You Can Buy A Porsche 911 Turbo For The Price Of A New Mustang GT

If you’re like me, you probably grew up with a poster of a Porsche 911 Turbo on your childhood bedroom wall. A malevolent widowmaker drenched in red, feeding off its own spent energy to propel itself to new performance heights, the Turbo is a magnificent physical manifestation of id. We’ve all heard the legends, lift off the throttle mid-corner and you’ll find yourself six feet down, and yet they only added to the allure. As we laid in bed, drifting off to sleep, we wondered what it would be like to tame such a beast. What stories we could tell if we came face-to-face with one of the fastest cars of each iteration’s respective era and lived to tell the tale.

Unfortunately, in the phase of growing up, heading off to college, and getting a real job, 911 Turbo values have by and large stayed high for recent models and shot for the moon on air-cooled variants. Unless we were properly lucky, the dream of affording a 911 Turbo was almost over. I say almost because even today, there’s still one model that we mortals might be able to stretch to afford. If we save our pennies and dollars, skip fast food and takeout, say no to unnecessary subscriptions, and work just a little bit harder, a 996-generation 911 Turbo is still within the realm of possibilities. You can still pick one up for new Ford Mustang GT money, and although it’s not a 930 Turbo, doesn’t a little part of you want to drive something pretty close to the car on your bedroom wall?

What Are We Looking At?

The recipe for the 996 Turbo, sold in America from model years 2001 through 2006, was brutally effective — take the engine from the Le Mans-winning 911 GT1 race car, punch out its displacement to 3.6 liters, bring down the output to a still considerable 415 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 413 lb.-ft. of torque from 2,700 to 4,600 rpm, and then put it in the back of a widebody all-wheel-drive 911. The result? In Car And Driver instrumented testing, the 996 Turbo sprinted from zero-to-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and tripped the quarter-mile in 12.3 seconds at 116 mph. That’s not just fast by early 2000s standards, that’s fast today. As you’d expect, the press was awed by such performance, but the Turbo placed second in a comparison test behind a Ferrari 360 Modena, seemingly in part because it was simply too good. As Car And Driver wrote:

The all-wheel-drive system never puts more that 40 percent of the torque to the front wheels. So the fronts never feel overloaded, never give up, lapsing into wholesale understeer. Cornering grip is beautifully balanced under all circumstances we encountered. Steering is smooth, not edgy. Mid-corner grip as you pick up the power is trusty and bountiful. And full-power traction on exit is unprecedented, unparalleled, and unimpeachable. Have Newton’s laws been repealed or what? How can these forces come so easily?

Of course, that was then and this is now. After a decade of turbocharged all-wheel-drive dual-clutch rocketry, the 996 Turbo feels refreshingly old-school with its hydraulic power steering, row-your-own gearbox, and properly small dimensions. It’s a real-deal 911 Turbo, and you can still buy one for the price of a new Ford Mustang GT.

How Much Are We Talking?

Seriously though, credit to the controversial headlights, the extremely Y2K interior, and the 997 successor, pricing for the 996 Turbo is weirdly reasonable for what you’re actually getting. In fact, you can pick one up for the same price as America’s favorite homebuilt coupe, a new Ford Mustang GT. If we look at the GT Premium for its more upscale trim, we end up with a starting price of $53,370. This six-speed manual Guards Red 2001 911 Turbo? It hammered for $47,249 on Bring A Trailer. Sure, the black wheels and quarter panel intakes aren’t to everyone’s tastes, and there is a minor hit on the Carfax from 2019, but it’s in the right color, has plenty of service history, and was ordered with some desirable options. The color-matched console lifts the interior, the sport seats ought to hold the driver in place nicely, and it’s rare to see a 996 Turbo specced with this much factory carbon fiber. With 97,000 miles on the clock, this is a 911 Turbo someone can put some serious guilt-free miles on.

More of a wind-in-your-hair person? Something like this 2005 911 Turbo S Cabriolet might be what you’re looking for. The late-run Turbo S was a special bundle of previously available options, with the X50 power kit boosting output to 444 horsepower and 457 lb.-ft. of torque, carbon ceramic brakes doing the stopping, and touches like metal-look gauge faces and a CD changer adding a little sparkle on top. This particular one does have a minor hit on its Carfax and 81,000 miles on the clock, but you really wouldn’t tell by looking at it. It’s a lovely black-on-black convertible, and it hammered on Bring A Trailer for a reasonable $47,500.

If this is all a bit sane for you and you’re the sort to dig modified Porsches, something like this 2002 911 Turbo might strike your fancy. Not only has it been converted to rear-wheel-drive, it also has the larger K24 turbochargers from the X50 package, BBS wheels, Recaro seats, a Guard limited-slip differential, a half-cage, Schroth harnesses, DSC coilovers, Girodisc two-piece front discs, and a GT2 wing. Essentially, it’s largely a DIY GT2 for way, way less than what a real GT2 costs. This thing hammered on Cars & Bids for $50,100, and man, does it ever look fun.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong On A 996 Porsche 911 Turbo?

One of the great joys of the 996 Turbo is its Mezger engine, which sidesteps a whole lot of early water-cooled Porsche pitfalls. There’s no sealed IMS bearing to fail, no real risk of bore scoring, no risk of D-chunking, none of the M96 pitfalls. However, that’s not to say that the engine is without issue. The engine features coolant pipes that are glued in place and over time, often with trackday heat cycles, that glue can fail. The fix is to either weld or pin the pipes in place, but it’s a costly engine-out procedure. Figure around $5,000 to get it done. The other potential engine issue is worn out turbochargers, and although turbo problems are a good reason to upgrade and make huge power gains, turbocharger replacement isn’t cheap.

Otherwise, the 996 Turbo suffers from similar non-powertrain issues as other 996 models. For instance, the foam lining the HVAC blend doors disintegrates over time, showering the cabin in foam and eventually leading to ineffective heating. While you can pull the center stack, cut the plenum open, and get to the blend doors that way, the cleanest way to do it involves taking the whole dash out. Likewise, the active rear spoiler can pack up over time. An electronic conversion kit for $1,799 is one of the more cost-effective options out there, but it is a potential expense to keep in mind. Otherwise, with periodic maintenance, these cars are quite robust.

Should You Buy A 996 Porsche 911 Turbo For New Mustang GT Money?

While I’m not going to straight-up suggest buying a 996 Turbo instead of a new Mustang GT, it’s at least something deserving of consideration. Even though you will spend some proper money on maintenance, flat values mean that with enough time, the maintenance bills on the Porsche should be less expensive than depreciation on the Mustang. If you can afford to maintain it, the 996 Turbo is still a phenomenal car to have in your garage, more than two decades on from its market introduction. Fast, surprisingly practical, surefooted on wet roads, it really just does it all. More than that, it’s a version of a dream car you might actually be able to afford. It’s still a 911 Turbo, which means it’s a force to be reckoned with.

(Top photo credit: Cars and Bids)

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