wackjum

I've had this car for a while now, but only recently did I take some good pictures of it, and I think I am about done with some light mods.

It is my first turbocharged car, and my first convertible. And I am having A LOT of fun with it. It is a manual, and that makes it pretty fun, but an automatic would be faster. I can tell I am being held back by my shifting. So something to consider as cars move into the turbocharged era.

I've also been invited into some local "Supercar" clubs here in Houston and I've gotten to rub elbows with some wealthy people who drive fancy cars. Here's one of our car meets with me in some distinguished company:



I've seen some very nice cars up-close. It has been a fun and rewarding few months.

If you have any questions, ask away,

rossv1

Mod list?

Great looking P car.

CCColtsicehockey

Beautiful car. I love the yellow and black combo actually. Not a combo I would originally think of for a Porsche.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Nice car!

1StGenCL

Very nice, liking the yellow. I second the mod list and would request some interiors.

NBP04TL4ME

Nice! Love the thread title too

Legend2TL

Congrats on the Turbo 996! Yellow/Black looks great

It uses the 993 block/individual cylinders with true dry sump and water jackets. Last of the original modular 911 motors

EuRTSX

Love it! I'm jealous!

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Awesome!! Welcome to the club

I've actually been thinking about throwing a turbo on mine. Not sure yet.

But awesome pics and yeah, I'd love to see a mod list as well

wackjum

So first the small mods:

The car was on its original suspension from 2004. I changed it to Bilstein PSS9 coilovers I acquired for a good price.

It came with some deep dish wheels that made the car look dated so I changed it out for a set of more modern ones. I also changed the tires to Bridgestone Potenza S-04 from the Forceaum Hexa tires it had. Those were cheap Chinese tires that felt like I was driving in a puddle of oil everywhere I went.

The sidemarker was changed from yellow to Porsche's "clear" which is really smoked. I just changed the highmount brake light to an LED because the rubber trim was falling apart and the light was leaking, but the pics are of the old light.

All the interior lights were changed to LEDs.


And then probably the only performance mods I'll be doing because the car is plenty quick:

The exhaust is from AWE Tuning and sounds amazing. The exhaust retains the stock X50 style tips so it looks factory. The X50 circle in a circle exhaust was something I always dreamed about when I was a kid because I thought they looked so cool. They are pretty annoying to keep clean though, especially the center part that sits right in the middle of the exhaust outlet (fantasy meets reality).

The intercooler and intake hoses have been changed to silicone. I don't really know if they make a difference, but I was advised to change them due to age and the tune...

It has a tuned ECU from EVOMS so it now can get up to 1.0 bar of boost, instead of the factory .7 bar.

I have not dynoed it yet, but they say to expect 70 to 90 hp at the crank over stock with my mods. So that would put me at 490 to 510 HP.

RPhilMan1

Bilstein.

Very nice! It looks great. And awesome mods so far.

wackjum

The car is in the garage surrounded by tires (I'm changing tires for my XTerra project). One out of the five got mis-routed and hasn't been delivered yet. So hopefully by this week I can get them mounted and access to the 911 restored.

Also this weekend I have another car meet. I live in Houston and Hennessey Performance is local to us. Credible rumor is that they are bringing a Venom GT out this weekend. I'll be sure to take pics of the Venom and my interior too.

Anything in particular you want to see?

The 996 interior is very muted compared to the 997 and later Porsches. My car came with the carbon fiber package, but actually I think it is a little gaudy. Also, I have a single flimsy cupholder that I am afraid to use because it looks like it could break.

wackjum

Thanks! Porsche owners have been very kind and generous with information so far.

black label

The 911 turbo is far from your average turbocharged car. The automatics are faster (as you said) because humans just can't shift fast enough to lay down all that power. Ive been fortunate enough to get seat time in both the automatic and manual 911 turbo. The stick is fun and a great challenge to work with but the automatic just lets you sit back and enjoy the power and focus on the road.

Even though the autos are quicker 0-60, it's only by about .3 seconds and either way it a sub 4 second car 0-60, you can't really go wrong

ttribe

Nice! I like it.

wackjum

Thanks. The Mezgar GT1 derived engine was a very big reason I went for this car. They have a near legendary reputation that really impressed me and helped me push over my initial reluctance.


I was thinking of the performance oriented turbocharged cars. I guess coming from an entirely NA background (except for one week when I had a loaner 1st gen RDX...) it caught me by surprise how useful an auto would be in a turbo. To me, the two biggest advantages are being able to brake torque or nowadays, use launch control to spool up the turbos from a stop; and then the ability to keep your foot on the gas during shifts to maintain boost. I'm really surprised the difference is only .3 seconds. Maybe the direct linkup of the clutch sort of makes up for the power loss of lifting.

black label

It may be different on a 996. On the 997 it was 3.4 for automatic, 3.7 for the manual, that's where my .3 seconds came from either way it's fawking fast. Also your still on a tiptronic trans which is a fancy version of a torque converter automatic. PDK is a completely different ball game altogether. Not sure of the PDK specs, when I left porsche the PDK and di engines were his coming out but only for non turbo 911's. The 911 turbo at the time was still tiptronic without di.

And of course, 3.7 in a manual is with the best pro driver porsche has at the wheel. I'm guessing I never beat 4.5 0-60 with me rowing the gears. In a tiptronic, it's point and shoot and my times would equal the pros. I mean, anyone can floor it and hold on for dear life

black label

Side note, other than the headlights, I really like the 996 turbo body style over the 997. I think the side skirts on the 996 are much more aggressive looking.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^ I hate my headlights. Only thing on the car I keep trying to figure out how to change...

black label

I thought there was a conversion kit? Although maybe I'm thinking of the other car that screwed up its iconic round headlights with a redesign when the cj became the yj. In all reality though, that fact that many people don't like the 996 headlights is one of the reasons 996 Porsches are such a good deal. The headlights alone lowered resale prices compared to other 911's. And seriously, from your happy spot behind the steering wheel, how much do you really notice the headlights :wink:

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

congrats. What a beautiful car

black label

Wackjum, I just noticed the color matched seat backs, does it have speed yellow seatbelts as well?

wackjum

At least you have the refreshed lights as well. The pre-facelifted 996 headlights are hideous by any standard. They look like crusty eyes.

I don't think the turbo/996.5 lights are that bad though. In some respects, they look more modern compared to the traditional round lights which are becoming too small for the fatter girth of the latest 911. They are starting to look like a Beetle. The round lights hit their apex with the 997.


Yes it does! I tell people that I bought the car for the yellow seatbelts.

I will take some pics this weekend. I can't even open the doors right now with the tires lined up around it.

ttribe

Porsche 996 Face Lift to 997 Look (Front End 997 Steel Conversion) - Porsche Body Kits and Custom Porsche Body Parts Styling, Porsche Wicked Motor Works

black label

Definitely on the pre vs post facelift headlights. Boxsters and 911's should not be identical from the front.

I had a feeling the belts would match. I absolutely loved the customization available from the factory with Porsche. The amount of options available really make each car a bit of a one of a kind. You'd be hard pressed to try to find another 911 that was 100% identical to yours.

black label

Perfect, now all I need is the 996 to convert and I'm all set


Might help jb though

ttribe

Yeah, that's why I posted the link. I just referenced your post because you brought it up. Proper attribution, and all that....

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

This is true... can't really see them from the driver seat

Yeah, I was happy about that at least.

Thought about it but can't justify spending that on a conversion. For that much money I'd sell the car and get a GTR or something

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Congrats. Very nice.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

LOVE IT! Very very nice! Certainly don't see too many yellow ones

The Atom with the Gulf livery looks fuggin suhweet!

wackjum

I know the person who owns the Atom. He also owns a GTR.

Here are some more pics of the Atom. NOT taken by me, but a photographer who goes to a lot of these car meets.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

That Atom is . I feel like I want to buy an inexpensive small roadster just so I can put a GULF livery on it...

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

Very nice car.

SlowLane

Nice Porsche. Congratulations. I am jealous.

wackjum

My latest "mod" is color matched bumper plugs.

They sell painted bumper plugs for $30 + shipping.

With my proprietary 10-stage touchup paint process, I think it looks pretty good.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^ Looks good to me

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I'm thinking I will likely upgrade to a bi-xenon projector, then just black out the headlights. Should make it look much more aggressive...

wackjum

I've seen a few done before. Looks pretty good to me.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Those are OK, but they are the trim pieces... I'm talking blacking out the entire housing. I'm torn on the trim pieces... sometimes they look good and sometimes they look too "stuck on" to me. Expensive too!

Something more like this w/o that LED thing on the bottom: