Lastsoul
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2005
- Messages
- 2,180
- Location
- Finland
- Car(s)
- MX5, 406 Coup?, 106 Rallye, Porsche 924, X300 Six
One day last autumn I realized that I need a 911. Then I remembered that I had that same thought the day before. And the day before that. And before that. There was only one cure. A 911.
Funnily the 911s were not my favourite cars when I was a kid. Porsches felt distant, cold and old fashioned. Impact bumpers from Saabs, strange switchgear and weird links to Volkswagen. Yeah, I'm talking about the G-series cars, the 80s 911s. 944s at least looked pretty cool, I mean I was like 7 and 944s have pop-ups.
Most of my youth was spent reading car magazines. Those cold German 911s were stealing most group tests from my beloved Ferraris.
Then many years later I found myself spending a day swapping between 2nd generation (E89) BMW Z4 35iS and 981 Boxster S. It took only 10 minutes to recalibrate my mind: I had been wrong for the last 25 years. Of course the E89 is not a particularly bright point in BMWs admittedly glorious history, it was a curious mix of grand touring comfort and hard edged sports car. Anyway, the Boxster felt like a car from a different culture. It left a lasting impression.
After that I got to drive some 911s. First was a 996 gen Carrera, then a 991 Carrera 4S I somehow managed to borrow form Porsche.
Curiously, it was the same exact car they used in the 911 50 Years poster, but I only realized it years after taking this picture (the car appears twice in the picture!). Then came couple of GT3s etc, and I really stared to fall in love with these Swabian oddities. I guess it's because of the uncompromising fine tuning done by Porsche. All the controls work in perfect harmony, to give you an example. Yes the 911 is the Golf of the sports cars: it's very probably engineered with the largest budget in the sportscar industry, there are endless variations of it and it's the default choice if you don't have any imagination. My car is silver.
It was always a 996 or no 911. Air cooled cars are out of my budget, so are 997s and later models. I don't even mind the looks of the 996, but I do have to admit that I prefer the early pre-facelift cars. Facelifted Carrera has slightly mismatching looks. However, the Turbo is very desirable, but I'd always go for the naturally aspirated GT3 if I had the money. I don't. The requirements list was simple: coupé and manual.
One day black 911 Carrera appeared for sale really close by. I talked about it with my group of friends, and it turned out that one of them had same ideas and he had even test driven the car. We decided to combine our efforts, as neither of us actually need a car, but we both need a 911. Half of one will do just fine. Or preferably a full 911 for half of the time.
Then another came for sale right next to my work. Me and Posambique went to check it out: clean early 996. Model year 1998 to be more specific. That means yellow indicators. The launch spec. This was the 911 from my childhood. This was the 911 that was driven through the window in the opening scene fo the Gone in 60 seconds. I wonder if Angelina Jolie thinks fondly of the 996s?
Anyway, the car was pretty solid. It's an Italian import, like they all are. Very slight repaint on right rear quarter panel, but paint depth gauge said it's just paint, no filler or anything more serious.
If you've ever read about the 996s, you've probably heard about some issues. The engine seems to be the holy grail of issues. Most well known is the intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing, which failure leads to pretty much complete destruction of the engine. There are cylinder issues too, called bore scoring. It’s nasty, as the M96 engines used in the Carrera models is all aluminium open deck design with coated cylinders. There are good ways to fix the cylinders, but they’re not cheap.
Yeah, the 996 has some issues. That’s why they’re in my price range. I spend countless hours reading the web. There is so much conflicting information around, it’s impossible to find the truth. The biggest mistake Porsche did was it wasn’t open enough about this. Had the Germans admitted the real issues, we would have facts instead of random rumors, some of which are based on reality, some of them are not. We took the car to local specialist to check the cylinders. They were fine. So we took a relatively deep leap of faith and bought the damn thing.
The spec list is hilariously short: model year 1998 911 Carrera 3.4 with arctic silver exterior and interior that I thought was back but is actually dark blue. No sunroof, no rear wiper, plastic dash and vinyl rear seats. It's as basic as 996s come: Stock 17” alloys, cassette radio with external six disc changer. Only desirable options is the limited slip differential. That sealed the deal.
Car trivia: as far as I know, at 1 320 kilos the base spec 996 gen 911 Carrera 3.4 is the lightest non-RS 911 in the 1990s. Yes, the air cooled 993 and even the 964 are fatter.
It’s quite a sensation to realise that you own something that belonged to the dream section in your childhood magazines – even if the 911 never used to be part of my dreams and today it can be had for a base Golf money.
It’s not perfect. Brakes have tiny vibration, some engine mounts are toast and mass air flow sensor seems to be at its last legs. Those are issues we can easily deal with now when we’ve got the car back from winter hibernation. I’ve already had my first proper drive with it, but that’s for another post.
Proof pic is also coming, the car is not at my place right now.
Funnily the 911s were not my favourite cars when I was a kid. Porsches felt distant, cold and old fashioned. Impact bumpers from Saabs, strange switchgear and weird links to Volkswagen. Yeah, I'm talking about the G-series cars, the 80s 911s. 944s at least looked pretty cool, I mean I was like 7 and 944s have pop-ups.
Most of my youth was spent reading car magazines. Those cold German 911s were stealing most group tests from my beloved Ferraris.
Then many years later I found myself spending a day swapping between 2nd generation (E89) BMW Z4 35iS and 981 Boxster S. It took only 10 minutes to recalibrate my mind: I had been wrong for the last 25 years. Of course the E89 is not a particularly bright point in BMWs admittedly glorious history, it was a curious mix of grand touring comfort and hard edged sports car. Anyway, the Boxster felt like a car from a different culture. It left a lasting impression.
After that I got to drive some 911s. First was a 996 gen Carrera, then a 991 Carrera 4S I somehow managed to borrow form Porsche.
Curiously, it was the same exact car they used in the 911 50 Years poster, but I only realized it years after taking this picture (the car appears twice in the picture!). Then came couple of GT3s etc, and I really stared to fall in love with these Swabian oddities. I guess it's because of the uncompromising fine tuning done by Porsche. All the controls work in perfect harmony, to give you an example. Yes the 911 is the Golf of the sports cars: it's very probably engineered with the largest budget in the sportscar industry, there are endless variations of it and it's the default choice if you don't have any imagination. My car is silver.
It was always a 996 or no 911. Air cooled cars are out of my budget, so are 997s and later models. I don't even mind the looks of the 996, but I do have to admit that I prefer the early pre-facelift cars. Facelifted Carrera has slightly mismatching looks. However, the Turbo is very desirable, but I'd always go for the naturally aspirated GT3 if I had the money. I don't. The requirements list was simple: coupé and manual.
One day black 911 Carrera appeared for sale really close by. I talked about it with my group of friends, and it turned out that one of them had same ideas and he had even test driven the car. We decided to combine our efforts, as neither of us actually need a car, but we both need a 911. Half of one will do just fine. Or preferably a full 911 for half of the time.
Then another came for sale right next to my work. Me and Posambique went to check it out: clean early 996. Model year 1998 to be more specific. That means yellow indicators. The launch spec. This was the 911 from my childhood. This was the 911 that was driven through the window in the opening scene fo the Gone in 60 seconds. I wonder if Angelina Jolie thinks fondly of the 996s?
Anyway, the car was pretty solid. It's an Italian import, like they all are. Very slight repaint on right rear quarter panel, but paint depth gauge said it's just paint, no filler or anything more serious.
If you've ever read about the 996s, you've probably heard about some issues. The engine seems to be the holy grail of issues. Most well known is the intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing, which failure leads to pretty much complete destruction of the engine. There are cylinder issues too, called bore scoring. It’s nasty, as the M96 engines used in the Carrera models is all aluminium open deck design with coated cylinders. There are good ways to fix the cylinders, but they’re not cheap.
Yeah, the 996 has some issues. That’s why they’re in my price range. I spend countless hours reading the web. There is so much conflicting information around, it’s impossible to find the truth. The biggest mistake Porsche did was it wasn’t open enough about this. Had the Germans admitted the real issues, we would have facts instead of random rumors, some of which are based on reality, some of them are not. We took the car to local specialist to check the cylinders. They were fine. So we took a relatively deep leap of faith and bought the damn thing.
The spec list is hilariously short: model year 1998 911 Carrera 3.4 with arctic silver exterior and interior that I thought was back but is actually dark blue. No sunroof, no rear wiper, plastic dash and vinyl rear seats. It's as basic as 996s come: Stock 17” alloys, cassette radio with external six disc changer. Only desirable options is the limited slip differential. That sealed the deal.
Car trivia: as far as I know, at 1 320 kilos the base spec 996 gen 911 Carrera 3.4 is the lightest non-RS 911 in the 1990s. Yes, the air cooled 993 and even the 964 are fatter.
It’s quite a sensation to realise that you own something that belonged to the dream section in your childhood magazines – even if the 911 never used to be part of my dreams and today it can be had for a base Golf money.
It’s not perfect. Brakes have tiny vibration, some engine mounts are toast and mass air flow sensor seems to be at its last legs. Those are issues we can easily deal with now when we’ve got the car back from winter hibernation. I’ve already had my first proper drive with it, but that’s for another post.
Proof pic is also coming, the car is not at my place right now.