Made it to an actual SXOC meet
Here's Mark looking for his missing cylinders, next to Daz's pink car with brown wheels, and my Beetle sandwiched inbetween Paul's GT86 that's still mysteriously missing a turbo
![]()
Made it to an actual SXOC meet
Here's Mark looking for his missing cylinders, next to Daz's pink car with brown wheels, and my Beetle sandwiched inbetween Paul's GT86 that's still mysteriously missing a turbo
![]()
Minor update. Not many miles driven this year (again, I know). But a rare build quality issue with my Lexus tank left me high and dry for a car to go away camping for a few days so, well, the 911 stepped in and filled its boots most admirably.
The Lexus - well, first reliability issue I've had with it; the petrol filler release lever fell off its mounting and because it's built like a bloody tank, had to have half the interior out to fix itWasn't happening at the back of the forecourt, and I didn't want to lose the day's holiday to it, so I went back and we offloaded into the Porsche for the run up to the Norfolk Coast.
Didn't pack particularly well because we just threw it in to save time, but it was far from impractical
And all set up with the decent sized home from home
Anyway, one night we went out for dinner in Wiveton (the Wiveton Bell if you ever get up that way, bloody lovely) and that meant a run back along the coast road at 11:15pm..... It was mega
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.95...7i13312!8i6656
Nailed it through there. Missus was NOT happy but by golly it was worth it![]()
That looks like the sort of road you should get to know well !
I did it on the KTM last year a good few times. It's a good blast.
Lovely bit or road when it's not clogged up with dickheads towing caravans.
You parked the porker in the tent and slept outside right?
https://www.evo.co.uk/porsche/911/21...you-can-afford
I've picked the best bits and ignored the rest, LOL
I still love mine. Heart it proper.Do some homework and then buy one of the very best cars evo has ever tested.
Where to start with the 996 Carrera? One half of the double-act that saved Porsche the company; a complete re-imagination – bar the rear suspension – of the then 35-year-old 911, yet still unmistakably a 911 to the very core. A smooth, deceptively complex collection of radii and form that aged rapidly until it became ’90s passé, yet now looks as pure as a Highland spring.
The wonderful thing about the 996 is its Germanic pragmatism. It predates the era of Lane Change Assist and programmed-in exhaust burbles on the overrun. It’s gimmick-free, light (1320kg), compact, and almost entirely focused on driving pleasure. While the type grew physically over the 993, it retains the shallow dashboard, relatively upright windscreen and narrow width that are such a part of the 911 – and are diluted in the 991 – yet still feels like a modern car with all the usability and refinement that entails.
The 3.4-litre engine is revvy and potent (300bhp). Every control has that polish and uniformity of weight that’s the hallmark of a Porsche, and you soon find yourself picking cornering lines with the fingertips and savouring every gearchange. And that hydraulic steering… oh man. When you drive a car like the 996 you realise that Porsche’s current electrically assisted systems, however good they are for their kind, simply don’t impart the same sense of connection with the road’s surface.
So, it’s a great 911: purrs and yelps where a similarly powerful 718 Cayman sounds like a fairground generator, offers that ever-useful 2+2 seating and reasonable luggage space, yet manages to feel like a proper sports car. It’s unlikely to be hot-hatch cheap to run, but it is at least rising in value, not depreciating, and it doesn’t feel like a lot of money to acquire a definite modern classic.
Quick update. Decided to get some niggles sorted and stick it in for a service. New ABS sensors, new door lock mech as the window was catching the frame, MOT and a new aux belt. Billed just over 900 quid
Drove home loving the niggle free nature of it all and then promptly heard a snap as I switched the indicator on. Yup stalk now bustwell that lasted long ting then eh
![]()
German Engineering for you
I seem to recall many a page ago when I picked it up I said the indicator switch was absolutely pony. It's a plastic crap VAG part.
What ??!! VAG in a Porsche !
(See what I did there ?)
So this needs a bit of an update. A year to the day - today was the first time I've driven the car since. Why? Well, where to start.
Probably here: new door lock mech as the window was catching the frame
Yeah, that turned out to be a bit of a shit idea to let someone else do itEnded up not putting it all back together properly and, as a consequence, I was locked out of my own car.
Timing was everything. The day after this post I was crippled with a back injury which ended up, after 5 months, requiring surgery - recovery still ongoing, but not ever going to be 100%So, the car just had to sit and wait. Sit and wait until I could do something about it.
So back in May, I had to do this
Then came a few months of procrastination interspersed with occasional work whilst I worked out how things had all gone wrong. Basically, the key barrel has a connecting rod that goes into a microswitch in the door mechanism. That connecting rod had missed the microswitch and gone past the end of the mech, meaning the barrel was connecting to SFA![]()
Rang the garage, told them what was happened and to be fair to them they said to get the car there and they'd put it all right for me. Problem was, I couldn't get the car to live up as the battery was totally creamedAnd the boot and bonnet release are both electric..... Err
![]()
Fished around for the emergency release:
Got ya
Then hooked up some power
Then thought yay, I can get the car to the garage and get it all fixed........ NegativeEven though the car would start, it still thought it was locked, so the motion sensor would set the alarm off. It also had a bit of a problem that I couldn't put the new window in as the window regs wouldn't work as they should (they were attempting full closure).
So the only way I could actually get the car to believe it was unlocked was to unlock it. The only way to do that was to fire the microswitch in the door mech. The only way to do that without losing an arm to the window mech was to reinsert the key barrel connecting rod. That meant it all had to come apart anyway. Ah **** it, I'll fix it myself then
And done.....
And back out on the road
It's still just as epic as it's always been.
What caused the back injury? You didn't fall off a bike did you?
Yeah i have back problems like that as well, not the happiest of campers i am.
I don’t.
Docwra is an absolute diamond geezer
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Straight through its ticket yesterday. It's back...... for now.
Still a few bits to finish off.
Great. Well Olive started on the first push of the button.
I’m not wasted , listening to Andrei roux and Elaine Page and a bit of Andrea Bocelli Con te par tiro
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk