Looking to buy a 996 911 Porsche but not sure which one?

born_again

Check out Petrol Ped on U-Tube. He went through the same problem on which 911 to get.

Nobbie1967

Cuticuraser said:

The car will become my daily driver in London. Mainly short distance driving in traffic. 

How is the automatic in these cars? I’ve driven the 997 tiptronic and it’s not too bad but assuming the 996 will have a laggier slower auto?

I liked the Tip on my old 986 and pretty sure they are much the same as those on the 997, still 5 speed, so changes will be similar. For London traffic the Tip is perfect as it’s a torque converter auto, so much smoother in stop start than the later PDK. For more spirited driving it’s worth getting paddles fitted to the wheel as the buttons are not great when pressing on. My car had 165k on it when I scrapped it and the gearbox was still working perfectly. They are well regarded for reliability. Most common issue is the selector switch on the side of the gearbox which can fail, about £400 to replace. Usually flashes D and 4 and reverts to auto operation only until fixed.

darrensurrey

Cuticuraser said:

The car will become my daily driver in London. Mainly short distance driving in traffic. 

How is the automatic in these cars? I’ve driven the 997 tiptronic and it’s not too bad but assuming the 996 will have a laggier slower auto?

Mine's a tiptronic. It's fine. Apparently, it's a Mercedes box and they know autos. When driving in auto mode, you won't notice and it's so easy when you're stuck in London traffic like me. Just press the go and stop pedal like you're driving a Mercedes. And on the open road, it's not an issue unless you're trying to beat your laptime which you shouldn't be doing on a public highway. If you're joining a motorway, you can easily drop it down a gear or two for a brisk acceleration. It takes getting used to but the benefits overall outweigh the cons over a manual - for me, at least.

Cuticuraser

Hi everyone. I got my 996 Turbo today.



here is a picture. There are a few issues that need sorting but I will come around to it. 

Goudy

The earlier auto 996 uses the same "Tiptronic" ZF 5 speed gearbox as the 993.

The Turbo uses a Mercedes 5 speed unit, still called "Tiptronic", which was then fitted to all models from around 2002 (996.2) as the ZF couldn't handle the uprated torque.
This MB box is considered the more reliable of the two.

Some 997's used this MB box but called it the Triptronic S.
Later cars (997.2) used the PDK 7 speeder.

The MB units are pretty reliable, in fact they are actually considered far more reliable than the manuals that have there fair share of problems. probably because the auto's are more likely used as a everyday cruiser and most manuals used a bit of a track weapon,

They do have specific service requirements. Porsche recommends every 90k but any slipping or hesitation is probably a sign it wants new oil (OEM ATF).

Tip, it's probably cheaper to get the MB box serviced by a MB specialist than a Porsche specialist.

It's worth noting if anyone has messed with the power output, the engine and auto gearboxes were closely match for torque to start with, so remapping and fiddling with the engine isn't usually good news for the auto box.

I think there was a trend some owner fitted high stall torque converters to the MB box, another sign the car might have been overly messed with.

Cuticuraser

Goudy said:

The earlier auto 996 uses the same "Tiptronic" ZF 5 speed gearbox as the 993.

The Turbo uses a Mercedes 5 speed unit, still called "Tiptronic", which was then fitted to all models from around 2002 (996.2) as the ZF couldn't handle the uprated torque.
This MB box is considered the more reliable of the two.

Some 997's used this MB box but called it the Triptronic S.
Later cars (997.2) used the PDK 7 speeder.

The MB units are pretty reliable, in fact they are actually considered far more reliable than the manuals that have there fair share of problems. probably because the auto's are more likely used as a everyday cruiser and most manuals used a bit of a track weapon,

They do have specific service requirements. Porsche recommends every 90k but any slipping or hesitation is probably a sign it wants new oil (OEM ATF).

Tip, it's probably cheaper to get the MB box serviced by a MB specialist than a Porsche specialist.

It's worth noting if anyone has messed with the power output, the engine and auto gearboxes were closely match for torque to start with, so remapping and fiddling with the engine isn't usually good news for the auto box.

I think there was a trend some owner fitted high stall torque converters to the MB box, another sign the car might have been overly messed with.

Mine is a manual. 

About to take the car to my local independent now to check the issues. Fingers crossed!

Goudy

A manual turbo will have the splined gear sets rather than press fit so they can be swapped out.
These internals have been around since the 90's and is pretty robust, they can be easily be modded to take big HP.

But I also think the clutch is power assisted on these to help soften the clutch for use in traffic.
It uses part of the PAS system to help operate the clutch slave.
It's not great and can be prone to problems, it can also give a poor feel at the pedal.
It also uses a special fluid, Pentosin rather than DOT 4

I think some aftermarket companies make kits that do away with the system and uses DOT 4, it may or may not have been deleted and turned it to GT2 spec.

Wonka_2

Cuticuraser said:

Hi everyone. I got my 996 Turbo today.



here is a picture. There are a few issues that need sorting but I will come around to it. 

Looks good but that was quick

darrensurrey

Cuticuraser said:

Hi everyone. I got my 996 Turbo today.



here is a picture. There are a few issues that need sorting but I will come around to it. 

Wow! Congrats. You were quick to act. So how much did you pay and what are the issues?

oldagetraveller1

Sorry, but I suspect that car is a figment of someone's not light imagination.