Buying: Model Differences Please

[Calspeed]

Hello,

I have been a Porsche dreamer since highschool back in the early eighties and finally an owner as of last year. But I think I am ready to get my current dream Porsche.

I think I am ready to sell my super clean Cabriolet for a mid-90's 911. But being a new person in the Porsche world I dont really know what the differences are between the different generations. I was wondering if you experts could help me get a better understanding. Here are the questions...

I think my preferance in styling is the generation that the '95-96 cars are in. I do like the new ones but I cant afford that yet. When did this syle start? I can look up the stats on the car but could anyone tell me what to watch for in regards to maintenance.

What does 993 and 996 mean?

What year did they turn aircooled?

I heard that my '85's motor is good for at least 150k. How about the newer 911's?

Thanks for all of the help. My dream is a white car. Maybe I will be looking at one in my driveway shortly.

Btw... possibly for sale soon: 1985 Carrera Cabriolet with 55k on the car. Second owner. Light gold and brown interior with nice bolt on upgrades. I just got 24mpg on a roadtrip this weekend.

Thanks!

Michael

[crikett]

The 993 is the factory number (or project number?) for the 1995 US Model Year 911 and was produced through 1998 (and yes, the styling is just beautiful!). The 996 is the current 911.

All 911 models until the current 996 were air cooled, and are now water cooled.

I have 165k on my '85 3.2L and no immediate signs of needing a rebuild. Engine seems solid enough and this is probably not uncommon, though some do develop valve guide problems (have heard this is more common in the '87-'89 models but no real data to back this up).

[HarryD]

There a number of FAQs on the Web (try the Pelican Parts Web Site and www.rennlist.com). There are literally 1000's of linmks to look at and compare various models. A place to start (besides Pelican and Rennlist?) would be: http://www.idee.demon.nl/

[MarkP]

Michael,
Try this book, Original Porsche 911, it has been a very valuable resource to learn about all of the different models.

Order from Pelican here:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/autocat/load_page.cgi?page_number=1&bookmark=9&model=BOOK&currsection=bkpbuy

[nostatic]

I second the recommendcation for Peter Morgan's book...it has tons of info on every 911 through 1998.

Short story: 964 started in '89 and went through '94. Air cooled, old style light tunnels. 993 was '95 - '98, still air cooled, and had a redesigned front end (lights) and new rear suspension. Both use 3.6 motor with some slight changes over the years. Longevity on the engines is kinda unknown, as there just aren't (m)any examples of cars with 100K+ on them. The jungle drums seem to indicate that they might not be as robust as the 3.0/3.2 engines...ie you won't get 150K out of one before it needs a rebuild. But if you find a nice low miles example hopefully that won't be an issue. Maintenance costs are higher than the older cars, as they are more complicated beasts. But this is somewhat offset by the fact that they are newer.

[Eric Coffey]

The `96-`98 993 would be an excellent choice. You get the Vario-Ram intake, 6-speed gearbox, and no wiring harness issues that plagued a few of the early `95 993's. If you can afford it, you might look into the "S" models too. They share the same (wider) bodywork, suspension, and massive brakes of the 993 twin turbo.

[Calspeed]

Thanks for the great info. Okay, I will go to those reference sites for more info. I will also consider making the purchase of that book that you so highly recommend.

Calspeed

[HarryD]

When you start your search in earnest, this is a great place to scan for ads:

http://www.enthusiastcars.com/index_framev1.html