Overweight 996?

I've recently had my '99 996 coupe weighed and was unpleasantly surprised when it tipped the scales at 3200+ lbs., roughly 200 more than the official spec for my car as stated in the owner's manual. According to the spec, my car, (996 C2 manual trans), should be somewhere between 2950 and 3000, depending on equipment. My car has an aero kit on it, but all that did was replace the stock engine cover w/ a FG piece and a different (FG) front bumper + some plastic skirt deals over the rockers. I was planning on putting this car on a diet anyways since it will be taken to the track whenever possible, but I thought that I would be starting out with a ~3k lb. car. Where the heck is all of the extra ballast in my car?? I've been known to carry around a newspaper or two and a laptop, but this is ridiculous. In seriousness, I even emptied-out the car before weighing it, and it had about a 1/2 tank of gas. Any insight is very appreciated!

when you say "emptied out" does that mean you ditched the spare and tools as well. If I'm not mistaken, that is worth 39 lbs right there. Also, if you have full power seats (as I do), I know they are very heavy. FYI, there is a great thread posted over on six-speed in the 996tt forum (it is "stickied" at the top of the forum), and it is all about reducing weight in the 996 turbo's, much of which applies to our cars as well. I light weight battery is also a good place to save weight as well. Good luck.

Porsche's always been a little optimistic with their published weights.

My 2000 C2 Tiptronic weighed 3220lbs (calibrated for race cars) with I believe 1/4 to a 1/2 tank of gas. The scale you weighed on could of been off possibly. I have supple power seats, spare/tools, and a subwoofer box with 2-10"s.

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I disagree. There have been posts in the past with cars right around Porsche's numbers. Additionally, my Boxster (I have not weighed the 996) is marginally heavier than Porsche's listed weight (and the car does have some optional equipment). Another possible explaination for a heavy car is a spec sheet with a bunch of options or a car with aftermarket add on equipment.

It's just big boned.

There’re some big boned people in that picture also.

okay that's it....I am going to trade in my overweight 996....I am done with the porsche obesity!

Optimistic and dry(no oil,no gas,no fluids) is Porsche"s claimed weight of 2919lbs. as their lightest published weight. I'd say you're in the ballpark for other 996's on the forum.

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Don't trade it! Remember, you have a solid offer from me of $3k for your car. No dealer is going to be anywhere near that offer!

Thanks for all the replies, I've been away from the board for a few days. I do know about all of the easy things to eliminate, the so-called "low-hanging fruit" of weight-loss, like the spare tire and lighter battery, since I have put other cars on diets in the past. My problem is that my baseline/starting weight is somehow ~200 lbs. heavy according to spec. I've weighed it on two different scales and the # came up almost identical, so there is no error there. My experience w/ previous Porsches has been that the factory figures are pretty close. (Owned 10 Porsches over 30 years). It really has me baffled(?) The other challenge is where to point the scalpel, front seats are pretty heavy, but the rears weigh very little. On earlier 911s, the rear seats were a lot more substantial and tossing them gave you an instant ~20 lbs. off of the heavy end of the car. I like my 996, but I could love it if it was about 3-400 lbs. lighter. Weight-loss is by far the best performance mod; you gain accelertion/handling/braking all at once w/ no trade-off in dependability or fuel mileage. In fact, those things improve. This car would really wake-up with a good diet. Thanks again, and keep the ideas coming!

Which wheels do you have?

overweight, you betcha. the 996 is kinda porky. i am ENVIOUS of all the lightweight early 911s that i see on the track. 2000 lbs screamers. here's what i've done to cut the fat: LWF CF hood muffler bypass race seats (driver side only) partially gutted interior this, plus the half cage and 1/4 tank, got me to 2890lbs. porsche's claim of 2910 for the '99 996 is for a 0 option (read no sunroof) and bone dry car... and i still think they were fibbing just a little. going to delete the sunroof, stereo, speakers and airbags but this may only get me to 2800. add another 30 lbs for the full cage.

First, Porsche NEVER quoted 2910 lbs for the dry weight of a US 996 Carrera. People mistakenly interpret the European numbers when the European cars that had thinner single pane glass, no side-impact door beams and lighter bumpers. Base curb weight does not include fluids or optional equipment. Car & Driver magazine's long-term 99' 6-sp Carrera weighed in at 3149 lbs with power seats, litronics, digital stereo and 18" wheels. If you want to drop weight, I would recommend looking for a good set of race seats (Euro GT3 or Pole Positions) and a better sport exhaust (Fabspeed or Tubi). These 2 mods will drop around 100 lbs.

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Wow. So much misinformation in one post. The USA owners manual in my car lists dry weight for a C2 manual coupe as between 2909-3042 lbs., depending on options. My car has 18" solid-spoke turbo twist wheels, sunroof and power seats, so I will assume that it should weigh near the top of that range plus fluids, which could be over 100 lbs. w/ a full tank of gas. I weighed it w/ ~1/2 tank and it is almost 200 lbs. heavier, hence the question of this thread. Also, Porsche did not manufacture cars for the European market w/ thinner glass and no door beams(??), where on earth do you get this nonsense? Europe has stricter safety standards than the USA, this is just silly. Also, on the other thread about weight on this page, some people are claiming figures closer to the owners manual for cars almost identical to mine. Still searching for the answers...

Talk to any importer and find out what has to be changed then comment back. Start looking at regulations from UN ECE and ACEA to see what isn't there and what the are proposing. Also, read some articles written in Europe from Autocar, Motor, EVO and Top Gear to find out what was optional in the European market, yet standard in the US. Europe still does not even require airbags in cars today. Europe does not have a regulation for safety glass, much more side-impact protection. The only thing Europe has caught up on is emissions. They followed with OBDii 1 year after the US and have more stringent emissions regulations than 49 of the states in the US. Did you know that you could get a 996 in Europe without side airbags (or side door beams)? Start searching at pictures of 99-00' European GT3s and try to find one with side airbags. You will notice the door panels are completely smooth with an absence of the pillows we are used to rubbing our arms against. It is the US-only window restrictions that prevent our GT3 RS from getting the polycarbonate rear windows that are in the European models. Finally, when you start reading the options list for the same cars in Europe, a lot of the equipment that is standard in the US is an option in Europe...like sunroofs that have always been an option on 911s. So why would anyone with even a small amount of cognitive power have the slightest notion that our cars would weigh the same as a Euro?

Once again, my figures came from my USA owners manual. What does your owners manual say? I don't give 2 schits what glass comes in a Euro GT-3, I'm trying to figure out why my car weighs 200 lbs. more than other '99 C2 6-speeds. Thanks for playing, anyways!