Yard Dog

I am close to buying my first 911 turbo and have two 996s under consideration. One has the X50 option and the other does not. I know what the horsepower differential is, but how much of a difference in performance does the X50 option really give the car?

The X50 car I am looking at is an overpriced, low mileage (4,500 mis) 2002 car from Manhattan Motor Cars. I am aware of some of the problems such a 10+ year, low mileage car can experience, but I don’t know how difficult or expensive it would be to deal with all the problems. I am also aware of Manhattan Motor Cars’ unsavory reputation, but the car is a beauty and I am tempted to make a run at it.

Is it worth the trouble of buying and fixing a car like this and am I wasting my time trying to deal with Manhattan Motor Cars?

jbossolo

Save your money and spend it on upgrades. An ECU tune from Kevin at UMW and an exhaust, and you're well into X50 territory. This coming from an 02' X50 owner.
These cars are hitting rock bottom, as far as pricing. Anything over $45K is TOP dollar. BTW, I paid $85K for mine 10 years ago.

Dock

Both cars being otherwise essentially equal, I personally wouldn't pay any extra just for the X50 option.

5ive0

If you are going to keep it in stock form then obviously the x50.

Also if you think that 996tts are going to start to appreciate, then yes to the x50. Otherwise some people are putting a 5-8grand premium and it's not worth it.

rloggie

+1, With stock 2004 and Kevin's tune (according to Kevin) I'm getting in the range of 500hp and 550 lbs of torque. All I know is its fast enough for me for now. As I remember. he has also said in a post that the non X50 may be better for the street as the power comes on at a lower rpm with the smaller turbos. (Sorry if I've misquoted you Kevin)

dprantl

Exactly. If you are going to buy it as a street driver, the non-X50 would be the better option. Even with the smaller K16 turbos, the stock 996TT has enough turbo lag as it is. The X50 adds even more lag and increases top end by 30 flywheel hp at 5,700RPM instead of 5,000RPM. On the track lag is not a problem, but when you drive on the street all the time it can get annoying. And a simple chip flash will give a K16 car almost +100hp and still keep the low-end lag the same.

Dan

Ridin Dirty

isn't 50 hp for an ecu flash about right? 100 seems like a lot. But really idk...I mean that's great. But not my question.
Would you mind if i ask your opinions of what an ECU or flash would do to both of these cars?


So am i not to assume a flash/ecu will do this:

996TT 415+50ecu=465hp

996TT x50 (or 05 turbo s) 450+50=500hp

that's probably not right, or is it?

(I think this is a bit petty/juvenile to ask... but I've always wondered.... glad it touches on a related question of value to this post)

thanks

joe

lakespeed

I would run from Manhattan Motorcars.

rmc1148

Agree with most that x50 is nice if left stock otherwise wasted money.

"02996ttx50

in dollar terms the x50 option once cost $17,880 while now it's worth a 2k/3 MAX premium in the marketplace. though when my insurance co bought mine from me they paid me an add'l 5k once that was added to their original estimation of its "worth" so thats about the spread.

in terms of performance, it exhibits a lot more "lag" than the smaller turbo'd k16 car, and if one was to do "nothing" to either car, the 444hp of the x50 car is a bit meatier than the 414hp k16 car. ( as estimated by porsche, always conservative in their numbers ). the kick of the added 30 hp is definitively felt though, once the larger turbos do hit their stride. i often described it as when a two stroke motorbike when from laggggg/bogggg.. to WHAAAPP!

without aftermarket turbos and and endless list of upgrades, the x50 car is the more valuable pound for pound car, just not by much.

Tuxiemama

Manhattan Motors has every car I see WAY overpriced

cdk4219

Yes this exactly for an X50 car, not much fun on the street, less than 50% of the rpm range is useable power. Better to have a less horsepower, wider power band , than a short higher peak horsepower, which the X50 is.

"02996ttx50

"better" for whom?! lol. it aint that big a deal. the k24 car lags a bit is all.

Ridin Dirty

does a flash/ecu/chip simply add at least 50 hp to any 996TT x50 package or not?

or in other words... does a flash impact one over the other more effectively?

leftlane

I picked up about 50 hp from an ECU tune by Sportec. My car is a non X50 and the tune was installed by the dealer for $2k, which is a lot more than many of the great tuners on here. I didn't change exhaust or anything else.

X50 is a great surprise if you pay $0 extra and then spot it on the options sticker in the frunk. Other than that, I wouldn't pay more unless it was superior in all other aspects as well.