C2 or C4

AWD is nice, but is it nescessary. Is it worth the added cost, and maintenace? Pro's / Con's

With all due respect search the archives, previous threads on this site or on <a href="http://www.funcarsonlne.com." target="_blank">www.funcarsonlne.com.</a> There has been endless conversation about pros and cons and articles in magazines, etc.

Just don't fool yourself into thinking that a carrera 4 series will be a winter snow car with its 4wd

Both cars are magnificent.You could say you can't go wrong.I am a more let the back end go at the track kind of guy and prefer the slightly less refined nature of the C-2 .I would never have a car with PSM. However the C-4 has more technical prowess and the ability of the car is very reassuring if that is your end of the car world I would get the C-4.I also personally prefer rear wheel drive to 4 wheel for a variety of reasons but there are plenty of arguements either way .cheers

This is my concern. With AWD you have to replace all four tires. Not just one. And added maintence costs.

You can get tire insuranc at a lot of places for replacment of a new tire/tires whice covers multiple replacements of the same tire in a shot time.I know I've had four flats in one week all nails! So then it just twice the cost once.The added maintence is not that much more.

AI Don't meant to be rude, but if you are worried about the odd $500 here or there when it comes to tyres, then I wouldn't think about buying a Porsche of almost any age.

I think RWD is way more fun then AWD but then again depends what kind of weather you will have 90%of the time also just another thing to break with an added drive but it's not too often that happens but you'll never know. IMO I wouldn't be driving any p-car in the snow-there's better ones out there. Like one said if one tire goes all tires need changing with AWD. Regards. Mike

I have a friend who has an S4. He got one flat tire and had to buy them all the way around. His wife went ballistic. I'm not "officially" married, but I could see the same thing happening to me.

In regard to tires, there is one difference between a C4 and a C2, and it's not the one you're concerned about. The 996 C4/996TT has a viscous (spelling?) coupling and it's important to keep the relative rolling diameter between front and rear tires as close as possible (if memory services the rolling diameter of the stock tires are within .4" front to rear). On a C4 you should stick with stock tire combinations or if you change you have to change sizes front and rear to keep the overall diameter as close to the same as possible to avoid wearing teh viscous coupling and to avoid "fault codes" in the PSM. With a C2 you have more flexibility in the tire sizes you could experiment with, subject to the usual stuff like fender clearance and what will fit on the rim width you have, since there's no coupling. But if you damage a tire on a C4 (or really a C2) you probably would want to replace the pair at least unless the remaining tires are close to new. It's a handling thing--the car may track "funny" down the road or in the wet because the tire with less tread would have less grip. For street use you would not have to do an all 4 replacement, although there's a school of thought that says you do--which is what your buddy's audi tire dealer probably said--but that's not an AWD vs. RWD thing (I've heard that recommended for all cars). Since I drive mine on the track and street, on Pirelli P-zeros, I replace all 4 tires at once when the rears are worn out on my 996 TT, even though the fronts have some useful tread life left. I did not like the way it handled with new tires on the back and old ones on the front, it plowed too much on turn in. In short, tire cost should not decide C4 vs. C2--I like C4's having owned a 99 996 C2, 00 996 C4 and now an 01 996 TT. The AWD does give a confidence factor (although it won't defy the law of physics--you can still lose it but the limits are higher) and it's phenomimal in the rain. For snow you would need snow tires, if you live where it snows and plan to drive it in winters. The stock tires won't do well in the cold--they lose a huge percentage of their grip as the temperture goes 40 degs. or less.