Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Who was after a car to take bike and people to the alps?

That was me.

My dad bought a 911 last year and took it to Porsche Cambridge for an inspection during the test drive. They pointed out a few bits and no surprises have emerged since. I guess that's a recommendation?

It was a 997, incidentally, as the usual issue put him off a 996. So he's gone entry level 7 rather than fruity 6. It's bloody lovely - nicest thing I've ever driven by some margin.

Usual issue= IMS?

Yup. Went newer to avoid that, so had to go entry-level model 997. For those of you who are used to sports cars, it may still feel entry-level, but to me it felt like a rocket ship when I gave it the beans on a slip road. Induced a very large grin.

Hopefully he got them to put a camera down the bores to look for scoring, anecdotally the Gen 1 997s have just as many major failures as 996s, just for a different reason.

It seems that bore scoring is a far more common problem than a faulty IMS bearing, but both are rare. One dealer had 1400 996/7s through their doors an had never seen IMS and had seen 3 scored bores.

Oh yeah, and another vote for HP Motorsports

Thought the IMS issue extended through to 997 Gen 1's too?

It does. And the 996 suffers bore scoring.

The first 3.4 996s are most likely to have the bearing fail and least likely to score.
The gen 1 997s are most likely to suffer bore scoring and least likely to have the bearing fail.

It's like a fun game of chequebook Russian roulette.

Gen 2 997s are more-or-less safe, but basically all this is a good excuse to get a Turbo, GT3 or GT2 which have different engines that don't have the issues.

60k for a 996 GT3, 14k for a 996 plus 8k (?) for an engine rebuild at Hartech?

Actually, what would a Mezger engine cost?

GT3 all day long

or this very pretty florida import targa

..but if 60k were a budget figure this mongrel wouldn't be too shabby

60k is deffo not a figure I wish to spend, despite liking the idea of a GT3.

If I buy a 996 and it lunches the engine I presume that I could fit a Mezger engine at that point, and for considerably less than a GT3?

That said I expect this is one of those deals when you'd actually need to change everything along with the engine and it would cost a million pounds.

Buy Mezger engine. Get free Porsche 911 GT3, less engine. Just needs engine bolting in.

Hah. Well. If I can get a GT3 for my £6k annual car allowance I shall do so.

Not sure that's possible though, sadly.

But but but...

It has the wrong wheels. :)

Usually any ad that says 'rust free import' should be wholly disbelieved but there are some signs that might actually be a half decent car.

I'm finding myself drawn to the 996 targa, let me guess- a floppy heavy travesty?

you've got the wrong wheels!

floppy

My wife has a really quick, work-related favour to ask!

If you have 5 minutes to spare, please could you answer this short survey about your car? It would really help the innovation project she has been working on…

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/carservicing2

Please feel free to forward this to anyone else you think might be willing to take part, as long as they are based in the UK and own a car. I’m sorry there’s no freebie vouchers or gadget to tempt you, she is relying completely on your natural curiosity and altruism.