Is my experience typical?

[stevett]

Hi All,

I have now been looking/testing a few suitable manual 996s:

c2 - seems to have a lighter clutch and more feedback through steering.
c4 - less steering feedback, but much more stable under heavy acceleration/breaking?

All 996 cars brakes seemed to need time to get to temperature - all were fairly awful when completely cold.

Is this fair reflection or just the specific cars I have tested???

Steve

 

[watlina]

Yes it's a fair reflection.

I'm a C2 man ;-) and I wouldn't change that. I like that little squirm when your really pressing on and the extra delicacy to the steering. It's all about the weight, the C4 is 50kg heavier than a C2 with no more power, make that a Tiptronic and its another 55kg. Why not go the whole hog and go for the real fat boy, a C4S Tip, that's 180kg (28.5 Stone!!) more than a C2 Manual.

As for the brakes I don't think they are any worse from cold than anything else equivalent. They're not as over servo'ed as say a fast Audi and the payback comes in the better feel they provide. I find that a little patience and gentle driving to let the engine get up to temperature will give the brakes and just as importantly the tyres a chance to come up to temperature as well. It's never a good idea to partake in late braking heroics straight from cold ;-)

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Poor braking can also be caused by corrosion on the inner face (where you can't see it easily!)

This is typically caused by washing the car then putting it in the garage for a few days. Should always be taken for a short drive and a few firm applications of the brake after washing.

Doesn't account for needing to get temperature in them though - that wouldn't help if they were corroded? [&:]

 

[Mario149]

i've never driven a 2WD 996, but i've heard that you get more 'feel' from the steering than an AWD one. this slightly confuses me because AFAIU, there is less weight over the front wheels, so the tyres aren't gripping the road as much, so surely there should be less feedback? in normal driving (i.e. no speed difference between the front and rear wheels) for an AWD model, only 5% of the torque is transmitted to the front (which is supposed to make a difference), so can 2WD really feel 'better' in these circumstances?

 

[watlina]

As Mark says it's common to have corrosion on the inner faces

Here an old post of mine highlighting the issue with some pics
http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=405389

As I say in the post the corrosion made it hard to be smooth and progressive with my braking.