Question by Perry: Why are 1999 year mddel Porsche 911′s so much cheaper than 1997 models?
I have been looking online at the prices of Porsche 911′s and I notice in the late 90′s they seem to average about Forty thousand dollars….. but then when I get to the year 1999 models the average price of a used Porsche drops considerably down to around 26K..
Why are the 99′s so much cheaper on average than the 96, 97, 98 mocels?
Best answer:
Answer by designergenes
I’m not sure your premise is entirely correct, but I know why 1999 Porsche 911 Carreras are available at a nice price point. 1999 was the year Porsche went to a water-cooled engine in the Carrera. Porsche purists HATED the (Porsche code) 996s with their 3.4 litre water-cooled engines. The previous few years had been the “best of the best” air-cooled 911s – the 993s. And the 993 cars had slightly larger 3.6 litre engines.
Mind you, every 996 version of the 911 built had more power and torque than the corresponding 993 did. But the engines those first two years of production was a bit smaller and they were WATER-COOLED, for heavens sake! Is nothing sacred!
This pitched battle remains, in more subdued fashion, today. Some claim that the water-cooled cars aren’t 911s at all, but something else – dark and wet. Many proclaim that water-cooled cars are more complex (true) and that they’re heavier (not so true now).
Porsche moved to a water-cooled 3.6 litre engine and finally, today, to a 3.8 litre one for both the Carreras and the Turbo. Today’s water-cooled cars turn out much more power and torque than an air-cooled engine could. The air-cooled 1997 (993) Turbo S was the zenith of ‘air power’ at 424 HP and 400 lb-ft torque. (Note that Turbo S 911s are produced ‘now and then,’ and that the 1997 is a favorite of collectors.) The 2011 (996) Turbo S has 530 HP and 516 lb-ft torque. The one remaining 3.6 litre water-cooled 911, the 2011 GT2 RS produces 620 HP !
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