I will be in the market for a car in spring of 2016 and the wife and I have finally narrowed it down to a 997 Turbo. The only thing at this point i can say as far as options we want is the car in a manual. Aside from that we are both clueless to what to look for.

Can you guys provide some insight as to what to look for and what to avoid as far as years of these cars and options? My guess is we'd look for something from an 07 to a 10 as we are looking to purchase the car for under $75k.

The car will be driven on the street...taken for a few track days a year...and a few trips to the strip as well.

The car will be lightly modded. However this platform is completely foreign to me. If anyone has a few minutes can you give me some insight into what mods are essential or necessary or provide good bang for the buck regarding this car? I wouldn't want to do anything other than simple bolt on's and a tune but like every car there is usually a sequence to the process.

Any info would be greatly helpful. I'm going to use the search function as well and try to do some research....but i'd like to start my career here by saying hello and letting everyone know what i'm thinkin.

Thanks in advance
Rez

 

First and foremost I want a car bone stock (if modded I want to know who did it and what brands because there are some known quality parts and others are junks), then the list of options are:
Adaptive Sport Seats
Sport Chrono (the little clock in the middle of the dash)
PCCB but it could be costly if you track hard, steel might be better and cheaper
LSD if you keen on heavy tracking
Coolant line welded/pinned is a must for heavy tracking but costly to upgrade from stock (someone please let him know the cost to fix this)
Some say exhaust is too muted, if you like it LOUD and rumble, you also can upgrade the exhaust.
That was pretty much my list of options for 2007 to 2009 997.1 Turbo
You mention 2010, it has a whole new DFI engine with a bump on power and torque, 2007 to 2009 has Mezger engine. Do a search here on Mezger and 2010 Turbo to find out the differences. Design pretty the same from 2007 to 2012 except from 2010 and up you have nicer LED lights and totally different engine and slightly improve suspension.
Good luck and make sure you post some pictures when car arrive

 

Thanks very much for the info. Much appreciated.

One question. Based on the 2007-09 vs 2010+ engine changes...is there any significant improvement on the new engine? I guess more importantly....does the pre-2010 engine suffer from any major mechanical/reliability issue's? or is it just a general power difference?

I will do a search also. Thanks again for the post.

 

GT1 Mezger has a long history of racing heritage and some people think/hope/wish one day it will be the next 993 Turbo collectible level. It has been proven as bullet proof engine block except for the coolant lines. 997.2 is newer, so far very reliable DFI ,but it is early stage yet and continually improve by Porsche. Anyone else can chime in and correct me if I am wrong.

 

if you opt for the 997.1 turbo (2007-2009) - the 2009 will have the upgraded PCM (electronics) which has blue tooth for your phone and touch screen for the electronics which is a pretty big improvement over the 2007 and 2008's.

2010 up all have the upgraded PCM so no worries there if you decide on the 997.2's

 

Good to know and thanks very much. So basically assuming the car will be a bolt on car neither option presents a defining weak point in comparing the two. Thanks again.

Good info and thanks much.

 

Well well whale...lookie who it is...

 

May i curse on this forum?

 

The 997.1 will be much easier to find a 6MT; the 997.2 is more commonly sold with the PDK trans. Other differences between the two that are common with model update's.

 

I just picked up a CPO 07 997tt manual. It took me 4 months of searching and there are a lot of bad ones out there so you need to be careful. This is my list of requirements when searching,

-CPO: I've never heard somebody regret buying a cpo car, it will pay for itself and give peace of mind. I would still do a ppi even with a CPO.
-Clean carfax and autocheck: Do both, you will be surprised what you find.
-Up to date maintenance: A lot of turbos I found had deferred maintenance.
-Options: My must have options are sport chrono and adapt. sport seats. LSD and PCCB are big bonuses.

At 75k you can probably find a CPO 08 997tt manual with around 35k miles. Feel free to PM if you have more questions.