I drove a friends relatively new '02 996 yesterday. Thought I'd share my impressions for anyone interested. The subtle changes to the esterior have improved the look of the car (thought still not a 993!). Interior seemed much nicer than the '99's I have driven. The car also felt sportier -- not as soft as the '99's I have driven and more feedback through wheel, pedals and seat of the pants. Increased power is definitely noticable. I defintely took a little tread off of his tires! The one thing I noticed that surprised me was that there was considerably more understeer than in my '97 993. Very noticable push on one freeway on ramp where I think my car would have been "on rails." May have been the tires. It came with Continentals. Any way, just thought I'd share. Porsche has definitely improved the 996 in my opinion.

 

Griffin, thanks for the review.. that's the kind of stuff I like to see people put up on this board.. very interesting. Yea, the Continentals have a rep for not sticking so well.

If they keep pounding the 996's out with improvements (and make a C2S version) who knows how many more 993er's they can win over in the coming years.

 

I know of at least one holdout....

 

Hi there and good day!!! I try not to go to my nearest Porsche dealer simply becuase if I do my blood will be boiling for the 02 model esp if they come out with a C2S(love RWD). I have a '99 996 and still love it enough not to trade it in or sell. By the way if anyone lives in the Bay area check out <a href="http://www.thunderhill.com-they" target="_blank">www.thunderhill.com-they</a> have a hi performance race coarse using your own car and the next one is May 5th(sunday) up in Willows, Ca bout 2 1/2 hrs away from SF. I would love to see how 993's do on the track. The only 993 that came last time I went was a TT and I couldn't keep up on the straights : (. It's lotta fun. Regards. Mike

 

I can't really comment on the 996 ride but as far as appearance the new 4s looks a lot like the 993 from the rear. This is probably the best looking 996 yet.