A friend has a '10 C4S which I believe is a 997.2 with a PDK trans. I recently told him I removed the front diff, cardin shaft and front axles in my '04 Turbo and made it RWD only. He wants to know if it can be done on his car. Anyone know and if the results are as good as what I got?

 

Why would someone take a 4S and make it a 2S? Tell him to sell the car if he just wants a 2S.

 

If the '10 is anything like the '06, 95% of the torque is in the rear, so basically, it is a RWD until you need the FWD. I wouldn't want to go w/o the FWD when it's needed. AWD cars feels more planted anyways, not worth the effort or money.

 

Most stupid modification I have ever heard of.

Just sell the C4S and get a C2S.
I don't think it can be done without having issues with the transfer box. The 997.2 no longer uses the viscous coupling found on the 996 and 997.1, but an electronic differential system. If you remove it, I suspect the car is not going to be happy.

Yves

 

Seems to me it would be cheaper to trade for a C2S instead of butchering a perfectly good car. Just my opinion.

 

The wide body!!!!!

 

There's a few threads about being able to disable the AWD system in a PDK car by lifting the handbrake one click. I don't know if it's true or not.

 

I have been turning AWD cars into RWD (including the first Gallardo to be done in 04) for a long time. I transformed two 997tt's to RWD, I do it because I just don't like AWD sports cars never will. In my opinion there is no such thing as a perfectly good AWD sports car I don't car what brand name is on it!

 

An all wheel drive has a heavy truck like steering feel to it that gets worse as the turns tighten up. This greatly takes away from the whole driving tremendously. Those that haven't noticed, have nothing to compare it to. Some TT owners remove the front cardin shaft so the front wheels free wheel and they lose the AWD. The trucky heavy steering remains and the car is worse than AWD in my opinion.

The agility factor has nothing to do with front wheel grip ability which is another factor. I didn't buy my turbo because it felt like it road on rails. I bought it for the driving experience I loved in my C2 and other 911s I've owned and driven with the rear end heavily weighted rear bias. I would have bought a RWD cabriolet with the Metzger motor in GT3 config if it was available without the turbo.

911's take a certain technique and driving style to make it all work and when mastered it's a greatly rewarding experience. It's lacking in the AWD versions, all the C4 versions. Porsche steering and handling goes out the door with AWD and if you haven't noticed or know what I'm talking about, you have never pushed a RWD Porsche hard and made it handle like it was originally designed, had the ear to ear grin and the feeling of mastery of a certain type of machine. I'm not saying you have to be the fastest or best drive to experience this, but you never will in an AWD 911.

To me the AWD versions should be reserved for DD cars where all weather grip trumps the driving experience or if the car was to be used in off road or rally conditions.

Immediately after buying my TT 6 years ago, it became apparent I'd traded the rear thrust of the turbo and packaged AWD for the 911 experience I grew to love and most recently experienced in my 996 C2 cab which I enjoyed for 7 years. The TT was a beautiful car, it handled well, maybe too well. It would push and pull me around corners at the same time, I couldn't get the rear to swing out just a bit and steer with the throttle. I wanted off the rails.

I bought a set of used sacrificial front axles and stripped them, saved the outer stubs. Then I removed all the drive from the transaxle forward and benched it. A 70+ lb loss on the front wheels, 100% power to the rear. I can easily convert back to stock in 2-3 hours with the car on jack stand in the garage.

 

My AWD 997 turbo does not exhibit "heavy truck like steering feel". That's a silly comment. I've spent lots of time driving a 997.2 C2S on the street as well as driving a 997 GT3 on the track. I have plenty of RWD experiences to compare to my AWD car. I also have a heavy truck that I drive regularly (GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab). I assure you, the steering feel on the truck doesn't feel even remotely like the steering feel in my 997 turbo.

Is the RWD 911 steering feel different than the AWD 911 steering feel? Yes. Is it bad? No. Is it heavy truck like? No.

 

Dennis, thanks for your comments. "Trucky" was my own term. My TT felt nowhere as light and agile in the steering and rapid L-R transition area as my '99 C2, nor my '99 2.5 Boxster that we've had for 15 or so years. I assumed it was two things that contributed. First was the AWD and second the wider rear track, and wider wheels. I eliminated the AWD and the car to me is now acceptable, more like the C2. I too have driven a few 997's, nearly bought one before I settled for my 996TT. I like the more visceral and rawness of the 996. I think if you were to drive my 996TT briskly enough in the canyons
back to back with another AWD version you may agree with me. The 997 variants have larger and I believe heavier wheels also a different front diff and viscous coupling. They feel more refined and different from the 996 in my opinion. I respect your opinion and you certainly are entitled to it.

 

No problem. I definitely agree that a RWD 911 feels different than an AWD 911, and they they do tend to feel more agile. Add the extra weight of the turbo and the cabriolet, and the difference is even more pronounced. My comment was only made because the AWD cars are still quite agile and fun to drive, even though they are admittedly heavier and they do tend to understeer more readily than RWD cars.

For pure driving thrill near the limits of traction, a C2 coupe is hard to beat.

 

Having had both a C4 and an C2S and having test driven others before going the C2S the second time around, I think Dennis's comments are perfectly on the mark. Both are quite fun but require adjustments in technique. I've also found the C2S to be more agile... more quick to respond to steering adjustments and just a feeling of more nimbleness. Of course the tires and alignment of individual cars has a significant effect on this, so that has to be considered in any one-off comparisons.

My only addition on the understeer comment is that I found the 4's understeer to be most pronounced when off-throttle and the 2's to be more on-throttle. The C4's off-throttle part seemed a bit counter-intuitive to me at first since I thought I would get more bite with the resulting weight transfer to the front. Both the 911s understeer some of course, and the increased negative camber on my C2S's front has helped a lot with this. It would probably do wonders for a AWD too. The handling rules are definitely different than my last C6 Corvette's.

For my C4, which did not have an aggressive front alignment, coming back on throttle a bit helped the front tires pull it out of understeer but it takes some guts when you are already pushing when coming hot into a curve. It took a little more work than the C2 on turn entry as best I recall since I was always balancing either a dab of braking for more front tire bite with throttle for more pull from the turned front tires. In my C2 more throttle just seems to increase the push during entry, but after entry more throttle is another whole game. Both cars are fun though and fortunately I've never hit critical limits doing this at the wrong place and/or time on public roads. The only price I've paid is mowing down a handful of cones in autocross.