I was wondering with regards to the new engine is if its entirely new engine or was it bored out from 3.4 to 3.6 and would this new engine the same used for the gt3 supercup that has the 3.6 in it. Also does people have said that the older 3.4's crankcase is already maxed out does neone know if the new 3.6 would be the same as in the 3.4. I have a 99 996 and would be nice to purchase the new 2002 knowing that we could make real power mods if the crankcase is able to do so. Thanks for ne info. take care.

 

I can't claim to be an expert on the family tree of the 996 engines. However, I believe that the GT3, 996TT, and GT2 carry an engine derived from the GT1 and other
race bred cars, while the Boxster and 996 C2 engines are a different engine , developed entirely for the street. Certainly, the GT3R engine would be furthest removed from any of the above, since it is not intended for street use anywhere on the planet, while the GT3, GT2, and TT are street cars. Perhaps someone with mor knowledge could educate us.

Robin

 

The new 3.6 is a bored-out version of the 3.4, but I understand it has a new crankshaft. I just put 600 miles on my '02 in the week I've had it and the new engine is very supple. I'd be curious, though, whether anyone else has experienced a slight stutter at around 2900 rpm when cruising in the higher gears. I can't figure out whether it's just the VarioCam Plus or some sort of problem.

 

kwk,

All of the '01 996 Turbos have the same stutter, I believe it's the variable cam timing, I just drive through it, no error codes show up in my downloads, and I have driven 3 Turbos that have the same characteristic. The '01 996 does NOT do this, though, so it must be the timing.

Robin

 

kwk,

My 02 C2 has a little "unevenness" around 2800-3000 rpm too. I think it's the variocam. The torque output seems to change a little in that range.

-Ray

 

Thanks for the follow-up, Robin and Ray. When I raised the issue with the dealer yesterday, one of his techs took out several of the '02s they have and said that a similar blip occurred on all of them, perhaps related to the e-gas. My bet is still on the VarioCam.

 

My dealer in Arlingtom told me it was the variocam.

 

Sounds like the Variocam+ to me. In addition to the MY2002 engine being bored out from 3.4 to 3.6 liters and getting some new crank and piston hardware, it also gets upgraded to Variocam+. If I recall correctly, the Turbo has always had this, so that would explain why all model years of the 996 Turbo stutter at 2800-3000rpm and only the 2002 non-Turbos stutter there as well. It might well be the place where the cam profile in the exhaust cam of the Variocam+ changes, although I personally had thought that happened somewhere above 4000rpm. This information might actually be on the Porsche web site, too.