02-26-2017, 02:42 PM
Well, finally, the ignition key is on the correct side of the steering wheel and the engine is in its proper location! Yup, last week pick up a 2002 911 Carrera 4S. Unbelievable car.
But wait! Hold on! I am keeping the 968 also, that was part of the spousal negotiation, so I’ll have them both. More below.
The C4S is the base 911 with AWD and from the 911 Turbo it also has the suspension, brakes, wide body work, front spoiler/bumper cover, wheels – but not the rear spoiler or the fender vents for the Turbo intercoolers. I was targeting the base 911 but then my heart moved for the really cool C4S and this one came up locally here in San Diego. Requirements were: coupe (no cab, no Targa), AWD, Tiptronic, and colors are important to me (no black, white or red, and black interior is deal killer). And the options on this one include 18 way heated power seats, full leather (dash, doors, etc.), Litronic headlights, some other goodies. 6-CD changer, Wow! ….. no Bluetooth so I’ll have to plan an upgrade.
So it can be difficult to find these with pretty narrow requirements, especially for someone like me who is hesitant to try and buy remotely (fly there, ship the car, etc.). Luckily there is a reasonably good supply here in SoCal. The handling is incredible, now I recall how a 911 feels. The C4S is It is really fast, but honestly I am still trying to learn how to drive this thing properly – it will take some time. It has steering wheel switches (not exactly paddles) for the Tip, and of course being 10-15 year newer technology than the 968 tip works much better (simply better programming in the controller). For example, you can still shift it while in “D” which is very welcome compared to the 968 tip. It also has more modern (loaded car) stuff like the heating/AC system, alarm, on board computer (diagnostics), self-adjusting headlights, 10 speaker Bose sound with woofers integrated in the rear package shelf. It is a really tight car, but not at all harsh, and includes that great mechanical rumbling of the 911 engine behind. And there is no “whale tail”, which I hate the looks of all those doo-dad air effects that people put on 911s. Very different driving experience from the 968 which I always maintained is a GT car.
With the 968, it has been wonderful 11 years. It has been a daily driver, and I always appreciated the car. When my ’82 911 blew up in 2006, I had to replace it and started the search. After 3 months of no acceptable 911s, I thought --- wait, what about those 968s, I wonder if that could be a good choice. And it was a great choice, 11 years in the 968 and loved every minute. Now it will stay as another driver, perhaps for running errands or some types of business meetings where I don’t want to show up in a flashy car. In a couple of months I’ll put it up and fix a bunch of misc things: grill, sunroof, instrument panel stuff, sticky headlight, CV boot, AC, driver’s seat recover, and about 10 more. But then with almost 200K miles and a salvage title there will be a limit.
This 911 is in unbelievably good condition, essentially flawless interior and exterior, all stock. It came with the untouched tool roll, all of the manuals, even the radio security code sticker, etc. Somebody took really, really good car of this car. The CarFax is clean, the PPI was great, about the worst item was that the brakes are only in fair condition but then the seller put in new rotors/pads on for me without charge. (always, always get a PPI when buying a P-Car). It’s been a lot of fun; I still have all my Excellence magazines saved from 1989, so I was able to find a couple of dozen articles from ’97-2004 about the 996 and about 3 on the C4S – an invaluable resource and it gave me a chance to read from paper instead of stupid cell phones.
The view everyone better get used to.
A couple of miles from home, plenty of twistys where I can learn to drive this thing.
Here is the current herd -- all 3 are silver with grey interior. Not planned that way, but kinda makes a nice special attribute.
But wait! Hold on! I am keeping the 968 also, that was part of the spousal negotiation, so I’ll have them both. More below.
The C4S is the base 911 with AWD and from the 911 Turbo it also has the suspension, brakes, wide body work, front spoiler/bumper cover, wheels – but not the rear spoiler or the fender vents for the Turbo intercoolers. I was targeting the base 911 but then my heart moved for the really cool C4S and this one came up locally here in San Diego. Requirements were: coupe (no cab, no Targa), AWD, Tiptronic, and colors are important to me (no black, white or red, and black interior is deal killer). And the options on this one include 18 way heated power seats, full leather (dash, doors, etc.), Litronic headlights, some other goodies. 6-CD changer, Wow! ….. no Bluetooth so I’ll have to plan an upgrade.
So it can be difficult to find these with pretty narrow requirements, especially for someone like me who is hesitant to try and buy remotely (fly there, ship the car, etc.). Luckily there is a reasonably good supply here in SoCal. The handling is incredible, now I recall how a 911 feels. The C4S is It is really fast, but honestly I am still trying to learn how to drive this thing properly – it will take some time. It has steering wheel switches (not exactly paddles) for the Tip, and of course being 10-15 year newer technology than the 968 tip works much better (simply better programming in the controller). For example, you can still shift it while in “D” which is very welcome compared to the 968 tip. It also has more modern (loaded car) stuff like the heating/AC system, alarm, on board computer (diagnostics), self-adjusting headlights, 10 speaker Bose sound with woofers integrated in the rear package shelf. It is a really tight car, but not at all harsh, and includes that great mechanical rumbling of the 911 engine behind. And there is no “whale tail”, which I hate the looks of all those doo-dad air effects that people put on 911s. Very different driving experience from the 968 which I always maintained is a GT car.
With the 968, it has been wonderful 11 years. It has been a daily driver, and I always appreciated the car. When my ’82 911 blew up in 2006, I had to replace it and started the search. After 3 months of no acceptable 911s, I thought --- wait, what about those 968s, I wonder if that could be a good choice. And it was a great choice, 11 years in the 968 and loved every minute. Now it will stay as another driver, perhaps for running errands or some types of business meetings where I don’t want to show up in a flashy car. In a couple of months I’ll put it up and fix a bunch of misc things: grill, sunroof, instrument panel stuff, sticky headlight, CV boot, AC, driver’s seat recover, and about 10 more. But then with almost 200K miles and a salvage title there will be a limit.
This 911 is in unbelievably good condition, essentially flawless interior and exterior, all stock. It came with the untouched tool roll, all of the manuals, even the radio security code sticker, etc. Somebody took really, really good car of this car. The CarFax is clean, the PPI was great, about the worst item was that the brakes are only in fair condition but then the seller put in new rotors/pads on for me without charge. (always, always get a PPI when buying a P-Car). It’s been a lot of fun; I still have all my Excellence magazines saved from 1989, so I was able to find a couple of dozen articles from ’97-2004 about the 996 and about 3 on the C4S – an invaluable resource and it gave me a chance to read from paper instead of stupid cell phones.
The view everyone better get used to.
A couple of miles from home, plenty of twistys where I can learn to drive this thing.
Here is the current herd -- all 3 are silver with grey interior. Not planned that way, but kinda makes a nice special attribute.
![[Image: attachicon.gif]](http://www.968forums.com/public/style_images/Cars/attachicon.gif)
IMG_20170225_084443_732.jpg
