40th anny vs...

Hi all, Some of you may or may not remember, but I posted early on about looking at a C4S. After some reading and looking at others' opinions, it was suggested to look at a 40th as you get the x-51 package, LSD, and 2wd, all pluses for the track. The two cons against the 996 is the interior (all 996s when compared to the 997) and the narrow body if it's not a turbo or S. So kind of quit looking at C4Ss, and started to ponder a 996 GT3 instead!! It's hard for me to fathom dropping down $50-60k at this point in my life for a "weekend toy car" in the GT3. I've driven one and it's fun no doubt. But the responsible part of me says "that's a lot of coin!" So now I've found a 40th anny with ~46k miles on it. I haven't seen it in person yet as it's not local to me. But I can have it for $32k. (still ridiculous for a weekend toy car!) What do you folks think of this price? What's the market value on the 40th? What say the group? Some of my random thoughts in regards to this: -love the widebody S, but C4S is not the best track car out there -40th anny has LSD and X-51 package which are great for the track -996 GT3 has it all and I'm 100% wiling to overlook the narrow body because of all the performance benefits!

I would love a GT3 but my 40th AE give me most of that feeling for less money and I have DD her for 2 years. X51 is really nice as is the LSD and the full leather interior is icing on the cake for a DD. Now if I was really going to track it and use it as strictly a 2nd car then sure a GT3 will alwasy give you more but like you said not 2x the price more. BTW $32k is really good on a 40th AE they are going for more than that around these parts. P.S. I too think a wide body C4s is gorgeous but it is also heavier, has more to go wrong in the 4wd and will give you a much different feeling driving it vs a rwd C2 40th AE or GT3.

That 40th sounds good as long as it passes a PPI. Remember that many of us love the narrow body 996's. I personally think they are beautiful. I am also not sure where this thing about the 996 interior being bad is coming from. The interiors are so much nicer than the 993 and 964. Yea the 997 interior is probably nicer but it should be, its much newer.

My point is not that 996 interiors are inherently bad just that the 40th AE's have full leather standard equipment and those are nicer

If it's a weekend car and you plan on tracking it...hands down, the GT3 is the best choice. And it will hold its value.

Yoda888, by tracking it, I assume you mean you plan to do some DEs, correct? How often? The GT-3 is a lot of car, but if you don't have much track experience and only plan an occasional DE (say, less than 10 track days annually), the 40th is a better choice, in my opinion. Good luck!

40

I'd say 40th is the best bang for the buck

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Yes, by tracking I mean HPDEs. No competition stuff. I don't have the time nor do I have a wallet deep enough for that hobby. HPDEs are expensive enough when you add in the consumables. If time permits, I'd like to do 3 a year. But since it doesn't, I try to do 1-2 a year. In terms of experience, I've enough experience that I run intermediate and and signed off to drive solo. THx

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And this is why I'm so smitten to the GT3!

Wide Body only for Porsche's!

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+1

I went through a similar decision process a few months back, I wants a summer 3-5k per year car that I could track 2-3 times a year without major changes. My choices were between a 996 GT3 and a 996 Turbo. After weighing up all the options I felt that the Turbo was a lot of car but I wasn’t convinced that the added weight and the 4wd would be great on track, plus for me the benefits of 4wd would be lost to some degree as it was mainly a summer/track car. I liked the idea of the GT3 but a few things put me off at the time, first is the cost, I know that they hold their value but a decent one is $50k+ and for a toy that was a lot of cash, plus I have 2 young kids and every now and then need to collect them from a sports or after school, so the 2 seat GT3 would have been tough, but not impossible. Then there was the road manners, for me I would love a track biased car but every now and then want to take my wife out for dinner or a drive together in it, and a track biased suspension wouldn’t have been much fun for her, in the end I wanted her to enjoy the car as well. Then I drove a 09 997 and an 04 996, I expected to be taken with the 997 and go for that, but whilst the interior is arguably better designed and I liked the overall looks, the experience between the 2 wasn’t worth the $20k+ price difference, I was surprised how good the 996 C2 felt and really enjoyed it. So plugged for a C2, after investigation the 40th seemed the best bet, X51 power, LSD, full leather, Bose, Sports suspension and a limited edition, the track elements with the power, suspension and LSD were the big + points, get the better interior, stereo and being a LE was a positive, whilst I don’t expect it to mean it will be a sort after car when I resell it, I do expect it to hold it’s value better than a standard C2. I purchased my 40k mile car in March and have loved every minute of it, I tracked it for the first time this year and loved it, the car drove perfectly, it still felt fast and tight on the track. I drive it daily and whilst the suspension is hard (compared to the average car), it isn’t harsh shown more by the fact that I drove the car 2k when I collected it and over 2 days still felt fresh and didn’t ache, a massive endorsement of it’s driveability. So as you can guess my take is go for the 40th, the 4S look stunning, no question. But I think if you want 4WD & wide body why wouldn’t you have a Turbo?. Either way get a Porsche you will love it, get a 996 you will be amazed how good the car is for the $, it is the supercar bargain and pricing is only improving after it tanked a few years ago.

If you can buy a 46k mile, 40th anniversary car that clears a PPI, that is a no brainer in terms of bang for the buck. My 40th p-car is my daily driver and I am in the same DE position as you. The 40th cars are BIG fun at these events. Would a GT3 be even better? That largely depends on the driver. I think the 40th AE cars are better suited to the casual DE driver and the GT3s for the more serious participant. The GT3 does not have some of the "helpers" that a 40th car does. Thus, the better driver, more serious track guy/gal will like the GT3 better. You likely will not out drive the 40th car and will have plenty of cash for DEs, including consumables. FWIW our last instructor had a 40th car, then traded for a 997 4s; both are great, but he likes the 40th (for track days) a little better.

I loved my 40th. It was a great car. Once I saw the 40th all the other 996's where just to plain. Lots of power to keep up with the newer cars. I now have a 997TT but the 40th was great!!

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bah humbug!

I love my 40th AE, and I am glad I held out for the one I wanted at the time (CPO with 12K miles on it in 2009/2010 - I forget without looking up receipts). I am up to 20K miles now, and I installed a new IMS/RMS/Clutch/Waterpump and some other stuff while it was opened up for the IMS. Great power for a 2004 (heck, the new non-s stock 991 has 5 more HP if I remember correctly) - so it has held up a bit in the HP wars. I love the look too - turbo front, rocker panels, nice full leather interior with color matched sport seats. Decent sound with the Bose - wish it did MP3s or made it real easy to add....but that is one of the few low points! I smile every time I drive.

I was in the same situation just recently. Looking for a weekend driver and was going back and forth between the 40th and C4S. The GT3 would have been great but it is a little too much for someone that only does about 4 hpde

I was in the same situation just recently. Looking for a weekend driver and was going back and forth between the 40th and C4S. The GT3 would have been great but it is a little too much for someone that only does about 4 hpde's a year. Test drove a 40th and I thought it drove brilliant. Plenty of power and all the right features; however it did not pass PPI (lots of paint work). In the end I got a C4S which I think is absolutely beautiful however is lacking slighty in power compared to the 40th. It's ok though becaus my C4S only has 16k miles and came with very nice bbs 19" rs-gt wheels which go perfect on this car. To say the least I'm happy. Either way you'll be happy just get a clean one.

I looked at a 40th. Lovely car for a 996, but there were still those godawful headlamps and whilst the interior was full leather, the dash was still 996 with those incongruous swoops and swopes and rather dated-looking switchgear (a tape-cassette rack? seriously?). Because it was a faux-collectible "anniversary" model, there was a price premium compared with an ordinary 996, which put it within a stone's throw of the '05 997 base which I ultimately purchased. I believe the same price differential remains, indicating that the 40th is no more immune to depreciation than a stock 997. Just saying... BTW, headlamps aside, I also think the narrow-body 996 is a more cohesively attractive design than the 997.

I don't mind the headlamps - they seem more aerodynamic (I don't know if they are, but it makes me feel good thinking of it that way). I like the 04 style headlamp moreso than the 1999 model version. Taste is subjective as always. I do prefer the more traditional look of the air cooled models and the 997 and up, but I couldn't afford the 997 at the time, and I wanted more power than the air cooled (non-turbo) models had. In the end, I am very happy with my choice. Most people did not pay the premium for the "40th Anniversary Edition" from what I remember - they had to heavily discount them to get them to move out the door is what I heard, but it's here-say and perhaps some people did buy into it. It's certainly not a rare car, but with "only" 1963 of them over the entire globe (not just US), I have never seen another one since I bought mine - then again, a Porsche siting in Rhode Island is not all that common anyways, I am lucky to see a 911 a couple times a month.

I don't mind the lights either. Tape holder easily replaced which is what I did. As far as interior and switches I don't really see whatthe issue is much nicer than 993 and older and with the leather much nicer than a standard 996 vs. 997 I would rather have the x51 in the engine than a nicer A/C vent. Comparing a 40th AE vs '05 997 yes price wise they are close but but you are actually getting a fully loaded 996 w/x51 & LSD to a base 997 so not really the same thing. I love my 40th AE and compared to base 996 has some really, really nice upgrades that were quire costly so while I don't think will ever be a true collectable car it is worth more by virtue of the options included with it stock.

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Sorry for the confusion. What I meant by '05 "base" was 2WD 3.6L. Mine has full leather with dual power seats w/driver-side memory, sport steering wheel, Bose, bi-xenons, S-type lobster-claw wheels w/colored crests. Price was ~4K more than the 40th. Also the 40th had 38K miles on it and mine had 20. I have no idea what x51 means, so clearly it's not an essential thing. As for LSD, once back in college was enough.

X51 = 25 more hp LSD = Limited Slip Differential (not likely to cause a flashback)

PPI tomorrow on the 40th. We'll see what happens!

Good luck with ppi

Update time! PPI came back clean. PPI independent gave the car a 9 out of 10! Went back and forth with the dealer on a couple of issues. And finally hammered out the deal. Picked up the car this past Saturday! Some details: -~46k miles -additional options include: rear wiper, cd changer, and comfort seats -#311 in the series Some of my observations: -Damn these Pilot tires are noisy! I can't believe how much they cost and how noisy they are. And these are NOT worn out yet, so they'll only get noisier as I wear them down -The suspension is actually stiffer than I thought! Must be the crappy roads and my old age! I'm sure I'll have more questions, comments as I have more time with the car. Just drove the car home Saturday (traffic was horrible!) and parked it there. Haven't had time to really play with the car or anything yet.

Congrats on your new 40th. Haven't owned a set of Michelin tires that weren't very noisy. Good choice and price . Post some pics.

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I think $32,000 is a STEAL on a 40th car! That's a lot of bang for the buck and when you consider that a good 996 GT3 will be at least 50K it really makes the decision easy for me. If money is no object i's always recommend a GT3 especially for track use but the difference in price between the 2 is such a large percentage that they really are in completely different categories. Just read your update, glad you got the car I think you'll really enjoy it.

I think a 40th would be a great choice. At being said, don't write off the C4S if you really like it. Sure it's a little heavier than a 40h and it's AWD, but it's still fantastic for DE events and it's lots of fun. The performance differences aren't huge, and unless you are a serious track junkie, the C4S will give you everything you need.

Welcome to the club #311 P.S. $32k is a great price.

Here's a couple of quick photos I snapped on Saturday. I haven't had a chance to take any since because the car is in the garage now. Unless you guys want funky angles and bad lighting! I thought the outside temp gauge was busted! It was stuck at 109 for a long time!! Also notice the water temp was running "higher" than later on when I was actually able to cruise on the freeway. That pix is with the car in stop/go traffic. What are you guys seeing as your normal water temp readings? Also, in regards to oil pressure, what do you guys see at idle and when driving? Thanks!

Dang it! Why did the pix rotate? When I preview them on my Mac they're right side up! (either the mac is smart, or too smart for its own good!) Sorry about everyone having to rotate their head!

congrats! (enjoy thoroughly!)

Your temp runs the same as my 40th here in SoCal. I purchased #1369 in June 2012 for $32k also. Cheers, Paul

Yea, my 40th runs pretty solid at 185 as well in Miami

Congratulations! Beautiful car and a great price; enjoy.

Maybe the MAC is rotated