My 996.2 Project, just over a year into ownership

A year into ownership, my very high spec, late 2003 Porsche 996 Carrera C2 – 89k Miles Options from factory include: X51 Power kit (Extensive package including GT3 triple radiator set up, X51 exhaust manifolds, X51 cylinder heads, cams, valve springs, X51 aluminium inlet manifold and inlet runners etc.) GT3 Aero package LSD Gearbox M030 Sports Chassis (these parts have been superseded, read below) Full carbon interior trim including door sill guards Heated leather covered hard back Sports seats (Replaced with heated 997 items) PCM 2.0 with Harmann Sound System (Currently removed in lieu of a carbon GT3 lower console delete and Blaupunkt Bluetooth stereo) Carrera II Alloy Wheels Cruise Control Green tinted windscreen (still original!) Electric tilt and slide sunroof Porsche Sports Exhaust (replaced with Spyder Performance switchable back boxes due to corrosion of the original, these are linked to the original PSE switch) Leather covered airbag Litronic headlights Techquipment Exhaust Tips Factory Short Shifter This car, with this factory spec must pretty much be a 1 of 1 car. I’ve not seen another X51/ aero kitted gen 2 car for sale! The 30th Anniversary cars come with the X51 kit as standard but its not as comprehensive as on this car i.e. no GT3 triple rad set-up. So in my mind, this is a very special car and when i saw it, i had to jump on it. The car does have a very comprehensive history folder but does have a gap from 2014-2019, which is perhaps the only downside to the car and why others were dubious about buying the car. Otherwise, the car has a decent history with specialists seemingly looking after the car prior to this gap and after it. The previous owner to me self-serviced the car, which invoices to prove, and I have continued along the same path, along with getting the oil analysed to keep on top of engine condition. For work above simple oil changes I tend to use a local Porsche specialist. The car has been enhanced with the primary goal of producing a car that could ‘do it all’. I enjoy driving on scenic roads, doing road trips with friends etc. I wanted something GT3-esque but with great road manners too and obviously without spending GT3 money, which i do not have! The car can easily keep pace with GT3’s on the road (the friends i road trip with have an array of modern GT cars between them!) then provide additional comfort at the same time, goal achieved. List of enhancements... Engine & Transmission: Full rebuild by Autofarm - £14k invoice for the work back in 2014, everything was new other than the pistons, which were xylon coated, this included the later IMS solution, new Varioram actuators, cylinder head overhaul with new guides, everything. Approx 45k miles covered since, last oil report 1k miles ago was perfect. Top Gear 200cel sports cat X-pipe Spyder Performance back boxes Standard/GT3 exhaust tips K&N Panel filter and Helmholtz delete intake pipe Gearbox serviced with Motul oil 1000 miles ago, engine serviced at the same time with Millers Nanodrive 10w50 Powerflex gearbox bushing insert RS Engine mounts Lightweight flywheel and sachs performance sprung clutch c/w 997 clutch arm and new pivot pin/ seal 997 shifter with metal bushings c/w weighted wooden gearknob/ aluminium shaft, shifter boot retrimmed by JW Autotrim Interior: Momo Martini Racing steering wheel/ hub kit c/w 964 horn contact and Porsche crest horn. Wheel re-trimmed by JW Autotrim Alcantara gear boot Heated 997 comfort seats (much better than the 996 sports seats, lower and more supportive!) the heating on them works as the 996 seats, integrated with the 996 switchgear. Powered recline works as original Carbon fibre GT3 lower console delete with relocated heated seat switches Blaupunkt Bluetooth mechless stereo integrated into original amps/ speakers Brakes: Giro-disc brake upgrade on the front with new Textar pads Standard rear discs with new Textar pads GT3RS brake ducts fitted to the lower front ATE TYP 200 fluid Braided brake lines all round New from Porsche link pipes from the braided lines to the calipers Up and over gearbox hard pipe done Suspension & Wheels: Nitron R1 kit with softer road sport spring rates RPM/ Eibach hollow, adjustable, anti roll bars c/w Nitron rear drop links and new OEM fronts. Adjustable rear toe arms ‘Fast road’ geometry set up OZ Allegerita alloy wheels 18x8.5 front and 18x10 rear. 10mm spacers and 15mm spacers, respectively c/w stud and nut conversion. Michelin PS5 tyres front and rear. Carrera II Alloys as spares, as fitted originally. Michelen PS2’s fitted (N rated) Suspension arms all checked at time of install and set-up, reported as good condition. Body/ Miscellaneous: Prior to my ownership, the car went in to have the arches made perfect, due to stone chip damage. This resulted in both sides of the car being repainted and I’ve PPF’d the front arches to limit damage happening again. The front of the plastic side skirts have some chips already, however. The car really doesn’t present as a 22 year old car! Rear wiper delete Rear spoiler angle wedges from Porsche 8 degree ones Ceramic coated in previous ownership, its still very much present, it’s a breeze to clean The radiators are cleaned out almost continuously, so are in great condition The aircon doesn’t blow massively cold, its never been a bother to me but something i should look into properly I'm writing this as a point in time list so that i can appreciate whats been done over the year but thought others may find it interesting as well, maybe not! First 'proper' drive out when i got the car: 20240218_155209 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20240218_124237 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20240218_124223 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Standard interior: 20240220_203246 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20240213_211807 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Same location for comparions sake, almost up to current day: 20250301_144814 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250301_144829 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250301_144736 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250331_165412 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20241212_142541 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20241214_164311 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Cheers, Scott

wow, that's a truly great spec. LSD an x51 kit too, no wounder she keeps up. Be interesting what power it makes.. Have you got a picture of the under bonnet sticker codes.

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Cheers mate and here you go: 20250411_124737 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr

Whoa. That is an unbelievably awesome car. I love it. Are your Nitrons from prepworks?

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Haha thanks for the kind words! Yes I'm friends with Ian, I think mine were the first set of Nitrons he got in, they are R1's but with Roadsport spring rates. I had Nitrons on my old car and was keen to get them again and Ian had just become a dealer, perfect timing!

That really is convenient; it’s nice when everything falls into place. How are the Nitrons with those spring rates? Are they compliant over bumpy roads? I assume they are handling very well if you can trouble the modern GT3s!

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They are fine for me but i'd assume some people may find them quite stiff, there's scope to go softer as i have the damping knobs set to nearly full soft. I run the car quite low and it doesnt bottom out, it doesnt rub, it really is very good! I also run it on Michelin PS5's, its much nicer on those than the Cup 2's my wheels came with, obviously the 4S is the halfway house but im very happy with the 5, i'll never do a track day in this car. I had a good drive out with a friend last night and he was in his Huracan STO, he said it was struggling over some of the lumps and bumps and commented "yours looks like its coping with them alright!", cant say fairer than that! 20250413_183705 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250413_184843 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250413_195205 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr

I've documented the car on Pistonheads forum since i got it and i'll start doing the same on here, i'll coppy across my last 2 posts (from about 6 weeks ago until now) and then go from there. Well, the splitter is marked again already :biglaugh: maybe i should try some form of rubberised type paint! I had a road trip planned around Wales and a particularly nice night the weekend before it had me out for an evening blast on my favorite piece of tarmac! The sunset was incredible, i love it up in the hills this time of night, im pretty sure i've mentioned that before 20250309_174013 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250309_173911 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250309_173511 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr One of my friends met me up there, he'd recently had manifolds, sports cats and an exhaust fitted to his car, he chucked me the keys and insisted i had a run down the pass and back up! 20250309_171100 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 991 Speester, lucky lad! 9k rpm, 500+hp, loud exhaust and the top off, amazing stuff! Very special cars although i understand the floppy top will put some off, the older i get, the more i like soft tops, especially when this one is 100k less than its hard top equivalent (911r), not that im anywhere near affording either! It was a quick jaunt out, 120 miles covered and wheel studs/ nuts checked. None had loosened off so i was happy that i'd installed them correctly and other than a few bits and bobs, it was ready for its little Wales road trip! All packed/ filled up: 20250313_154644 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250313_160334 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr We departed from oop Norf on the Thursday evening after work and got down to our digs in North East Wales a few hours later: 20250313_211232 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr We were staying in a rather nice cottage on a large Estate with a castle, when there's a few of you, these nicer spots are cheaper than doing a hotel, generally! We fired off mid morning and headed South East over the Horseshoe Pass, then over the the Evo Triangle (despite the average speed cameras!), out over to Snowdonia, LLanberis Pass etc. then picked up the B4391 (probably my favorite road!) then down to a nice cottage near Dolgellau. 20250314_134442 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr IMG-20250316-WA0046 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250314_152128 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr The morning came and we got off mid morning again, we headed back up to the B4391 and loop round to Bala and headed South West again down past Clywedog Reservoir and over the A44 to Aberystwyth. Along this point we met up with Mr Slippydiff, after years of nattering online, which was excellent! I always love that these tin boxes with engines and wheels bring random people and opportunities together! We had a good drive and then headed back on ourselves along the smaller, Southern road which links you to the Elan Valley. We stopped for some pictures on the seemingly famous wooden bridge, where Mr. SD had to get away. We continued down through the valley (most excellent from a scenery point of view, with some very impressive dams!), out the other side and got ourselves to a Hotel in Llandrindod Wells. Screenshot_20250319_153459_Instagram by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250315_111414 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250315_155705 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250315_142229 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250315_164407 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250315_170549 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr At the hotel, complete with burnt out car in the back ground! 20250315_174015 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr We set off South on the penultimate day, missing one as he had to catch a flight down in London and picked up the Hundred Houses road (a SD recommendation) and looped back up and round to Welshpool then back up to Bala, the road before Bala was another favorite of mine! From here we decided to treat ourselves to the B4391 again, the lighting looked great, approaching the end of the day! We then had a blast up the B5105 up to Ruthin, near to where our stay was for the last night. 20250316_142846 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250316_145851 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250316_160655 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250316_182631 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Final day, which was essentially a travel day home, the blue gt3 had to head South and the 1M and I headed North. We basically picked up the M6 North and had a blast over the Ribblehead Viaduct road up to Hawes, then Buttertubs pass, Tan Hill Inn and home. You'll have to forgive me for the lack of pictures from this day! Screenshot_20250319_153525_Instagram by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250317_153751 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr And finally home: 20250317_164835 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr The miles covered and the MPG since we set off, i didnt think this was too shabby! The car was excellent throughout, it impressed me more and more each day. It looses internet points for not being a GT3, not having bucket seats etc. but as a road trip car it was just a really great package. Its comfortable when needed (the heated seats were most welcome all weekend!), the new headunit works great and then you get to a twisy bit of tarmac and its away, keeping pace with the GT3's no problem, i kept having to remind myself that this car is £100k & £150k cheaper than both of these cars, respectively, 996's really are undervalued! The fact its a smaller car was much to its advantage, being able to place it better and not having to worry too much about a car that was too wide for the lane. The noise it makes now as well is nothing short of incredible (for me, anyway!), both GT3's had exhausts on of varying degrees and even with their 9k rpm redlines, didnt over shadow the noise mine made at all, which i was as shocked as anyone about! We did have a photographer/ videographer with us, so hopefully i'll be able to post some proper photos in due course! He's broken his hand though so im not exactly sure how long 'due course' is! Thanks for reading, Scott

Well 'due course' is still in operation and i've not seen any proper photos/ videos of the trip as yet! Since the previous post i've probably done another 1000 miles, including local drives in the hills, a 300 mile Scottish Borders trip on Sunday morning and i also attended a local-ish Porsche meet, obviously with a good drive over the hills on the way back! The drive around Scotland that one Sunday morning sounded the death knell for the Carbotech XP8 brake pads. Id been talking with Mr SlippyDiff, who suggested i refit standard pads in the rear as it was likely those that were noisy as they'd not be getting hot enough on the rear. I did this before my trip and some of the noises had gone but the general squealing was still there. Its a bit of a shame as the pads themselves provide phenomenal braking power but for the cars use, the noise was getting too much, it would always occur at the most inappropriate of times! Some general picture from the trip, i left the house just before 6am and had got to Mennocks Pass about 08:15am, i hadnt realised until i started driving it that the temperature was -1.5! 20250406_082822 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr There's another pass next to Mennocks that i like much better but i always forget which is which, i'll do that one next time! 20250406_084655 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Devils Beeftub down to Moffat, then up to Selkirk: 20250406_093124 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250406_101112 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr From Selkirk i headed on to Hawick, then Bonchester Bridge down to Newcastleton, a mega bit of road and one i do quite often, unlike the above: 20250406_114116 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr A friend met me along this road, then continued to get lost after 10 minutes. I had a tight schedule to get home and pick my son up so i had to crack on after re-directing him. 20250406_114547 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250406_114739 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Heading South towards Alston, then Hartside Pass and home i drove through a village that always gives me a good chuckle. A sign i've not grown up yet (and likely never will!) 20250406_125614 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr By the time i was home i was looking into upgrading the front discs and using standard 'Textar' pads and also looking at additional cooling methods if the larger disc/ standard pad solution didnt work well enough. The only time i ever got brake fade with the standard set-up was having a good run down Hartside pass, there's lots of short bursts, followed by hard braking on the way down so its a good test of a cars braking system! I wasnt really in a position to buy the larger disc upgrade i wanted at the moment, well not whilst remaining a responsible adult! You can buy kits that allow you to run larger Panamera discs as well but you're about 2/3rd's of the cost into some 'proper' floating discs and adding the extra weight didnt sit right with me, man maths happened (and a 10% off deal) and i had a set of 'Gucci' front discs/ spacers on the way, along with a new set of standard pads. 20250407_173609 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250407_173821 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr Too nice to fit, these are larger and come with the spacers/ longer bolts to suit. They have aluminium centers and a quality floating disc. Many of the american forums seem to suggest that these discs offer a big weight saving, i'm here to prove that wrong, as you'll see below: 20250408_115056 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250408_115115 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr You'll see they are exactly the same, this is still a win in my eyes, managing this whilst still being larger. Fitted and with new pads all round: 20250408_101842 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250408_101837 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250408_202610 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr These fill the wheel out much better too, i was very happy on the aesthetic point of view. Once fitted i'd caught wind of a Porsche meet about 40 minutes away and i could go the 'scenic way' to bed them in! The meet was okay, not really my thing but it was nice to meet a couple of people i chat to online and i had a nice drive back with a friend in his Spyder RS. I led the way and then we swapped over for the second half of the drive. 20250408_194827 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250408_195020 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr When we stopped for the above pictures my friend noted he could hear my car over the 9k rpm howl of the SRS, even though the intake is behind his ear :biglaugh: Safe to say the brakes shouldve been well bedded in by the time i got home! The final test was to go down Hartside Pass and see if i got any brake fade. It's worth mentioning since this last occurred that the braking system has proper fluid in it now, braided lines/ some new hard lines, better tyres and better suspension, plus a proper geo! I got such a chance last night when the other half suggested i get out in the car, she must've had enough of me! What an evening for it: 20250413_183705 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250413_184924 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250413_184843 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250413_195205 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20250402_194251 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr I'm happy to report that there was 0 brake fade, happy days! If i got any then the next port of call would be to look into additional cooling like the GT3rs, where the arch linings are cut back and some air deflectors are fitted inside the wheel wells, the radiator 'exhausts' out of the bottom of the bumper would also need blocking off. The plastic deflectors from the GT3rs appear to be around £600, they are specific to that car and the GT2, only, so pretty scarce. Apparently the 997 GT3 items can be made to fit and these are £55 instead! I got a pair from my local dealers but i'll just be leaving it as it is for now, with me not getting any fade. The eagle eyed readers may notice the 'gingercators', i hadnt realised the early orange indicators were a direct swap. I wanted a bit of colour to break the car up and i do like them, adds a little bit of 'retro-ness'!

Beautiful car beautiful roads

I’m surprised the front Girodiscs weighed the same as the stock discs. Thanks for sharing measurements, saving me the financial and emotional disappointment!

Nice car, love the wheels!

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Thanks, i cant take any credit for the roads/ scenes however The discs themselves are proper things, the quality is great. I suspect they are designed to hold a lot of heat without detriment to the performance and obviously being larger i was quite happy that they were the same weight. You can get some standard size 2 piece discs from Compbrake, instead of these larger floating ones, if they may take your fancy What i will say is that i cant get the front brakes to fade now, i've had a few more runs down the pass i mentioned, where i cooked the standard brakes when i first got the car. This is with standard pads as well so i do feel like im having my cake and eating it with these discs, would definitely recommend! Thanks, appreciate it!

My girodiscs have been ace on my 996t, they have taken serious punishment since 2015 and are only now showing some fine cracks, they are so much better than std genuine Porsche discs if you're an enthusiastic driver!

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Based on this thread I’m quite interested in the 997 upgrade discs. Thx