Widebody vs Narrowbody ? Opinions ?

Looking to buy and keep going back and forth - prices are low for mid mile 996 C2s or C4s - not sure I want to spend the extra $ for a C4S or Turbo but that look is . . . . .

widebody looks better AWD is heavier drive a couple - maybe the answer will come to you

It is the opinion of many that the 996 C4S is the most visually attractive 911 to date. (wdebody without the clunky turbo air intakes) Many also believe the 997 4S does not have the agressive stance of the 996 4S The difference is much more noticible between the 996 C2 ans C4S much more than the 997 C2 and 4S. With the standard leather package in the 4S it feels much more comfortable in the cabin than the C2. plus they are more exclusive. (you just don't see that many C4S around ) At least around here. But I;m Biased

Widebody.

Wider is better. Besides. I like the intakes on the Turbo. Seriously, the wider shoulders of the 996 widebody really adds to the look and the wider tires and AWD allow better hookups off the line and better all weather performance That said it weighs a bit more and is more complex.

light and lean vs fat and loaded when I was shopping, I wanted leather, heated seats, xenon lights and such. a well optioned C2 usually cost just under what a 4S was going for, mostly I think because there are less higher end C2's (compared to C2's as a whole) and they were usually pretty low miles. It was an easy choice for me, I wanted more of a luxury GT car for my money. A 4S will cost a couple more dollars when it is time for new brakes and tires. And 17" winter wheels are not an option. Butt ... fat is soo phat! Brian

widebody

Not that it matters but....narrow is faster....

Whichever one you get make sure you dont put that front spoiler you have on the car in your avatar on it!

Before I bought a Turbo, I liked the clean lines of the C2. Driving behind a C4 is like following some fat lady. You can't see around her butt. Of course, now that I have a Turbo, I like the aggressive stance. There is a take no prisoners attitude to a car that is all tires and fenders in the rear. So, I guess that I'm a convert. (and I like the Turbo air intakes - in spite of the fact that they aren't air intakes, and really don't do anything. But it's the badge of Turbo-ville.) larry

Larry, the side intakes on the turbo supply the intercoolers with cold outside air to cool the intake charge with. I like the C4S looks best also, it's a beautiful car. Having owned both, I don't think most people on this board (short of those that do competitive driving or are advanced drivers on track) would notice the difference beyond the 4S being a bit more "supple". I loved mine, great daily driver.

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Yeah, that splitter was already on my prior 996 - not sure where it came from - never saw another. Was not a fan and I am convinced that it actually created lift rather than downforce over 70. I'm leaning towards a 4S - '99-'03. Will be looking to do all sorts of mods over time. Thank for the input and let me know if anyone comes across a nice option. Seal Gray is preferable exterior color.

Obviously biased. Wider is better. Just an FYI the C4S were not available until '02.

There was a Seal Gray 4S cab at the Lambo dealer in Houston a couple of months ago. Don't know if it is still there, but as I remember miles were in the low 30's, and the price was reasonable.

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Larry....Larry....Larry.... yea, Porsche put them there for looks

Widebody is, indeed, better looking. However, for the incremental improvement in looks, I would take lighter weight and leaner body - much like how Alois Ruf prefers to build his cars on narrow body chassis i.e. Yellowbird, etc.

There's a trade off! I have owned both, a narrow body for several years and a wide Turbo for less than 2 months. I drove my n/a fairly aggressively at times as the canyons are in my neighborhood. I must admit the turbo has somewhat of a trucky and heavy feel to it compared to the rwd n/a. I feel right now that I could pitch the rwd car into a series of turns quicker using higher entry and cornering speeds with smoothness and finesse than the Turbo. I'll have to work on the Turbos handling. I'm sure a lot of it may just be confidence and getting use to the heavy feel and less nible feel. I'm sure most have not noticed this, as you have to start pushing the car quite aggressively. I have noticed it driving C4s though, both 993 and 996. It's like the wonderful and light extremely responsive feel of the steering of the C2 is gone with awd. The wide body has a nicer look. The best of both, would be to buy a C4S and convert it to a C2S (like the 993). Dismember the front drive, essentially like a GT2 without the Turbo.

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The real weight difference is probably the same as a small guy driver vs a big guy. Someone who wants a C2 is becuase its a pure RWD car it's more fun because it tail happy and easy to get the rear out. You can easily remove the front diff and drop the 60 + lbs and have RWD with a wide body. The C4S as well, came standard with many weight adding features, full leather, bigger rotors and brakes, wider wheels, larger stereo speakers and sub. The wide body shell itself is also heavily but it also is reinforced and stiffer as well as has a wider track that allows more rubber on the pavement. Leaner comes with compromises but I'd rather take all those heavier options and get bigger brakes then then save the weight.

+1 to Nick49. I have driven a C4 and a Turbo; I can relate to what you said. jumper5836, I agree as well but I would still take lighter weight. With a lighter car, there is less need for bigger brakes, wider wheels and stiffer chassis. For street use, the weight likely doesn't matter as much for most people. I would even venture to say that looks matters more significantly to most folks. To each their own.

get a 996GT3

I'd agree if there were a substantial weight diff, but there isn't.

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I really don't think it's just the weight. I think it's transmitting power thru the cardon shaft to the viscous coupling then thru the front diff out the half shafts to the hubs. All this creates a lot more mass to accelerate and slow than just a free wheeling front wheel. You can notice it on a slightly spirited drive and it really becomes significant when pushing the car in right left transitions on and off throttle. In to looks or the feel of the car? No right or wrong answer.

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There is only 5% power going to front wheels. It very rarely sends more power to the front since its a mechanical diff, with PSM on it brakes the spinning tires and prevents the diff from being triggered to send power to front. There has only been one time I felt the front power come on. That is when I was letting go the clutch at 3500 rpm on a sandy road. All power was transferred to the front wheels which made the car feel like it lost half the power and pulled instead of pushing. It took a mater of around 8 seconds for it to send power back to the rear. This is the only time is 9 years I've ever felt that, for the most part it acts as a RWD car all the time. The 997.2 is proper AWD drive system but on the 996 its really RWD unless traction is almost completely lost in the rear.

Coming from 944's, the C2 was plenty wide in the back to me! I like the simple classic lines of the C2.

I like big butts and I cannot lie.... I am biased of course but after driving both a C2 and C4S, I fell completely in love with the 4S. As far as looks go I like narrow body on the 993, but for the 996 I prefer the wider look.

I prefer the Turbo body but also believe the base 996 doesn't get credit for having curves because they are more subtle than on the C4S/Turbo or 993. If you look closely enough there is still a flaring of the fenders on both the front and rear. It's just not as pronounced as the other cars. And with a wide set of tires on the car and a lowered suspension it looks pretty aggressive - look no further than a well-prepped GT3 to see what I'm talking about. Those cars lead you to believe they are widebodies yet still use the "narrow" shell.

GT3's use the C4 shell.

There is no answer to this question... It is purely subjective. The only angle that you can tell if it is nb/wb is from the rear..... I love both looks.

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Correct but not the C4S shell. So it still looks like a base C2 from a casual observer's point of view. Not until you open the front trunk do you see the difference.

A C4S has a nice set of standard features that can be somewhat hard to find options in a C2, full leather and PSM being the most obvious. Probably the best all-round option short of a turbo is to find a 40th Anniversary car. But it seems that there are really two conversations here... C4S v. C2 and 996 Turbo v. both. With the two normally-aspirated cars it is a question of looks and traction. But the turbo is in a completely different league in terms of performance. Who cares what it looks like?

C4S you get more than than the wide hips... 11" rear wheels, big red brake setup, 30mm lower suspension and full leather interior all standard. essentially you get a fully loaded car. If you can swing it buy a 4S. You will never regret the decision. Now, if you want to skip the Carrera all together and pickup a GT3 then.................................................................... ........................................................................ ......................................you will make more than a few of us jealous. Good luck with your purchase. Cant go wrong with any 996 at these prices.

Great thread. [no vote - I love'm both]

I like them both. My wife prefers the "996 with the red brake calipers" I guess a tip C4S is in her future. The more the merrier I always say.

Narrow body cab, wide body coupe I love the cab. and I really want a turbo cab for my next car but it's just too busy looking for me. I'm trying though!

I wish I could have the opportunity to pay a reasonable amount of money to autocross a C2, C4S, Turbo, and GT3 at the same event, plus a little street cruising test. My family would prefer a non-GT3 as the kids use the back seats. I like the widebody look best, but am pining after all the GT3 goodness, wondering what I'm missing from a good RWD version (e.g. 40th), and curious what all that Turbo power would be like for hardly any more money than I paid for my C4S (latter from dealer, former from some of the better Rennlist deals). I've only driven a 1969, 1977, 1995 C2, and now my 2004 C4S, so am clueless how different they are while driving or autocrossing them (I view the two as quite different -- I don't slide my car around multiple corners on the street, nor do I evaluate the comfort during a serious run). Edit: by this I mean that I can't compere driving narrow body vs. widebody in a single generation. The 1969 was light, reasonably fast at autocross, but I didn't like the car -- truck shifter that needed babying and not enough power for my taste. The 1977 was basically that but heavier. The 993 was ok but darn that engine in the back wouldn't let me forget that it wanted to drag the car with it. My 996 is by far my favorite of each of them, and nice to drive on the street as well as autocross.

I concur: Narrow body cab, wide body coupe. But as with all things: beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I've owned/instructed in and did many time trials in many examples. The bigger brakes are nice but practically will never come into play from a performance perspective. I can see if you're using the car as a dual purpose vehicle how the C4S may get by on track with just the dealer sport pads, though the narrow chassis is not exactly lacking in brakes with just more aggressive pads. I also found the widebody cars to be noticeably quieter. I would think an MK2 Carrera would be very close on track or auto-x to a Carrera 4S. The 4S is slightly slower but does have more grip -which is generally attributed to the AWD system and this is not the case. The widebody chassis offers more mechanical grip under neutral throttle conditions as well. In fact no Carrera has trouble putting power down (even in the wet they're fine) so the AWD is not required. Obviously the turbo is much quicker and can seldom make use of the AWD in the dry (of course it does come in handy in the wet often) but both the widebody cars are more planted/less nervous none the less. As I said above I find the Carrera 4S to be the most supple and "nicest" of all of them and prefer them in looks over a turbo but if you have the money I'd be willing to put up w/the turbos rear end and side intakes for the extra performance even though it comes with another incremental weight penalty. Though some of us (me included) may overlook the 996 GT3's shortcomings, it really does make a terrible daily driver. It's loud, rough, low ground clearance and very little power down low even into the mid range. It's fantastic on track, but that's not what most owners do with them.

One thing I've noticed about the AWD (at least in turbo trim) is that the cornering at moderate speeds is more neutral than in an RWD. I was used to steering a bit with the throttle through a tight turn. I know it only sends a small percentage of power to the front, but this is enough to make a difference at moderate speed. With the AWD, you have to be going a lot faster to get the throttle steer effect. It does have the effect of feeling heavier, but the good news is that as I get used to it, I can do things that I wouldn't try in a RWD. I don't think it is less responsive. It's just different.

Well, its about a month later and I'm closer to a decision to go for the first 996 C4S or C4S Cab that makes the grade at a good price point. Re performance, I think I'll prefer the extra grip of the widebody. Re looks, I keep reminding myself that when I owned the narrowbody I kept saying next time it will be wide. Sorry for the delay and thanks for the responses. Keep you eyes open and send me a message if anything comes around.

I like big buts

Look at my Avatar. How can you not love those lines on the widebody cab? Fat bottom girls, they make the rockin' world go round. Good luck on your search.

for sure C4S... i'm looking at mine right now out the window -- awesome looking car.

I like the C4S the best of any 996 variant in terms of visual appeal. I've never felt that mine was too heavy or underpowered. I spent quite a bit of time driving a 997 C2S, and while that car was more powerful and responsive than my C4S, the difference was small.

my vote - wide body. they look great.

Send any my way - preferably near NY but would not rule out distance purchase. Any thoughts on the price range for a C4S ? Looking for a mid mile, accident free, well maintained , close to perfect paint/ body, seal grey preferred exterior, gray, red or black interior - not tan Other options don't really matter as I like to mod later

Of course I might be biased, but uhmmm... yeah I'm just biased Wide-body cab is the way to go... put an oversized wing and it'll look even wider Not too many cab lovers but let me tell ya every time I put the top down it's like I'm on a holiday even if it's a 15 min. one. And...(if you make it your first mod) there's nothing else like hearing that beautiful exhaust note!! Yep i think ya made the right choice... I mean, just look at that @ss Good luck with the hunt!