PORSCHE INDEX

Arguably the last truly analogue 911 can now be had for under £40,000. Here’s your ultimate buying guide to the Porsche 997.2 Carrera

Written by Kieron Fennelly Photography by Daniel Pullen

HISTORY AND TECH

The 997 is often described as a reskin of the 996, which is true to a point – the two cars shared the same chassis, but it rather understates the extent of the changes Porsche made to suspension mountings and running gear as well as the 997 body itself, which inherited not a panel from its predecessor; with a Cd of 0.28 it was also more aerodynamic than the 0.30 of the 996. The 997 also benefitted from a handsome new cabin which banished the swooping and controversial curves of the 996’s door fittings and facia with a better-finished cockpit. The principal carry-over was the engine, the base 3.6 and the 3.8 of the S. The M96 engine series, which had powered both 996 and in smaller capacities the Boxster-Cayman range, had throughfundamental design flaws and consequent failures somewhat besmirched Porsche’s reputation in the early 2000s. By the time of the 997 launch in 2004 a series of modifications had made the engine, now numbered M97, less prone to failure, though some observers had indeed believed that the 997 launch would also herald a new power unit. For that they would have to wait until 2008.

If the new Gen2 997 appeared only cosmetically different – revised front bumper, rear lights, new wheel designs – the real change was under the bonnet: Porsche had redesigned the 911’s engine from the ground up. As before, there were two capacities, a 3,614cc base engine and a 3,800cc unit for the 997 S. The new MA1 unit was both 22% lighter and 6% torsionally stiffer than its predecessor; as well as addressing the flaws of the previous design, in particular dispensing with the troublesome intermediate shaft, it demonstrated the kinds of advances in technology that would keep Porsche at the forefront of engine design. Bosch was out and an entirely new software system from Siemens managed a brand-new direct fuel injection. This permitted a higher compression ratio, 12.5:1, up from 11.8:1, and more efficient combustion mixtures, improving mpg and emissions.