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Five reasons why a 997.2 base Carrera is the Porsche we should all be buying
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 Above: 997.2-generation Carrera coupe and Cabriolet.
Article by Rob Sass
Photos courtesy Porsche
In the probably not too distant future, we’ll be able to look at a 911 history broken into three epochs: air-cooled, water-cooled, and hybrid. The 997.2-generation 911 Carrera, which celebrates its tenth birthday later this year, may well go down as being the most loved/sought-after of the water-cooled 911s. We should probably be snapping them up in droves now. Here’s why:
Above: 997.2 Carrera 4 models typically command a premium over a Carerra.
Looks
I find the 997’s predecessor, the 996, to be an attractive car. I’ve owned two of them now, a base Carrera and a Turbo. Still, I get a twinge of jealously whenever I see a 997 — it’s an exceptionally pretty car both inside and out. From the engine compartment lid louvers to the headlights, indicators, and hood cut line, a 997, particularly in a funky color like Macadamia or Malachite Green, is a very attractive car. The interior re-design was also a success, giving the 911 a center stack that for the first time looked like something less than an afterthought.
Above: Interior.
Durability
Overhyped or not, the bane of any M96/M97-engined Porsche is the intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing. In the 997.1, it’s a particularly nuanced situation — from mid-2005 through 2008 the bearing is not replaceable without an engine removal and tear-down. While those flat sixes have among the lowest failure rates of IMS-equipped water-cooled engines, the feeling of the Sword of Damocles hanging over one’s head is still there to some extent. The 997.2 introduced in the fall of 2008 for model year 2009 at last did away with the IMS bearing and introduced direct-injection and Porsche’s brilliant PDK gearbox. The 997.2 engines were simpler designs with 40% fewer parts than its predecessor and has developed few reported hiccups and certainly no pattern of catastrophic failures.
Above: 997.2 Carrera Cabriolet.
Performance
In terms of usable performance, the 3.6-liter 997.2 base Carrera is all anyone needs in a daily driver. It’s relatively light at around 3,200 pounds, and with 345 horsepower, zero-to-60 miles per hour comes up in around four-and-a-half seconds. The top speed is somewhere around 180 mph. Maybe not absolute top-shelf today, but neither will you be smoked by a Kia Stinger.
Above: 997.2 Carrera.
Intangibles
The 997 looks and feels like a rear-engined car. Despite technology like PDK, active suspension, and advanced traction control, it’s still an old-school 911 as Car and Driver noted a decade ago in their first drive in the summer of 2008: “Sometimes a gentle plow suddenly locks into a vicious bite, which spirals quickly into tail wag if you lift, as your right foot is seemingly screaming to do. Slow in, fast out. That old saw should be engraved on the dash of every 911.” It doesn’t get any more old school 911 than that.
Above: 997.2 Carrera 4.
Price
Now for the best part: The base Carrera is hands-down one of the biggest bargains in the Porsche world. The starting point for a 2009-10 car is around $35,000 for a lightly optioned car with 60,000 to 100,000 miles. (Here's a current ad for a 2009 model for less than $40,000; click here for archived version.) That’s a bargain for a car with no IMS worries, excellent reliability and an available PDK gearbox for those who don’t want to shift for themselves. There might be a hair of depreciation left in the 997.2, but my gut tells me that this is the bottom of the curve, and we’re unlikely to see examples (other than the ones with lunar miles) in the twenties.
I agree. My 997.2 C4 6MT was plenty of car and super fun to drive.
I can't say I agree with the pricing however: my C4 sold for $51,900 with 36,000 miles. It was a standard $94k build: nothing out of the ordinary, but not a stripper either, as it had NAV and Bose.
I love the 997. I have a 997.1
But this article is just another (like the other) hyping up that the 997.2 is better than 997.1.
The '997' is one of the best 911's, undervalued for now with loads of character. Enough said.
I can't say I agree with the pricing however: my C4 sold for $51,900 with 36,000 miles. It was a standard $94k build: nothing out of the ordinary, but not a stripper either, as it had NAV and Bose.
The article does note...
997.2 Carrera 4 models typically command a premrium over a Carerra
I love the 997. I have a 997.1
But this article is just another (like the other) hyping up that the 997.2 is better than 997.1.
The '997' is one of the best 911's, undervalued for now with loads of character. Enough said.
Cheers.
Haha same here! I agree with the article that the .2 is essentially a better revision of the 997 but let's not take away from the gen 1. It's like a parent having 2 kids and picking their favorite child.
For sure the 997.2 is a great car, but I was underwhelmed enough not to trade up from my .1. I always thought the droopy-bottom tail lights were a back-step in the direction of the 996's fried egg headlights. I think they could have changed the look of the lenses without changing the overall shape. But it's really a minor point. The main thing that put me off the .2 was the added cabin insulation and smoother ride quality. I like the more untamed feel of the .1. And there's the clutch-holder nanny you (apparently) can't disable. And the PCM that still won't do BT A2DP streaming without some add-on. For what it would have cost me to trade up (and would eventually have been eaten up by depreciation), I put an RND engine with Nickies and IMS Solution in mine when it developed scoring, which now hopefully will prove at least as durable as the 9A1.
For sure the 997.2 is a great car, but I was underwhelmed enough not to trade up from my .1. I always thought the droopy-bottom tail lights were a back-step in the direction of the 996's fried egg headlights. I think they could have changed the look of the lenses without changing the overall shape. But it's really a minor point. The main thing that put me off the .2 was the added cabin insulation and smoother ride quality. I like the more untamed feel of the .1. And there's the clutch-holder nanny you (apparently) can't disable. And the PCM that still won't do BT A2DP streaming without some add-on. For what it would have cost me to trade up (and would eventually have been eaten up by depreciation), I put an RND engine with Nickies and IMS Solution in mine when it developed scoring, which now hopefully will prove at least as durable as the 9A1.
I have never got happy with d#$@^ clutch holder thing and I've been using it for 100K of driving.... I hate it.
04-10-2018, 11:25 PM
PCA: Five reasons why a 997.2 base Carrera is the Porsche we should all be buying
