Pics at last - 996 C4 Cab

[318Touring 40]

There is another topic I started when I got the car however since there were a number of things needed to be done (including a full clay and wax), I held off taking pictures.

Until today that is.

The car is a UK/Japanese import 2003 911 (996) Carrera 4 Cabriolet. Bought as a UK spec car from a dealer in Denmark. Imported to Japan in 2006 (probably by the original owner). Then came to NZ in 2007 (Christchurch), and ended up in Wellington in 2008.

It's fully loaded, heated seats, Porsche Communication Management, telephone, cruise control, leather seats, tiptronic, 18 inch Carrera wheels, hard-top, and PSM among other things. Speedo is in miles, but there is a digital speedo in kph that I use.

One word about 911; AWESOME.

While my BMW has a very polite power delivery mechanism 'Power sir? Certainly'. The P-car would say 'Power? Here! Grrrrrrrrr. Sure you can handle it? Grrrrrrr. More power? Grrrrrrrr'. I love moving it into the garage, the engine note alone melts my heart ......

90kph to some unmentionable speed in 2 seconds. 0-100kph at 5.5 s, at second gear.

After every drive I climbed out feeling both happy and scared.

While I miss my electric-memory seat, automatic light, front PDC; I don't miss the rain sensor, crap stereo, terrible gas mileage (14l/100k around Wellington city!) from my 5 series.

BTW, my gas milage is about 11-15l/100km in the P car, and that involves some red-lining from time to time.

Insurance was a bit troublesome. Vero wanted to put an additional $5,000(!) excess on top of a $300 normal + $705 high performance vehicle excess. Obviously I gave them the finger and some fine swear words. If you get a 911, call David Mcdonald from Aon, their policy even includes cover for track days.

Enough talking, here are the pictures:

Edited November 20, 2010 by 318Touring

[Yuen 16]

Very sharp, surely something to tick off the bucket list. Was your previous car an E60 530i? Surprised at the high fuel consumption.

[318Touring 40]

Very sharp, surely something to tick off the bucket list. Was your previous car an E60 530i? Surprised at the high fuel consumption.

It was on the bucket list unfortunately I didn't tick off item on my bucket list. I merely replace it with the upgrade e.g. a 997 Turbo Cab looks really delicious However a friend who once owned a 997 (he's an E60 owner now) said that everyone should try to own a 911 once in their life.

I was really disappointed by my E60 fuel consumption. BMW says it's normal. If 911 and 5 series both use fuel at roughly the same rate why would I want to drive Euro barge if I can have Euro rocket. Hence I swapped the barge with a rocket.

Remember this was the old engine that was used in E39 (in my barge), I might have too much expectation, still....

Edited November 20, 2010 by 318Touring

[bravo 34]

Nice purchase. AON are good people. One of there brokers also drives a 2002 in the BMW race series.

[Hi-Tek 3]

Nice car mate, loving the telephone (I wonder if you can get away with talking on that beasty whilst driving)

Shame it hasn't got a roof.

[Apex 693]

Beautiful car and you have done a really nice job on the detailing, did it need much after comming from a dealership?

Was your previous car an E60 530i? Surprised at the high fuel consumption.

So am I, our old 545i averaged around the same around town and had a total average of 12.4.

[318Touring 40]

Nice car mate, loving the telephone (I wonder if you can get away with talking on that beasty whilst driving)

Shame it hasn't got a roof.

Haha, it's actually hands-free. You plop in your sim card to the PCM module then everything is hands-free operation. I guess the handset is there if you'd like some privacy.

They still have to deliver the roof. Seriously, the hard-top is still at the dealer since I can't be bothered bolting it to the car when picking it up.

[Tristan 338]

A well-kept black 996. The paint looks amazing.

[318Touring 40]

Beautiful car and you have done a really nice job on the detailing, did it need much after comming from a dealership?

So am I, our old 545i averaged around the same around town and had a total average of 12.4.

@Tristan: thanks mate.

I think the car was sent to a groomer just of Basin Reserve, however it didn't have the finish it has now. The leather seats definitely need a good conditioning, interior was dusty and smelled of a used car. Luckily no one was stupid enough to put ArmorAll on the dash.

Took me about 2 hours to clean the leather interior, applied leather cleaner, followed by conditioner. I use products from Gliptone, which I had recommended to people in this board before. The interior now smells amazing. The cloth used to clean driver's seat turned black from the 7 year accumulation of dirt etc.

Defects on the exterior were tiny scratches, very obvious spider webbing, the paint didn't have a smooth finish (water wasn't beading on the surface), alloy wheels were dirty with contaminants. I spent about 5 hours washing, claying the whole car (not too bad actually), applying Meguiar's paint cleaner, and sealing with Meguiar's NXT wax. Alloy wheels were also clayed and waxed, but I couldn't be bothered to take them off.

I will still need to clean and treat the roof (both soft and hard-top), and go round the car with Ultimate Compound to remove scratches.

The original condition of the car was bad enough, even my wife, who doesn't really pay any attention to cars, was hassling me to wax it!

I haven't started using polishing machine yet, will probably use this Christmas holiday learning how to use one properly.

So am I, our old 545i averaged around the same around town and had a total average of 12.4.

More modern engine? I don't know, I tried to drive carefully, coasting to a stop, smooth acceleration, not using a/c, I still get 14l/100km after a day in town. I got so sick of the car, I just floored the accelerator whenever I can as it didn't make any difference to fuel consumption.

Edited November 22, 2010 by 318Touring