I currently have a 12 gts purchased new about a year ago. It's a great car but I sgill find myself wanting more raw power. Unfortunately, tpc doesn't have a turbo kit that will fit on a car with the powerkit, so I'm considering making a change to a .1 turbo.
What pitfalls should I be looking for in these cars? Known weaknesses? Will the power difference be dramatic?
Please advise.

 

power difference is BEYOND description. The .1 turbo has 20 less bhp on paper but the difference would be no less astonishing, IMHO once you go turbo you won't go back. I made the decision after the masters PDS at Barber in Alabama. My c2s w x51 is basically your GTS wo wide body

997.1 is 3.6L mezger block that is widely acclaimed to be best ever (some have called 997.2 9a1 DFI consumer grade if you can believe that - same engine you have now). Tiptronic apparently is not widely liked and commands less than mt. Electronics ie PCM are less refined if it's important to you.

I went with the 997.2 for the pdk not inspite of it. 0-60 sub 3 seconds is a six flag coaster ride that I can do over and over without waiting in line

 

Thanks for the analysis. What about trouble spots? The .1's I'm looking at won't have much warranty left, if any.

 

"trouble spots" will be specific to the car you are looking at. I am not aware of any general mechanical issues with the exception of a TSB which required the turbos to be lubricated as there was some kind of sticking issue, do a search here for details. any dealership can pull the VIN on a given car and tell you if the TSB was completed for that car

in any case it is highly recommended that you get a PPI completed before buying and either an aftermarket warranty (fidelity platinum or similar) or extended CPO. Any damage, mechanical issues, over revs (check DME) and resprays will/should be identified during the PPI. If the car checks out to be robust and without mechanical and body issues you should be good to go.

once you've purchased your turbo immediately stop coming to these message boards. otherwise you'll end up with an exhaust, wheels, ecu tune and suspension mods which will make you question what you were thinking when you thought you got a "good deal" on your car purchase

 

Rms possibly, agree with ppi for mt, ims bearing less of an issue than 996.

Warranty a big concern for me. I found my car abandoned at a nissan dealer in costa Mesa, got my local pcar dealer to acquire and CPo the car. Lots of eccentric older gents dumping perfectly good late model turbos for a new flavor of the month ( in this case a gtr), with 991 turbo coming out in 18 months more good deals on pdk turbo will be available, something to consider

 

I don't think there is a truer statement on these boards than this...

 

in any case it is highly recommended that you get a PPI completed before buying and either an aftermarket warranty

 

I had the same situation. I had a pristine 997 4s with very low miles but wanted the power. During the time I was looking I drove the GTS and it seemed just like my 4s, although it looked better on the inside (nice). I ended up buying an 09 tt. The power difference is huge. I had a 996 with a TPC turbo on it before the 997 and the tt puts it to shame. I should have bought the 997tt to begin with. After all of my research, I can find no drawbacks to the .1 997tt. Mine was a CPO car and has warranty until 2015 and the price is right on all the .1 tt right now. Most you can get for about half of what they were new. I think you would be happy with your "new" tt.

 

I was kind of in the same situation. Put a TPC turbo on my 996, already had a full monoball suspension, GT3 LCA's, coil overs and brakes. Lots of fun on the track but a little rough on Boston streets. Bought an 09 997 Turbo cab a month ago and absolutely love it! Kept the 996 for track use. They're both fun for very different reasons.

 

just to clarify there is not a "trouble year" for the 997.1 turbo. I got one of the early production ones in Sept/Oct 2006 and have had no issues whatsoever

 

So, the DFI turbo, or .2, didn't come out until 2010, right? Interestingly, there are more low mileage examples with desirable colors/options available for 2008 right now, than for 2009. I wonder if there were more 08's produced, because of what the economy was doing in '09.

 

To OP/mseligson: I had 997 before 997 Turbo and yes the "problem" with all non-turbo 911's is that you love the car, but there is always, always, that itch for more power that doesn't stop until you get a Turbo. "Once in your life, you want to have a Porsche Turbo."

All 3 years of Mezger Turbo's, 2007 to 2009, are remarkably trouble free. Just look at this board (versus a BMW board for example) then it should become obvious to you. The most common problem is leaking from the powering steering and brake slave cylinder, but that is IMHO extremely minor compared to other potential problems with drivetrain, engine, electronics, etc. of world class sports cars, and it is easily diagnosed, easily fixed. It can't be "looked out" for in buying a used car either. In looking at used cars, more important to get the DME readout and check for overrev's, and look for a CPO, low mileage, non-modded car, preferably with PCCB. 2009 is most desireable because it has the new PCM 2 with bluetooth and ipod functions and touchscreen.

You might want to take a look at this thread: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...urbo-ever.html . Yes 2007 to 2009 Turbo's are indeed special because of the Mezger engine and you want to get them **now** before the mileage becomes too high. With newer more stringent "green" requirements, future Turbo's will never see this race based engine again. Good luck and have fun.

 

That's great info, thank you. However, regarding the pcm, can it be upgraded? And if so, is it easy/inexpensive, or major hassle?

 

Nice post to read after buying a 2007 997.1 turbo

 

There are a few "known" issues - my car just came back from the shop after having a camshaft replaced (bank 2 camshaft error with rotated inner cylinder), clutch accumulator replaced, and spoiler hydraulics replaced. Thank goodness for cpo or it would have been 10k+ for all that. The other thing that seems to be somewhat "common" is a coolant hose connection failure. I haven't had that one yet, lol.