Steven C.

Hello everyone of the turbo forum! Last Summer I sold my 964 thinking I wanted something different and something to mod on since it was pretty much done. After a few months of looking at just about every sports car invented I just realized that first I missed my 964 and second I really wanted a turbo version. So after lurking here for a while and checking around I came up with the car below. It's a 91 with 60,000 miles. Only factory options were LSD and CD radio and the only mods are wheels(not sure they will live?), 1bar spring, Strosek exhaust and H&R springs....and I am happy again!

It's like getting your old pair of jeans back when you left them at Summer camp. It just feels right to have an air cooled around. The 996 is ok for a DD but it lacks soul IMHO. A friend just bought a perfect 996tt and after hanging around it I had no attraction.

I have been reading all there is here and on Pelican and the mod plan for me is still being formulated. I would like to find a simple 1,2,3 process for a car that may hit the DE circuit as road racing is in my blood so any help there is appreciated. It's going to its first cars and coffee here in Dallas Saturday so that is the first fun outing and then a long spirited drive to my race mechanic to see what it can do as I have only driven it about 3 miles so far. Saturday should be good!

Metal Guru

First off, congratulations on a beautiful car and welcome to the dark side.
As for the process for performance improvements here you go:

1. Find $3000
2. Now find another $20,000
3. Finish up with $7000

This is if you can do your own work. If you can't, multiply $$ above by 2.5

So, now that you've gotten over stick shock, let's look at the hardware:

1. 3k is for coilovers of your choice and new suspension bushings.

2. 20k is for the engine rebuild and EFI conversion that takes the car to 600 hp. Since you already have headers, EFI/rebuild is the best bet for more power.

3. 7k is for the cosmetic stuff that you'll want to get fixed.

As for the 996tt not having "soul", that's debate-able. Lots of people who have owned the air cooled cars say that but to me, it's shades of gray. The newer cars can be driven much faster by average drivers than the older technology cars like our 965s. On the track I'll take a 997 GT3. For a Sunday drive it'll be my 965 hands down. Different horses for different courses, IMO.

Steven C.

Thanks Paul,

I considered a 997 GT3 and will probably end up with one on in the future but the 965 is perfect for me right now with the vintage cars I have to race. But it is still sterile, comparatively imho. Not going the $20K route for now but will attempt to ease up to it slowly. Maybe a cat by-pass for now which made a big difference on my 964 n/a.

One of Twenty

Nice car Steve. Congrats!

cobalt

Steve,

Congrats on the new toy. I agree the 996's even the TT's lack something these older cars have. they are far easier to drive at the limit and that is fine if you just want to drive fast but the challenge and thrill of driving these cars at their limits is what Porsche is all about for me. If I want to race I agree a GT3 or a heavily modified Cayman S is a far better tool but I am just having fun.

IMO the best upgrade to my car was a HF K27 turbo and billet BOV. These 2 made a great improvement in the feel of the car. It gained some power mostly in the mid to high range but more importantly it gave me far better throttle control. The on/off switch feel of these cars was replaced by a much more controllable pedal. One that can be feathered like a N/A car instead of an old school turbo.

Good luck with the toy and I think you will find driving it as is for a few thousand miles will tell you more about what you want to fine tune.

Megatron-UK

Nice car. Take it steady until you've done more than those 3 miles to get a proper feel for how these things drive out in the real world

Metal Guru

Anthony, which BOV do you have?
Steven, I'm not familiar with the brand of exhaust that you have. Are they headers or muffler or both?

c4consult

Good luck with your new beautiful Tubro. What is cars and coffee?

c4consult

Turbo.

Steven C.

Strosek is an old Porsche tuner most active in the 80's with a lot of 928 and 911 work. The exhaust is both and nicely done in stainless.

SonnyV

Congrats on the "new" car.

mishpet

nice car,have fun.

Steven C.

Thanks This is where it started http://irvine.carsandcoffee.info/ and now there are meets all around the country.

ghhally

Nice car! Congrats.

Gandara

I like it.