I enjoy seeing other people’s cars and builds so I thought I’d share a write up of the adventure I’m having with my 2009 Carrera S.
Quick background: I’m your typical enthusiast who had 996 GT2s on his walls as a teen, bought BMW M cars, etc. Finally got a 2018 C4 GTS in 2022 then quickly upgraded to a manual GT3 in 2024 after realizing how great the 911 platform is in terms of “feel,” quality, and experience.
After seeing many 997s at local cars & coffee events, I realized I had to have one, so began searching. Took probably about 5 months, a handful of missed opportunities (other buyers beating me to the punch, or schedule not lining up well), before a 2009 Carrera S popped up and quickly sent a deposit and made plans to fly in and drive it home to Scottsdale (similar to what I did with my GT3 purchased in Fremont, CA). If you get the chance to purchase a car out of state and drive it home, I definitely recommend you take that opportunity.
So, on to the car and how it has progressed since my purchase in December of 2024:

It’s a 2009 Carrera S in Carrera white over extended cocoa leather.

Things I’ve added:

1. Fister Exhaust - The car came with a center muffler x-pipe, but I wanted more volume, so added official brand Fister side mufflers (this is equivalent to having Porsche Sport Exhaust always on).
   
2. Numeric Shifter - makes the already great shift feel more notchy, responsive, and tight.
   
3. Mr12Volt carplay - gives apple and android carplay functions natively on the PSM touch screen. Easy install that looks 100% OEM. Can’t recommend this mod enough.
   
4. H&R lowering springs - the car came with PASM, so the amount of drop is marginal, but good looking and helps lower the center of gravity, which enhanced the driving feel.
   I’m seriously considering swapping to Bilstein B16 Damptronics instead.
5. While doing the springs, went ahead and changed out to new OEM control arms, coffin arms, bushings, inner- and outer-tie rods, and sway bar end-links (basically anything rubber up front was replaced).
   
6. DSC Sport controller (this works to adjust the PASM settings dynamically and makes “sport” mode more flat but also less bouncy, and makes regular mode even more compliant and comfortable, yet still flatter.) This and mr12volt and the two most necessary mods on any 997 IMO.
   
7. All the new tightness of the upgraded suspension work showed that a couple of the OEM wheels were a bit out-of-round, so bought new BBS LM in silver along with new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.
   
8. Adam’s Polishes - black trim reconditioner. Returned all the front fascia trim, cowling, etc. to OEM black. Really de-ages the car. Also did some Gyeon ceramic UV protecting on all leather, including the dash.
   
9. Added custom cocoa leather covered parts for the fuse box cover and mirror adjustment triangles.
   
10. Service - new oil, filters, and new driver’s side door pull (the classic floppy door pull spring had broken), as well as new plastic tabs to re-secure the door card to the panel. Also replaced the engine mounts. Very easy, and eliminates the sagging seen on exhaust tips.
    
11. Custom wood shift **** from Manny
    
12. 991.2 GT3 OEM leather steering wheel (red stitching). This was also a great move since it increases road feel by reducing the wheel diameter to 360mm from the standard 375mm that comes with all 997s (and any 991 that isn’t equipped with a GT style steering wheel option.
13. Full front xpel PPF and rear quarter
    
    

 

Nice! Any pics of the steering wheel?

Also this is kind of a silly question, but how do you compare your GT3 to your 997? For me I think my only eventual "upgrade" options from my C2S are a 997.2 or 991.2 GT3

 

Im not usually into white cars but 911s just look fantastic in crisp white. Great looking car!

 

Lemme look for a wheel pic.

The cars are quite different.

You can feel the slightly shorter wheelbase and lighter front end of the 997. But being a Carrera S, it is just a little bit more numb as compared to the GT3. 997 does have immense mechanical grip beyond what you might expect. The stiffer and lower suspension on the GT3 also gives a greater rotating ability at the rear where it might let loose sooner at sharp angles and low speeds.

The shifter on the 997 feels more “bolt action” while the GT3 is a bit lighter. The carbon buckets make a major difference too since you sit much lower.

So basically they are two totally different cars.

But the GT3 is certainly waaayyyy more fun. 😆

 

Thanks!

 

Stunning.