Another vote for the 993TT here...........hands down the one to buy unless your budget could cover a GT2............I wouldn't look twice at a regular 996TT myself.
I considered both (non-turbo) 993 and 996 before buying my 993. IMO, the 996 is already dated, while the 993 is an emerging classic. Aesthetically, I find the 996 too Toyota-looking, and the interior a bit downmarket. It's all subjective, but many Porschephiles feel likewise. Mechanically, the 993 is a less troublesome car, without the rear main seal problems that affect the 996 and 997 series cars. Resale-wise, the 993 is highly sought after. The 996 has a lesser reputation, kind of like the 348 in the Ferrari world. Doesn't mean the 996 is without its virtues, but when you go to sell you'll have a model that falls between the much loved 993 and much improved 997 (Just as the 348 competes with the classic 328 and the widely admired 355.) Good luck either way.
You guys are the smartest group in a thread I have ever read !!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
tom, i knew this would bring out of hiding and was waiting for an opportunity to see that beautiful car of yours again.. you should come to join our ferrari monthly breakfast and bring that beast. i'd love to see it.
993 is a much better built and solid car, close the doors its like a bank vault vs the 996, the negative with both is the 4wd, if you want to be a man with hair on your chest that others will know you are a driver with skills get a 930.
I understand the feeling about the 993 interior, that's why I am still deciding between the two models. For me, the 993 exterior wins hands down. Both are plenty powerful for me so either model will make me more than happy as far as powah-wise. To use your words, dropping that kind of coins on the 70's looking interior is what holding me back right now but only slightly though. That's why that 993 I posted with the factory carbon fiber option interior is so sweet as I wouldn't touch cars with aftermarket interior mods. I am leaning towards the 993 as it is slightly cheaper than the 996 overall. I can spend the extra money on minor mods like wheels/suspension or even engine mods. I think you're probably right. I might end up with a 996 instead but I'll be taking my time to find the "right" 993 first. I am not in a "Life is at stake. I got to have it now" mode, at least not yet. That black 993 by Tom Larkins is beautiful. The more I look at the 993tt, the more I like it.
Here is a pic of my interior. Hardly "Toyota-like" or "downmarket". Full leather, full carbon fiber. Both are great cars, one takes inspiration from the past and the other looks toward the future. One last thing, I know of many former 993TT owners now driving a 996TT and LOVE it.....I don't know of a single person that went the other way. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you Ric. I thought about some of the same things your going through now, interesting enough that I sold my NSX and you are, or were looking for one. While the 996tt is a more comfortable car and better w/o question, its lost is character and detached the driver in some respects. The Porsche mass production of the water cooler and its slab side body was not meet favorably. Thus the 997 went back to some similar styling of the 993. You have to ask yourself what do you want to do with it and what are you looking for. The water coolers are great cars, don't get me wrong....I still want a GT3 real bad. For me, it wasn't a dailiy driver so comfort wasn't as important as the look these things have as the last air coolers. I also want to track it and feel the road. Throw in the fact that well maintained examples appear to be stable in value and lower mileage ones possibly increasing in value and you cannot lose, especially when cars in general loss $. One of the finer buts in auto design world IMO and as you can see I've added some interior equipment for the track which is where these cars belong. Good Luck. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hmmm, I dunno- I had a GT2- fun car, animalistic, totally cheesy interior for a 200k dollar car. I like the look of the 993 better. As for performance, the 996 TT is no doubt better, but that's not the sole factor in buying something for the street.
Well, don't take everything you read as gospel. For example, the 996TTs are NOT the "new" M96 engine series, and so do not suffer from rear main seal issues like the generic 996/997s or 986/987s. It has the same old bullet-proof GT1-derived engine as the air-cooled variant, but utilizing some water cooling in its design. All the tuners use 996 TTs for their ultimate mod cars, not 993TTs. There is a reason. And they will soon only use 997 TTs. Each Porsche model, even though they LOOK largely similar, is a huge tech leap forward each time. No matter how "cool" it seems to drive "the last of the air cooled 911 turbo's", the 996TT is a better car all around, although perhaps not as hard edged. But drive ANY older car and you will get hard edged. And a car that is aging, and requires the maintenance "aging" cars require. Be careful of advice from "true Porsche-philes". They are usually narrow in their scope of what is a "good" car; their definitions are skewed by very specific preferences. They largely scoffed at the Boxster when it came out, and I can tell you I sold my heavy, AWD turbo 996TT (993TT has the same "problems") for an upgraded Boxster and I don't regret the decision in the least. And the Cayman will redefine what a Porsche can do, and it is a "mere" hard-top Boxster. As I said earlier, drive them both. What feels right, do it. That is all that matters.
this was a very true statement. "Both are great cars, one takes inspiration from the past and the other looks toward the future." I think for the most part people over 30 will say 993 and people under 30 will say 996.
Tom made a few good points in this thread, but I will disagree with the term "loss of character". As a low production rear engine flat 6 sportscar, the 996TT has quite a bit of character, still very different than any other car on the road....lets just say the character is different than the air-cooled models. As a mechanical engineer specializing in machinery, I can assure you that water cooled machinery is superior in terms of performance and reliability to air cooled, but I understand the allure of the classics. I would hardly call the TT a mass produced car. Let me give you an example. I live in Houston Tx, the 4th highest populated city in the US....and in the 2+ months I have had my TT I have not seen a SINGLE other TT on the road. And I drive 50 miles each way to work everyday, so its not like I don't leave the house. And keep in mind the TT has the wide hips we all like about previous models, a good looking front end (I know the differences about the headlights, I'm referring to the spoiler area which is similar to the 993TT) and the same roofline of the 993TT (in fact its the same part# I think). I agree the standard 996 is a little on the narrow side. This is so true, and I guess we have been remiss in not asking your intentions earlier. In my case, I wanted a supercar that can be driven in long commutes every day (this is my only car) that was stylish, exclusive, reliable, comfortable, easily upgradable in performance, and under $100k. So all the Italian and English cars were out (price for new ones, reliability for older ones....on Maserati I am uncomfortable with the future of the brand and massive depreciation). MBs are too plain (and no manual tranny), BMWs are just ugly these days. So Porsche was a natural choice.
If you ever visit south Florida (specifically the Boca Raton area), you will see many all the time. I saw 3 within 30 seconds and other cars like 360s all over. The people down there love their Porsches and I dont' blame them. If I had the money, I'd have a 993TT and 996TT. Great cars.
I don't think it is far better... However, I just drove my first 996 TT and I am in LOVE. WoW. What a car! I would trade my NSX for one tomorrow. I think you will be thrilled with whatever you choose. For me, I loved how quiet the 996 was inside while cruising around.. and that was with an aftermarket exhaust! The power was just crazy. I was looking at a 02 with 30K for $72. -- wife said "Are you F**&^ crazy!". So much for that dream.
Porsches are great cars I have had several including a 930 now but they have lost their exclusivity since the inception of thr 996 and Cayenne, they are no longer exotics but an upscale brand such as Mercedes which is a shame and is why many old school Porsche enthusiests don't like the later models due to making cheaper components such as all the plastic in the interiors and disposable motors that can't be rebuilt as easily.For a commuter car its a good thing though as the attention factor of driving Ferraris gets old fast. The 996 series is quiet as a Lexus and not as involving to drive as the air cooled cars, the 993 is the last of the true 911s and their prices reveal it as they are holding values very well vs the 996s that have dropped like a rock.The 993TT will be a collectable car in the future the 996 not as well.
993tt MY96-97 2,402 produced for NA (US & CAN) it is believed less than 4,500 worldwide. 996tt MY 01-04 Numbers cannot be confirmed in the Red Book and PCNA however 4,704 for MY01-02 alone in N/A and another 1,416 for 03 and its speculated that more than near 8,000 total. I find it hard to believe 8,000 in N/A myself but when you consider the data released below only includes 3 of the 4 production years and doesn't include the turbo cabs it adds up to 6,120 units produced. 8,000 is reasonable. I realize 2 more years of production exists but, in comparison to the 993tt numbers I would consider that mass production. Conversley, its effected the market place and appeal/demand for the product. The pricing of them reflects that. Either way, you cannot go wrong, at the end of the day the owner has to like it. http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2003/01/03/152229.html http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2004/01/05/175803.html
8,000 total in a country of 290,000,000 is mass production??? I'd say that is rather exclusive. As a comparison, look at the 8 yr run of the Corvette C5 @ 25,000 per year = 200,000 cars.....and lets face it thats not exactly in the Toyota Camry country production wise. Again we are arguing over semantics...great cars with a great heritage, reliable beautiful supercars.
..and shoes. My vote would be for the 993. I don't like the interior as much as the newer models, but on the outside it looks far better than the 996. Or you could just wait on the 997 TT.
Just updating this with some information gleaned about the Ferrari F360. With 18,500 360s produced worldwide, it seems the 996TT would be considered rarer. So the 996TT is a true exotic
are you sure about your figures? I know that the 996 production line is capable of kicking a car out every 448 minutes... Sounds like something is missing. I've seen far more 996tt's on the road than 360's.
IIRC, Porsche were able to produce 2500/year WW of 996tt's in the first couple of years. When they saw it was very popular, they increased capacity to 4000/year, but I think actual production was more in the 3000-3500 range. With a 6 year run, 1999-2005, 15-17,000 total WW seems about right. US volume ran about 1200-1500/year, so 8000 may be the right number for the US. These numbers put it on a scale of the 360, but there were 10-12x (over 30K/year) the number of 996 platform cars sold during that period. That cuts down the exclusivity to some extent since mostly car nuts can pick out a 996tt from the more vanilla 996's.
