I put up a post recently for tips to gain headroom in a 996. Sounds like I can make it work. So 996 instead of a Cayman it is as I have two infants sons and once in a while I'd love to be able to take them for a drive or to DQ (don't worry, no food in the car!). But the main reason I want a Pcar is to join the local Pcar club and run track days at Calabogie and Tremblant. My question are; 1) during the 996 production run was there a change at any point that made the later models more track desirable than the early ones? 2) what options should I be looking for on a used 996 so that it is as trackworthy as can be for a stock car? When I get one then I'll search this site for what mods I should do. I should mention that I will have to get a GT3 seat just to hopefully be able to fit in a 996 with a helmet so that is mod #1 if the car I find doesn't have those seats already. Thanks in advance for your advice and help. It is most appreciated.

 

From the research I've done on this board, it seems the '99 Mark I 996es are the "driver's" 996. It has a mechanical throttle, and if you're lucky will have a 20% limited slip (clutch type) differential and sport suspension as options. The '99 is apparently the lightest 996 (light is always a good thing for track ). Hopefully the usual track stars (JimB, RayS, Paul) will chime in?

 

Thanks for the info. I hope the track stars chime in too!

 

Track junkie I am, not sure about the other. Welcome to the forum EX1K.

It looks like your requirements for a 996 were the same as mine. A sports car designed for track duty but that passes the wife's take to work once a week requirement on nice days and that I can use to drop my two little ones off at Daycare with. Yup...ruled out a whole bunch of other interesting cars that I was thinking about.. Porsche was the only one that fit the bill. Didn't hurt that I had a relationship with a 993 a bunch of years ago to give me a taste.

I think that you will fit into one of two camps really depending on your budget. Lower budget... 99s Higher budget... 02+ (I'm no expert on the differences of the later cars but understand that the 40th anniv cars are sweet).

For the track worthy stuff you will have to decide what is important to you... Factory LSD then 99 it is. Factory sport suspension or will you mod the car right away? All brakes are equal. As SleepRM3 put it later cars have eGas to work with the PASM (which you can't turn off). This is my opinion, I didn't want that on my pcar for now. All my street cars have it and that if fine for my wife but everytime I want to play around it frustrates me that I can't turn it off.

As for fitting in the car with a helmet on... I can't help you out as I am 5'9" on a good day and feel like it was designed for me. I have the Sport seats which are awesome. I have given up on the GT3 seats/harnesses/rollbar or harness bar for the above reason of needing to use the backseat almost daily. Actually purchased a bk harness bar and then decided to sell it off since I couldn't see myself putting it in and out for every DE.

Hope this helps... do some searches on here and you will be surprised at how much you find. Initially I spent most of my time on here just using the searches checking out all the pre-existing info. Very good stuff.

 

Ooh...yes, I must add the sports seats to my "me want on '99 996 list"

 

Yeah they are. If you aren't going the race/GT3 route... They are my personal fav.

 

Budget wise I was intially thinking new Cayman S. Then it was suggested that I look at used US cars and that opened up the possibilty of a 996. Son #2 arrived 6mths ago and I started to think it might be nice to go for rides with them once in a while to give their Mom a break. So now I'm on the 996 line of reasoning IF I can make one fit. So if a 2nd generation 996 is better to have for track days in any way I'm willing to shell out more to get the better car for track purposes as it will still be cheaper than a new Cayman S. Of course I could always start with a used Cayman S and move up to a 997 if the bug I think I will get bitten with hits me hard... And there is always the BS of Cdn dealers giving me a hard time about servicing a US car. I haven't fully figured that aspect out yet but I see the Cdn forums have lots to say about that right now. So I'll seek advice there also before I act. Cdn Porsche dealers are gouging us by not adjusting their prices the last few years as our Cdn$ has appreciated against the US$.

 

Are your little ones car seat age? Mine are 2yrs and 6mths. So I will have them in car seats for oh, the next 6yrs (we have a law here in Ontario that they have to be in a car seat or booster until age 8 or 80 pounds. I have 48lbs and 55lbs to go!). We I need to get Porsche childs seats to make the back seats work for the little ones? While still allowing me to fit? Leg room is not a big issue for me - legs of someone 5"8", torso of someone 6'6".

I really appreciate the help. I wish I could get a 996 without a sunroof. I really don't see the purpose of them to start with in a Porsche. But I don't think anyone ever orders one without one so I'll never find a used 996 without one. Other than the GT3, then no back seat for the boys. And too much car for a rookie like me I think.

 

Humm, interesting! Well, I went through almost the exact same process two months ago! I drove the Cayman S and the 996. If I had my choice, I would choose the Cayman S for sure. I would suggest that if you had no driven the Cayman, don't do it, as it will make your decision much harder! In the end, the wife made the decision for me (as in many cases ), and said the back seat is a must for the future baby. So no Cayman S and no GT3, and 996 C2 it is. Well that will save some money for daddy's dedicated track car in the future!

I agree with SleepRM3 on the 1999 cars, but in the end I bought an 02 for the relatively better reliability.

I am not a tall guy but I had also looked into seats simply becuase I want a bucket seat for the track. I looked into the GT3 seat but it is very hard to find one single used driver's seat, as the passenger seat must have forward tilt function for back seat access. In the end I bought a recaro profi SPG XL for the driver's side, and a recaro SRD for the passenger side, for the price of a single new GT3 seat. They sort of match up in terms of looks, and I have the forward tilt in the passenger side.

 

The 99 with LSD is a great car. IIRC, the 40th anniversary also has an LSD (as well as the power pack). If I were going to look for a car for dual use (keep in mind that if you want to take your kids with you, you will not be able to install a roll bar or a true track seat, so the car by definition will lean more towards the street side of the equation), I would really search for a 40th anniversary. Second choice would be an 02+ (since it has nice features for the street and your car will definitely lean towards the street use), and then a 99. You can't really go wrong, though.

I don't think they every offered sunroof delete in the 996 (apart from the GT3) so just give that up now.

 

EX1K,

There is another thread going right now about kids seats... the 6 month old needs to be rear facing which can be a challenge in pcars. See the other thread, believe there are solutions.

My kid seats are not porsche brand. My boy is almost 4 and sits in the Britax Star Riser booster. My little girl just turned 2 and sits in the Recaro Young Sport. I just posted a pic of my back seat in the other thread with the kids seats.

I use them almost every day to shuttle my little ones in the AM. They love it.

 

They did...but it's awefully hard to find. I really wanted the car that Screamealons eventually bought because it's a no-roof car. (another wife decision...she didn't want another white car in the garage).

Andy

 

One challenge with child seats is narrow-ness of Porsche back seat. Current thread on this forum will give you an idea of what might work. There are numerous non-Porsche rear-facing child seats that will work in the 996 but you'll need to test fit to make sure it's not too wide and you'll need to install rear-facing seat on passenger side with passenger seat way-forward. Your older child should be fine in a forward-facing seat sitting behind driver.

Another option when kids are slightly older is to install airbag deactivation kit and have older child in front passenger seat and younger child behind in booster. This is what I currently have set up for 8yr old and 3 yr old. Of course, you'll have to convince your wife that it's OK. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the Recaro model name advice!

 

From experience, any 996 is fine at the track. Earlier models had a limited slip available (hard to find though) but the new cars have more power. The 99 through 2001 also had some oil starvation problems as I recall. I'd aim for a 2004 or newer. You will have a hard time finding one without a sun roof. Don't worry about it. You'll never notice the difference driving except for headroom. A seat will fix that.

A GT3 seat will cure your headroom problems. There are several guys 6'5" driving 996's around Calabogie and Tremblant now. The Recaro might do too. All cars from 2000 on had E-gas, and the newer ones are far less intrusive. Same goes for PSM, on 2006 and on you can get pretty far out of shape before it intervenes. When it intervenes it is because you messed up.

In your shoes, I'd look for a car that had been well maintained as opposed to trying to find a rare non-sunroof or LSD equipped version.

With a rear facing child seat your 996 will probably be a 3 seater since no adult would be comfortable in front since the seat has to be pushed way forward to provide the room needed.

Any of the Porsche models is a blast on the track - exception the Cayenne of course. If you are new to the DE game, don't worry about the model, you will have a ball with any of them. If you get the track bug seriously then you want something like a GT3 <grin>.

Best,