TexAg911

Alright fellas please be easy on me. I've only had my 996 for a little over two months so I am by no means an authority on Porsche but I previously owned two different Audi A4 Quattro 2.0Ts. One was purchased new in '06 and the other was a CPO'd '08 purchased in '09. They were both awesome. The turbos provided 200 HP with little to no lag and were balanced and throwable like luxury go karts. When I returned this summer from living in Italy for three years (with just our family car), I decided I wanted 300+ HP in my next car but did not want to blow a bunch of money on an S4, not just for economical reasons but also because my former Audi Club buddies were slowly but surely moving from S4s to A4s due to the power to weight advantage of the A. In the search for my third A4, I ran into an ad for my current 99' 996. I couldn't pass it up. The 911 has been on my bucket list. So I now own it and like it a lot but I don't love it. I keep comparing the dynamics of the driving experience to the Audi. Granted I'm aware that it is an apples to oranges comparison; you can't compare a front engine AWD turbo 2.0 liter car to a rear engine RWD 300 hp car. I was expecting more raw driving dynamics from the Porsche but the car is almost bipolar. Around town driving is almost no fun at all. The car seems like it wants to rev to 5000 RPMs or it wants to go back home and pout in the garage. Shifting hard and trying to throw it around is great if you have to room to unwind some of the horses but the shifting doesn't ever feel like the car is moving through the gears with fluid authority. It feels like the car is never quite happy with the RPMs as much as I try to rev match the shifts. It always seems like I'm holding the RPMs too high before the shift or letting the clutch out early no matter how I drive it.

Important to know:

1999 996 C2 with 30k, manual trans
Purchased the vehicle in Plano, Texas from a Caddilac dealer
Vehicle received a PPI from an Indy Porsche mechanic and a full inspection from my local Porsche dealership - result was a perfectly clean bill of health from both.
The vehicle is almost in mint condition.
I just accomplished the 30k maintenance from the local Porsche dealer.
I've read the threads about replacing the clutch spring (Home Depot mod). I'm not convinced this is the solution for me yet but I'll keep am open mind.

I'm mostly curious as to :

- maybe I just don't know how to drive this thing correctly (possible). But, I've driven classic Italian cars with nonsynchronous transmissions than I learned to throw around like a pro in 20 minutes.
- maybe there is a problem with my trans (doubtful)
- I am a former Audi owner and must stop comparing the experiences (I'll buy that)
- maybe other converts from great cars on this forum have had the same experience?

996pp

I think its more of a personal taste and experience, I've owned quite a few cars myself and liked each one for what it was. But If I were to get rid of my car the only other car I would get will be a turbo.

5CHN3LL

You're gonna need to post a video or something - I don't understand the issue. My '99 996 loves to run from 4K to redline, and I don't have any problem getting the tail to wag if that's the goal.

Does your car have PSM? If it does, that will ruin your fun. Turn it off.

Ask your indy if he drove it, or merely inspected it. Any Porsche mechanic worth his salt ought to be able to tell if the car's running properly with a 2-minute test drive.

Since you're accustomed to a smaller motor with a turbo that needs spool to make power, I assume you've got no issues keeping the RPMs up, and that's where all the 996 fun is found. Weird.

Are you hanging onto unnecessary habits from your Italian transmission days like double-clutching?

Other than the occasional complaint of second-gear popout, the 996 six-speed is fine...mine's been flawless.

TexAg911

5Chan,

I agree the car is happiest above 5000 RPMs. I admit that I love that about it. It's like it wakes up and goes "oh, now you want to party", and then digs into the HP. Thats the fun part. The way it goes for gear to-gear will probably need to be demo'd on video. I'll see what I can do.

I do have PSM and Ill have to turn it off to see if it helps. I used to turn that off on my Audi also.

My Indy drove it and said it was fine but I don't think he pushed it that hard because after a spirited drive home from signing the paperwork a guy slammed on his brakes at a yellow light causing me to brake hard. All of a sudden my horn self-actuated. It turns out I had a worn grommet that would not stop the airbag from actuating the horn on hard braking. The dealership replaced it, but I started to wonder if the Indy took it through it spaces or not.

I use the car as an everyday driver though my work is five minutes away. The short commute is regulated to 25 MPH since my office is right outside of my neighborhood. Since this has been the majority of my day to day driving, I've just noticed that the car doesn't drive well at slow speeds working in the first three gears at low RPM. When I get the chance on the weekend to push the 0 to 60 envelope, I seem to always have an issue from 2nd to third and from third to fourth. The best way to describe it is that it was jerky from gear to gear unless finessed just right. The doesn't seem to be the same level of refinement in my Porsche's transmission as in the Audi but that might have been intended and by design.

Soaringman

I became part of my 99 within an hour of purchase, I just love everything about it so much. I only go over 5000rpm when spirited driving

ccaarmerciill

I agree with the whole clutch/ transmission feel. I think a large part of it is the sloppy accelerator pedal feel. It needs to be sharpened up a bit, and doesn't feel consistant. I've read a good fix for that is the Sprint Boosters. Compared to other electronic accel. cars (BMW's) this car feels soo sloppy with the pedals. The clutch pedal felt very vauge to me as well... I am used to much more clutch feel. Removing the clutch helper spring on the clutch pedal helped this considerably, but I had to re-learn how to drive the car.

(just realized you have a 99 so you don't have an E-gas pedal) so the accel. pedal shouldn't apply to you.

9/10 of the cars I've owned have been manual. The 996 was the vaugest feeling of all... even with a brand new clutch!

As far as handling characteristics... I agree as well. The 996 is not a very exciting car at all, compared to other "sporty" cars in the price range. The overall grip and handling is great, but once again it doesn't have any "rawness" at all. A stiffer refreshed suspension (European sport suspension) should help this a lot, and maybe some other small tweaks. Even just having the gundo hack done on my exhaust increased the driving pleasure dramaticly with the car. But overall, I'm still working to acheive the feeling I desire with the 996. I'm comparing to multiple BMW M3's I've owned, and I'm dissapointed with many of the comparisons I've noticed.

My best word for describing how my 996 feels to me... Numb.

Comparing: Both my recent E36 and E46 M3's, even my older 944 I had rev-matching down perfectly. Every downshift was smooth as butter, and I had the amount of blip needed memorized by feel, and sound. With the 996, even after owning for almost a year, I'm STILL sometimes sloppy with this. I don't feel the same connection... hard to explain.

5CHN3LL

OP, what you're describing isn't consistent with my 996, so it might bear some additional investigation. Does the clutch slip at all (floor it in 4th @ 60MPH)? When my clutch was on the way out, I only had about an inch of useful clutch travel, so shifting was a little touchy until the new clutch went in.

I'm sure you didn't mean that you were actually using 3rd and 4th gears for a 0-60 run - but if you are, you don't need to be. You can blow happily through 60+ in second gear.

If you have very little clutch left and you're shifting at very low RPMs, I can start to imagine how getting the shifts right would be tough. If you're manhandling the shifter, that can make it worse. When downshifting, a blip of heel-toe can make the shift perfect.

I'm no pro driver, but Mrs. Schnell thought the 996 was equipped with rev-matching downshifts and was surprised to learn that it was just heel-toe and decent timing. So, I know the car CAN be very, very smooth. Might be the car, might be the driver, it's probably a little of both.

Good luck... keep us posted.

thedugger1

When I first bought mine, I was frustrated with the clutch, but after awhile I've grown to love it. Also, I wonder if your less than stellar shift quality has something to do with a fluid change and/or motor mounts. Both are cheap and made a huge difference with mine, also a 99 that had 47K when I did the mounts. They were definitely sagging a bit.

Kalashnikov

Regarding the "lack of authority", 996 MK1 is not a very fast car. So, don't expect it to be mindblowing from the dig. Around town 996 is anemic, as most of the power comes after 3k RPM. Modern day V6 Camry and Accord will take 996 from the stoplight.

Your very low mileage can also be a culprit. 30k miles on a 14 year old car means it sat all its life. I would change all fluids (tranny, coolant, clutch, brake), clean the MAF, change the plugs and run a few Techron fuel injection cleaner bottles through the gas tank.

rpm's S2

Audi A4 vs. '99 911

Your analysis makes no sense whatsoever. Maybe you just aren't a car guy...

6ta1

FACT CHECK

2012 Toyota Camry SE (V6) 0-60 mph 5.7 Quarter Mile 14.1
http://www.zeroto60times.com/Toyota-0-60-mph-Times.html

1999 Porsche 911 Carrera 0-60 mph 4.9 Quarter mile 13.3
http://www.zeroto60times.com/Porsche...mph-Times.html

OP,

I am close to you. Car is down right now but we can meet in the future so you see what 3.6 X51, suspensions and other goodies bring to the car

Capt. Obvious

Sounds like you need a 997 short shifter in your car. I think that will remedy a lot of the "numb" feeling you're experiencing from the transmission. Since you came from Audis, I'm assuming you're familiar with the JHM shifter? The 997 factory short shift is the 996 equivalent to that.

TexAg911

RPM,

My point is exactly to point out the fact that an A4 was much more engaging. I understand the implied absurdity of the comparison. It was intended to make my point but also was grounded in my personal experience since I went from an A4 to a 996

All,

I just got back from picking up my daughter from school in the P-car. In the process of pushing it a bit and paying attention to the cars feedback a bit more, I think I've come up with what is going on. My theory is that the difference in feel is the fact that the A4 I'm comparing it to is a newer e-throttle vehicle that is constantly changing the dynamics of the throttle response to the driver's driving habits. The '99, has a hard wired throttle and maybe I need to get accustomed to the analog nature of the response. This could all be just an e-throttle vs cable throttle experience.

TexAg911

Sounds like a plan.

fast996

Did you get to test drive the 996 before you bought it? Wondering if you got a tired engine, but with the 30K reported miles, I wonder-