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I don’t hear Steve looking to a 993 for hair-on-fire experience. I hear him looking for a fun dd-able AC’d Porsche. I think 993 checks all the boxes for that purpose. On price, hey, EVERYTHING is a lot more expensive today that it was 12-18mos ago.
I currently still have my 2011 Mexico Blue GT3 RS. I HAD a 1998 993 C2S. I currently race a 2018 991.2 Cup. I still also have 1 of the last 15 1998 993 Cup's.
I sold my 98 C2S. It was not as inspiring to me to drive to my other cars. I also tried for a few years to drive a 993 C4S as a daily driver. I sold the 993 C4S too. I certainly didn't expect it to drive like a 993 Cup which is some 700 lbs. lighter and has 30 more horsepower and slicks. It was arguably one of the best looking 911's Porsche has ever made, but it was way too heavy and not nearly as engaging as the 997 RS. If I didn't have the 98 993 Cup and wanted a 993 today, I'd likely go for a 95 narrow body and look to lighten it a little bit more. Part of the problem is the 997 RS is so good it does ruin you for almost all others. The connectivity to driving with the feel of the steering, the size of the car doesn't compare and likely will never compare to anything else. Sure there will be faster cars out there but in terms of the WOW on your face, I have not found a match. If you want air cooled and driver engagement you might want to look at going older than 993. My advice would be to drive a 993 a few times before you buy it. For those lucky to own a 997 GT3 or RS you've already found about as good as it gets.
I held my tongue, but you said literally everything I wanted to day.
I had 993C2, cS2, C4s, TT, TTS, RS
the RS was brilliant, didnt really drive like any other 993. the rest were very bland....
excluding RS, C2 narrow body is the best driving experience. the rest had too much rear grip, not as fun.
for regular 993 (non RS) vs regard 964, I vastly prefer the 964. you had to push it and it needs to be driven. 993 more or less drives you.
but for 993rs vs 964rs, I prefer 993. maybe the gearing ? I don't know why, but the 993RS is a lot of fun to drive and like I said before didnt drive liek a 993, it's its own animal, 964rs was just a faster 964.
if you want AC DD, then 993
if you want AC Weeknd fun, put a good motec engine in a longhood... you have not lived until then (I thought that was BS until a factory driver showed me the way). and most longhood you see out there are NOT very good.
otherwise, the 997 is as good as it gets.
I don’t hear Steve looking to a 993 for hair-on-fire experience. I hear him looking for a fun dd-able AC’d Porsche. I think 993 checks all the boxes for that purpose. On price, hey, EVERYTHING is a lot more expensive today that it was 12-18mos ago.
My 997.2 GT3 RS provides me with all the hair-on-fire experiences I need. Now it's time for a more practical 911 to use as a shop car.
I held my tongue, but you said literally everything I wanted to day.
I had 993C2, cS2, C4s, TT, TTS, RS
the RS was brilliant, didnt really drive like any other 993. the rest were very bland....
excluding RS, C2 narrow body is the best driving experience. the rest had too much rear grip, not as fun.
for regular 993 (non RS) vs regard 964, I vastly prefer the 964. you had to push it and it needs to be driven. 993 more or less drives you.
but for 993rs vs 964rs, I prefer 993. maybe the gearing ? I don't know why, but the 993RS is a lot of fun to drive and like I said before didnt drive liek a 993, it's its own animal, 964rs was just a faster 964.
if you want AC DD, then 993
if you want AC Weeknd fun, put a good motec engine in a longhood... you have not lived until then (I thought that was BS until a factory driver showed me the way). and most longhood you see out there are NOT very good.
otherwise, the 997 is as good as it gets.
Thanks mooty, I always listen when you talk about things like this my friend. I think the difference between me and so many on this thread is that I've never owned an air-cooled 911 (and always wanted one). I would like to have one in my life, and hoping to have the chance soon. I really only get excited about older 911s, and rarely about newer ones as I do feel that my 997 era cars are both about as good as I could ever hope for.
LOL! I'm shocked you'd sell your 993 turbo for a lowly NA C2S! That seemed like a great car you had. Not even an inkling of boredom from this car yet. It's been fun sorting it out over the last year.
I have ADD. haha. I want a light weight version of the 993 (RS or RS replica). I would also take a Visuvio too. I just didn't want turbo and 4WD anymore.
What does your thread title tell us to "come on it"?
It was supposed to say 'Come on in!'. Hahahahah!
I figured out how to edit it, thanks for the catch. Sadly, it looks like I may be getting priced out of the 993 market as well just from the few active auctions and inventory that I'm watching right now. Sigh...
Last edited by Steve Theodore; 10-20-2021 at 03:34 PM.
I figured out how to edit it, thanks for the catch. Sadly, it looks like I may be getting priced out of the 993 market as well just from the few active auctions and inventory that I'm watching right now. Sigh...
Ain't that the truth. I'd coveting a 993 or 964 now just like you and the prices are silly. Will have to hope that my saving out paces cost in the next 2 years.
From what I'm gathering the 993 rides smoother, has a more robust HVAC (mostly AC) and has more midrange torque, especially the 96+ models. I keep reading that it behaves more like a 997, which is a good thing to me, whereas the 964 will be more raw and unruly if pushed.
Yes, oops, I was thinking from the perspective of my later car, which has AC more similar to the 993, just minus the cabin air filter. I forgot about earlier 964s and their R12 systems.
Having driven a friend’s 993 back to back with my 964, I agree with your assessment. The 993 felt more like a GT car whereas mine felt more raw, and he felt likewise. His also has a stock flywheel, whereas I have a LWFW (and 200lbs of weight reduction), which also makes quite a difference. I don’t know if the 993 rides smoother, necessarily, but the rear end is more compliant or predictable, maybe? The 993 would still make a great daily in this day and age.
That said, I basically drive my 964 like a daily and love it. If I am running an errand, I’ll pick it over my daily. More fun and engaging, even with 130 less hp. More likely to take the long way too.
Steve, not sure if videos like this help, or make it harder, lol. I'm enjoying the research and each time I see a video like this I spot all the colors, wheels, mods, etc. that I'd love to have.
I'm going to side with Mooty and others on this one. It might be an unpopular opinion but when I had my 993 parked in the same garage, I found myself always reaching for the GT3 keys instead, the 993 was a great venture into air cooled for me but simply wasn't different or better enough to drive it as often as it should be driven. It was great in the city, perfect for date nights, but when it came to spirited driving the rawness of the GT3 outshines the 993. I think there needs to be more contrast when you have to compare against a GT3 in the garage. I can agree a properly setup longhood or some sort of G body lightweight study would be my choice (other than AC which I'm in the process of addressing I drive my G body much more frequently than I ever did my 993 and once it gets its transformation with Leh I assume that will trend exponentially higher).
I'm going to side with Mooty and others on this one. It might be an unpopular opinion but when I had my 993 parked in the same garage, I found myself always reaching for the GT3 keys instead, the 993 was a great venture into air cooled for me but simply wasn't different or better enough to drive it as often as it should be driven. It was great in the city, perfect for date nights, but when it came to spirited driving the rawness of the GT3 outshines the 993. I think there needs to be more contrast when you have to compare against a GT3 in the garage. I can agree a properly setup longhood or some sort of G body lightweight study would be my choice (other than AC which I'm in the process of addressing I drive my G body much more frequently than I ever did my 993 and once it gets its transformation with Leh I assume that will trend exponentially higher).
But, the whole point was the 993 as a daily/city car, not a canyon car. He's got a GT3 and GT2 for that.
I had a 1996 993 C2 in the early 2000's, it was a stunning Porsche visually but I was underwhelmed by its performance, particularly the "long" gearing in the 6-speed manual what was likely an EPA thing.
The 1993 964 RS America that preceded it handled better and the transmission gearing in the 5-speed was superior.
I don't have a good online photo of the 993 except for this tiny one.
I have had 993's for almost 20 years, and a 911SC for 6 years before it, and now am in progress switching to a cobalt blue 997.1 GT3 - should be in my garage for December. My last car was an Arena Red 993TT , owned by me for almost 10 years, the car had always reliable and quite fun to drive, good grunt, excellent looks,etc. Some people will not get this, but I was getting bored of the 993TT (remember - 20 years with 993's!), and figured a change was just the ticket I needed. That coupled with a 3x return on my original investment it was hard to resist. If I were to buy into the 993's again, I really like the turbos, they transform the 993. The guy who bought my 993TT was coming from a 993C4S, and he was blown away with the difference .
I have wrenched on many 993's over the years, including full engine builds from the crank up, so a few comments:
FLT6SP mentioned the harness recall - that was predominately the early 993's (1995) and is not that common anymore. I have only encountered one car so far where it needed fixing, and Porsche fixed it no charge.
The valve guide issue is actually on pretty well all air cooled 911's, and don't let that scare you off. The biggest indicator is high oil consumption, but even then i know of guys who have driven 10+ years using more than 600 miles/quart. Definitely more concerning if you track the car due to poor heat transfer from the valve stem to the head due to the guide wear, can cause valve fatigue and worse case breakage
Other weak spots are the steering rack, front A-arm bushings, rear toe and other control arm wear, weak shocks, etc. - all reasonable to fix and most cars for sale these days have had one or more of these addressed.
The cars are robust but they are getting old - so keep that in mind
If you are handy, these cars are very easy to work on which saves a ton of money
Anyways, if I had the funds, I would have kept both, but I don't - so I will play and drive the GT3 for the next while, learn to wrench on it, and see how it goes. I will also continue servicing the air cooled cars, they are fun to work on. The good thing is it is hard to lose with pretty well any of these cars.
Nice recap on your extensive 993 experiences MikeJ. Question for you since you appear to have driven a lot of RWD air-cooled, as well as the AWD 993TT....
I realize there is the little (sarcasm) difference of naturally aspirated -verses- turbo to contend with,... but I am wondering how you enjoyed the RWD verses the AWD. I ask this because I too have had G-body SC's, 964 narrow body, and have driven (although never owned) 993S & 993TT. For me there was a big difference in the excitement department ... and hence the reason I went with the RWD 964 Turbo (which I bought 18 yrs ago & have retained ever since).
I'm also asking because my memory is fading,... and those comparisons I made were close to 20 years ago!!!
10-19-2021, 11:03 PM
