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YOUR RESEARCHCan't believe I may sell
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Use sharp razor blade
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I used a sharp razor blade to carefully trim the edges and a couple of ripples due to the curves, but it is far from perfect.
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Assuming I can get $45k for my '03 C4S I'm not sure the extra $55 fo $70k is going to game change the experience beyond what I have.
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Changing from a 4S to a 6Turbo will be like driving the car you have with 150 more hp on tap.
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Other factors on how I would choose which car to drive played into this, the value of the car being parked at a grocery store or other public place that could cause damage or a door ding led me to often leave �The expensive car� in the driveway, that could be considered a me problem, but there we are, my .02 cents on how I think about cars and there value and use case.
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My 4S is the first Porsche I owe and have loved every single mile I've put on it. Just last week, it hit me that it may be time to upgrade - 996 or 997 Turbo. Having a hard time thinking if the extra boost will give me an extra smile or if I'm 'looking for something too fleeting.'
Anyways - my real friends don't care about this topic so thought I'd just share here haha. Anyone upgrade and realize it just wasn't worth it?
In the process of selling but my plan is opposite and to downgrade / find something not as worried about getting thrashed. Wanted this car since my buddy's dad let me drive his guards red 996 back in 2006 when I was a teen.
End of the day it's only a car, life changes and what you choose to do with each reflects that. I'm regretting the decision a bit as the process goes on, but also excited for the next chapter.
Keeping mine. All the work my own hand had done. No way selling it. Eventually I�d like to rebuild the engine on my own. And eventually I�d like to pass it on to my nephew.
Changing from a 4S to a 6Turbo will be like driving the car you have with 150 more hp on tap. Yes I know it's only 100 more hp on paper... the turbo makes 420 at 3000 rpm all the way up until the ecu steps in to limit the fun.
Find someone who has one and ask to drive it.
Well, I've driven many, they are the best 996 for the street imho. Sweet ride for sure.
They will keep up with most modern sports cars in oem stock form and with just a tune will be outrageous powerhouses. Stock mezger TT engine internals they say are good up to 550HP. Kind of nice to switch from the kind of weak problem prone m96 to a beefy mezger designed with dry sump good for track duty out of the box. I've been looking for one for a long time now and might have waited to long and screwed my self.
If market value tells anything...
The 996 TT are going for more and more $$$$$. Be lucky to find a good one now at under $70K. Many have gone for 80-100k on Bat lately.
Get one now as in the near future they will be even harder to find at any decent value...
I find this question is answered differently from those that have come from larger, more modern 911s to a 996, and from those that have 'moved up' to a 996 as their first Porsche experience.
Really the NA 996 is its own kind. Turbos are fabulous (my father had a Cobalt Blue 6TT he took me to middle school in daily) and I remember that car not being fast, but being a psychopathic missile. It was
glorious
. 😁 Fast forward to 2026, and the engagement of a RWD NA 996 is not replicated by anything else in a world full of fast hatch backs and even faster mini vans. Engagement and experience are different from the appeal of speed.
Not related- eventually I would like a 992, but I'll likely never give up my NA 996 unless I come across another NA 996 I can't live without.
Bradley
Well until recently I had two cars a 2020 992 Carrera S pdk, and my trusty 996 Aerokit manual, they were significantly different, however I decided to downsize my fleet of three cars and decided the 992 was the one to go, this model had 444hp as stock with an 8speed pdk, it�s a lot of car and capability to use around town and all things being equal I liked driving the 996 just as much maybe more. Other factors on how I would choose which car to drive played into this, the value of the car being parked at a grocery store or other public place that could cause damage or a door ding led me to often leave �The expensive car� in the driveway, that could be considered a me problem, but there we are, my .02 cents on how I think about cars and there value and use case.
You already have one of the "more favorable" 996 versions. A C4S is low production numbers, ~ 22,000 in 5 years (I don't remember the exact number). About half were cabrios, the rest coupes. Next up the "rarity" ladder are 40 AEs and GTx cars. Value may go up, dunno, but C4S is a heck of a car. You already have TT suspension, brakes, rads, big-azz-end, wider wheels, etc, same as a TT. If you wanted to keep NA and still want more "power", go to Slakker and get a zoomie 4.1 build engine. Even their basic 4.1 is close to the 400 +/- mark, and has a lot more torque felt by your "butt-dyno". Slakker remove (fixes) all of the 996 "warts and failure points". They also have a warranty on engines and look for 100k miles being good. Also, remember there is another set of "warts & failure points" for a 996TT or 997TT. Coolant lines break and others, but I don't keep track of all of that, being a C4S NA owner. Is the grass greener on the other side of the fence? If so, I bet the water bill and so on is more $$$.
A band saying: If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you are with."
YMMV
There's nothing like the first, I'd keep it. My first car I owned in this hobby was a '88 MB 560 SEC Euro... I LOVED that car... unfortunately I was hit by someone eating Chick-Fil-A and merging 4 lanes at once, and she was totaled out. I've owned a couple fun cars since, all by every metric possible better than the 560, but none I've ever pictured myself owning forever. I've hand opportunities to replace it with another 560 a couple times to almost 90% the same spec, but never I pulled the trigger simply because it wasn't MY first.
Trenton O. Gibson
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Highline Autos
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If you have never had a car thar is " overpowered" then get you one !! lol ....The 996/997 Turbo is for sure a sweet car... But after about a decade or so you will get used to the power and it will not feel special , and you will come to realize it is not about Power or $$$$ ...... You may still prefer the Turbo over the Carrera, but will not be because it is more powerful or worth more $$$$, it will be for some other reason ...
Whenever I think of the upgrade, I always ask myself is the incremental cost giving me a new or drastic improvement in driving experience that justifies the cost? Most often the answer is "no". My upgrade car would likely be a 991.1 or 991.2. So that's $100k or $110k for a decent C4S in those model years. Assuming I can get $45k for my '03 C4S I'm not sure the extra $55 fo $70k is going to game change the experience beyond what I have. I scratched the itch on getting into a newer Porsche experience through my recent purchase of the 23 Macan S. I think I'm good with what I have for now.
I love my 996 but I often think about a widebody. I get so tangled up on Turbo vs C4S, I end up coming back to the conclusion that Im just gonna "own the hell out of this one" until it becomes clear.
I think that the best 996 of all would be a 996 Turbo (for the Mezger reliability and power) with a C4S rear decklid. I just think the wingless, widebody with the heckblende red reflector across the back of the C4S is one of the best looking 911s of all time. And a
dark-colored
C4S is the best C4S because if you tint the top half of the rear tailights, all you see is the red strip across the back, accentuating the width. Looks phenomenal. So if you take the money you would be spending on a 996TT and put it into an engine rebuild, you get the extra power to go with your sexy body. You also maintain the glorious sound of a souped-up normally aspirated flat 6 with no turbos to muffle it. Final touch: change the messy "Carrera4
S
" badge on the back to the simple, clean "911".
I say keep your black C4S and send it to Slakker or whoever the best engine builder is.
Like this?
Top is the day I got it home for the first time.
Bottom is after some "projects, especially wheels I like more than Twists. These "show" the gorgeous brakes better, JMO.
YMMV
@studawg
I really like your vision of tinting the top half of the taillights. In fact, I like all the ideas you presented in your post. I really want to see the finished product now!
Your tint pretty much matches the black color, makes the top totally disappear. Camo effect.
How do you tint the top part of taillight? Do you put a dark film on the inside or dark film on the outside? Compound curves would make it hard to do plus the sort of "ledge" in C4S lights.
Curious.
YMMV
Black color definitely helps! Film is on the outside. I used a sharp razor blade to carefully trim the edges and a couple of ripples due to the curves, but it is far from perfect. From a short distance it looks OK, but up close you can see the imperfections. Kind of has a traditional 911 vibe, and I could just remove the tint if I ever sell. Same with my headlights. I sprayed black plasti-dip to cover the non-lens portion, and can just peal it off when the time comes. Also not perfect, but good enough. And because it is paint, I can touch it up with a small brush as needed. Other exterior updates I've done include a smoked center brake light, smoked front LED side markers, LED DRLs, and I added a mini-ducktail spoiler and disabled the extending bit when it failed mechanically and I didn't want to spend the $$$ to have it replaced.
Years ago, I sold my 996 C4S and bought a 997 Turbo. I thought it was a nice upgrade and I never regretted it. That said, I have always thought that the rear view of the 996 C4S is one of the best of any water cooled Porsche.
I’m in the same boat, coming from a base 1999. I’ve had it for less than a year and I absolutely love the driving dynamics. I’ve done a lot of work on this car myself include rebuilding the entire suspension. Selling will put me at a loss, but I feel like I want a more special spec or trim so I can keep throwing money at it. Also looking at turbos but I’m unsure if the added weight will be a major turnoff when coming from one of the lightest water cooled 911s.
Can't beat the lightness and handling of a C2 if you are looking for it. Nevertheless, all 996 models have their features, advantages and benefits. Always comes down to what FABs you are looking for. No right or wrong answer. Just the right fit.
Recommend a 996 Turbo. Get one while you can. Prices are climbing fast. Nothing pulls like my 996 turbo with a light tune. I went directly to the turbo for the bulletproof motor.
For me, it's not a question of "
is it worth it
" but more
"these are different experiences, do I want that?"
I drove my '99 C2, absolute BASE spec from 2003-2024 and never really got tired of it, even after buying a 991 turbo s. Suspect I'd still have it if mother nature hadnt intervened with a flood
I mainly wanted a newer car that was a little more powerful, a bit more comfortable for road trips and potentially with a pdk that my wife could drive if necessary. Was looking at 997 tt's before covid hit and still wish I had pulled the trigger but I had just bought a new truck for my wife so I really didnt want to spend another 65-70k (lol) on one. By the time I was back in the market, prices were nuts and the 991's looked a better overall deal for what I was looking for.
I'll say this.... NO I absolutely do not have 4x the fun in the turbo that i had in my base C2.
In some ways the C2 was even more fun because it was my daily thrasher, I could street park it and not worry about it, airport parking, no worries with brunch and tight parking lots, etc.
That's definitely liberating and changes your interactions with the car and how you use it. It's also much smaller than a 991 (though a 997 would be also).
I think a 997 turbo manual would be a lot of fun too, and the interior is definitely a visual upgrade from a 996 so that would be reason enough even beyond the power increase.
You do get used to the power and truth be told, in the modern world these really arent that fast these days but it would be fun for a change I think.
pretty much my sentiments as well�although I don�t agree that these 991�s aren�t fast. My .2 Gts with Softronic tune is wicked fast. I can imagine a turbo S is even more crazy.😎
heading to Red Rocks Co in a few hours. Looking forward to 13 hrs in the GTS�It wouldn�t be nearly as comfortable in my 996.
Any 996 can get you in trouble...the Turbo will just get you there quicker ...50 mph over the posted speed and you're starring in your own episode of "Law and Order"
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