I'm considering replacing a Jeep Grand Cherokee ('11) with a 964 or 993 to get more enjoyment out of my commute time, however, I'll need it to be a daily driver year round.

How many of you drive your 993's daily and do any of you drive in snow? If so, what should I look for (years, mileage, maintenance issues, driveability year round, etc)?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

They do wonderfully in the snow! Stock 95 C4 with summer tires still mounted. I;ve driven this car daily for 5 years now, and no problems except lack of space to store crap.

 

Thanks for the response (and the pic)! It's great to see that it can be done.

 

Wouldn't hurt to have winter tires on separate wheels but otherwise have you seen the weather in Germany?

 

I daily mine and although I haven't made it through a winter I plan to keep on driving it unless the snow is too deep to manage in which case I won't likely need to drive anywhere anyway. Around these parts we don't get a lasting build-up of snow for the winter though, it appears and disappears usually in a matter of days.

From other sports cars that I have driven through winters past, tire selection makes all the difference. Summer tires are not reliably tractive when the temps get cold, wet or dry. All-seasons have gotten quite good at not sucking all the time like they used to, I run Kumho ASXs or 4Xs on all our family commuters and save the sticky tires for weekend outings on closed courses.

Cheers,


Christian
Kansas City
'95 Carrera

 

Can't speak to the "winter" as I live in San Diego but I have DD'd my 993 for 8 of the 10 years I've owned it and had exactly zero issues. As of today I have 120k on the car and still on the original clutch. Costco runs are not really it's strong suit but then again it wasn't built for that. As for what to look for, just like with any used car look for the car that was best taken care of by it's previous owners. Also head over to rennlist.com and check out the 993 section and do some research. Tons of very well informed owners there. Good luck and enjoy!

 

Budget for $1000-1500/ year in repairs and maint... Then drive the **** out of it...

 

They're wonderful cars, and certainly easily able to be used daily, but... salt is EVIL. Truly, truly EVIL. Yes, 964s and 993s are galvanized, but salt is EVIL. When the roads are salted, they are sanded also, of course, and the salt and sand get into everything -- they eat away at not only the chassis/body, but also at the suspension components and joints, undercarriage fittings, etc. Salt will take its toll on the car -- the only question is how long it will take for the damage to appear, and whether that matters to you.

911s have been galvanized since, IIRC, 1977, and while they are far more resistant to rust than most steel-bodied cars, they will rust eventually if they're exposed to salted roads. 964s and 993s are obviously getting older, and there are fewer and fewer good ones around.

I've had my '95 993 almost 13 years and I love it. I do not drive it in the salt -- I just wouldn't enjoy doing that to the car. If you want to use a 964/993 daily and preserve it from the EVIL salt, perhaps buy a cheap Jeep or something similar for salty roads?

 

Hi Stealth 993,

I'm buying a 1995 993 tomorrow and think your car's wheels and height looks perfect. Do you mind telling me what size wheels those are (18" 8" on front and 18" 10" on rears?) and how much the ride has been lowered. I'm looking to buy some 993 turbo twists - I've currently got 16" Cup II's, which look terrible IMHO.

Thanks,
Honkeytonk993

 

OEM Narrow Body TT wheels, 18x8 & 18X10, the suspension is OEM Porsche ROW M030 shocks/springs.

 

Many thanks for the quick reply! Do you mind adding what the tire sizes are? 265/40 and 225/40? You don't happen to know of anyone looking to sell those size wheels do you? Thanks.

 

yup, 225/265
They are harder to get for the narrow body cars, and usually cost a little more. Rennlist.com and craiglist are good places to look.

 

Many thanks. I'll look there.

 

I drove mine one minnesota winter but made the mistake of getting high performance winter tires that I found were far too biased toward dry road performance. Definitely get blizzaks or equivalent. I also found the front to be jittery on hard packed snow (this is a C2S, no C4) which made me nervous at higher speed and I'm a very experienced winter driver. but that may have been down to the tires. otherwise a blast to drive.

 

DD my '98 C4S Aero for 18 months. Pros are self evident Cons included low drive height. My car was lowered which made speed bumps and snow a real drag. Summer tires hydroplaned like crazy in the rain. HVAC was a bear in summer. Great fun experience nonetheless but I haven't looked back since I replaced that particular ride with a 4.2 S4 Avant.