Gary R.

PPI on both, leakdown, etc. and then you can figure the odds. If both engines are healthy and equal mileage then I would say yes, it's a 50/50 proposition.

Larry Herman

Another myth. SC's and Carreras have their own problems as well. Quick wearing valve guides and cam lobes come to mind. Most aircooled motors don't have bottom end problems though, and though they can and do blow up, it seems that the majority of 996 problems, at least in popular opinion, is with the bottom ends.

How quickly we forget the constantly overheating, head stud pulling, chain tensioner failing 2.7s

trackjunky

You missed my point.

My point was that you were going to spend money doing repairs either way you go. 3.2 included as these are now 20+ year old cars. Entry costs + ease of "shade tree mechanic" repairs are what really separates your options.

Performance clearly does, otherwise they would all be in the same PCA class.

paradisenb

Bottom line: You are buying a Porsche and they simple are not cheap. Truth be told you will have 40K in any 911 you put on the track. This is a fact. I have run the #s up and down. $40k for a decently prepped 964 and older, probably a little more for an early 996. A well sorted and nicely done Carrera or SC will be the same, $40k. Maybe not originaly cost but......it adds up very fast.

Myth: 996 is bad on the track. Bull****! A year or so ago I might have agreed with the notion that you must have a drysump motor for hard track use. Not after having owned a Boxster. Not a 911 but similar build style. Car was very smooth and no oil issues. The oil fix is around $600.00 for a 996. Baffle in the pan and something with the valve covers.

$15k-ish will put you into a pretty nice 944, except Petrol's.

trackjunky

+1. Now where the hell are you finding the oiling upgrade? Doesn't seem like Porsche does it anymore.

boze_man

964

Gary R.

I saw it somewhere, was simply a baffled sump, maybe a little deeper than stock also. My 997S was a wet (oh sorry, "integrated dry") sump also, I was told to be sure to run it about 1/2 Qt over full at the track.. not sure that has any effect or not.

trackjunky

It's more than that. It's called the X51 kit. It includes a new oil pan, oil suction pump, oil suction pipe, modified valve cover with a machined boss for the suction pipe. The problem is trying to find anyone to machine the valve cover. PMNA used to do the upgrade, but the word is that they are not doing it anymore.

Gary R.

If they supplied the specs getting it machined wouldn't be a big deal, at least around here. I thought the X51 kit was a HP upgrade?

JimB

The oiling kit came as part of the X51 power kit but it can (or at least could) be purchased separately. I DEed and club raced a 3.4 without it with no problems. When I switched to a 3.6L X51 in my 996 I added the kit. Trackjunky is right about the additional pump, etc. It's much more than just the deeper pan with baffles. I'm not sure if just the pan does any good or not. I imagine it couldn't hurt.
Jim

kgorman

Johnny,
I was at your same juncture 2 years ago. I ended up choosing the 'best' car I could afford at the time. This limited me to SC, Carrera, and 964 cars. I ended up buying a 964 C4. Hardly considered the 'track weapon' by most. However, I enjoy the heck out of it, and so far it's been reliable. Lots of these guys are hard-core racers, and well, I am not. So I was compelled to respond with a lowly DE-TT guy type response.

My advice is to not only consider the initial outlay, but also the costs to run a car. Since I have not owned a 996 I can't comment, but my car requires quite a bit of work to be done by myself to keep it in good DE/TT condition ($22k car, $22k mods, $ maint). It's also heavy so I rip stuff out to try to con myself into thinking I can be competitive. Perhaps one of the 996 guys can comment on the running costs of a 996 vs 964 to help you in this regard. The 964 is not exactly cheap when it comes to maintenance, but seems pretty bullet proof.

In terms of speed, at my level, and I don't know yours really, 3.4 996's, 964's, Cayman, and 993's all run pretty close. The 996 3.6l's are faster for sure at my level (but they are $$ than 964s, etc). Since I just do DE/TT I am sure the gap is less when people start prep-ing to the 9th level in race trim. Also at my level driver skill matters more than 200lbs of weight, etc. So thats a big factor to consider. I don't know where you live, but I am in PCA region #7, and the TT classification is a total joke. But in my class (TT6) we have a mix of cars from 914's to GT3's. Of course I can't even come close to matching a stock GT3 no matter what I do unless the driver is drunk. So you might want to just glance at your regions results and see base points/prep levels to get a gauge on what is competitive w/ what mods.

For me, the air cooled car was what I wanted, so I went with that.

Hope I am helping... good thread!