Cars that get you all hot and bothered

[Goodspeed]

^ that thing is bonkers.  We need more big ol' honking roots blowers sticking out of the hood of track cars.

Here we have DJ's Connecticut cousin taking the absolute piss out of a nice FD at Lime Rock:



and showcasing a rather glorious exhaust setup for the E90 M3:

[Goodspeed]

RJ.

why do you not own something like this.  997 Carrera S w/ aerokit. fapfapfapfapbuybuybuybuy

[ScottyB]

never seen one like that in red. now i'm a fan...

[Goodspeed]

never seen one like that in red.  now i'm a fan...

Yep, it's amazing.  IMHO, the 997.1 is the best looking watercooled 911 by far & I would totally take a quasi-GT3 look C2S with some hot rod parts & have 95% of the fun of a GT3 for ~half the cost.

Or rather, this is what RJ should do.

[Evan]

oof.
Im not even a pcar fan and that car looks fantastic

[.RJ]

never seen one like that in red.  now i'm a fan...

Yep, it's amazing.  IMHO, the 997.1 is the best looking watercooled 911 by far & I would totally take a quasi-GT3 look C2S with some hot rod parts & have 95% of the fun of a GT3 for ~half the cost.

Or rather, this is what RJ should do.

Yeah, its hot.

It also has an M96 engine with its multitude of failure modes....

[Goodspeed]

Yeah, its hot.

It also has an M96 engine with its multitude of failure modes....

I'm not going to argue with you on the motor being a turd, you know a LOT more about that than I do since I know you've done your research.  But, a quick read of a few articles to brush up on my knowledge led me to believe the whole M96-is-a-bomb diatribe has to be one of the most confusing and contested car nerd battles I've ever come across.

I mean holy Jesus.  For every technical breakdown for why it sucks for a few big and various little ways I found a pairing article of why they're not bombs, the situation is overblown, it's an early 996 issue, I have 100k on my M96 track car etc. etc.

According to research and multiple surveys, the results of which were published on Rennlist.com, the IMS bearing issue could be narrowed down to 997 models that were produced in late 2005 and early 2006. Even out of that short time frame, less than 1% of vehicles were affected by IMS bearing failure.

I mean, it's whatever.  I see plenty of 997s puttering along around here just fine but maybe I'll have to straight up ask the owners if they're M96 poor.  All I know is you've proven yourself to be a glutton for Euro-brand autoerotic ritual sacrifice & that car is hot as mid-day baboon shit.  Methinks you could find a sorted-out 997 and live happily ever after.

[.RJ]

You cant replace the IMS on a 997.1 - well, not without a complete engine teardown, unlike the 996. The IMS went away with the 997.2, which is probably still a really nice car although its still riding its depreciation curve downhill and its kinda... meh? It just doesnt excite me.

The 996's have a multitude of engine failure modes - the IMS, chunked cylinder liners, cracked heads, cam carriers, and I think I am probably leaving some out. When I worked at the P-car dealer, it was a year or three after the boxsters came out and there was a steady stream of boxsters and 996's coming in on flat beds with failed engines. They had serious issues with their engine block supplier and had resorted to trying to fix a lot of alignment & porosity issues in assembly with predictable results.

The 997's do seem better than the earlier cars, or, are they just newer with fewer miles so they havent shown up yet along with the fallacy of "its newer so they must have worked out all the probles" ? Plus, its also over $50k. Thats out of my budget, sorry, not when you can get an Aston V8 Vantage for low $30's. Oops, did I say that out loud?

[Senor_Taylor]

 Thats out of my budget, sorry, not when you can get an Aston V8 Vantage for low $30's.  Oops, did I say that out loud?

AAAHHHH

[Goodspeed]

Thats out of my budget, sorry, not when you can get an Aston V8 Vantage for low $30's.  Oops, did I say that out loud?

Yes you did.  I EXPECT RESULTS

[SlimKlim]

You cant replace the IMS on a 997.1 - well, not without a complete engine teardown, unlike the 996.  The IMS went away with the 997.2, which is probably still a really nice car although its still riding its depreciation curve downhill and its kinda... meh?  It just doesnt excite me.

The 996's have a multitude of engine failure modes - the IMS, chunked cylinder liners, cracked heads, cam carriers, and I think I am probably leaving some out.  When I worked at the P-car dealer, it was a year or three after the boxsters came out and there was a steady stream of boxsters and 996's coming in on flat beds with failed engines.  They had serious issues with their engine block supplier and had resorted to trying to fix a lot of alignment & porosity issues in assembly with predictable results.  

The 997's do seem better than the earlier cars, or, are they just newer with fewer miles so they havent shown up yet along with the fallacy of "its newer so they must have worked out all the probles" ?  Plus, its also over $50k.  Thats out of my budget, sorry, not when you can get an Aston V8 Vantage for low $30's.  Oops, did I say that out loud?

The 996s/986s were still pouring into the shop on rollbacks in 2009-2010 when I worked there. I've always heard the 2008+ ones are the motors you want to own, but I don't know all of the ins and outs. An 08-10 Cayman S sure is a tasty looking proposition for <$25k though

[ScottyB]

IMS, chunked cylinder liners, cracked heads, cam carriers, and I think I am probably leaving some out.

some would destroy their timing chain guides, and apparently air/oil separators are a wear item.

i really wanted a boxster for a long time. there's a reason the early ones are all firesales at this point. the M96 will be remembered fondly by absolutely nobody.

[.RJ]

oh yeah i forgot the timing chains and oiling problems. let me fill up my bucket of nope.

[ScottyB]

oh yeah i forgot the timing chains

easy to do, because THERE'S FIVE OF THEM.

this company made an engine cooled by a big propeller for decades that could handle 400hp and race all day but they can't get a 2.5L baby engine to survive 100k miles.  you have to be amazed at that.

[CaptainHenreh]

oh yeah i forgot the timing chains

easy to do, because THERE'S FIVE OF THEM.

this company made an engine cooled by a big propeller for decades that could handle 400hp and race all day but they can't get a 2.5L baby engine to survive 100k miles.  you have to be amazed at that.

Yeah, they did it by making shit so good it almost put them out of business. Then Wiedeking said "Every one of these bitches has gotta make money" and BAM, hairdresser cars that go 101 thousand miles and not a penny more. 

[ScottyB]

but the Cayenne and Panamanmericanabanana were supposed to be the money cars...dammit.

YOU LEAVE THOSE 911s ALONE! THEY'RE TOO GOOD FOR YOU

[Ryan T]

The 997's do seem better than the earlier cars, or, are they just newer with fewer miles so they havent shown up yet along with the fallacy of "its newer so they must have worked out all the probles" ?  Plus, its also over $50k.  Thats out of my budget, sorry, not when you can get an Aston V8 Vantage for low $30's.  Oops, did I say that out loud?

I didn’t realize V8 Astons have gotten that cheap. Along the same cheap line, you can get an 07ish SL63 AMG for mid-20s now. Same with the SL65 AMG. 518hp or 604hp is a lot for that kind of money in something other than a Corvette. Are those motors dumpster fires too?

[CaptainHenreh]

The 63 has head bolts that like to go on vacation and the 65 is a German supercharged v12 which is all you REALLY need to know to make that decision...

[Ryan T]

The 63 has head bolts that like to go on vacation and the 65 is a German supercharged v12 which is all you REALLY need to know to make that decision...

Bi-turbo v12, but that doesn’t help anything haha

[Goodspeed]

Or rather, this is what RJ should do.

Yeah, its hot.

It also has an M96 engine with its multitude of failure modes....

I mean, you've also made some V8 noises lately, soooooooo.......