Living the Legend

Jan 31, 2020 22 minutes

Nick Jeffery

Surrey, UK

@npjeffery

@npjeffery

Model 996 CARRERA 4S

Year 2002

Acquired JUNE 2014

Model 996 TURBO

Year 2002

Acquired MAY 2017

Model 997 CARRERA 4 GTS

Year 2012

Acquired OCT 2018

I recently embarked on another overseas road trip, this time around France. The ‘Normandy Invasion’ was organised by the R20 London Region of Porsche Club GB.

I elected to take the 996 Turbo for two reasons. Firstly, it has covered the least mileage out of the three cars this year and secondly it had yet to participate in an extended break like this.

We covered 1,231 miles across France in five days using Honfleur as our base for two nights then Bayeux for a further two nights. We visited one of the Normandy landing beaches, ‘Gold Beach’, various country villages for coffee, Mont St Michel, the Le Mans Circuit and Museum (via some epic back roads) and, on the way back to Calais, the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy. Naturally, we also explored Honfleur and Bayeux, both of which are well worth a visit!

I have commented before in previous LTL columns that the Turbo is my least favourite of the three 911s. For all its strengths, it has many weaknesses. It’s awesomely quick in a straight line and the performance is still relevant even by today’s standards – and yet it’s the least engaging of the three, possibly because of the Tiptronic gearbox, possibly because it is force induced, and it fails to fill me with the same level of confidence as the other two when it comes to throwing it down a B road. The five-speed automatic gearbox always seems to be in the wrong gear, even when shifting manually. For example, when cornering at higher speeds, third always feels a bit strained and fourth feels just too long to feel totally in control. Plus I found, on the longer legs of the trip, I was more tired at the end of each day than I had experienced in the 997.2 GTS during our ‘Alpine Escape’ last year.

Looking back on it, I think subconsciously I took the Turbo on purpose to almost prove to myself it’s time for a change and move on to something else entirely. I have owned the Turbo since May 2017 and covered 15K miles in it, but I have never really bonded with it in the same way as the Carrera 4S and the GTS. In terms of a replacement, think a naturally aspirated, high-revving flat six with a short shift manual gearbox and you will be along the right lines…

So, I have finally taken the decision to part company with the Turbo and am now in extended dialogue over a new stable mate to sit alongside the GTS. Someone else is going to get a seriously well-sorted 996 Turbo with no expense spared on it. The question now is can I part with my much-loved Carrera 4S? More on that next month!