Bargain 911. Why the Porsche 996 really is the ‘one to buy’ right now. It’s been overlooked for too long. So how can you buy a good one? A 911 by any other name. The last affordable 911 is the 996. But are you settling for second best? No way, says John Barker. Photography Alex Tapley.
Right now you can get a 911 for the price of a brand new, very nippy, small hatch. A flat-six-engined, 300bhp-plus, great-handling, loads-of- life-left, unfeasibly practical, bona fide Porsche 911 – for the cost of, say, a Vauxhall Corsa VXR. The catch? It’s the 996 model, the one lots of people ignore because it’s not a ‘proper’ 911; because it’s not air-cooled; because it shares too much with the Boxster including those funny headlights; or because it’s got an engine that will blow up.
Well, guess what. There is no catch. Googly headlamps apart, the 996 is a darned good 911. Yes, there was some gnashing and wailing from hardcore 911 enthusiasts when 993 production ended in 1997, and with it both the air-cooled flat-six and the original, compact and near-sacred bodyshell, but truth was they were both past their sell-by dates. The 996 introduced a brand new water-cooled engine, with modern features such as four valves per cylinder and variable valve timing, and it made more power and torque from less capacity.
It was a bigger, roomier car than the 993 and, yes, it shared lots of parts with the Boxster – it was the same from the doors forward, essentially – but the bodyshell of the original 911 dated back to the early ’60s. The new, bigger body was 45% stiffer torsionally than the 993’s and weighed a substantial 50kg less, while under it was a development of the multi-link rear axle which had made the 993’s handling more predictable and exploitable than that of its predecessors. And the engine issues? We’ll clear that up in a bit.
Much to like, then, although what the 996 definitely did not have was as much character as the 993. It lacked that unmistakable air-cooled rasp and whirr, and the way you had to let the steering wheel do its own thing on bumpy roads and trust the car to go straight. But I’ve seen five generations come to market, from 964 to 991, and each has been criticised for being ‘not as characterful, not as engaging’ by press and fans. And then whatever generation it was R would then go on to win every group test because, while it might not be as vocal or characterful or dangerous as the previous one, compared with its rivals the 911 was always the most compelling, character-rich car available.
So while a 996 might have seemed a bit pale after a 993, no-one getting out of a modern car and into a 996 today would complain that it was bland. It has taken Porsche the best part of 50 years to tame the rear-engine layout, and the 996 was a significant staging post on that journey. Most drivers will find enough classic 911 charm, foible and challenge here to warrant slipping from under a warm duvet early on a Sunday morning to go for a blast. This is a 177mph car that’ll get to 60mph in under five seconds and to 100mph in 11, and if you want to ramp up the excitement and engagement, there are plenty of specialists happy to oblige.
By the end of this year, the prices in this story will probably be out of date. Now is the time to act if you want to get a perfectly usable 911 for £16,000. Sure, there are mega-milers, scruffy ones and undesirable variants selling for less, but do your homework, buy the right model, buy the best you can afford and you won’t have any regrets. The 996 sold well, and there are still enough out there that you can afford to hold out for the right one. Or, at less risk, warranted, specialist-dealer cars start at around £20,000.
So, let us guide you through the issues, the models and the options, and take you through how a 996 should drive. For this we have a pair of 996s – a standard, late-model Carrera 2 plus a mildly-modified GT3 – and some tasty, testing roads up on the North Yorkshire moors. We’ll start with the basics. The car you see here is a typical affordable 996 in what Porsche specialists will tell you (and the classifieds will confirm) is one of the most desirable specifications: a 3.6-litre 2004 Carrera 2 with the six-speed manual, in silver with a grey interior and 60,000 miles on the clock. So, how does it wear those miles and those 13 years?
From the outside, very well. It looks smooth and clean on its original Turbo-look five-spoke 18-inchers, the paint is in excellent condition, the panels are free of dings and scratches, and it’s on quality tyres with plenty of tread. The last is always a good sign; it’s said that if you want to know how clean the kitchens at a restaurant are, visit the toilets. I reckon an owner prepared to keep a car on good tyres probably won’t have skimped on maintenance. ‘Regular maintenance is a must,’ says Darren Anderson, boss of specialist RPM Technik. The company has been championing the 996 for a number of years now, sourced the Carrera 2 for this feature and even lent it to Octane in its raw, not-yet-prepared-for-sale state. So, do the engines blow up?
‘On a car we will be selling, the first thing we do is change the intermediate shaft bearing if it hasn’t already been done,’ he says. It might be fine, but Anderson’s view is that it’s simply not worth the risk. (Everything else you need to know when looking to buy a 996 is at the end of the story, in the ‘What To Look For’ section.) This car is clean on the outside and very ‘slipon shoes’ grey inside. The look of the interior is very similar to the Boxster’s, but with a more comprehensive cluster of five round dials featuring that reassuringly bold Porsche typeface and orange needles. It’s rather blandly styled, and a downside of the one-colour interior is that some surfaces are finished in soft-touch paint which is now feeling tacky to the fingers. Certain features date it: the four- CD stowage (there’s a six-disc stacker in the front boot, along with an upright space-saver spare), and a CD-based navigation system that hasn’t seen an update since the late 2000s. So it defaults to pointing in the general direction of the destination when it encounters a new road. The fundamentals are great, though. The standard ‘tombstone’ seats offer both longdistance comfort and hard-cornering support, and the driving position is square, with seat, wheel and pedals all aligned. All-round visibility is excellent and it’s not a big car, just a few inches longer than a current Golf but narrower, so you’re at ease when positioning it.
The water-cooled flat-six was originally a 300bhp 3.4 but from the 2002 model year became a 320bhp 3.6. It has a melodic, pulsing character at idle, and on pulling away the whole car thrills gently to its distinct, guttural, flat-six drawl. I’d like more of this character in the midrange, but recognise that when the engineers at Weissach were creating the 996 they had everyday use and cruising refinement in mind. A sports exhaust offered in period gave a welcome uplift, and nowadays there are plenty of aftermarket systems to unlock the voice within.
Unexpectedly, the steering of this example is quite slow and heavy. There’s a brand new pair of N-marked, Porsche-spec Michelin Pilot Sports on the front, which usually bring out any sharpness that’s on offer, but even once they’ve been scrubbed-in by coarse Yorkshire asphalt, the steering response of this Carrera 2 remains a little softer, slower and weightier than I recall, something that RPM will look at before it is put up for sale.
On these B-roads, transverse ridges and sharp bumps draw little reaction from the Carrera’s front wheels but bring a sharp report from the wider rear tyres, along with some twitter from the trim. Yet when you get to bury the throttle on the exit of an inviting corner, deploying all of the flat-six’s torque, there’s no slop, no shift of the tracking in response to the loading. The rear soaks up the road’s imperfections and drives the car cleanly and solidly out of the turn. It’s utterly marvellous. It’s still a 911, still a tail-heavy, nose-light 911, but compared with the 993 the front of the 996 feels better planted. So you can lean on it sooner in a corner, get on the throttle earlier and exploit the heavy, traction-optimised rear to fire out of the corners.
The early 996s had no traction control unless fitted with the optional limited-slip rear differential, while later cars like this one were fitted with PSM (Porsche Stability Management). There’s never any sign of intervention in the dry, so you never worry about exploiting its natural grip. Within a few miles you’re in tune with the dynamics, flowing easily down the road, placing the car with accuracy, informed via the wheel and the seat, at one with the car. This 996 isn’t showroom fresh but the magic is there. It’s a beguiling, engaging car to exercise on a demanding road.
This 3.6-litre flat-six has a more generous spread of torque than the 3.4, so you don’t have to flirt with high revs as often. But if you’re used to modern, small-capacity light-pressure turbo engines, the full-throttle, low-rev response of even the 3.6 won’t wow you. It’s a pretty solid, even delivery, the engine really finding its voice beyond 5000rpm and the last rush to the 7000rpm redline coming on strong when you hold out for it, so it’s an engine that encourages exercise. There’s pleasure in the gearshift, too, the lever moving with a light, swift action and the shift responding well to correct revsmatching and a touch of heel-and-toe finesse.
The GT3 we’ve brought along takes everything you like about the Carrera 2 and cranks the dial up to ten. The intensity is worryingly addictive. Values of GT3s haven’t gone crazy like those of the GT3 RS and, in essence, it’s not as special as that car, lacking any of its lightweight bits. In fact it weighs more than the stock Carrera 2, being built on the Carrera 4 shell with a larger fuel tank and some strengthening. But that doesn’t stop it being a phenomenal drive.
This GT3 belongs to enthusiast Robert Lancaster-Gaye. It’s a working car, tuned for hillclimbing, and is non-standard in some respects. Surprisingly, that vast, exposed carbon rear wing was a standard factory option on the Clubsport-spec GT3, along with the roll-cage, seats, belts and extinguisher. Non-standard are the lowered KW suspension with extra camber, the Alcon front discs and harder pads, the exhaust from the manifolds back, and engine mapping that lifts power from the stock 381bhp (the earlier cars had 360) to a round 400bhp.
Drop into the tight embrace of the bucket seat, slam the door and there’s a hollow ring from the stripped-out cockpit, like the lid of a biscuit tin being flexed. Start up and there’s a fantastic amount of detail in the engine noise, its machinations unfiltered by rear seats.
Although it shares its cubic capacity with the Carrera 2, the GT3’s engine is in fact based on the crankcase of the Le Mans-winning GT1 racer. It’s a wonderful, hardcore flat-six growl and the gearshift is similarly mechanical, with a delicious, snickety, short-throw action – the shifter cables are from the Cup car. The flywheel is single-mass and the clutch release bearing chatters at idle like it’s falling apart (it isn’t).
Despite all the changes, there’s still much of the familiar GT3 character here. For instance, the ride is resilient rather than tough, so it still has the standard GT3’s ability to feel supremely controlled yet absorb small bumps for an everyday, rounded finish. All you have to be wary of is speed humps, says Lancaster-Gaye.
The payback for this tight control is the sense of connectedness that gives you confidence to press on, even on wet asphalt, despite tyres better suited to the dry. Tactility and feedback are key, and the steering’s direct feel and response let you know exactly where the limit of grip lies.
The rear is potentially more of an issue, as there’s no traction control and this flat-six punches harder from low revs. That’s because of the engine upgrade and the fitment of a lower final drive ratio which drops the top speed from 190 to 170mph – not an issue on hillclimb courses. And what an engine! The revcounter reads to 9000rpm, the limiter is at 8000rpm, and after a peppy enough start this yowling flat-six goes crazy from 6000rpm, the GT3 surging forward on an escalating wave of power until the limiter intervenes. The brakes are sensational too. Addictive barely covers it, and the standard GT3 is much the same. It may not be an RS but it’s still a very special experience. Rare, too – only 50 GT3s came to the UK.
Right now, the 996 is an under-appreciated and undervalued Porsche. It’s the 911 that, at this moment, strikes just the right balance between classic character and modern performance and features. It will start, it will stop in the wet, and it won’t try to spit you off in the corners if you take liberties or take your eye off the ball. It has enough creature comforts and enough life left in it that, if you really wanted to, you could use it as your only car.
If you’d love to own a 911, you’ll love a 996. Do your homework, buy well and you’ll bag a bargain. As for those googly eyes – you’ll just have to live with them.
THANKS TO RPM Technik, www.rpmtechnik.co.uk, +44 (0)1296 663824; Robert Lancaster-Gaye.
Tech and photo
TECHNICAL DATA FILE SPECIFICATIONS Porsche 911 Carrera 2 996
Engine Rear-mounted 3596cc flat six, DOHC per bank, 24 valves, variable valve timing, Bosch engine management
Power 320bhp @ 6800rpm DIN
Torque 272lb ft @ 4250rpm DIN
Transmission Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Steering Rack and pinion, power-assisted
Suspension Front: MacPherson struts, coil springs, lower wishbones, anti-roll bar. Rear: double wishbones with additional toe-control link, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Brakes Ventilated discs front and rear
Weight 1345kg
Performance Top speed 177mph. 0-60mph 4.6sec
TECHNICAL DATA FILE SPECIFICATIONS Porsche 911 GT3 996
Engine Rear-mounted 3600cc flat six, DOHC per bank, 24 valves, variable valve timing, Bosch engine management
Power 381bhp @ 7400rpm DIN
Torque 283lb ft @ 5000rpm DIN
Transmission Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Steering Rack and pinion, power-assisted
Suspension Front: MacPherson struts, coil springs, lower wishbones, anti-roll bar. Rear: double wishbones with additional toe-control link, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Brakes Ventilated discs front and rear
Weight 1380kg
Performance Top speed 190mph. 0-60mph 4.5sec
{module Porsche 996}
‘The GT3 takes all you like about the Carrera 2 and cranks the dial up to ten’
‘There was gnashing and wailing from hardcore 911 enthusiasts when 993 production ended in 1997’
Above Empty moorland roads bring out the best in these first-generation water-cooled 911s. They’re bigger than the air-cooled original but almost compact compared with today’s 991 descendant. Facing page A 996’s headights are hard to love but at least they’re distinctive; GT3’s giant carbonfibre rear spoiler was a factory option with the Clubsport specification.
HOW TO BUY A GOOD ONE
There are plenty of pitfalls in the pursuit of the perfect 996. Here’s how to avoid them…
Independent Porsche specialist RPM Technik has more experience of 996s than most. ‘We were into them when they weren’t popular,’ recalls MD Darren Anderson. ‘I did wonder if we should be, but then I thought, why not? It’s a great car.’ RPM has created its own ‘CSR’ version, improving the looks, the performance and the handling, which has been very successful. Now the wider market is waking up to the fact that the 996 is a good thing.
First rule of the 996 Club? Make sure the intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing has been replaced with an upgraded item, or factor in the cost of having it done (£2000-2500 including a clutch) when you buy the car of your dreams. It’s an important bearing at the back of the engine, below the crankshaft, found in all 911 engines but troublesome only in these early water-cooled units, in which the bearing was ‘sealed for life’ rather than being lubricated by engine oil. They don’t all fail but if it does it will wreck your engine. On every car it sells, RPM changes the IMS as a matter of course.
Second 996 Club rule? Regular servicing. ‘Don’t get hung up on main dealer versus specialist,’ says Anderson; ‘just make sure the services have been carried out at the correct time and mileage using good oil.’ The low prices of 996s mean that some people who have managed to buy the car then run it on a shoestring. That leads us on to rule three.
Which is? If the car has all the stamps, it looks good and it drives well, commit only to buying it ‘subject to inspection’. Have a specialist look the car over, up on a ramp to check out a few important, hard-to-get-to places, especially the cylinder bores. A specialist will whip the spark plugs out, get an endoscope in and see what state the bores are in.
ENGINE
Most of the talk around the 996 flat-six is about that IMS bearing or the RMS (rear main seal). For peace of mind, you want to know both have been replaced, so ask. The IMS we know about; an RMS failure will leak oil into the bellhousing and contaminate the clutch plate of a manual. It’s a simple job to replace either but it requires splitting the engine and gearbox, which adds time and cost.
On a manual-gearbox car, the IMS and RMS are often replaced when the clutch needs changing (typically 50,000-60,000 miles). Including the cost of the clutch and a new dualmass flywheel (they deteriorate, degrading the gearshift quality and rattling at idle), the bill at a specialist will be around £2500.
On a Tiptronic auto there is more cost in labour because the engine and gearbox need to be removed as a unit to allow for the two to be separated. However, the job is a few hundred pounds cheaper than for a manual because there’s no clutch and flywheel to replace. If possible, see and hear the car start from cold. Rattles will likely be the timing chain ‘flogging’ due to weak or worn tensioners, £300 to fix. Tapping and smoking could be the result of scored bores. This is an early warning of big trouble and big bills, as is high oil consumption, and represents a red flag. There are lots of cars on offer, so walk away and don’t take the risk.
Sometimes there’s a disparity between the colouration of the tailpipes, which can indicate that one of the engine banks is burning more oil than the other. Bore-scoring is rarely seen on the 3.4-litre engine, and there are many theories as to why it happens more with the 3.6: localised hot-spots, engine design or simply the way some cars are maintained and driven. Sootblackened tailpipes can also be an indicator of how it’s been driven, or that services have been stretched. Let the engine get hot and you may hear tapping on idle, especially if it’s an early 3.4; it can be harmless, but it can also be an indicator of poor pressurisation of hydraulic tappets. Listen to a few examples if you can, to get an idea of what they should sound like.
Oil leaks between the engine and gearbox (more easily spotted if the car is up on a ramp) are usually one of two things: the seal on either the IMS or the RMS. There can be weeping from spark plug tube seals too, but that’s a quick fix with a new seal. The engine air/oil separator can leak, and if it fails it allows oil to be drawn into the intake which then emerges as plumes of smoke from the tailpipes. A bit of smoke at full throttle can show it is failing. It’s not an expensive component but it’s awkward to replace. The scavenge pump at the back of the engine can leak as well.
Water leaks are rare, but RPM Technik recommends fitting a lower-temperature thermostat and filling the system with Evans waterless coolant, which won’t boil at hot-spots like the ones mentioned above. Take a torch and look through the air intakes in the front bumper apron at the water radiators and airconditioning condensers. There are no grilles, so leaves can get stuck in there and cause corrosion. Damp patches indicate that the condensers have been leaking. Both sets of radiators are expensive to replace – £1200 a pair for coolant rads, £1000 a pair for the air-con ones – and the front bumper needs to be removed to get at them. This maintenance cost can be avoided by ensuring they’re clear as part of the service checklist.
Look closely at the exhaust silencers. They can corrode and split, and it’s £1000-2000 for a pair. Sportier non-standard replacements of varying quality (and sound) are available, such as RPM Technik’s own design at £2000 a pair.
GEARBOX
On your road test, listen for whining on the overrun in the manual gearbox, or jumping out of gear – second especially – when coasting down at low revs. Obvious noise suggests worn pinion bearings and the need for a gearbox rebuild, which will probably reveal other parts that need replacing. The cost will be at least £1500 but could easily be twice that. Anderson’s take is that the 996 ’box is ‘generally okay – problems are not that common and not particularly mileage-related’.
The Tiptronic boxes are generally very reliable. They are less stressed than the manual but less desirable: you pay a weight penalty, and gearchanges are ponderous compared with the newer PDK boxes. Check the kickdown and use the thumb controls to go up and down the box manually – changes should be smooth, without banging or crashing.
Clutches typically are replaced at 50,000- 60,000 miles. The sign that a clutch is nearing the end of its useful life is a heavy pedal action, not slip. That dual-mass flywheel will often need replacing too, bumping up the bill to the £2.5k mark. Upgrades are offered by specialists; RPM Technik’s is a lightweight, single-mass, balanced flywheel matched to a lightweight clutch with a sprung centre plate to retain some of the damping provided by the twin-mass type. Together they give a sharper throttle response and snappier shifts.
SUSPENSION
Dampers corrode rather than leak and are good for 100,000 miles or more, but by then they’ll be a bit baggy and wheel control will suffer. Springs last well and seldom break, but noisy suspension is common. Creaks suggest worn ball joints or bushes in the lower arms, or delamination of those bushes, while rattling comes from either the anti-roll bars’ drop links or the upper transverse arms in the rear suspension. RPM Technik considers the front lower arms to be almost a service item to be replaced regularly; a new pair fitted, plus time on the geometry rig, adds up to approximately £1200. There’s lots of adjustment in the suspension geometry, which can be tweaked to adjust the handling balance and feel. It’s worth looking at the inner joints of the rear suspension arms, too. If the adjustment is maxed-out in opposite directions it could have been done to compensate for the effect of crash damage.
RPM Technik’s upgraded ‘CSR’ lower arm is adjustable and serviceable, with replaceable ball joints and bushes. Polyurethane bushes can be fitted and, being stiffer, they improve steering response, but they are noisier too. The factory still offers suspension upgrades such as the comprehensive M030 kit, and there are multiple aftermarket coilover suspension kits.
BRAKES
The standard drilled discs fitted to the 996 are well up to the job provided they’re in good condition. They’ll need replacing if there’s a big lip on their outer edge. If the brakes feel unresponsive, it’s possible that only the outer face and pad are working thanks to seized calipers. Low-mileage cars that have been driven gently are prone to this, and it’s hard to see the problem because the corroded inner face of the disc is hidden by the disc shield. Look at the MoT test advisories. New discs and pads will be needed at around £600.
Another point to check on low-mileage cars is the age of the tyres, which might be out of date even though they have lots of tread. Look for the stamp that shows the week and year of manufacture; 48/11, for example, denotes week 48 in 2011. The useful shelf life of a tyre is around five years. Make sure they are goodquality tyres, such as Michelin, Pirelli or Bridgestone, with the correct ‘N’ marking indicating they are specifically for Porsches. A car fitted with cheap tyres is a worry. Where else has the owner cut corners?
BODY
The 996 body was two-side hot dip galvanised, so corrosion could indicate previous accident damage. Surface rust occasionally appears around the door shuts and along the inner sill. It’s important to check the underside – if it all looks corroded, there will be lots of issues that are difficult to fix. Cars that have lived by the coast or in harsh northern climates are notorious for this.
Opaque lights show that a car has been ungaraged but they can be polished back to look nearly new. Corroded brake lines and damaged or squashed air-con lines are quite common; replacement of these can be labour-intensive and therefore expensive.
WHICH 996 TO CHOOSE?
We’d all like an RS, and a few of us recall when they were £50,000, but those days are gone and you’ll need about £130,000 now. The next most sought-after 996s are the GT3 and Turbo: the GT3 for its superb dynamics, the Turbo for its massive, everyday-friendly performance, both for their rarity. The rear-drive-only, turbocharged GT2 is rare, too, but it never gained a cult following.
The Carrera 4S did though, its combination of C4 running gear and Turbo-wide body working beautifully with its bespoke suspension set-up, and it’s only £2000 above a C2. There’s also the 40th Anniversary – a C2 with a 340bhp power kit, a limited-slip diff and a Turbo nose.
After those, the most sought-after 996 is the regular Carrera 2 in manual guise with no sunroof. RPM Technik’s Anderson has a soft spot for the original 3.4 because it likes (and needs) to rev, but there‘s a greater selection of torquier 3.6s. Keen drivers avoid the five-speed Tiptronic auto. Also less favoured, in order, are the Carrera 4, the Cabriolet and the Targa, which suffers maddening rattles and creaks. We reckon the bargain here is the Carrera 4; it’s typically cheaper to buy than the Carrera 2 even though it drives just like it, except in very low-grip situations when it’s actually more impressive.
The preferred wheel size is 18in. Nice-to-have options include Litronic headlights, Bose stereo and a leather dash, but not sat-nav because it’s obsolete and dates the interior. A factory limited-slip diff sounds like a good option but will likely need replacing by 50,000 miles.
Colours have an effect on saleability, too. Greys are ever-popular, rare solid colours can look great, silver is seen as too common and maroon is shunned. For the cabin, black is a safe bet but lighter shades give an airier feel. Wild interior shades such as mint green can make a car harder to sell on.
TO FINISH… THE THREE FASTEST 996s
Porsche 911 GT3 RS 996
The plain GT3 is actually heavier than a stock Carrera 2, but not the RS. Weight-savings came from a plastic rear screen, carbonfibre door mirrors, PCCB brakes and a carbonfibre bonnet with a transfer for a badge. Only 200 were made, all white with either red or blue decals and rim centres. It’s even more complete in its abilities than the GT3, despite the lowering and stiffening, making it the sweetest-handling 996 of all. Price-wise the ship has already sailed, with typical examples up for £130k and pristine low-mileage cars knocking on £200k.
Porsche 911 Turbo 996
Twin turbos, four-wheel drive, 450bhp… the 996 Turbo packed a lot in, and it made huge performance more accessible and exploitable than even the previous four-wheel-drive, 408bhp 993 Turbo, itself effectively the successor to the legendary 959, managed to do. Addictively, head-spinningly fast at the time, with astonishing grip and stability, the 996 Turbo was packed with kit and useable every day. It’s perhaps not a purist’s 911, thanks to the mild but obvious turbo lag and steering that’s a bit woolly compared with the best, but still a mighty machine.
Porsche 911 GT2 996
AKA the ‘widowmaker’. On paper, it’s something special: the grunt of the Turbo, and then some, with the dynamic sharpness of the RS and the purity of rear-wheel drive. Yet it never quite hit the mark, one theory being that, wary of its reputation, the UK press office set up the handling to be ‘safe’. So while it was feistier and faster than the Turbo, its handling didn’t live up to its billing, lacking an exploitable balance and engaging steering. And then there was that early reputation for grenading engines. Could the flawed weapon turn out to be a sleeper?
