drwilson

My S car, with a March '05 build, was built with an M97/01 engine. Any '05 M97s with earlier build dates?

gota911

I would guess that there are July '04 or August '04 build dates for the initial 997 "Launch" cars, which were at dealer lots in Sept. '04.

mschwa3439

wud stick with 09 or newer for sure if yu cud afford it.

cpbmd

Is it true that the 2006 do not have a self adjusting clutch and 2007 and beyon have a self adjusting clutch? Is this a reason to buy a 2007 over a 2006?
Thanks.

cpbmd

Where in the string of engine numbers can you find the M96 or M97 engine number?

csorrows

I looked at a 2006 C4 (non-S) cab today, and found a string of numbers starting with "M96..." on a metal plate on the drivers-side of the engine, from underneath the car. We had to put it on a lift to read it, though. It's almost a "dot matrix" type of print, and very hard to read, especially since that little metal plate gets covered with road gunk.

This is what's confusing to me...I've read that model year 2006 engines were all (mostly?) of the M97 design, and had IMS improvements, but this tab we're pretty sure started with "M96". I think the third digit was a seven, so it read "M967..." we think. It was still hard to read cause the sun was going down and we didn't have a flashlight.

I was trying to find out if this was an M97 engine and had the IMS improvements, but I think I came out just as puzzled as I did before I looked at the tab.

Mspeedster

I'm not an expert on this, but I had read that M96 are the non-S 3.6L 997 cars, regardless of year. M97 is the S 3.8L engined cars. My car is a 2006 S model and is a M97 engined car. All model year 2006+ cars are suppose to have the improved IMS bearing.

If others with a 07 or 08 C2 or C4 (non-S) could chime in with their engine numbers, that would help to confirm things. Your car's engine code can be found in the maintenance booklet (vehicle identification page), easier than getting under the car to read it off the engine.

slider

by the way, the p-car in your photo might be MY05, but it's not a 997. headlights say its a 996.

prwdmd

I believe that all 997 "S" models from 2005 on have the self-adjusting hydraulic clutch. I think all 997 base models have a regular clutch, unless they added that later to the 997.2 base Carrera.

RollingArt

That pic is his current '03 996 TT.

Zipgun

I go by the age old standard of, by the newest car you can afford. Btw great looking turbo!

slider

d'oh...that under avatar gets me every time.

speaking of avatar, is yours aero kit or GT2/3? Where in the bay area?

cpbmd

Is the self adjusting clutch an make or break item on the car? That is should I not look at 997's without that feature? I guess the self adjusting clutch would last longer than a regular clutch and that would be the reason to spring for the C2S.

atr911

There are a lot of reasons to 'spring' for an S, the self adjusting clutch is one of them. Not to say it's a bad, but rather that it's inconsequential.

Bigger brakes and more displacement are the reasons to 'spring'.

RollingArt

Mine is a C2S with factory aero kit, pts Riviera Blue.

Campbell.



Phil