It lacked that unmistakable air-cooled rasp and whirr, and the way you had to let the steering wheel do its own thing on bumpy roads and trust the car to go straight. Much to like, then, although what the 996 definitely did not have was as much character as the 993. And the engine issues? We’ll clear that up in a bit. The new, bigger body was 45% stiffer torsionally than the 993’s and weighed a substantial 50kg less, while under it was a development of the multi-link rear axle which had made the 993’s handling more predictable and exploitable than that of its predecessors.
It was a bigger, roomier car than the 993 and, yes, it shared lots of parts with the Boxster – it was the same from the doors forward, essentially – but the bodyshell of the original 911 dated back to the early ’60s. The 996 introduced a brand new water-cooled engine, with modern features such as four valves per cylinder and variable valve timing, and it made more power and torque from less capacity. Yes, there was some gnashing and wailing from hardcore 911 enthusiasts when 993 production ended in 1997, and with it both the air-cooled flat-six and the original, compact and near-sacred bodyshell, but truth was they were both past their sell-by dates. Googly headlamps apart, the Porsche 996 is a darned good 911. The catch? It’s the 996 model, the one lots of people ignore because it’s not a ‘proper’ 911 because it’s not air-cooled because it shares too much with the Boxster including those funny headlights or because it’s got an engine that will blow up.
A flat-six-engined, 300bhp-plus, great-handling, loads-of-life-left, unfeasibly practical, bona fide Porsche 911 – for the cost of, say, a Vauxhall Corsa VXR. Right now you can get a 911 for the price of a brand new, very nippy, small hatch.
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