power delivery, (street) totally numb clutch (didn't know you could remove the booster) and the lack of a removable roof.

But plenty of people (and writers) have indeed called the modern 911 turbo the best all-around (sports) car in the world. I would call it the best grand tourer / sports car combination, from my perspective.

I am guessing that since the original poster is looking for a daily driver, he would love the 996 911 turbo.

 

Off on a tangent;
I was told by someone that really knows his stuff that an X50 optioned 996TT is the way to go.
Remove the front wheel drive, reflash the ECU and you have a GT2 beater at much less cost. AND PSM to save you from "the Widow Maker" GT2. No ceramic brakes to worry about.
Moton suspension would be nice.

This would have to be the cheapest true Supercar available. And you can get the groceries in it.

 

Add a free flowing exhaust and a K&N filter and I agree with you......

 

993!! I drive my friend's minter '95 and loved it. After owning a 911SC and selling it with a lukewarm feeling about P-cars the 993 was like heaven. That truck-like sloppy shifter was gone and the car just felt civilized all around. In fact I almost bought a Guards Red '95 myself last year but at the time I also had my 400i in addition to the 308 and didn't have room to keep a third play car around and by the time I sold the 400i that 993 was gone and so I got lazy and gave up the hunt. But definitely go for 993 over the '6. Oh and one thing I've heard regarding the early water cooled 996s is that if a rear main seal fails it's new engine time.

Cheers;
Aaron
'82 GTSi

 

Could you be any more mis-informed? An RMS failure does NOT equal a new engine.....it results in a small leak....for which a 993 is well known. Not saying the RMS isn't a chronic problem, but guys have had these replaced 5-6 times without engine damage. Its also a problem with the 997 so you are off base with the car years affected too.

The 993 is underpowered, expensive to fix, has an interior from the 70s, but is still a neat car if you want an old car experience.

 

Easy now...my 'misinformation' came from a 25 year Porsche dealer tech who used to service my SC. He told me that there was a campaign by Porsche regarding a degisn flaw in the casting which led to the RM failure and therefore the 'official' remedy (as in a TSB from Porsche) was to replace the engine...so chill out..

 

I just don't like stuff like this being spread like fact. The price to re-install an RMS is like $1,800. The most recent design (that came out about 18 mths ago) seems to have solved the vast majority of the issues so from here out anybody who buys one should have to account for replacing it once during their ownership. Not a big deal, and certainly less problematic than dealing with multiple oil leaks common in air-cooled cars.

Maybe what your guy was trying to say was that the M96 engine is not made to be rebuilt like earlier cars or the current GT1 engine that is in the Turbo (which I have) or the GT3. A replacement engine is $9k, which sounds steep until you realize the cost of an air-cooled engine rebuild is about......yep....$9k, so not much has changed.

 

Early 996s and Boxsters had cylinder liner problems that resulted in engines being replaced; the RMS failures are annoying but do not warrant a new engine and in fact Porsche has apparently come up with an effective solution....check out Rennlist.com and post your questions there....every PCar has its problems/weak spots.

 

Like I said before, RMS is a catch all for a number of potential issues. A few of them warranted engine swaps, but I am pretty sure those were rare. They usually involved some repair...and as Shark01 pointed out, they almost always manifest themselves as a slow oil leak. Nothing catastrophic by any means, unless you were brain dead and did not notice your oil level dropping over time with the automated oil-level-reader telling you about it every time you turned on the car.

And when an engine swap was required, I heard numerous stories about how Porsche did it with no griping, no expense, sometimes even on out-of-warranty cars. They knew they messed up, and took care of you when the problem surfaced.

 

For what it is worth, I have not had any RMS problem on the 993 in over 95,000 miles. The valve guides did have to be replaced due to the dreaded Check Engine Light (MAP sensor) at about 75,000 but of course this is more of a top overhaul than an engine rebuild or replacement. I have heard numerous stories about 996 known mechanical issues, too, but not whole engine replacement unless you have spun a main or something - (not RMS).

Let's remember - the guy who started this was asking "what is better for ME" more than "which car is better" if I got his drift (sometimes I just kill myself...). He ended up with the 996, and so be it. The classic Porsche aircooled experience always did put off about as many people as liked it due to it's unique "characteristics".

All of these cars, IMHO, are VERY reliable as compared to most any other high-end sports car of the same performance.

 

Take your skirts off and buy a 930....

Seriously, both 993 and 996 have plusses and minuses...if I drove the car in an area with lots of traffic and hot weather I'd probably do a 996 due to water cooled motor, effective HVAC, etc, if I had lots of back road commuting I'd take a 993...

No other single sportscar comes close to the 911 and its derivatives when it comes to daily driveability, racing heritage, etc.

996 Turbos are coming down in price....put some snows on it and it truly is the ultimate in sportscar versatility.

 

996TT!!!!





(ok, sans bars, harness', jrz double adj, recaros etc)