Porsche 911/996 C2 : 2002

325 horespower. The ultimate fun car.
While the Carrera maintained its unmistakeable 911 profile for 2002, the car was radically changed. New fron fenders, a different front bumper, revised rear-end styling, body-color bumper guards and oval tailpies were added along with Turbo-style headlights to differentiate the 911 from the Boxster. The bodywork changes were more than cosmetic, however, yielding a 15% flow increase through the radiators and reducing lift by 25% up front and 40% in the rear.

Stiffer door sill, seat pan and roof areas resulted in a stronger body structure that improves handling, ride quality and safety. The cabriolet is 10% stiffer. The Cabriolet's rear window was changed from a soft plastic window to to a fixed glass rear window with a heated element. Engine displacement was increased for 2002 by increasing the stroke from 78mm to 82.8mm, resulting in a displacement of 3596cc. Horsepower moved from 300 to 320. Overall performance was enhanced by VarioCam Plus, this time in continously variable form. Because of the increased power, the optional Tiptronic transmission was upgraded to the 911 Turbo unit with the five forward gears, two reverse gears, and 250 different shift maps.

Because weight increased, Porsche used longer springs with the same spring rates and matching shock absorbers for the front and rear. The rear suspension was also modified to accomodatethe larger Tiptronic transmission. New, 18-inch, narrow-spoke wheels were avaiable for 2002. The standard wheels were 17-inch, ten spoke alloys. Inside, the new Carrera got useful cup holders and a glove box (US only).

The central air vent was increased in size by 20% while the multi-function display in the bottom of the tachometer was enlarged. The digital speedometer was from the bottom of the tach to the left, into the bottom of the analog speedometer. New seatbelts were added with pyrotechnic tensioning, which is triggered with the air bags. The belts have a force limiter to prevent brusing and internal injuries.

Porsche shield logo.

Carlos's comments

THURSDAY, APRIL 10th, 2003.
This is my car. I got it after selling my BMW M3 (which I regret). It's fun, but in all honesty, I like the M3 better in many ways. Not that I don't enjoy the 911, but there are quite a few things that bug me about this car, the interior beign one of them, and the fact that it's a tiptronic (instead of a manual).

Service History.

TUESDAY, APRIL 6th, 2004.
Oil change at 7266 mile.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26th 2004.
Airbag and temperature sensors replaced at 10,699 miles.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2005.
Oil and filter change, new battery at 11,273 miles.

TUESDAY, JULY 26th, 2005.
Temperature sensors replaced at 12,818 miles.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18th, 2005.
Purchased car cover.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21st, 2005.
Replaced K4, third party radar sensor installed at Abt at 13,443 miles.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27th, 2005.
For over a week now, when I drive the car for as little as 10 minutes, a severe burning smell comes from the rear wheels. It smells like a combination of a worn clutch and burning rubber. It's not the clutch, because this is a Tip.

The small is so bad that I have had strangers come up to me and warn me something was wrong. So I take the car into The Porsche Exchange. As soon as I drive in I ask the tech guy to come smell the car, and he notices the smell, afetr a few minutes, and after a couple more guys come smell it, they say it seems normal to them.

I ask then to look into it further because I just simply could not accept this answer, so they lift the car. They find a few minor drips but claim that this is a natuarl bur-off from the coating put on at the factory.

I remind them that this is a 2002 and it is now almost 2006. "Burn-off" should already have taken place.

They conclude that here is nothing wrong, lower the lift and even refuse to write it up. They go on to say that it is possibly dry leaves on the exhaust.

I started to get frustrated because there is not way to burn the one leaf they found and make it smell like burt rubber. I also wanted it to be documented in case the problems developes into something more serious after the warranty expires. They said no.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28th, 2005.
I called Loeber Porsche, made an appointment, and asked if they would take a look.

As soon as I drove in, I immediately asked Bill to come smell the car. He confirmed the smell and asked two tech guys to come smell it. They too confirmed the smell and put the car on the lift.

Once it was up, they found a small leak between the engine and transmission, and told me Porsche had issued an update on this problem, and that anew gasket had to be replaced, requiring the removal of the engine and trans.

They did say that did issue had nothing to do with the smell I had brought the car in for. By this time, the smell had gone away, so in order to replecate this I told them they would have to drive the car for about 10 mnutes.

As a test, they suggested just runing the car without moving for that amunt of time to see if it had anythng to do with "moving parts", so we did.

After 15 minutes, we went back to the car, and no smell was present. So, a tech guy took it out for a drive. When he returned, we all walked up to the car and the smell was very apparent.

The admitted they had no clue what it could be, but acknowledged that there was something wrong, but had not seen this before They suggested I leave it, and they will try to look into it.

They gave me a loaner car (a Chevy Malibu... OMG what a piece of shi, but that's another story).

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29th, 2005.
Bill calls to let me know my car is ready. They replaced the gasket and also think they traced the smell to an alignment issue. The alingment bolts were loose, and he said the car's alignment was way off.

I asked if he tested it and he said that they did. The smell is not completely gone, but they would leave it up to me to determine whether there is something else needed. He said they could not take the car out for a drive because it was raining.

I told him I would try to go get the car tomorrow if it is not snowing.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31st, 2005.
I get to Loeber and Bill greets me. He asks me to sign the paper work, but I ask to take the car for a test drive before I do. He agrees. I drive it for 10 minutes and return and we both smell the car. It is still there, but not as strong.

He suggests that we schedule an appointment with the regional manager one day next week to see what he thinks. He also takes another 911 for a 10 minute drive to compare smells, and when he returns, the smell is somewhat similar to mine, but not as pronounced.

He also reviews all of the things they did do to my car related to the replacement of the rear transmission main seal, which include...

1) shaft housing #1-996-105-024-01
2) 10x25 screw #8-996-073-091-09
3) shaft sealing ring #1-997-101-212-00
4) cylinder head cup seal #2-996-104-215-54
5) 27x32 seal ring #2-900-123-147-30
6) 6x20 torx screw #3-900-385-275-09
7) 6x35 torx screw #4-999-385-004-09
8) washer # 1-463-22-27
9) aluminum seal ring #1-900-123-106-30
10) zip tie #1-881-9007
11) zip tie #1-881-9012
12) pensotin (transmission fliud) #1-000-043-206-56
13) antifreeze (3.79L) #1-000-043-301-05
14) synthetic oil change #9-VV929

Additionally, the rear alignment numbers were...

--right front
-camber: was 0.1, set to -1.0 (specified range of -0.3 to 0.3)
-caster: was 7.6, set to 7.6 (specified range of 7.5 to 8.5)
-toe: was -0.03, set to 0.08 (specified range of 0.00 to 0.08)

--left front
-camber: was -0.3, set to -0.2 (specified range of -0.3 to 0.3)
-caster: was 7.8, set to 7.8 (specified range of 7.5 to 8.5)
-toe: was 0.04, set to 0.08 (specified range of 0.00 to 0.08)

--center front
-cross camber: was -0.4, set to -0.1 (specified range of -0.3 to 0.3)
-cross caster: was 0.1, set to 0.1 (specified range of -0.7 to 0.7)
-total toe: was -0.07, set to 0.08 (specified range of 0.00 to 0.17)

--right rear
-camber: was -0.6, set to -1.3 (specified range of -1.4 to -0.9)
-toe: was -0.44, set to 0.16 (specified range of 0.06 to 0.25)

--left rear
-camber: was -1.6, set to -1.3 (specified range of -1.4 to -0.9)
-toe: was -0.09, set to 0.16 (specified range of 0.06 to 0.25)

--center rear
-cross camber: was -1.0, set to 0.0 (specified range of -0.3 to 0.3)
-total toe: was -0.34, set to 0.32 (specified range of 0.17 to 0.50)
-thrust angle: was 0.26, set to 0.00 (specified range of -0.17 to 0.17)

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31st, 2005.
I thought it would be a good idea to call The Exchange and tell them this story, so I spoke with Bruce (the dealer manager) and he was not pleased. He asked me to call on Monday so we could have a chat with the service manager. HHe assured me he was not taking this lightly.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4th, 2006. 10.20am.
I called Bruce and left a message.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4th, 2006. 10.48am.
Bruce calls back. I tell him I have the experience documented onine and give him the url. He tries to get online but his connection is down. I asked him to call me back when he is up and running. The day ended, and no call.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th, 2006. 9:15am.
The Exchange has still not called me, so I am giving up at this point.

I did call Bill at Loeber and ask Bill why he has not scheduled my visit with the regional manager to take a look at the odor. It seems to be getting worse. He told me that he has not been in this month, but he does have me in his notes. He expects him to be in this Tuesday (January 31st). He will call me on Monday with an update.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd, 2006. 11:15am.
Bill called me to let me know that Chuck was in and would take a look at the car. I drove over and met with him, we took a ride, got back to the dealer, and he acknowledged the smell.

He asked if i had time for them to raise it and examine the car, and, of course, i agreed. Four guys spent about 30 minutes looking over the car, but nothing could be found.

Chuck agreed to extend the warranty for one year from today in case this problem is not resolved before the expiration of my warranty.

During the inspection of the car, we did find other problems. I had two tears on the rear right tire, a big one on the inside wall and a smaller one on the outside, as well as a screw in the center of the whell. Additionally, my rim was slighly bent.

I ordered two rear Pirelli P-Zero Rosso 285/30 ZR18N4 tires from The Tire Rack and had them shipped to Loeber.

I will drop the car off on Saturday, February 24th. They will repair my rim and mount the tires. (mileage:14,136).

MONDAY, MARCH 5TH, 2007
Installed xm : $220

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4TH, 2007
Replaced passenger side fog light & parking light, replaced tempurature sensor, replaced rear main seal, intermediate shaft seal and aluminum seal ring, replaced coolant cap, adjusted rear engine lid hatch, replaced a/c expansion valve, replaced hi-tone horn, repaired loose convertible top (alignment). All under warranty.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 31ST, 2007
Replaced left passenger side fog light : $107.27

andrew jefferson457 days ago

I recently had a light rear end crunch in my 2001 996-911. I immediately noticed a mild apparent negative camber on the rear drivers side (LHD) wheel. an alignment rig showed an apparent neg camber reading of -2 deghrees- 33 mins; marginally less than 1 degree beyond the manufacturers tolerance. Ive also noted a bit of a smell, but nothing anything like as serious as described... it may however be a similar problem to the one referred to....

Any advice as to whether the camber variation is anything serious to worry about as well as cost effective remedies ( im told the camber is at the limit of its adjustment) would be most helpful/welcome

exhaust81 days ago

I'm pretty impressed with porsche improvement in engine performance recently.