1st post as potential 996 turbo owner wanting advice please!

Hello all, having tuned the flat 4 in a Subaru for over 6 years to its max potential, its time for me to play with two more cylinders and get into grown up 911 flat 6 ownership . Its deffinately the turbo im after in 996 form, and any advice from owners in potential buying do's and donts would be great. Im very fortunate to have 2 chaps in my local subaru club working for Porsche Bolton as service technicians so ill drag them along to any viewings, however id like to know more on the following please. Is the auto/ semi auto as slow in changing up/down as everyone seems to be telling me? Which transmission is the more durable for aftermarket tuning of 500+HP the auto or manual? Any other advice would be great, does this forum have any specific 996 turbo buyers guides by any chance? Many thanks :thumb:

Hi mate. Not sure about the transmission questions but they are great cars. Things to look for should include, leaking front rad's (Open to stone damage through large air intakes), MAF, clutch and I can't think of anything else at mo. I believe the engine will handle that sort of power no probs and there are plenty on here and PH's that have that sort of go!! Buyers guides wish, try a recent back issue of EVO (Although not that great to be honest), and the one Total 911 did. That one featured alot of advice from Paragon who certainly know their Onions!!!!!!! Good luck mate Jim

Much appreciated mate, all advice welcome.

Hi, Would not touch the tip/auto with a bargepole IMHO. I feel it gives no real feel or control and takes the driver out of the equation. I have come from a manual E46 M3 and went for that over the SMG for the same reasons. Best shout is to drive them back to back and you'll go for the manual everytime(particularly after your scoobie). You will then however want the shortshift which makes changes far more 'clack clack' & precise. I suspect the manual will be more up to mods also. NOW is the time to buy one of these supercars as the 'secret' will pretty soon be out and they will start to re climb in value. Only bought mine 6 weeks ago, but apart from the stock exhaust being far too quiet and the brakes not up to the job, car is awesome. :thumbs:

hi m8, granted the tiptronic is a dog. new PDK's are lovely and I would buy a 997TT with a PDK in a heartbeat. when I was buying my 996TT I thought about the tip and drove two : I do a bit of city driving and motorways so the triptronic would make sense : man, that stuff is horrible. first, the TT aint the best car for that gearbox : the turbo is EXPLOSIVE has bursts of power and its hard to control it properly with the auto gearbox. second, is really bad. sorry, I do find auto convinent but that gearbox.. blergh. is the exact box that is on previous mercedes cars ( E cars from 2005 ) so you get the idea. now what to look in a TT : rads - they are prone to leaking and corrosion. expensive to fix. 800 per rad. oil leak - TT does consume a bit of oil though but shouldnt be leaking. check engine compartiment - clean ? check oil compartiment for foam clutch : hard to tell on a TT unless is slipping already, TT has assisted clutch so one method to see if its close or not is through milleage : should need replacing circa 50-70k. around 1500 pounds replacing. bushes : my TT eats bushes ( supension bushes that is ) like no tomorrow : go slowly ( circa 10 mph ) on bumpy roads and listen. if you listen to creaking noises, thats bushes. around 250 per pair. tyres : all 4 tyres the same brand ? that indicates owner takes care of the car.. beware of different brands on different axles and run if he has different brands on same axle. take out carpets, check paint underneath if it's the same and see if you see repaingintgs. if so, ask why. ask receipts. ask to be taken on a spin - carefull owners will warm up the car for 15m before loosing the beast. if he does otherwise, beware... check turbo boost in OBC: should read 0.6-0.9 for standard cars on full throotle. ask for receipts ! check what has been done on the car see if has extended warranty and until when. very important. check if work has been done on OPC or good indies. although the 996 was the first Porsche that was designed so the the owner can perform some "normal" maintenance tasks himself : changing the oil is easy, replacing bulbs, changing the air filter, etc. I would run away from modded cars... it isnt just my thing. unless your last name is Hammilton a stock 420 or 450hp car would be plenty, trust me. anything more than an exhaust upgrade ( desirable, Turbo's noise is quite muffled ) and perhaps a remap, for me is a no-no. shocks should be replaced around 100k miles or so, around 1200 quid. most common problem on Turbos is the rads though... the engine is pretty much bullet proof is mantained properly. see as many as you can, dont settle for the first one - its fun to be the buyer : read as much as you can, either here on on other forums / pages.

Disagree completely about the Tiptronic box - it depends on how you use the car. You should try both, and see which suits you best. They don't do the 997T with PDK. Apparently, it won't handle the torque. The 997T Tip is faster 0-60 than a manual. Just my 2p's worth, and the debate will rage forever........

Must admit after looking through a few i would like a tiptronic as 65% of my driving is Mway but then I have always prefered manual for the true driving experience.... Will be trying both out I think and see which is best for me too. Also, would i be correct in thinking a clutch on a manual is going to cost a squilion pound to replce and hence a tiptronic would save this expense ??? or is that not the case ? Cheers Lee

If you want to read numerous debates about auto/manual there is plenty of choice here, so I'll try and stay on topic. Having always driven manuals previous to this then moving to the tip I don't think the change is any slower. Drive both and way up the pros and cons of how you will be driving it, not on how everybody else would. Both boxes are pretty robust, you'll find as many modded tips as manuals. As mentioned above the tip comes from merc and is used in the AMGs, is well known for its reliability and robustness. Normal servicing isn't that different from NA, cost of parts is a little more. Items that wear are discs and pads (£1000), 3 front rads (£1300), tyres (£750) and front suspension (yet to find out).

Yap, almost true, if only the Panamera Turbo, more powefull than the 997TT, comes standard with a PDK...

Agree with rads, disagree with remapping just had mine done transforms the car acceleration in any gear better, turbo comes on boost quicker. moves boost from0.6 max to 1.0,when buying drive and max out to see highest boost pressure should be 0.6 to 0.7 on 420 car.this does vary with some maxing out at 0.40.5. Check for leaves etc in front rad area these cause rotting and new rad which not cheep. Check front splitter these easily damaged and expensive to replace. Hope this helps Steve

Many thanks chaps for the advice, last question are the standard clutches good for around 50k? Driven sensibly? No doubt AP Racing do aftermarket replacements, although i dread to think of the cost.