Apollo 911 996 Fails
 

As Paul Harvey used to say, and now you know the rest of the story...

If you receive Excellence Magazine, then you probably saw the story last month about the 996 with 243,000 miles (more miles than earth to the moon, hence, the Apollo 11 kitch) where the new owner proudly dyno tested the car and confirmed the 0-60 time.

Here is the original story: Apollo 911 - Excellence

Well, that engine didn't last much longer...

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/996-porsche-911-dies-after-clocking-heroic-248000-miles/

Just watched his video last night. Wonder what the issue actually was.

I saw this yesterday, and tried to log in to complain about how colossally stupid it was having a seized motor and trying to pop start it. I gave up after 5min, but I am still upset.

Tracking the car wasn't wise. Oh well, I guess it worked to get 5 minutes of fame.

It was a heck of a run. It's still a great story. Has to help the 996 reputation.

Hoovies Garage
 

While no real content in his videos, he does have a fairly entertaining channel on autos. His latest comparing his Apollo 911 and Honda S2000 is pretty funny. Anyway, may be worth a quick look for some mindless entertainment.

No baffle plate and low weight oil --

My Boxster S has 108K miles with the last 8K hard core tracking and runs great -- but I've got a deep sump, baffle plate and only run 20w/50 racing synthetic oil.

M

He got it right when he said he was "an idiot".

The engine suddenly makes bad noises (after hanging a LONG high-G turn at high speed) and your CEL comes on and YOU KEEP DRIVING? Seriously?

Then you take it out to shoot more video of the bad noises it's making?

Idiot. Idiot. Your fans are calling...

It really upsets me to see a car (any car) abused like that...

Porsche does not recommend tracking cars with M96 engines. They cannot withstand more than 0.8 - 0.9 g without possible oil starvation.

Yes, the owner was an "idiot". Tracking that car, in stock configuration, at that mileage was complete lunacy.

So he got his "story" and his "15 minutes", but now he's stuck with a 250K mile roller.

Just sayin'............

TO

makes me sad
 

to me, killing a car with that had logged so many miles is just plain wrong, that poor car earned it's place as an example of what these beautiful cars are capable of with the proper care and maintenance... sad indeed :(

Sad the guy is left with a roller but good for the reputation of the 996. Helps with the fragile/poor quality issue.
Personally, I think the M96 owners should thank this guy, not ridicule. It shows likely what a maintained m96 motor can do.
I really liked the story.

That car's been worth $9500 to him in articles and videos.

Yes, it was colossally stupid to run the car beyond when he pulled in and noted the low oil pressure after the first lap, and even more so to drive it beyond that without having someone diagnose the issue and any potential damage.

But...it can be repaired. And that'll make for an even better set of stories.

There seems to be increasing interest in 996's recently. (as well as 944's and 928's).
They are starting to gain the respect they deserve.
This Drivetribe video is a very good recommendation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6jCiB9dt0A

We are reaching the point, about 20 years, where people come back to "old" cars and appreciate the desirable ones for what they are and in many cases finally have money to buy a car of their dreams from their youth. Both the 986 and 996 are sport cars that you can't buy anymore. Relatively compact, fun to drive and makes you feel connected to the road while being very usable everyday without giving up much to a new car in this area. Both sold in numbers at the time indicating people really liked these cars. For Porsche these where big sales numbers but they still were at a price point unaffordable to many. I certainly was in no position to buy a Boxster new when they came out in 1997 let alone a new Carrera. Base price for a 986 was $40k in 1997, which might as well have been $1m to me.

These are fun cars that now can be had for not a lot of money. I see them coming to the bottom of the price curve with condition of the individual car driving the value. there is also a whole industry and Porsche ready to support these cars for the for seeable future. Hey even the 74 -77 Carrera, once the unwanted step child of the Carrera family, goes for some good coin these day as does the 912. Both of these were laughed at back in the day, one for being unreliable with big ugly bumpers and the other with it's four cylinder as the poor man's Porsche.

The sad part is--this could have happened to any M96 at any mileage (although I'm sure running oil that was too thin for extreme service likely hastened the initial bearing failure).

I occasionally think about buying a well-sorted '99 Carerra, but then I realize I'd be stuck with another M96 motor. So I'll hold off until I can afford a 981 Cayman S.