996 Cabrio

A good neighbor gave me the keys to their 996 cabrio to use. car has only 19k miles on it and the owner is not driving it but wants to keep it, and have it driven/ operating.

Seems to have bene serviced every year, oil is fresh tires 4 years ol, brake pedal feels firm but brakes arent blowing me away.

Motor and transmission seem great, the motor imo is nice and more than adequate power, but a little unexciting. Actually the whole cabrio seems a little soft and bobly to me, i guess thats how they are, and very much of a slow in fast out deal.

Seems a nice cool car for Florida, top goes down, the box is a delight to row, and motor responsive and clutch neigh on perfect. and not really many corners anywhere anyway,. .

Any advice or things to look out for, besides ims bearing.

 

Thanks
I like the mercedes sl compro, it felt not as soft as one of those, but of that ilk, not really fully buttoned down, a bit of a bobblehead. . The seats imo offer near zero lateral support, but are comfy enough. The big difference to an sl is the stick and motor which are usurpingly fun to play with, esp as Florida is otherwise pretty straight with near zero elevation. Its a contrast witht he gulia which is pretty sharp at the wheel and buttoned down in a louts type way having not too stiff springs but really great shocks. however the gulia motor sounds and feels like a 4cyl turbo diesel, the power is there but other than output not realty a joy to behold.

Going off topic slightly but it contrasts the difference between a great stick/motor(996) and paddles with turbo(most moderns). On the twisty backroads of Ct i really enjoy the gulia because it is both complaint and buttoned down with a really sharp front end, the paddles make is really easy to keep it on the boil. In Fl which is straight mostly and flat the Gulia is basically a powerful enough at car but its other virtues dont have the opportunity to fully shine. In that context the 996 being a stick with great motor adds a dimension of engagement which is really compelling. In general i believe for on road, unless you're dealing mostly with traffic stop and go etc a stick is simply more engaging and fun. On track a stick is a hindrance and does not add to the process.

Yeah the 996 interior is cheapo, and the fried egg shape in general leaves something to be desired. As you said tis a great cruiser which i guess for many is the market.

Brakes, pedal felt firm enough so I suspect they either need a much harder push, or more than likely its still got the original pads and they're brittle or have a surface layer of crucd, they seem about half through. Maybe I just got to get some real heat in them and scrub off some crud.

Coming form the lotus workd where its all about steering, great suspension handling and picot, with a motor that can be crude and as good as it gets cable shifting, the 996 is like t opposite. there is a lot to be said for a great shift and motor. I can see how 997 gt3 or one of the newer manual Gt3s is so compelling for road and bit of track, not to mention a Cayman Gts and boxter equivalent.

Have driven a regular 992 manual and the turbo motor 7 speed stick imo was missing a lot of what i found compelling in the lowly 996, sharpness of throttle, great motor sound and a stick that's simply a joy to shift. Turbo 4cyl boxter i thought sucked, it was soft as the p road cars tend to be, paddles and turbo 4. Apparently this is all progress.

 

Its a 2001 2wd. I just rolled the odo past18k miles on a short drive.
Tires are from mid 2017 oil was clean brake good. i think its been yearly serviced, but Ill ask.
.

 

Not seeing any leaks. Looks to have gone to the dealer each year for "service", not sure what was and was not done. ill look into it. Caretaker said a few years back they spent a lot on it. Tires are pirelli pzeors from mid 2017, so they seem not to have skimped along the way. No idea about the drive belt. Ill ask the owner when next i see her.

The expansion tank wasnt split, but it was old and yellowed.

Motor seems smooth runs fine.

 

I looked at the radiators, they look brand new. Like replaced new.

Temps seem fine and stable a little over 180 on the guage.

i asked the lady who owns the car what work had been done. She said she didn't know but she had told her caretaker a few years back to take the car to a specialist and do what needs doing. Ill give him a call and ask.


Fresh gas and motor pulls way better. Yes it gas that coming on cam feeling which is nice. maybe the gearing is just so well selected but it feels stronger than 300 horses, and nothing like a naturally aspirated engine, so consistent and fun to rev out...

I also did a major clean of all the parts the regular cleaners miss. All the little nooks and crevices in the interior, door jambs, indicator stalks shift lever shift boot etc. Looks way better now.

ill take it for a big run this weekend.

 

Exhaust sounds pretty nice, dont know if its stock or not. Coilovers sounds like maybe a vast improvement, as is there is this layer of cotton wool mush, but even new porches seem to have that. Not my car so not worth me spending like that on it. When/if she wants to sell I'll see.
As it is a very cool fun cruiser, and I really like the size of the car. Big enough you dont feel vulnerable in traffic, but stil really a smallish wieldy car.

i noticed some really cool bits too. The sightlines are really superb, you can see the edges well, the mirrors all show you enough(unile moderns which rely on warning lights as theyre too small)

As i was cleaning it I noticed on the front how the freid egg inner part is shaped to channel air along the inside of the fender line. Little details that show how someone really thought about what they were doing.


i can see why a 997 Gt3 would be such a great choice of a car.