Has anyone test driven the Z06 and 996 coupe back to back? Any feedback as to the decision to purchase 996.I'm fluctuating between the two.
I've owned a '91 911 Cab and am looking for a new car. Any feedback is most welcome.

 

Oh dear, I think this is going to be a rather long thread.......

 

Yes.

The Z06 is quicker than the 996. At all rpms, the Z06 makes more horsepower, and more torque. The stock tires on the Z06 are much grippier than the stock tires on the 996, and the Z06's tires are wider, both front and rear. The Z06 has better turn-in, and will turn in without pushing at higher speeds than will the 996, because of more weight on the front axle. The suspension damping on the Z06 is very well sorted, and feels sportier than the 996. The stereo in the Z06 is better than the one in the 996 (that's not saying much though).


The 996 is far more refined than the Z06. While the 996 makes less horsepower, the engine is much smoother, revs quicker, and is very pleasant at high rpms. Above 5,500 rpms, the Z06 motor is somewhat thrashy, tending towards very thrashy above 6,000. In the 996, you could easily run around above 6,000 rpms in second gear through tight twisties. In the Z06, this would produce a rather unpleasant buzziness, of which one quickly tires. In the Z06, it's best to shift up to third gear, let the revs drop, and use the torque. The 996 has wonderfully communicative steering feel, whereas the Z06 is overboosted, numb, and somewhat vague. While the 996 is a tad slower at corner entry, it is quicker at corner exit because of better weight distribution, allowing you to get more of the power down without wheelspin. The 996 is much more comfortable, and quieter inside. The Z06 is positively loud over certain road surfaces, namely concrete.

The Z06 posts better "magazine numbers" when it comes to stopping distances, largely due to wider front tires (265 vs. 225). Subjected to repeated hard stops, the Z06 brakes quickly overheat, fade, and boil their fluid. Driving on the street (not the track), the Z06's brakes faded on me after the third hard stop. It would be nigh-impossible to fade the 996's brakes on the street, and still possess a valid driver's license.

With the 996, you can get a sunroof (although I would personally order one without), on the Z06, no sunroof is available.

Both cars are fine tools: the Z06 is a 12 inch Ginsu, while the 996 is a 10 inch Henckels Five Star.

 

Thank you DJ, for providing us with an un-biased opinion - something that has been lacking in the other Z06 Vs. Porsche threads.

 

DJ, you summed up the differences between the 996 and the Z06 very well. You did it without any wasted space - very refreshing.

 

Well done DJ
First hand and un-biased.

Carlos from Spain

 

Wow - Thanks DJ. I think that single post captured the essence of the multiple prior long threads on this subject on this board(after you cut through the name calling, etc. of some earlier threads).

 

I ran with a stock Z06 this past weekend and a race prepped only. The stock car's only mod were Hoosiers. The guy is a very good driver/racer and was over a half second a lap quicker than I was in my race car with end-of-their-life-Hoosiers.
We were at Putnam Park and the temps were very mild, high 70's maybe and he was having to cut his runs short due to high oil temps, said there was an aux cooler available for about $800. I also ran with a prepped Z06 that was run in SCCA t-1. Car was not as fast on the straight as I thought it would be, he would only pull a couple car lengths on me vs a Viper which pulls 4 or 5. He wasn't as good of a driver as the stock Z06's owner was and my car turned better lap times.
Very fast cars for the money.
Ditto to what DJ said.

 

Funny, this is a Porsche bard and half the posts are about Corvettes :-<

I was looking at the Z06 vs C2 for a while and a co-worker of mine who just got a Z06 took me for a spin (no way he would let me drive tough). He's a longtime 'vette owner, and definitively one of the better drivers I know.

It is an AWESOME car, it just had GREAT acceleration (both linear and lateral) and it held the road better than I could hold the door, very "visceral"... Needless to say, after that ride I was in love.

I went on to try a '01 C2 afterward just to make sure that the Z06 was it and the feeling I had was weird, almost eerie. I have to say I don't think of myself as an extreme driver so I took tings easy but to my great surprise, it was like I was slow dancing with the thing - I hate the cliche but, it was really an extension of me. So much that I still don't know if I was driving it or if it was driving me... The last time I felt so connected to the road was on a racing bike years back.

I guess I found my soul mate that night, and I am very sorry that I almost betrayed it ;-)

In the end both cars are VERY potent machines and I would challenge anybody to prove to me that one of them is absolutely superior to the other. Both of them posess performance that you can't even dream about putting to the limit in daily situations.

But these are not cars in the A to B sense of the term, they are dreams. Try both of them, push them a little, cajole them a lot and listen carefully. One of them will whisper to you the answer...

t.

-----------
C2'02 on order - can't wait to dance again!

 

I think of myself as an extreme driver, I rarely take things easy... to me its more like slam-dancing.

 

DJ: Only the first paragraph of your first post is accurate in my experience. I track my Z06 and use it as a daily driver, and have also driven the 996.

Really, you must compare the Z06 with the 996TT, not the 996. Track times on road courses in California (like Willow Springs and Button Willow) are not comparable between the 996 and the Z06.

Both cars are great cars! I would just like to see Porsche step up the power at a reasonable price and take some weight out of the 996TT. Much like the GT2, except minus $100K. Each to his or her own.

 

In my first paragraph, I wrote about the strong points of the Z06. After that, I mentioned it's weak points. Am I to believe that you don't think the Z06 has any weak points?

It does. All cars do.

I tried to be as fair to both cars as possible. My brother's daily driver is a Z06, I have driven it many times (on the street, and on the track). I've also driven many 996's, albeit only on the track. What's your point? I like the "feel" of the 996 better. I didn't say that it was faster than the Z06. I didn't say that it was better than the Z06. I just said that I liked the feel of it better.


Why? "Bassbone" specifically asked for a comparison of the Z06 vs. the 996, so I would assume that those two cars fall within the range he is willing to pay for a car, and he likes them both. Me too.

I agree that both (or all three, if we're including the TT) are great cars. I would like to see Porsche drop 500 lbs. off the 996, and then they wouldn't have to up the power.

Now that would be fun.

To each his own... her can drive a minivan.