The Beast-tamer Finally Arrived!

[MWM]

Finally got my hands on the '02 Turbo. Went for its 60-mile maiden voyage last night. Pix to come. I'm still using film in an old Nikon N6006 w/28-105 Nikkor lens --- to whom can I mail film if I want to receive a hi-res CD-ROM back?

Had 18 mi. on it. This car is silly. I'd buy it just for the brakes, and I'm told they get much better as the pads bed-in to the rotors. The clutch is like a light switch; it's either in or it's out. The whole car is so stiff and harsh and loud at first --- way different than the M5. For what I'll be using it and the fact that I'm a young-ish 30, it's fine. If I were 50 I'd definitely not want this car. I'm a little apprehensive about the wife's take. She's out-of-town for a week. Oh well, too late now!

The steering is weighted so nicely. Makes other cars seem to have progressively faster ratios as you dial in lock --- the Turbo is perfectly linear, with tons of feel. Visibility to the rear is great, which I wasn't expecting. I saw 0.4 bar on the boost meter one time in third while running up to my self-imposed 4200rpm rev-limiter. Stock engines at full-tilt register 0.9; modded cars on pump fuel get to 1.1-1.2 as far as I know.

After my 3 hour ride (I was stopped gawking at the car from outside much of this time ), I came to the realization that you just need to use a different style with the Turbo. It wants very deliberate inputs to the controls. Once you become more "forceful" and less hesitating with your driving, it seems to wake up and want to play.

[greg]

Congratulations! Can't wait to see pic.

it will take you many many miles to begin to know what the car is really capable of 'cuz it is SO fast, even at 7/10ths.

One word of caution - mine burned a HUGE amount of oil in the 1st 1-2K miles (like 3 or 4 qts) - then it settled down - so be sure to check it all the time and carry a few spare quarts with you.

Another word of caution - I have repeatedly surprised myself in asking the car to perform some hard braking or cornering when the tires are cold - the 1st time yields significantly less grip - so be careful to work up to whatever level you feel like driving at - no sudden increases from 3/10 to 8/10's when you're showing off to a friend. It could bite you. On the other hand, when they're warm, if you can find a nice smooth corner you can take at 30 or 40, you'll be blown away by how much grip the car has.

enjoy!

[A_Train]

Congrats! Use it well.

Greg is right about the oil. It is not unusual to use 1 quart every 400-600 miles. I did. Fortunately, it is easy to add oil. Pop open the engine cover, unscrew the yellow oil cap, pour in a quart, screw back cap, close engine cover, get back in car. 2 minutes start to finish.

All so worth it. I also believe that you only see .9 bar if you are giving it full throttle from lower rpms on up. Greg, any insight?

A B&M shifter makes a huge improvement to the shifting feel. Well worth every penny. If you want to make an exhaust change to the fairly subdued stock exhaust, Evo was excellent quality and sound and is reasonably priced, relative to what else is out there. Just sold my used one. Know of one guy who in the last 24 hours was offered a 10%+ discount off new. Ruf is about 40% more than Evo's price, for comparison.

Also, check out http://www.funcarsonline.com/frames/.../911turbo.htm. It's a good site (with the occassional argument / bickering) but by and large quite helpful.

Enjoy!!!

- A-Train

[Adam]

Congratulations MWM!Great description of your driving impression on the maiden voyage!Pics as soon as possible!

all the best
Adam

[M5Laser]

Congratulations!! Must be a blast! Be sure to post pics!!

So the wife knows about this, right?

[EBMCS03]

Wow congrats MWM, great combo!! M5 and 996tt... what can be better?? Nothing!!

[MWM]

I wish! My budget only allows for one wacky car in the stable at a time. So . . .

The M5 had to go. But I'll probably own another one at some point!

[jinferno]

MWM,
Welcome to the 996TT family. I got my car used with 300 miles and have put 400 miles on it in 3 weeks...the break in period is killing me...2000 miles!...no more than 4,200 rpms...I have occasionally gone over this, but only by mistake...the car is sooo coool A lot different than the M5....the brakes get a lot better and what Greg said about the cornering thing is very true..I'm thinking of going to the porsche driving experience in Atlanta in June...Interested? Its a little pricey for a one day course, but hey, if you can afford a turbo, then ....

Go to Evolution Motors Sports.com for some cool upgrade info..I'm probably going to wait a while before doing anything to the car...

have fun

J

[M5Laser]

Do you find the break in period harder to obay on a 996tt compared to an M5?

haha I dont think I would be able to do either! I would have to hire somone to break them in for me! I KNOW I wouldnt have the willpower! ahha

[AMP]

Congrats MWM!

Although I don't have the TT this stuff still applies due to Porsche's parts sharing...

- The brakes are amazing once fully bedded in. I now want a set of Mov'its for the M5, but I'm bummed that you can't get the Porsche lettering on them anymore.

- On the subject of oil... if you get a white puff out of the exhaust at startup don't panic. This is normal and will happen from time to time as oil pools in the cylinders and gets burned at startup. (part of the reason why it's so easy to blow through oil so fast)

- That 4200 RMP redline comes REALLY fast and the engine just begs to go to 5 or 6... sometimes just too tempting

- There is a product called Das Schlid that is a plastic trunklid liner that will prevent most of the scratches and dents due to mis-judging space in the trunk. I don't have one, but have heard from several porsche people that it's a great idea as damage to the underside of the lid is very easy to do.

Most of all, enjoy!

-Andrew