Thinking about a 996 C4 Cabrio

Ok so I'm not new to Porsche, but I am new to the 911. I've been thinking about a C4 cabrio, manual (arctic silver with boxster red interior ideally). I just wanted to get some general opinions from the experts. Particularly useful would be pros and cons of a C4 versus a C2, any particular gotchas! I should look out for, that kind of thing. What options would you consider "must have"? Thank you! Edward

I presume you're familiar with the Rear Main Seal (RMS) issue so I won't go on here. There's plenty of info elsewhere and it's not a huge deal anyway. Otherwise, reliability isn't much of a worry. There's the odd minor glitch here and there but nothing to get too hung up about. Expect a C4 clutch to last 40-50k miles, slightly less than a C2. That said, only buy with a Full Service History (good specialists are fine) and get an inspection. C2 versus C4 is an unending debate. The purists will insist that the C2 is the better car and if you're going to use it for track-days that may be an issue to you but unless you drive like Derek Bell, you'll probably never notice the difference. That said, if it's going to be a daily drive, the front luggage compartment is a lot smaller on the C4. Finally, make sure it has a sports exhaust. If not, budget around £1500 for a switchable Porsche Sports Exhaust or less for non-switchable after-market versions. Also consider whether you're buying a pre-facelift 3.4 (Boxster nose) or post-facelift 3.6 (Turbo nose). The pre-facelift cars have a plastic rear window making the hardtop essential for the winter. The post-facelift cars have a redesigned hood with a glass heated rear window making the hardtop unnecessary. There are aftermarket replacements with glass rear windows for the early cars for around £1200. Either way, all 996s came with a hardtop as standard so either make sure it comes with the car or get some money off. It's around £1000 for a second-hand one plus a respray.

From the 996 buyer's guide which is available here http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=254973 Carrera 4 has 4 wheel drive (most of the time only 5% is transferred to the front wheels but can be up to 40%)In order to make room for the 4 wheel-drive hardware, The C4 had to be re-engineered from the windscreen forward. Front suspension was tilted to the rear to make room for the driveshafts, although under the front boot was reduced from 130 litres to 100 litres. The C4 weighs 55kg more than the Carrera, but its superior traction off the line means that the C4 is just as quick in a straight line. Weight balance is almost identical to the Carrera, 40/60 front/rear for the C4 compared to 38/62 for the Carrera. The C4 came as standard with Porsche Stability management (PSM). This traction control system groups together a series of safety devices (including traction control, anti-slip control and Automatic Brake Differential"" ABD) that had in the past worked independently of each other. Traction control now communicates with ABS and a brake differential control to create a system that can brake each wheel individually. Visually the differences between the Carrera and C4 are limited to "˜Carrera 4' badging, titanium coloured callipers on the C4 (the Carrera has black items) and black wheel centres on new-design 17- inch alloys. In 2000 Porsche also upgraded the Carrera with the C4's drive-by-wire electronic throttle mechanism (E-Gas) and improved engine management (Motronic 7.2). This makes retrofitting of cruise control a lot easier. If you don't want/need the benefits of 4 wheel drive (often associated with slightly heavier steering -less feel,more understeer worse fuel economy, and greater tyre wear) in MY2000 PSM became an option on the Carrera, so look out for that if you think you'd like it. In terms of resale I don't think there is any difference. Purists prefer the regular Carrera for it's rear wheel drive feel, perhaps 'newbies' prefer the added safety and greater all weather useability of the Carrera 4. Nice options would be heated seats, wind deflector, Stereo upgrade package or Bose, electric memory seats, Litronics,18 inch wheels. The number one option is the sports exhaust by a country mile, if you can't find one with it get one or a copy of one.

Having driven Carrera 2's aswell as Carrera 4's, I reckon that the C4 can be pushed a fair bit harder when it comes to high speed cornering and just feels alot more solid on the whole, it's better balanced. Around small-ish roundabouts the C2 is a bit nimbler. On the whole, unless your buying a Porsche for it's superior handling abilities, few people will ever push it to it's limits (which are very great!), so I would go for a C2 if you are getting a cab!

The C4 steering is a fair bit heavier, giving you less of the steering feel which is one of the defining characteristics of a 911 . I used to have a C4 cab, and I agree with Paul, incredible abilities round corners (I took it round the track and was amazed) and in the wet. It all depends what you want out of the car and the balance of your needs. Porsche really do cover all bases with their 911 range. TBH it's more important to find the right car regardless of C4 vs C2, they both have their advantages at different times so there are no hard and fast rules.

Thanks very much all. I'm quite surprised by the sports exhaust recommendation (which of course is why I came asking here). Why is that? I have a Boxster so yes am familiar with RMS (and the Boxster chop, which makes a glass rear-screen a must for me). In the Boxster I have front luggage space and also a quite useful rear luggage space. The 996 only has luggage space in the front? I think, for me, losing 30L of luggage space is a big deal so I think that alone makes me inclined to a C2. Edward

You can get lots of luggage behind the seats, much more than 30l I'd wager (that's if they're not being used) so don't be too concerned about that. The standard exhaust is very quiet and adds nothing to the enjoyment of the car. Once you get a sports exhaust fitted (ranging from ~£300 upwards) the car becomes a physical as well as an aural delight - they just sound superb! When I had my fully loaded C4 Cab and got round to getting a sports exhaust fitted, the first thing I thought was I'd dump every single extra in the car for that exhaust, it made that much of a difference.

Thanks Rodney!