2001 Porsche 911 996 Twin Turbo 3.6

Summary:

Darth Vader on Steroids

Faults:

Ran out fuel due to faulty computer software causing wrong readouts on the on-board trip computer - it has been re-programmed, but still not very accurate.

Both rads behind the front air in-takes rusted through within 12 months due to the build up of damp leaves. Replaced under warranty.

Major water leak into driver's foot well.

The metal Porsche logo center caps on 3 wheels came off due to wrong spec glue (replaced under warranty).

Problem with the cam shaft bearings which was fixed at the first service under warranty.

General Comments:

The car is just the doggies danglies and the performance is just stunning. It's happy to potter along at at 20-30MPH or it will take you to 120 MPH in a heart beat. It returned 33.5 mpg on a 180 mile run (driving at UK speed limits) and gives me 23.5 mpg during normal every day driving. However the car cost me just short of £95k (inc options) and I'm disappointed to have endured the problems outlined above... but I guess that it hasn't put me off as my order is already in for its replacement due in 2005.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th May, 2003

28th May 2003, 13:59

You obviously have far too much money.

If I had any faults whatsoever with a car that cost TWICE as much as my house I'd return it.

I know they're only silly faults, but for that money I'd expect gold plated instrumentation not to mention complete trouble-free motoring.

I know the 911 is said to be one of the best handling modern sports cars, but, after your experience, I'd be sniffing around the latest MG or Jaguar variant.

You could use the left over cash for the hefty insurance bill or buy a small dwelling up north, like Staffordshire!

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2001 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 3.4

Summary:

Everyone should drive one of these at least once

Faults:

The car has been faultless, but so it should be for a car that's only 6 months old.

General Comments:

Before buying my 996, I had driven both a 1995 993 turbo (in excess of 450bhp - brutally fast) and a 1984 911SC 3.2 (very old-fashioned to drive). I believe that 911s are fantastic cars, but the 996 is in a different league.

I love the interior and can't fault the build quality. The layout is superb and has the bespoke feel of TVRs coupled with design restraint and build quality to lend a much more professional and grown up impression. So much improved over the older generation 911s.

When buying this car I also considered the new BMW M3 (too great a similarity with it's common saloon car brethren), the TVR Tuscan (too impractical to be my only car but a wonderful vehicle) and the Jaguar XK8 (too soft and possessed of a rather staid image). The Porsche beats them all hands down, the multitdue of plaudits heaped upon this car are well earned.

I'm a big fan of TVRs, but as soon as I drove the 996 I was sold. It is really in a diffent league to anything else I have ever driven. The handling AND ride are extraordinary. This car is the best car I could have bought, irrespective of price.

My only criticisms are that it lacks the urgency of acceleration that my TVR used to have, despite being faster. Also, TVRs sound so good, they make your heart melt. If the 911 had these two things as well, I'd never drive another car again.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th December, 2001

10th Feb 2002, 18:51

The 996 is noisy (noisy in a bad way: it's not nearly as enjoyably vocal as its air-cooled predecessors), the interior is of risible quality (one assumes you've never traveled in a BMW or Audi), and the Carrera 2 suffers from surprisingly bad understeer, especially when driven uphill or downhill in the wet. There's also little sensation of speed: I'm surprised you downgraded from a Turbo to a normally aspirated model as the latter is dull as ditchwater by comparison. I get a more enjoyable sensation of speed standing on a Circle Line elevator.

Which reminds me. Because of the lack of weight over the front (I can't imagine if Porsche were to launch the 911, they'd choose the same bizarre 68%/32% weight distribution that has taken them decades to get right), the ABS is perpetually cutting in on broken and uneven surfaces: it can catch you out. Mind you, at speed they suffer absolutely no fade and go some way to restoring confidence.

However. The standard-fit stereo is lacklustre, the optional sunroof buffets at 30mph, and although the car is now a common sight throughout the UK, you still have people making gestures at you and refusing to let you out of junctions.

The 996 is the one car I thought I'd love, and eventually sold it in a mixture of annoyance and confusion some four months after purchasing it. It is a good car, certainly, but worthy of its sixty thousand pound price tag? Not. It's a thirty thousand pound car with a 100% sucker tax for the badge on the front: you only have to look at Porsche's per-car profit to realize that. A fool and his money are indeed soon parted...

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