C.Rock

Looking to purchase a winter top (silver) for my 2006 Carrera 4 Cabriotet. Can anyone point me in the right direction or provide suggestions on how best to search? Would prefer to avoid the $3500 price from the dealer. Appreciate your help.

Dharn55

First you should know that the tops for 996's and 997's are the same. also, if your car did not come with a hardtop you may have to add some hardware to the car itself. that being said there are probably 15-20 hardtops on ebay right now. Here is a silver on that is in New Jersey.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...Q5fAccessories

The challenge with these tops is that shipping will be very expensive so the best will be a "local pick-up." that is why I posted this one in NJ. However, if you don't have the hardware in the car you won't be able to just drive down there and put the top on the car. there are also two type of mounting mechanisms, the early ones had pins on the hardware, the newer ones are threaded so you have to have the same style on the top and in the car.

To check if your car has hardware pop off the samll round caps on the cloth cover at the rear and look inside with a flashlight. If the hardware/mechanism is there you should be able to see it.

But the bottom line is you can find a top for $500 or less, and the hardware, if you need it or need to upgrade it is only a few hundred dollars.

As an aside, when hardtops were standard the credit to delete the top was $1,495. But when Porsche made the tops optional the price to add a top was $4,500+.

C.Rock

Thank you. This is really comprehensive advice. I recently purchased the car from a dealer (Nov '09) as a certified pre-owned. While I don't plan to drive it in the snow due to the hassle and expense of extra wheels and tires, I do drive it a couple times per week and would enjoy the added quiet of the winter top as well as protecting the canvas from road salt.

chuckla

Hey C Rock-Obviously, the decision to buy a hard top is personal. That said, I have been surprised by how quiet and warm my cab is (first cab for me). Admittedly, our winters are warmer than yours, but this has been a pretty cold one and the rag top has been great. Instead of a hard top, I chose to get winter wheels and tires from Tire Rack for probably what a hard top runs or less. This means that I get to run my 911 year round, a super benefit. I have never fooled with a P hard top, but I suspect changing it out is more trouble than 4 wheels especially if you rely (as I now do) on a service that comes to my house, does a dynamic balance on all 4 to be put on and charges under $100.

Drmark

I would think twice. My experience of the hardtops is that they are actually noisier than the soft top - they creak a lot in cold weather. Which is why so many are for sale! And the hood is so good I don't see the point.

Edgy01

I have had excellent serviceability from my hardtop. It takes me 8 minutes to remove or replace it--considerably faster than dealing with switching wheels!

Speed

Do a search on the 997 board and you'll see a post I made about finding a 996 top for my 997 at Huntington Porsche. Shop around. A lot of dealers have tops in stock when they were a delete option and customers left them with the dealership. Some retro-fitting may be needed as the hardware on the tops changed over the years. It cost me $600 for the top and $600 for retrofitting. I love having it. Put it on Thanksgiving weekend along with my winter wheels and take it off in April. By the way, I don't find the so-called creaking to be a problem. It was a bit of a problem with my '99 996, but I think the problem has been solved with the 997.

C.Rock

How important are winter tires, assuming the car is only driven on dry roads on good weather winter days? It becomes just a question of temp and the effect on the tires in relation to driving surfaces. I suppose.

Edgy01

Outside air temperatures will run below 40ºF in your area during the winter months. As this is a critical cut off point for the high performance summertime tires normally factory fitted to the 997, you should seriously opt for winter tires. You should decide between true snow tires and M+S tires based upon your anticipated driving/road conditions. Today's snow tires are remarkably capable due to modern materials and formulations which resist the typical hardening of rubber tires in lower temperatures. I cannot stress enough how capable full snow tires are today, compared to years ago. However, you will go through them quickly on dry roads, so there is no need to go all the way to dedicated snows should you drive in the conditions that you describe. The next issue you face is space. If you have the room to store your summer rims think about buying another set of rims (e.g., 18s) onto which you would mount the M+S tires. You also have to think about whether you want to opt for the TPMS sensors/senders which can run $100 a corner, and will last about 6 years--but not get much use obviously during off season. Some have taken their cars into their dealers to have that alert turned off during the months they run on the winter rims without the sensors. Life gets pretty complicated now, doesn't it!

C.Rock

Yes, it does get complicated...and our 911s are worth it as I know you would agree. Given my business travel schedule over the next 45 days, I will either move forward with winter top plus wheels and tires (likely M+S tires) or delay until next winter and put the $3000+ towards the PCA driving school weekend in late the spring. Decisions, decisions. BTW, being a newbie, I can understand why my Porsche aficionado friends all pointed me to Rennlist.

utkinpol

very important if you want to drive when temperatures go below 30 degrees.
issue is not with snow but with fact that your high performance summer tires will become 4 pieces of glass when it`s getting quite cold outside and you do not want to ride on glass.

wiggy

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...t-a-997-a.html

wiggy

I've had my hardtop on for few months now and it doesnt squeak at all - still loving it. But im also ready for some warm weather!

RSKY BIZ

And I thought all these years you were a 'topless' kind of guy!
Congrats on the new ride... Enjoy! -- hard, soft, or -less!

~Doc

MUSSBERGER

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/m...597664229.html