Don't let anyone blow smoke up your rear end.

The 997 - 996 engines are just as reliable as the 993 air-cooled engines...

 

I believe we'll need some actual data to finalize this discussion. However, I've been a member of Rennlist for over 5 years and can tell you I seldom, if ever read stories about engine failures on the 993 board. I've read many on the 996/997 boards. Just my personal unbiased observation.

MC

 

This sounds like more opinion to me... I have chatted with numeorus independent Porsche mechanics that have said otherwise regarding 996s/997s used on a race track...

Unfortunately, I don't think we will ever see the *true* hard data... I'd side with "the best Porsche is one under warranty" comment...

-B

 

1) The M96 and M97 are quite different.

2) Ad hoc web data is showing that there are significantly more major failures with the 996 engine over the 993, mainly regarding RMS failure induced issues. I'd love to see some real data on this though.

Way too early to make a call on 997's, time will tell.

 

There are also about 4X as many 996/997s as 993s, so it's not surprising there are more "failures". Anecdotally, I had a 996 for almost 8 years, daily driver/ lots of track time, never had any major problems / leaks etc, it proved to be reliable. Now I am no fan of the integrated dry sump motors, I think PAG could have easily given the 996/7 a version of the traditional dry sump motors. But I will give credit where due, mine was fast and reliable. There are a lot of RMS issues, no doubt, but the 993 engine is certainly not immune (the dreaded CEL=top end rebuild).

 

Right, but that's the problem, we're all going on anecdotal evidence and some people are drawing conclusions to support their purchase decisions.

I still wonder if overall reliability data is being kept anywhere.

 

Only Stuttgart knows, and they're not talking.