I would ordinarily post this on RennList, but they don't have a lot of patience for newbies. I was thinking of getting a TT to drive to a 1/4 mile track or to the Pittsburgh International Race Complex, use, and then drive home again. Oh... it also needs to be relatively affordable. Is that a 996 TT? A 997 TT? Does one particular car accommodate a roll cage any easier? Any other thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks! Matt
I have been do mods to Porsche's for over 40 years (turned 2 996tt's to RWD and then modified them, not for the faint of heart). I have helped my neighbor do the mods to his 996tt x50 (his is still AWD and a track oriented car with a roll cage). Do you want a gearshift or paddle shift car? Are you just trying to go fast in a straight line for 1/4 mile runs? You certainly do not need to buy a turbo for that. There are superchargers and turbo kits for lots off cars that can be made to be as fast or faster than a tt. If you want a 9 second 1/4 mile car look at what they have done with early Gallardo's, they steering in AWD is crap, but in a straight line run they have done well with mods. Good luck
for basic bolt ons its hard to beat a 997 turbo. if you want to go crazy then the world is endless as carnut points out.
One thing with tt's change out all the hoses clamps, and diverters valves, weak point in car and when pushed like speed runs do, they will likely fail and pop codes. Having a code reader that can tell you what the codes mean can save you a lot of money in repairs. I have quite a few of them in my garage.
You can take a 996tt close to 1000hp safely. They're around $55k for a nice one and less for beater. 997tt's are still pushing $75-80k, but they are a really great platform.
yeh I sent my 996tt to EPL and dyoned close to 720 on pump gas. If I had to build a car today id go 997tt and send to EPL.
I personally think that the 996TT checks all the boxes you are looking for. Non X50/S models are very affordable IMO and offer some of the best bang for the buck on the market now. New and used parts are readily available with an excellent aftermarket following. With tuning/K16 billets/exhaust/bigger intercoolers you could have a very stout AWD car for DD and track use.
All very good advise, also good to ask for service records, ask how often it goes through batteries, and if alternator cable was replaced, they use crap for those. Listen for any noises in tranny (they are Japanese yup lots of plastic in there, I've blown up a couple over the years), but like any car if it was not taken car of properly you could have issues. If you are a hands on guy great, if not find a shop you can trust, and knows these cars well.
