Cupcar

Good point, I should have said late 911 and not included the mid-engine cars.

Isn't a 997S around 350+ Horsepower with more torque? I still maintain at equal power and weight and comparable suspension tuning and tires there would not much difference to be had new 911 to 993.

The PDK is a real advantage if the driver knows how to use it - mid corner shifting and left foot braking on corner entry, no comparison here to 993.

The late electronics to me are a bit too much for me too.

Cupcar

Chassis stiffness has been mentioned and that is a real advantage the newer cars have.

I think computer stiffness simulation with finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics for aerodynamics have come a long way in help design a chassis since the 993 - and the 993 is 20% stiffer than 911's before it.

Imagine a stiffer 993 with alloy body panels like the new cars and increased stiffness: now that is a real improvement. More stiffness with less weight. I like that.

Too bad Porsche seems to add back luxury for each pound then engineer out today.

Bill Verburg

That's the thing even a Cayman S has 320hp and roughly the same weight as a lightened 993 and Cayman gearing isn't half bad either especially compared to US 993

'09 997S is 381hp, PDK gearing is roughly comparable to GT3 which is roughly comparable to my /30 then it has 7 for cruising


For most of us you buy what you like, I fell in love w/ 993 in 1994, though I could live w/ a '73 RSR or '84 SC/RS or 997.2GT3RS or 997GTS too

Nautilus

I wish the Cayman looked like a 993. That would be just perfect

JM993

The great thing about Porsches is that you can modify them with Porsche parts. The major mods I've added to my 95 (see sig) with the exception of the KWs are all Porsche parts. They have not adversely affected reliability in any way and some (the g50/31 and LWF) have actually enhanced reliability. These mods have made my 95 significantly more fun to drive in comparision to my newly acquired nearly stock 97. Isn't that what it's all about?

Joe@Fabspeed

I have alot of experience modifying 993 cars and I currently own a 993 cabriolet and a 993 RS Clubsport CLONE car. I have done PCA DE and Club Racing from SEbring to Mosport for many years and have completed many modifications on these cars.

The 993 bone stock with stock ride height super soft suspension and 17" wheels and quiet engine is a nice car but really really sedate. The 1st things any Porsche owner might do is install and H&R or Bilstein suspension so the car carves up the corners. After that one cant really hear the engine at all and a set of freeflow mufflers and sports race cats or catbypass pipes really wake up the 993.

I bought a white 95' 993 in August 2004. It has morphed into a 335HP 2800# 1272KG 993 RS Clubsport clone. Did I spend alot of money doing it and was it fun and fast yes. Currently the car has:

ANDIAL built 3.8 liter with all factory parts and correct big valve heads and ported plastic intake manifold and RSCS CUP car transmission and light flywheel and long tube equal length headers and X pipe sport exhaust and matching CHIP. The car picks up another +10HP when the headers RUN open ..........I run it with an X pipe muffler. 2800 wet the car the car has over +60HP from stock and is 250 # lighter with better gearing. Its fun.

Suspension- I have Protrack and JRZ on the car and the stuff broke many many times. Now at this point Bilstein 993 CUP with softer double springs, RSR factory antiroll bars. cabmer plates, short shifter and 993GT2 EVO RS front arms and 18" tires and RS Clubsport aero package and she handles great. SPG seats and removed rear bumper support and nothing in front trunk and she runs and looks good. Full carpet and interior with power windows. Ditched the A/C unfortunately and saved only 15# big mistake. Basically a STREETLEGAL 993 CUP car here in Pennsylvannia!

If I had to doit all again............I might skip the $25,000/ 30K engine and just do all the other bolt-on mods and could have bought a used Cayman and had another car. Logical, but hindsight is 100% and I had a great time building this car and racing all over the East Coast.

The 993RS CS clone was really fast and handled great...........with an equal driver talent in a modified 996 GT3 or modified 997 GT3............for sure you are outgunned by 40 to as mauch as 100HP. With lots of seat time and slicks..................you will pass the guys with weaker skills and the satisfaction is " does that thing have a Turbo in it!". I once had Bill Auberlen driving my car at Wakins Glen and with my 230# riding ShotGun we passed- flew by-- virtually everything including 996 CUP cars . All the guys broke my ***** on that one.

On my 993 cab..........Bilstein Psss9, RS short ****er, stock brakes coated red, GT2 EVO strut bar, antiroll bars, 18" RS style wheels, rear maxflo mufflers with X pipe no cats and Steve Wong chip. She runs great and make 300+ HP get great mileage and is not too loud. Wife and I take it to the New Jersey shore top down. Again no emissions under 5000 miles/year Pennsylvannia.

If any of you want to cruise by Fabspeed Motorsports USA and see our new shop and I will personally give you a tour and you can drive and sample these cars anytime.

Have a great week.

solomonschris

As I reread the original post I saw he wanted to do some DE's and sporting street driving. He has been given some terrific advice, provided he wanted to spend a lot of time on the race track. I struggled with the same dilemma. I loved 993's, I'd owned two, but wanted more power. Steve, ca993tt, gave him the advice that worked for me. Buy a 993tt. It has 400hp in stock form. It is an absolute blast to drive. It will return on investment waaaay beyond a NA993 souped up to...whatever. It will not be the track scalpel that has been suggested here, but it will be a thrilling day to day driver that will give a good accounting of itself and thrill him in DE.....

Jim W

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I got a range of opinion and advice as I hoped and will be considering all the advice.

Yes, I enjoy both sporty street driving and DE's. At Road America I certainly do get passed by the big guns. I don't mind but would perhaps like to make it a little harder for them.

On the street you can only go so fast so I guess I am missing some extra torque that would help me accelerate out of slower corners.

Its not all power though and I want to do the best I can with suspension and other components while keeping it from becoming just a 'track rat'.

2ndof2

Flatty,
I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in more 411 on those gearing mods.

Juha G

Major mods don't make sense but I think it's a part of this hobby.

If you want a faster car, sell the 993 and buy the fastest and newest car you can get. It will be much cheaper than trying to make your 993 faster.
Then again, if you love the 993 like most of use here do, you will not want to sell it. In that case, be prepared for big $$$$$ if you want to keep up with the big boys.

If straight line speed is what you are after, a TPC supercharger kit is a good choice. I really love how it transformed my already fast, regeared 993.
If you supercharge the car, you don't need to touch the gearing as you will have plenty of power even in the lower revs. I have more torque at 2000rpm than the stock engine's peak torque.

doc_porsche

Juha..... Every time I read your posts I have this urge to SC my ride......dammit!

autosea

The single biggest flaw to me is the transmission. To much split. Winding in second and ******* in third. The reson I know this is I sold the car because of this problem and bought a G-50 Carrera that has a true active gearbox. I cant believe the differance. When you run it up thru the gears shifting at 7200 the gear split brings the next gear in at the exact moment the varioram opens up and the motor is just wailing .

Mike J

I had the same thoughts of what to do, and decided to make the leap to the 993TT -> gobs of power AND a transmission with better gearing to boot. The G64/51 is very close to the G50/21 in ratios (a little higher gearing at the top end 4th gear up), so I figured that $7000+ for re-gearing can be contributed towards the cost of the TT (or at least that is my rationalization - wife did not buy it).

The car is also built for the power so less worries about the higher wear when adding power -> being an engineer I am a big believer in proper sizing from the beginning.

But its close to twice the cost of the coupe.

Cheers,

Mike

Cupcar

Great post IMHO, this is a hobby about having fun to drive and hobbies cost money.

I like from the above: "These mods have made my 95 significantly more fun to drive...Isn't that what it's all about?

There are a lot of Porsche performance parts out there that fit and are well engineered and I feel appeal more to the market on resale than after market parts do.

If you really want to lose money then buy a new 911 and do nothing with it.

Friends have spent $120,000 on a new GT3 in the past years and have lost over $40,000 on the thing in 4 years without doing a thing.

I would rather buy an old 911 and spend $10,000 a year on it having fun doing mods. In the final analysis, there will probably be less money (if any) lost on the older car and more fun will be had if you are a gearhead.

SOS

Spending big money to mod a car is commonplace around here. I spent over $30k modding my Honda civic and it wasn't even fully built. I don't regret doing it at all. It's just part of being an enthusiast. When I see people complaining about spending $20k to mod a Porsche I think "that's pretty cheap". If modding your 993 for the track doesn't make sense, then buying a 993 just for the street doesn't make sense.