Early 996 as a track car?

Yes, I know about the RMS/IMS issues, the potential for cracked blocks and all that jazz.

Are they any good on the track and as Auto-X cars with mild mods, or am I better off with an older aircooled one? Keep in mind a lot of the local tracks see 100-110F in extremely dry air regularly, so cooling is an issue out here.

Drove a box-stock 1999 996 C4 on track. Flogged it hard for twenty HPDE sessions in two days and had absolutely no issues. It was quick and handled well AND the handling was foolproof. As in, only a ham-fisted clod could spin it. That was with inexpensive Kumhos and I ran down 996 GT3s and 911 Turbos, even after the brake pads ran out.

Cold A/C, too. ;-)

But that's not to say that one is a replacement for an air-cooled 911. Just that my track experience was favorable.

David

They're good cars saddled with an engine that can have catastrophic failure. My friend had one he tracked, it had the LN IMS/spin on oil filter.

The cylinder wall D chunked on track and he dumped all the oil out everywhere. He sold the car.

Obviously these failures happen enough to get talked about, but my suspicion is that they're a rare occurrence. I still wouldn't put one on track unless it's had the LN IMS/RMS/spin on oil filter done tho.

I also wouldn't get one unless it was cheap, cause motors for these aren't...

They are better than air cooled cars at the track, but they don't look as good. Go for it.

Woody said: They are better than air cooled cars at the track, but they don't look as good. Go for it.

Or sound as good, but I am biased...

Good track car, heck how about good all around car? I want one as a DD. Alas that is not in the cards right now.

996s are getting really cheap and I've seen ones with the RMS/IMS addressed and taken care of still going for under $20k. There was a 996 cab for sale here recently that with the RMS/IMS issues repaired going for $17k.

stop forcing me to search CL

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/4536917763.html

STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL, no test drives unless you have $20k cash in hand! For a car with almost 200k miles on it!!

Lemme tell ya, I'm not showing up to test drive a car on craigslist with $20k in my pocket. If the guy is that uncomfortable allowing test drives, he can either ride along or trade the car in.

There are two local-ish that I've got an eye on, the main issue being that email roundtrips with the seller on the cheaper one are taking quite a while.

Both are over $20k, but they have a bunch of other modifications (like coilovers) that I probably would have put on there anyway. I'm planning to look at least at one of them in person to figure out if I like it or not. The outcome of that decision will then determine if I keep throwing money at the MR2 or sell it and get a 996.

Would you really need the coilovers? Porsche's pretty good at making cars go around corners.

You probably don't need them, but I'm thinking that a set of H&R coilovers might be in better shape that the OEM shocks after 100k miles.

In reply to docwyte: He's trying to say that the car was way more expensive to maintain than he thought and he's a stereotypical douchebag Porsche owner that doesn't want someone to touch his precious car that he's trying to sell, but will probably have to.

In reply to Mr_Clutch42:

There is indeed douchebaggery afoot, but it doesn't appear to be coming from any of the Porsche owners around here.

So, I checked out the closest-to-me 996 today. The whole thing got delayed a bit because the owner was trying to sort out a starting issue and was waiting for a part. Issue was now resolved, so I had a chance to look at it and drive.

I wasn't expecting to like it - I have driven a later, supposedly much better 996 C4S that I didn't warm to - but I did. A lot actually; a few modifications (coilovers, intake and exhaust) transformed the car. It's sharp, makes the right sort of noise without being obnoxious and just felt right.

PPI booked .

It's odd, I've looked at Boxsters, drove a late 986 S, didn't like it that much, drove the early one Maroon92 ended up buying and liked it much better. Now the same with with the 996, the one people say is much better was the one I didn't like much.

Didn't they make a bunch of changes in about 2003? That may explain the difference.

Pics or it didn't happen...