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Greetings everyone. I am a noob here, been lurking for a while learning. I have been hunting either a 964 C2/C4 or a 996 Turbo (different cars I know). This will be my first P-Car. I think I have found a candidate and wanted some opinions here.
I am looking at an '02 Turbo (silver/grey), and I know the history on the car. The mechanic who has it now has done all the work on it, and a good friend leverages him for all the work on their P-Cars, so I know he is a straight guy. Supposedly the car has GT2 Turbo's (maybe intercoolers), and ECU. It also has a "nice" exhaust (oval tip, brand unknown at this point), and otherwise looks stock. I drove it yesterday, but there was not enough time to get it on the lift, or go through the service slips (maybe today I can do that). The mechanic says the original owner put almost $30k in work into the car. I have not gone over the body in detail yet, but it looks to be straight (stickers from he factory are under the hood and trunk, plastics like intercooler vents show age, etc).
The car stays in second gear fine (read that was an issues sometimes on these cars), the suspension feels very solid and yet plush, the clutch feels good, the car tracks straight, etc. During the test drive the car drove very well, pulled hard, made .8BAR boost (stock I have read). The mechanic said they never changed the springs in the wastage's to make more boost because going hirer "would mean more visits to see him for engine work." I know from reading here 1BAR is reasonable on stock turbo's, so certainly should be on GT2's.
The issues as I see them on the car are....
The exhaust is loud, is full headers and exhaust, but it's real issue is that it has a VERY loud drone from about 2,300-2,900 RPM. In 30 minutes of test driving I had a bit of a headache, and that is right in the range the car cruises on the freeway at...so that would need to be changed ASAP.
The wing has at-least 1 bad actuator. I know these are problems in these cars, never seem to last, which is a shame as I like the wings movable feature.
At least one of the stock wheels has lost its center logo (minor issue, esp since I would prob change out the wheels).
The center console needs a little TLC to repair some scratches.
The headlights are crazed to that point hat I believe they need replacing, not polishing. You can feel the cracks with your fingernail.
Lastly, the car has just about 90k on it.
It will not be a daily driver, I have a very nice Audi Avant for that. The biggest concern is the mileage, as I do not want to get into a valve job , clutch, etc in the next 10-15k miles.
If I did not find a modified car, I was looking for a car in the 40-50k mile range, stock, and would do an ECU/Exhaust/Coilovers/Intercooler/1 BAR boost. That is all I want from the mod side, and this car seems to have most of that, but has more mileage. I wonder what everyones opinion is here......and of course when I get a look at the car in more detail in the next day or 2, and review the service records, I will share my findings. Let me know your thoughts, and other things I might look for, etc. Thanks!
look under the hood bonnet and see if there is an "x50" designation in somewhat faded ink. that will tell you the supposed "gt2' intercoolers as well as what you think might be an "x50" remap/tune and the larger k24 turbos are indeed factory ( $17,800 option..nice ) or aftermarket fiddling. it should boost to .9 with an x50 out of the box. once in awhile a spike to 1.0 but rarely. a stock car with k16's will boost to 06/maybe .07 spike. too many spikes means boost leak or minor issues wastegates etc. nothing major.
also, don't worry about needing a valve job. the motor will blow up before that became necessary lol
I would want to get it in the mid $30's. It definitely boosted to a solid .8 and held that, no spiking. They say the turbos were changed after purchase, so I am pretty sure it is not an X50 car. That is reassuring to know the motto will grenade first.
On a side note years ago I put 70k miles on a nice Mitsubishi Galant VR4 I built up to 400 AWHP....after building it, and never broke anything on it. Point being I tend to be easy on cars...even when modified and doing the occasional track day.
I would want to get it in the mid $30's. It definitely boosted to a solid .8 and held that, no spiking. They say the turbos were changed after purchase, so I am pretty sure it is not an X50 car. That is reassuring to know the motto will grenade first.
On a side note years ago I put 70k miles on a nice Mitsubishi Galant VR4 I built up to 400 AWHP....after building it, and never broke anything on it. Point being I tend to be easy on cars...even when modified and doing the occasional track day.
good to know, sounds as if you know your stuff. I'm at 125k+ miles and plan on at least another 100 before opening it up. the trans? well been there done that.
Went back and saw the car today. They had not been able to pull the records, but are doing so this afternoon hopefully. I did learn some more about the car. The mechanic says I should get another 100k miles out of the motor unless I am an a$$ and, for example, drive it for 40 miles after the water temp light comes on, or after I notice there is zero oil pressure. He also said the clutch & slave cylinder had been done, along with the brakes.
Here are the factory options…nothing jumps out at me as something wonderful option to have…..like X50…but I don’t know them all well.
Turbo has the numbers on it of 5321-101-3075, not sure if that number helps me identify which turbo it is.
The exhaust is an FVD 210 111 996 20. That is suppose to be a TUV version with 200 cell cats…and the mechanic says it has 100 cell cats and the guy who did the exhaust kept telling him to make it louder and louder, so it may have other FVD parts swapped in to increase the sound. The TUV exhaust is suppose to have no resonance and be quiet enough for use in Germany (FVD's most quiet exhaust). I know it is not quiet at all.
I'm assuming it has 100k miles. I would keep looking but that's my opinion and you will get many. For 40-42 you can find a lower mileage well kept car. My car has 13.3k miles and is in very good condition and will be asking around 49k.
They are 285/30-18 rears, 225/45-18 front. It does look dirty, and I know enough about detailing to know that 1 good detail and it will look imacukate, except for the 1 brake caliper. Mechanicaly it seems very sound. We will see, as I say I hope to see the service records tomorrow.
x50 i/c's from the look. cant tell much from the option list. cant help much more except the wastegates are pretty rusty! the dvd exhaust ( good ) may have been decanted by 100 from a 200 cel. 200 is common and would've been the one i would think to be tUV CERTIFIED. that just like out nhtsb only german.
100 cel would a bit louder, not that much. price and miles?? sorry if i missed it.
Last edited by "02996ttx50; 03-19-2015 at 10:23 AM.
For me it's a NO. Doesn't look to have been cherished. Droning exhaust note is a killer.
Looks dull and uninteresting. Frankly it looks rough.
You can find a better one - be careful, don't be in a rush.
Keep us posted.
03-18-2015, 11:24 AM
Noob looking at an '02
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