I am fortunate to own a 1999 996 and a 1999 986. Both these cars are superbly fun handling machines. The 996 is more my DD and the 986 spends time both on street and track. I often get asked which car handles better. My personal feeling is that a well driven 996 will slightly outperform the 986 in the corners, due to the 911's ability to oversteer at corner entry, and power through apex's with it's rear weight bias.
Let's open this up for discussion.

 

Wish I could chime in but I do not have a 986. Curious if you also asked this in the 986 forum and what they have to say?

 

The 986 is a like a "gateway drug" for the 996. My guess is that more folks who own 996's have some prior experience with the Boxster's, not so much the other way around.

 

The 986 is more nimble - great for fun, spirited street driving. The 996 has gobs of traction powering out of the turns, making it better for the track. I do like the steering feel better on the 986. Love them both!

 

I like the 996 better for the track, and the 986 better for autocross.

 

IMHO, I find my 986 S is simply more fun to drive.
Although it is nice having an extra 60 HP in my 996

I find that I crawl up the butt of a 911 in front of me in the corners/curves, but they pull away on the straights.

While the older lawn mower engine 911's do have a lots of oversteer when driven aggressively, the newer ones are much better behaved and have less tail swing. A 986 is simply a better handling car.

If you put an extra 60 HP in a 986 S, it will blow the doors off of a 996

 

I have a 996 and a 981CS - and it's a tough call. For a less experienced driver, its the 981 all the way, but as I really learn to drive the 996, I can get around faster in it. The 981 is a really good car... but it needs a LOT of work to make it a great car. On a big, fast track I find I can toss the 996 around...back it into corners in a way the 981 can't .

 

986 is hands down the better handling car. The 996 just can't compare. What the 996 lacks in finesse, however, it makes up for in brute force. As soon as it can stretch its legs, the 996 takes over.

Each has its own pluses and minuses though and I think Cuda hit the nail on the head. 986 for tight nimble driving where precision is king and the 996 for the more traditional GT driving.

I continue to carry a grudge against Porsche that they hamstring the Boxster/Cayman platform by under powering it compared to the 911. The GT4 shows how awesome that platform is with the 911 motor and how badly people want it. Bastards are just milking their customers

 

They HAVE to hobble it. Now, how would you feel about being passed in your 996/997/991 by some giggling hairdresser in a Boxster, and all you can do is give him a one-finger salute that he sees in his rear view mirror as you fade into the distance.

 

Gnat, I have to disagree. The 986 is a great car, definitely not hands down better handling and the 996 is not just about brut force. I have always felt that with a touch of trail braking or lift I can get the 996 to rotate quicker into a corner, and then get on the gas sooner through an apex. For me there is a greater sense of predictably with a 911 at speed. With a 986 you get tons of feedback and you can throttle steer right through any corner but I don't find I can get on the gas as early or as hard mid-corner as I can with my 911.

 

The guy that runs the race shop at the local track said the 911 is a bad design that they have engineered to perfection. I think there is a lot of truth to that.

 

Your comments about getting on the gas sooner vs later mean absolutely nothing when comparing two different cars. Any person that spends any real time on a track knows unequivocally that lap times, are what matters in the end. Seat of the pants feeling is just that a feeling and often times doesn't translate into real world lap times. Even driving two of the exact same model cars can give you different feelings.

 

Agree. The 986 cannot match the awesome throttle steer of the 996. Lift - rotate!

 

I think we have a few of those in this thread

The Boxster/Cayman platform is the better handler. It's a basic function of being mid engine vs rear/front engine. That allows the car to pivot on it's mass rather than have to move it. The 911 just can't turn as precisely.

The 911 does better on a road coarse because that is what it was designed for, but that isn't the best measure of the better handling car. While the 911 has always contended with and beaten much more powerful competition by winning the race in the corners, that wasn't forgotten when they designed the 986 (or 955 even!). So ultimately where the 911 gets ahead of the Boxster/Cayman on a road course is with the amount of power it can apply ("brute" was relative to it's sibling).

You put the cars on a well designed AutoX course and you remove the power factor and focus purely on handling. This is where the Boxster/Cayman shines and I've watched too many stock 986s kick the crap out of 991s and purpose built air cooled cars to even toy with the idea that it was a fluke.

None of that is a knock on the 996 or any 911. They were just built to do different things and they both do those things very well. You want an incredibly handling car for something like an AutoX, get a Boxster or Cayman. You want a well rounded GT car, get a 911.

 

m3 driver, actually, I have spent quite some time on track. What determines quicker lap times is more a function of how fast you can get through a corner than using hp to make up the difference in a straight. Getting on the gas mid-corner and powering through as no car like a 911 can do, directly influences your corner speeds and consequently your lap times. Both cars are brilliant in their own way, but the Boxster just cannot manage the level of G force generated by a 911. Try it and the Boxster will spin.