SIZE MATTERS …OR DOES IT? JUST HOW CLOSE IN SIZE ARE THE THREE INCARNATIONS OF THE MODERN 911?

Porsche 996 Turbo Length: Width: Height:

contrives to look the bigger car, but the 997 C4S is marginally larger, while the 996 Turbo is fractionally shorter and lower, though a tad wider than the 991. (See sidebar for figures). This particular 991 C2S was first registered in March 2012 and has done 57,000 miles, with full Porsche Centre service history. The 997 C4S is scarcely two years older, registered in December 2010, since when it’s clocked 52,000 miles with full main dealer history. Both these cars have 7-speed PDK transmission. Our counterpoint 996 Turbo is a 2004 car equipped with Tiptronic transmission, having done 56,500 miles with full service history.

We’ve gathered at the Chobham test track, AKA Longcross, where the previously luxuriant arboreal surroundings and former MOD tortuous trialling routes are being steadily eroded by the heavy manners of the resident movie makers as they construct sprawling film sets for epics starring Messrs Bond and Potter. As our snapper beavers away beside the road course I shoot the breeze with Lynden, Ashgood’s ebullient sales exec. ‘The 991 is a completely new chassis, yet they’ve kept the bodyshell much the same size as the 997,’ he observes. ‘The C4 version of the 991 is slightly bigger, but all cars tend to do that with successive generations – even though parking spaces aren’t getting any bigger. It’s quite interesting to see that these examples of the three different generations are all about the same price – £50K – but I think there’s still a bit in it as the 991 is still depreciating, whereas the 997 is pretty firm now, and in fact some of them are going up, especially the more sought-after versions like the C4S. The purist will tend to want the normally

aspirated non-turbo because of the engine noise, though the new ones are maybe appealing to the next generation.’ Lynden readily admits he’s a 997 fan: ‘I think the 997 has more of a sports car feel to it, whereas the 991 is more of an executive car, and that applies to Porsche in general, including the 911s and the Boxster and Cayman; they’ve gone from being very wellbuilt German sports cars to very quick executive cars. You’ve still got that Germanic feel about them because it’s very well manufactured, but you jump in that 997 and instantly you feel you’re in a sports car, whereas if you jumped in the 991 and you didn’t have any badges to refer to and someone said you’re sat in a Mercedes or an Audi, you’d believe them. It’s like a twoseater Panamera. They are very exclusive, very classy, bespoke almost, but not the sports car you expect to jump into in the same way that you would with the 997. But, at the same time, they have to keep up with the technology curve, and legislation too, which is why they went turbo.’ Lynden wears his heart on his sleeve: he’s not a fan of the 996. ‘The aesthetics of the 996? One man’s sculpture is another man’s fridge. That business of the fried-egg headlight that everybody derided for so long has faded into history, and that very much went with the times. But it’s still a Marmite thing in the Porsche community: people either love the 996 or they don’t. In any case, I prefer the more upright lenses of the 997.’

To focus on the design cues for a moment, the 996 was styled in the early’90s by Pinky Lai under the auspices of Harm Lagaaij, the 997 in 1998 by Grant Larson, and the 991 in 2008 by Michael Maurer. The progression is clear. Our three contenders are sufficiently different stylistically that preference and desirability boils down to the specification and driving experience; it’s not a question of aesthetics, because they haven’t necessarily improved the look of the 911 with the 991. ‘It’s very

the ballpark £50-grand market, and he provides a considered view. ‘So, yes, now you can get a 991 for that, although mid£50s is more likely, but you’d find a high mileage one on the £50 mark.’ As the prices are hardening for the earlier 997 and 996 models and the 991 is still in depreciation mode, they are meeting one another on the sales graph. Does a customer think, oh, wait a minute, I was after a 997, but now I can actually get a 991? ‘Yeah, the market for 991s is very good, and they look exceptionally good value for money now for a relatively new looking model, and we do get a lot of demand for them. The people that will buy a 991 are those who will probably use it on a daily basis, while the 996 Turbo is going to be used more on high days and holidays and as a weekend fun car, as well as being a bit more of a long- term investment.’ Jamie makes another crucial point about the early 991: ‘Being the last of the naturally-aspirated 911s, they’re going to be good news in the future, now that everything is turbo. To have the last of the naturally-aspirated six-cylinder 911s is going to be quite a good thing in years to come.’

The base model 991 was £71,449 at launch in 2012, so the drop of around £20K in five years is hardly staggering. ‘We’ve only been selling 991s over the last couple of years,’ says Jamie, and the first ones we were selling were higher spec cars in the £70s and £80s, and now as they come down into the £50s, that seems to be where the market is levelling off for an early one. The Carrera S is mid £50s to early £60s, and then 4Ss would be mid- to late £60s

The 996 Turbo is going to be used more on high days and holidays

high miles gen 1 GT3, though generally they’re a little bit higher: we’ve recently sold a gen 2 at £72K on 47,000 miles with carbon brakes, and another at £65k. Normally you wouldn’t want to let a GT3 go for anything less than £65K,’ says Lynden, ‘and upwards of £70–£80K if it was a nice one.’ At this point I notice that my colleague has dissolved into tears, sobbing quietly into his sausage sandwich. I couldn’t possibly speculate as to why that would be. New readers may be unaware that he did part company with a gen 1 GT3 last year, though. Highish miles, but still.

It’s time to make use of the delirious fact that we are on an unfettered test track, armed with a trio of 911s capable of speeds well in excess of 180mph. Not that we’re permitted to approach these velocities, but we can pretty much please ourselves in the certain knowledge that there won’t be anything coming towards us, not even 007’s Aston or the Weasley’s Anglia. First up, the hard-edged 991 C2, with its seductive red leather cabin interior. Its bark complements its bite; it is lean, mean, and its steering way more acute in feel than the four-wheel drive Turbo and 997 C4S. A tad skittish on the damp surface though. Notwithstanding, it inspires confidence and I clip those apexes with unerring accuracy and ride the 90° banking like a Daytona ace. Short of the Nordschleife and Millbrook, Chobham’s Snake dispenses a delicious mix of sweeping cambered curves and unnerving rollercoaster dips and troughs, through which the 996 Turbo is a kid gloves affair, the C4S a safe pair of hands, but the 991 is a tiger in attack mode.

The 997 C4S has the best manners and is the best-balanced chassis of the three, and its front axle feels more attached to the road than the 991’s. It presents as the most docile, too. Does that mean mundane? Perhaps it also says it’s the one that would work best as an everyday car. Well, not necessarily; I’ve driven the 996 Turbo perfectly placidly from East Kent to West Surrey and there’s nothing to suggest it’s a tearaway tornado. I’m immediately transported into a somnolent disposition thanks to the relaxed driving position, augmented by the Tiptronic shift. There’s a firm feel to the suspension, and its four-