I had the same question and after 7 months of reading and asking owners lots of questions I chose the 996. I have only had it since ROcktober but have put about 3,000 miles on it. I am glad I have all the modern comforts like heated seats now that this week won't be above 30 degrees and tomorrow it will only be 13 as the high. The memory seats are a must if any1 else will ever drive your car. And in the summer when it is 100 I'm sure the air will be much better in a 996 over the others. It is everything I could have hoped for and more as a DD.

 

225/40/18
265/35/18

Lots of rim exposed on the rears and less so on fronts. Have scraped the rims on the rear once so far. I bought cheap rims from Damon/TireRack and went on his advice being a complete newb regarding tires and sizing.

With that being said, I previously had a 4WD Cherokee Sport that didn't handle with nearly the same confidence as the TT. The only thing that has changed is instead of looking for things to plow through with the Jeep, I now look for ways to avoid getting high centered. Just a different philosophy.

 

Coldest reading on the dash so far is -9F

I am VERY glad I held out for heated seats!

 

I was in Salt Lake over New Year, drove up to Alta for some skiing on the 1st. This was about 5 miles up to about 8k feet; I did this in a 4wd truck, snow tires and the conditions were poor. I stepped out of the truck feeling like an adventurer to find a 996TT one row over, checked on the tires they were Continentals in the OEM size (read SUMMER)! Should have left a note on the car, I'd love to have spoken to the driver.

I imagined if I were living here year round the adjustable coilovers will come in useful for higher ride height in winter from summer. I'd definitely run snow tires in the winter though. Lowest my TT has seen is +42F....

 

You do want snows. I run the Pirellis, but the Blizzaks on my E55. Either are great. Just go to Tirerack and look up recommended tire/wheel combos. Follow their advice.

 

When I ran snows, I got clone rear wheels that were 10" wide so as to not stress out 265 tires....then got spacers. No issues.

FYI.


DD today and every day!



Jeff

 

Do they salt the roads where you are? I hate driving any nice car during the Michigan winters because of the salt on the roads.

 

It is a great car for everyday use. What qualifies as a "daily driver" is a car that you can depend on to start and get you where you need to go and do it without having your Amex taped to your windshield.
The 996tt will treat you as well as you treat it. Be kind to it and do the necessary maintainance and it will reward you back. Can't speak for winter/snow driving, I don't drive mine in the winter but other than that it's a gem.
good luck

 

Yes they do salt the streets occasionally but Omaha uses more plowing and sand. With that said, I am very liberal with winter time washes and try to average once a week. I know they are galvanized so rust protection is present but a potential nonetheless.

I am taking the daily driver thing literally. The interesting part is going to be how long I can make it a daily driver. (15K/year x 20 years is my goal)

J

 

sorry to the OP, but I thought this was relevant to the DD conversation, I am driving a 03 stock TT for the first time this winter with snow tires, a couple of nights ago it was in the low double digits, if you watch the boost gauge, it will kick in at 2000 rpm, almost like getting new intercoolers and a tune? What other DD gives you all that?

 

My last car was a 2002 Mroadster... I had it for 6 months...

There is no substitute and none compare... My wife drives an E36 everyday and we love it... I'd love to have an E36 M3 race car, but I simply don't have room for a fourth track car at this point (996TT part time street car, Datsun V8 Zcar full caged & fuel cell track car, and building a specMiata) so that is out of the question.

I've never been happier with a purchase than the day I bought my 996TT, but mine came to me modified from the beginning, and I just improved on it.

Mike