Will my scheme to add a turbo to the stable work?

Hey there. I've lurked for a long time and read up a bunch on ownership of a 996 and finally I broached the subject of adding one to my stable with my wife and she wasn't too excited about the idea. Apparently she thinks 3 cars for one person is excessive and I already have a 2014 BMW X1 as my bad weather car and a 2012 Miata as my good weather car. I love them both for their different purposes. But at the same time as I was thinking about this, we've been talking about replacing my wife's 2006 WRX because she's tired of driving standard. She doesn't drive very often at all (like once or twice a week around town) but when she does drive she has very high standards for her car. Right now the WRX is sitting in the driveway almost every day. The key elements she wants are: - It must be AWD to handle the snow well. She'll cancel her plan to go out because of a heavy snowstorm, but in general she wants a car that will handily conquer the snow. - It must be reasonably fast. She's addicted to the ease of highway on-ramps that the WRX gives her. - It must be relatively small. I.e. no SUVs - Style. She's not a fan of sedans. The F30 BMWs are too big, and she finds the Audi A4 boring looking. So I was thinking it might be possible to put our two wants together so we both win and I'd like to get your opinion. Right now the two new cars out there that seem to be the best match for her are the Audi TT and John Cooper Mini Countryman. I'm thinking either a 996/7 C4 or a 996 turbo tiptronic. I'm leaning towards the turbo since the IMS bearing issue scares me and everyone seems to say that the engine of the turbo is absolutely amazing and bulletproof. So now I need your help/opinion on my scheme. If she liked it, a Porsche would deliver everything (Maybe except the AWD performance - see below) she wants and I'd drive it every now and then when she wasn't to keep it rolling. I've convinced her to go for a test drive, but I don't know what the realities will be of the Porsche. The biggie is snow performance. I've done my homework on this one and I've read a 2 part article even by someone on how well the 996 Turbo does in the snow, as well as watched videos on youtube and read various postings on this and other forums. So my first question is how well it'll do in the snow compared to the Subaru. Most of the videos I've seen feature people either driving really slow in parking lots in the snow, doing donuts, or there's one of a turbo with summer tires driving up a hill and the fronts don't seem to do anything and the rears are spinning like crazy.... But it's on summer tires so it tells me almost nothing except that it's not a 50/50 AWD system but I knew it wouldn't be as good as the Subaru. The question is how much worse is it? The second question is what winter wheels and tire sizes can we put on it? I've always heard narrower is better in the snow and those 295s on the back of the turbo need to shrink but I've never had a car with different sized front and rear tires so I don't know how to reduce them in a matched set. A C2 996 originally had 205/50/17 in the front and 255/40/17 in the rear. Can I do that with a turbo? If so, what wheel offset/spacers will I need? And finally, is my plan crazy or is this a brilliant way to bring a Porsche into my life? Thanks!

I drive my 996 all year, including in snow. It gets by most of the time, but it doesn't compare to a Subaru in terms of traction in the snow (we have two Foresters). Here are a few things to keep in mind: - The weight of the engine over the drive wheels actually provides decent traction in the snow. The suspension and brakes are great on the 996, and that helps it handle well in snow just like dry ground. -Snow deeper than 4-inches is problematic for the 996 due to the low ground clearance. If we have more than 4-inches of snow, I leave it at home. - The AWD system in the 996 is a viscous coupling system. This system sends 5% of the power to the front wheels and it can send up to 40% of the power to the front if necessary. The catch with this type of system is that it only increases the power to the front wheels if the rear wheels slip. Typically the PSM system activates traction control before the rear wheels slip too much, so the fronts don't see too much action. You can change this by deactivating PSM, but you don't really want to do that unless you are trying to drive up a steep driveway and really need AWD, for example. - Proper winter tires are an absolute must for a 996 to perform well in the snow, just like any car. I'd take a C2 with winter tires over a C4 with all-seasons or summer tires in snowy conditions without thinking twice. - Porsche does recommend specific winter wheel and tire sizes for AWD 996 cars. For the turbo and C4S, they recommend the same size tires and wheels on the front. On the back, they recommend dropping down to a 10" rear wheel width and a 265 tire width. Nobody makes a winter tire in the 295 width. I do add 17mm spacers to the rear when my winter wheels are in place because I don't like the way the 10" wheels look without them. - Weathertech makes winter floor mats for the 996, and they are very good. Overall, I'd say it's possible to drive a 996 in the snow, but it's not ideal. An Audi or Subaru will do much better in snow. Good luck!

I also live in snow country and the 996 works well except as Dennis notes - in anything below 4-6". I drop from 18" summer wheels to 17" turbo twist winter wheels w/ dedicated snow tires (205's in front, 255's in rear). My car is a C4 cab and I put the hardtop on for winter duty. Handling is great, but make sure you don't ever turn PSM off! I'd say my S8 provides a higher level of confidence, but I also like to power slide canyon roads when conditions permit. Even the S8 struggles in deep snow, so the H2 comes out during big storms. I think a 996 turbo makes great sense - I sure wish I had one.

Going to a turbo for a winter car is certainly outside-the-box thinking, kudos to you sir! Cost of ownership on the turbo is significantly higher than a NA car.

Ahh, I hadn't realized the turbo was significantly more expensive to maintain... That is something to take into consideration. Mostly I thought it might be a good choice because of its different engine, but the truth is that for the cost difference between a C4(s) and a turbo I can easily afford to replace the IMS bearing and get a newer/less used car on top of it... So yeah, I may have been a little crazy there. Good to know on the snow handling... Yeah, I mean typically my wife won't go out if it's snowing so hard that there's 4 inches of standing snow still on the roads so I'm not too worried about that. There was one time several years ago where she was coming home from work which was on the other side of the same town we live in and it took her 7 hours because traffic was at a standstill, largely due to other cars that got stuck and blocked traffic and required assistance to get moving. She never wants to be one of those people. Fortunately she doesn't drive daily anymore so in a bad storm like that she'll simply stay home now. We've also driven front wheel drive cars in the snow and AWD kicks their butt, even though lots of people say "Oh, my car's just fine with FWD in the snow!" They just don't understand how much better Subaru's AWD is. My brother in law was like that and then a year ago he bought a Forrester and let's just say he changed his tune. I do know that snow tires go a long way improving snow performance... I think mostly, aside from the normal caution one takes when it's snowing, she doesn't want to have to worry about the back stepping out on her when she accelerates, or being unable to go up a hill, etc. I just sold my '09 WRX for the X1 and I know that even with snow tires and AWD you can definitely still slide around. Slippery is slippery and all cars have 4-wheel-braking, so our expectations are in line with reality and physics.... I just want to make sure I'm not selling this idea to her as something workable and then end up having her upset about the snow performance.

I don't think the turbo will be that much more expensive to maintain than a C4 or C4S. The Metzger engine is rock solid, and it has a few things that need to be maintained over a normally aspirated car, but most everything else is the same. I don't really see it as a major obstacle. There are a few silly things that come with a turbo - as an example - the front spoiler lip on the C4S is ~$130. The turbo lip is ~$400. Both are a thin piece of polyurethane, and the shape isn't that much different. The turbo lip is more expensive because it goes on a turbo... No real reason other than that.

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Nonsense. EVERYTHING is more expensive to maintain on a turbo. They are kind of like dealing with strippers actually ... pretty enough to look at but the closer you get the more you begin to realize "Holy **** this things got problems."

I guess maybe compared to a C2 that could be true... but not really when you compare it to a C4S. Aside from the engine and a few odds and ends, it uses the same components. Headlight switches, window regulators, suspension components and bushings, brake parts, etc. are all the same.

To answer the original poster - I too drive my C4 year round I have a dedicated winter wheel and tire setup with Vredestein snow tires Because of the rear weight bias - you have good rear traction but very nervous twitchy steering in slushy snow conditions because there's not a lot up front I am considering putting some weights in the front to compensate this winter I think coming from a Subaru she will be disappointed in winter with the Porsche

I know I am going to get flack for this, but if its your wifes care get the regular c4. Suspension on the S and Turbo is stiffer also. Your wife may not appreciate this on a daily basis.