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Water-Cooled Turn (996) — hero photograph

9961997–2005

Water-Cooled Turn

Water cooling, and the 911 survived

Unveiled in 1997 and built from 1998, the 996 was the first series 911 with water cooling: tightening emissions rules demanded a four-valve cylinder head that only liquid cooling could keep reliable, and in doing so Porsche extracted 300 PS from the basic 3.4-litre flat-six. Designed by Pinky Lai under chief designer Harm Lagaay, the body was 18.5 cm longer and 3 cm wider than the 993 yet around 50 kg lighter, and it shared its front end and much of its structure with the 986 Boxster — a parts-sharing strategy that critics seized on when they mocked the shared headlight shape. A 2002 facelift brought 3.6-litre power, Turbo-derived styling and the Targa's powered glass roof, while the range ran from the Carrera all the way to the 483 PS GT2. Porsche built 175,262 examples between 1998 and 2005.

All 13 variants

Generation summary figures

Production

175,2621998–2005)

First water-cooled 911

3.4flat-six, 300 PS (221 kW)

Carrera from 2002

3.6320 PS · 0–100 km/h 4.9 s

911 Turbo (2000–2005)

420· 0–100 km/h 4.2 s

911 GT2 from 2003

483355 kW), rear-wheel drive

Designers

Pinky Lai and Harm Lagaay

The range

13 variants

996 · every entry linked

Watch

4 films on the 996

Curated from the 13 variants of the 996. Nothing is downloaded from YouTube — each player is an embed that only loads when you press play.

  • Generation · Mat Watson Cars

    Porsche 911 996 in-depth review - see why it's the ultimate sports car bargain!

    thorough first-water-cooled 911 assessment, warts included

  • Generation · DRIVETRIBE

    DRIVETRIBE GARAGE: Jethro's Porsche 911

    Carbon-era garage episode built around a 996 911

  • Generation · Doug DeMuro

    Here's Why the Porsche 911 Turbo (996) Is a Crazy Bargain

    996 turbo ownership reality check, prices and caveats

  • Generation · Collecting Cars

    Porsche 911 (996) GT3 RS - The Best Drivers Porsche?

    first water-cooled 911 GT3 RS, Chris Harris on lightness

What the sources do not settle (11)

  • Roster id `carrera-s`: no 996 Carrera S was ever produced (the 'S' role was filled by the 2002 Carrera 4S; the badge returned on the 997). Variant kept with null spec fields.
  • Roster id `america-roadster`: no 996 America Roadster exists — the America Roadster is a 1992–1993 964 limited to 250 cars. Variant kept with null spec fields.
  • Turbo S acceleration and top speed conflict between sources: Excellence 4.2 s / 306 km/h vs Wikipedia 3.9 s / 317 km/h (Excellence used).
  • Carrera 4 (3.4 L) top speed conflict: Wikipedia EU-spec 274 km/h vs Excellence 174 mph / 280 km/h (Wikipedia used).
  • GT2 MY2003–2005 (483 PS) performance not separately verified; quoted 4.0 s / 314 km/h figures are Excellence's 2002 (462 PS) car.
  • 40th Anniversary (appended variant): 0–100 km/h and top speed unverified and left null; kerb weight from a single source.
  • Millennium Edition kerb weight not found; only a 0–60 mph acceleration figure is published by the source consulted.
  • There is no 996 '50th Anniversary' model: the 911 50th Anniversary Edition is a 991 of model year 2014 (modelled as 991/50th-anniversary), while the 996's anniversary edition is the '40 Jahre Porsche Sports Cars' of 2004, already modelled as 996/40th-anniversary
  • A '996 Carrera 4 Millennium Edition' appears as a marketplace listing on Elferspot, but no Porsche document lists a Millennium Edition for the Carrera 4 — the Millennium Edition is the 2000 996 Carrera alone (modelled as 996/millennium-edition), so no separate variant was added
  • 911 GT3 Cup cars (including the 996-based GT3 Cup and the later 997 and 991 GT3 Cup) are customer racing cars for the Carrera Cup and Supercup series, not road-legal variants, and are deliberately not modelled as road variants here
  • 996 Carrera Cabriolet (996.2, 1999–2004) is still unmodelled: a real road-legal body with no roster id — flagged for a future pass