Canuck714

Hello all,

As the title indicates, I am still contemplating my first air cooled 911. I was on the forum quite a bit the last two years trying to learn the ins and outs of all things Porsche, before an opportunity to get a Z06 for the street/track derailed my plans.

As you can guess, I am back looking at P cars....lol Nothing wrong with the Z, but when you have a lifelong dream of a Porsche, that feeling doesn't go away!!

So, my main question; Do owners feel that the 964 is as good or better in some regards? If so, what and why...

Thanks in advance.

jack.pe

Hello... been discussed plenty on this forum, just do a search for 993..
However from what I have read the 993 is more civilized the 964 a bit more raw. The 993 has a multilink rear suspension set up which is light and works well but more expensive to maintain.

To be honest i prefer the look of the 964 as more traditional but aloso really like the 993. 993 is more sought after and more expensive but 964 prices are on the up.

Good luck

fuch

When I was looking I could have had either a 964/993 but the 964 just does it for me in looks & the way it drives.

Canuck714

Well prices on the 993 certainly are higher... For what you get for the extra money, Im not so sure that it is justified.
Thanks for the input, I have done many searches, but was looking for an honest owner reflection of "the why" to a 964.
I too, like the more traditional look and feel of the 964.

boxsey911

Neither is better than the other as long as you don't subscribe to 'newer is better' (which of course would mean that the 993 would be better). However, I know you didn't ask that but instead asked "what virtues the 964 has over the 993?" To be honest, I'm struggling to think of any. Therefore it comes down to which you like the look of. From a brief comparison I would say that the 964 feels more alive and more on the edge than a 993.......but I don't know if that can be considered a virtue in favour of the 964?

ja78911sc

+1

Bill Verburg

If you ask on a 964 forum you will get 964 biased answers for the most part

I'm a 993 guy so I guess that my response will be 993 biased

Almost everything on a 993 was improved over the same parts in a 964 but the value of each individual improvement will vary widely depending on the the owners use of the car.

I'm also a track oriented guy, so to me the 964 has 1 main advantage;
it's cheaper and simpler to set up for track use mostly because of the more complicated 993 rear suspension, but for the guys that want to go the extra mile w/ track mods it's much more costly do a big brake kit on a 964, but not everyone will want one either.


raw handling etc are all a function of how the car is set up, for anyone that thinks a 993 is a boulevard cruiser only, I invite you to go for a ride in mine.

Makmov

My opinion on it and I am a 964 owner, but I like the 993 a lot.

First you will pay premium prices for 993, you can still get 964 for reasonable money but that is probably not going to last much longer.

If you like the classic shap the 964 is the way to go. It's got power like the older turbo cars, easy to live with day to day, power steering, brakes, coil overs so the ride is nice.

The 993 takes away some of the rawness of a 964, it's a little slow due to the gearing in the 6 speed gear box, but it does have the mulit link, and you can get one that you dont have to adjust valves, looks great, expecially a wide body which are much easier to find.

Depends on what your preferance is.

I some regards the 964 is prefered, and in others the 993 is.

For me it was the classic shape, being more connected to the road, and price. Honestly, I don't think a 933 which on average goes for 10K more, it's not 10K more car than the 964. It's just not. Even after getting 2 964s selling one, I continued to look for a 993, but the more I researched it, learned about it, and looked for one the less I wanted one.

ChaseN

Like others, I like both. If a 993 had been in my price range when I was looking for my first Porsche over 6 years ago, I probably would have gotten one. Instead, I am the happy 3rd owner of my 964 since 2006 and, now that I have the budget for a 993, I don't have the desire to upgrade. If someone wanted to trade a like condition 993 for my 964 straight across, I probably would, but I don't see the value proposition in losing the love & care I put into my 964, along with shelling out more cash. I read all the time about how much more civilized/polished the 993 is, but after driving a few, I don't see a huge difference. 95% same interiors, VERY similar overall driving experience IMO. Just an extra gear (at the expense of the ratio spread in the lower gears), 30-40 more hp depending on year, same fiddly switchgear, about the same HVAC performance, etc...the 964 to 993 difference is NOTHING like the pre-89 911 to 964 evolution.

On the flip side, if I were starting out from scratch in my current financial situation, I'd probably end up with a nice narrow body 993 C2 for the exterior looks. But I'm happy with my 964, and have a lot emotionally invested in it - not the least of which is that it was the car my wife and I whisked away from the church in after our wedding

Bill Verburg

An internet myth,

here is a comparison of a few 964 trans vs a few 993 trans
964 are /03/05 US 964, RoW /10 964RS
993 are US /20 and RoW /21, RoW RS/CS /32, Cup/RSR /30

higher means less acceleration in that gear

RicardoD

964 advantage is purchase price

pirahna

There doesn't seem to be much advantage in purchase price with the 964 as there used to be. It seems like a late model 964 with similar miles goes for about the same as a 95 993 now.

tbennett017

Aesthetics for me... I love my 964, but I really like the sophisticated styling on the newer 993. If I were starting from scratch I'd try for a 993, but they do seem to be more expensive overall.

RicardoD

There is still very much a premium, $10 to $15k more for cars in the same condition. At least on the asking price side.

pirahna

It is pretty easy to find a nice 95 993 with 60-85k miles for $28-32k. I would love to find a nice 92-94 for $15k less. Most decent sub-100k mile late model 964's seen to be asking high $20's now.