Quadcammer

Well folks, I'm the proud owner of a 1996 Twin Turbo. Its got about 72k miles, bilsteins/row springs, 996tts wheels, billet diverter valves, and some other minor appearance stuff.

As you'll see in my other thread, I just drove the car cross country, got it registered and titled here in NJ.

Here are some pics from venice beach in CA when I left:







Some general impressions. Keep in mind I'm coming from a heavily modified mustang cobra, so that has something to do with my impressions:

The steering is very heavy and yet precise. In fact I wish it were a bit lighter at parking lot speeds. My powersteering fluid was a bit low, so its possible I got some air in the system. I added some fluid and will keep an eye on it. Feedback is very good. I get some creaking and almost popping during tight turns when I'm coming off the clutch with the wheel turned. Seems like ball joints or CV joints to me. Any ideas?

Acceleration is quite frankly very disappointing. The car easily hits .8bar, but its just not very fast at all. Clearly it won't feel like my supercharged cobra, but I feel like it could use at least another 200bhp to feel quick.

Brakes are good, but need some heat in them before they work well. Pedal feel is spectacular. Wondering if there is a way to adjust the brake pedal lower or the gas pedal further up so that heel/toeing will be possible with the stock pedals?

Handling is not terribly impressive. There is an extreme amount of front end push. Car has 235s up front and 295s out back. Handling improved when I lowered the rear tire pressure, but for a car renowned for its handling, I was shocked it understeers so badly. Coming from a mustang, thats sort of shocking Any possible reasons for this?

Build quality is pretty good. I got a door check strap that is sometimes a bit noisy, so I'll be working on getting that fixed. However, the interior is a bit rattly. I got a metallic rattle from the passenger side door/srear panel. Sounds exactly like some loose change under the rear seats. I also have the rattle/creaky windshield. I tried adding the wax lubricant, which did nothing. That said, I didn't want to hurt the seal, so I didn't pull the seal up very far. I clearly needed to get it further down into the seal area. Rope fix is on order.

Mechanically, the car was brilliant on the trip with no malidies at all.

So, this may not seem overly positive, and well...it isn't. The car seems pretty good, but its not all I was expecting. I'll definitely need to get more familiar with its handling characteristics and resolve some of these issues.

Overall, its a stunningly good looking car, i like the interior, but performance wise, we're gonna need some work.

Cheers Gents.

Oliver

Barney1

Nice ride but you seem a little hard on her.... The steering feel is the AWD. These cars have a very hard pushing AWD steer. The cure for that is the 2WD conversion.(AKA Fister D) do a search. As for the power, there is a million choices in what turbos and software upgrades you can do, when thats done...the car will be a different animal. I did a K16/16G.The windscreen, well I have been dealing with that noise for years. All of the so called fixes, DON'T WORK... Also, if you do that rope seal fix, water will collect in the seam of the window and not drain out. I now have a small rust problem because of that. So, enjoy the slope....

Quadcammer

yeah, I may be a bit hard on her. But when a mustang pushes less, thats a problem. 2wd conversion is something I may consider, but I'll have to do more research.

As for the turbos and tuning, those seems to add only about 50bhp or so.

Michael-Dallas

Are you comparing a stock Cobra and a stock Turbo? Depending on how much you acquired the 993 for, you may have been in 996 GT2 territory. Those are 444hp and RWD and you can get easy hp out of them.

I'd do a few PCA DE's and ride along with other Turbo owners to get a good feel for it's potential. The AWD is there for a reason...

///Michael

Quadcammer

no, a stock cobra is a pos. I'm talking a 700rwhp cobra with a pretty stiff suspension and chassis work.

a 996 GT2 is a great car, but I don't love the bodystyle or the interior

Dave911G

Feels slower than a supercharged Cobra? Handles poorly compared to a car with a solid rear axle??? Sounds like it has some serious problems. Either that or your ***-dyno is broken.

There are tons of things you can do to improve the car, but it should be outstanding from day one. Follow the advice from this forum and it should be sorted out in no time. Shouldn't cost you more than $30k... I'm only up to about $8K in mods... I miss my Mustang...

Quadcammer

surprising enough, isn't it.

The 993tt is down about 380rwhp from the cobra and has shallower gearing, so it being slower is not surprising. The handling though, is surprising.

Serious problems? Very well may be. But what would those be? Suspension is fairly new, alignment looks ok, nothing major I can tell is out of place.

$8k I can handle. $30k...well that would be unpleasant.

gandalfthegray.

Oliver, I have to admit I had the same impressions on power when I went for my short drive.

I just sold a 426 WHP DeTomaso Pantera to get into the 993 Turbo. My brother drives a Roe supercharged and nitrous injected Viper (over 800 WHP) and my nephew a big single 636 WHP 4th gen Supra. So my new 993 really feels slow in comparison. But, I think it's a beautiful car that will hold it's own even in today's market. I think one thing that I've noticed is people in the Porsche world always talk flywheel horspower, this is somewheat deceptive as you know that WHP is a significantly smaller number. So when I bought my 993 I was expecting similar power as the Pantera, not realizing that the Porsche was really making 75 WHP less. Also, It was always my dream Porsche. I've had 911 SC's and 928's before, but the lines of the 993 TT are Porsche's best days. I don't mind that it's not as fast as it is special in different ways for me.

Suspension tuning is important, see if you can find a Porsche shop that really knows there stuff to help you set up your suspension. I'm guessing that this may make your driving experience more enjoyable.

I'm still awaiting the chance to put some miles on my car here at Christmas.

Steve

Full Boost

Cant compare a highly modifed car to a stock one - Sorry.

As for slow - I would be prepared to bet a crap load of cash that my TT would out drive any comparable Mustang (road registered/street tyres) with a good driver - Oh and then there is always the:

3 Way struggle:

Fast
Reliable
Cheap

Pick 2 - ANY 2 - but only 2.

I bet the Cobra was a cheap car?????

Sorry to hear that your expectations arent being met with the new car.

S.

MarkD

Nice car... congrats.

I would suggest finding another stock 993 turbo to compare side by side.
As you know it is quite different than what you came from... what you describe may be normal or maybe not. A comparison to a known good car would help.

I echo the statements above regarding suspension setup.
2WD conversion is another option if the AWD steering is a turn off for you. It wasn't my favorite thing so I did it.

orthohbb1

Things must be good in NJ. I live in Randolph, and just bought a 99tt 2 weeks ago. I find the car a joy to drive, particularly with the coil-overs. My car is bascically stock, so it should be fun to trick out over the coming years. Good luck to you, maybe I'll catch you on Route 80!

Quadcammer

Steve, right you are. When you consider a 993TT makes 320awhp, you realize why it doesn't feel that fast. A new set of turbos and some ecu tuning will likely help. I'll also have to deal with the fact that a 3.6L F6 with 8.0 compression is not going to feel torquey off boost.

I'll have the alignment looked over to make sure its ok.

S.,
The only reason I'm comparing them is because they are both mine. Keep in mind, the 993tt also has a modified suspension.

Out drive? I'm not sure how you mean that, but I'd guess you'd be right. In a straight line drag race though, you'd see nothing but the distant glow of taillights. That said, I realize that this is not what the car is about.

Shockingly, the mustang was cheap, fast, and pretty reliable. Not refined in the least, but a very good car.

Good idea. I have to look into the creaky front end. The acceleration is the same as all the other 993TTs I've driven. The 2wd conversion is something I'm looking at.

I'm sure you will and hopefully you'll come out to some of our rennlist drives.

Texas993

If you only go 10 over the speed limit, you probably don't get a good sense of this cars acceleration. That darn 1-2 shift makes this car a 0-60 dog (unless you want to flog the transmission.) Despite that, these cars are rated at sub 4 second 0-60. Not many cars can do that 13 years later.

Not sure about your other complaints. Some say that the MO30 is not a good for the Turbo cars as the Pss10.

I am certain that these cars aren't for everyone. So, if you find that you don't like it ... moving on should be pretty easy to do. I hope that you end up loving it. I love mine.

Quadcammer

I really like the car in general. Keep in mind I was in it for about 44 hours straight for mostly dull highway driving, which can make you get over "love" really fast. I've decided to drive my s500 for a few days to give myself to get to know the car on a non boring highway basis.

I have no interest in flogging the tranny or clutch, so I haven't tested a drag strip style start. I'm basically talking roll ons in the mid 40mph range. I'm not really surprised by the power level. I knew that going in. The handling is really what I'm after.

I think the car is for me, and I'm sure I will love it after sorting everything out and getting to really drive it on some nice curvy roads.

ScottMellor

The cars do push with a stock suspension setup. (Which is probably a good thing if you are un-familiar with a rear-engined car's handling). But more than a Mustang!!!!???
When I got my first car (Frank, a 480 FVD conversion), the previous owner set the suspension back to stock and insisted I get some track training with a good instructor. Which I did.
After I got more familiar with steering the car from both ends, I adjusted my alignment and sway bar settings to dial out the understeer.
Magical transformation! (Even with that pesky AWD.)