I too was under the impression the 996 and 997.1 turbo bottom end or block was the same and the differences were on the intake side, ie, cams lifters, turbos, head, etc.
I thought both had a limit of about 650 awhp before rods start bending

 

What is the weak link in these motors? What typically lets go? a rod? piston?

 

This was my understanding as well.

The weak link appears to be the rods and I believe they are the same on the 996 motor and 997.1 motor.

Later, Steve

 

Rods for sure, they bend if exposed to too much torque and are apparently a holdover from older cars and spindly if you ever see one. I *think* the GT2 might have updated rods?

 

weak link in the mezger motor is the lifters, rods and head bolts. big torque high boost or cold weather can bend rods break lifters or lift heads. since there aren't any NEW mezger motors around the amount of power is completely dependent on the care of each engine the boost applied and same for the torque. a 40,000 mile motor may last longer at 650 rwhp than 125,000 motor. who knows? one bad load of fuel can kill a motor at 1.4 bar

 

Yeah, any motor pull on mine will address those issues and the coolant pipes assuming I'm sitting on the cash at the time and its planned.

 

I thought the 997.1 had stronger rods than the 996. No?

 

IIRC the mezger engine in the 996 and 997.1 is the same short block. Yes, they use the the same rods. The 997.1 heads are slightly more efficient than in the 996.

 

Isn't the 997 a 3.8? Can't be the same short block then. I've read the rods are 25% stronger.

What is the base hp on a 997? 480?

 

997T mezger is 3.6 litre

 

So the 2007-2009 is a 3.6? Never knew. Is the HP 480?

So 2010 is the 3.8?

 

997.1 - 3.6 litre 472 HP approx

997.2 - 3.8 litre 494 HP approx 2010 model

 

My uncle has a 08. He did an exhaust and tune from a place in Scottsdale. They did a virtual dyno thing and said it was approximately 702 crank hp. Since the car is still a 3.6, I'd guess that's bs?

 

996 Weak Links:

Rods
Rod Bolts
Liners (aluminum)
Early 996TT's had a weaker case (01-03)
996 Heads do not hold the head gasket as well as 997.1 (extra ridge)
Lifters


996 and 997.1 have the same metzger engine but the 997.1 had many improvements. 997.2 is not a big horsepower motor nor a metzger motor.

 

lol thats crazy talk... even on e85 the 997.1 oem turbo cant handle over 600 whp- a spike if that and thats with injectors, open 3" exhaust, huge intercoolers.. stock 997.1 turbos are small- the exhaust side is just like the k16s on a 996... lets get real guys... dynos are for marketing purposes but a true 650awhp P car be it a 996 or 997 is very expensive and not as easy as some think. Now upgrade GT2 turbos on a 997.1 and thats going to move...
markski