Porsche 911 (964) Carrera 4

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Porsche 911 (type 964) Carrera 4



Ok! This is business, a real 911! Carrying the full 911 heritage without all the compromise that modern times brought into the game.
Honestly, what kind of introduction could I write? This is a pretty "common" 911 afterall, with no fuss. Not the most exclusive, not the cheapest, not the latest or the oldest... it stays well in the mid of the pack and IMO is a good way to access the 911 world (as the 944 was a good plan to access Porsche world, and since it brought a second P in less than a month, I might be right once again ). A good way to access the 911 world because as said, it's not old enough to only give headaches or to be totally different from modern cars, yet old enough to be pretty "affordable".





Specifications



Engine - B6, 3'602 cc
Power - 250 hp @ 6100 rpm
Torque - 310 Nm @ 4800 rpm
Weight - 1450 kg
Fuel Tank - around 77 l
Max Speed (declared) - 260 km/h
Acceleration (declared), 0-100 km/h - 5.7 s

Fuel economy (out of town / town / mixed) -
Tranny - 5 gears manual

Seats - 2+2
Doors - 2
Lenght / width - 4'250 / 1'652 mm
Height - 1'320 mm
Boot -

Exterior




Usually when you ask ppl which is their fav 911 most of them will talk about 3.0 SC or 993 Carrera S. What is sure is that the 964 Carrera 4 won't get many votes. It's a typical Porsche, the last still strongly linked with the original IMO. The 993 with its "sort of flattened supersexy front lights" moved the game forward in a way previous models never did, at least IMO.
It's a cute and evocative body and the more I think about it, the more I don't see how somebody could say he doesn't want one in his driveway! And in white it's pretty original too if you ask me.
Only detail I don't like in this particular model is the fact the "modern" side mirrors don't really match the old school rims. Just a detail.

Interior



If you ever been in another 911, in the 964 you'll feel at home. There is plenty of 911ism inside this car, from the usual details like the key to be inserted to the left of the steering column, to the big central revs counter, not to talk about that bodyword running forward from the windshield to reach the front lights. Compared to the "cheap" Porsche of the same period, aka my 944, it feels more grown up with more buttons and functions. The seats are the same kind of very narrow yet very supportive stuff you really appreciate from the start. Let's repeat the rear seats are not for grown up ppl, definitely. It's a bit less roomy than the 944, but that car with it's big glass at the back is an ecception I guess.
I just love the pedal hinged to the floor and coming forward in a crazy arch. Totally weird at fist but you get used to them in a while.

How does it drive?



First impression right away is that you are not in a plug-and-play car. It's not really intimidating if you will drive at sensible speeds, and yet, not really immediate to be honest. Steering inputs have to be judged more carefully, the awd system also plays a role and those pedals, especially the clutch, need some practice to be used proprely.
At the back you hear that big 3.6 liters engine burbling and coughing when you blip the throttle. The car is bone stock, exhaust included but the soundtrack is already so nice. A real Porsche of course. As said, you feel there is something going on at the front too because sooner or later you feel the steering weighting up more than usual. Difficult to put my finger on it exactly, but while on say an Audi A4 everything is so filtered you won't be able to tell if it's a quattro or not, here there is no mistake IMO. Also to be noted that the steering is MUCH heavier than it is in the 944, and I doubt it's only becaused of the AWD system.
Anyway, after the first km you need to see what it can do, even if it saw already 150'000 km pass. You push a second and third gear at the first straightaway and you are pretty much puzzled because it doesn't seem to go despite the roaring coming from the back. A quick glance at the speed or the rearview mirror says the opposite though! The Golf GTI that was there 5 sec ago is a mere spec near the horizon and the speedo was already above 120 kmh. And I wasn't flooring it. The engine is a real marvel of elasticity and grunt IMO. You push, it goes. But it's in the twisties where the 911 spirit really shows. And much more in an older car than in a post 993 one. I drove the 996 quite hard and never really though the dynamics were awfull because of the rear engine. masses seemed under control and all.
Here it's another story though. It's incredible how you can feel the masse moving around, loading weight on a given corner of the car, then shifting elsewhere with the obvious consequences. And you feel the back is very heavy. It's damn obvious. You don't feel a light front, maybe thanks to the "4", but for sure the heavy back is there. And you know you must be carefully because such heavy rear if given momentum, could be hard to control. At first of course I didn't dare to try and unstick it. Seemed just too hard. The other day I was again on my fav moutain pass and part of it waS wet, so it was easier to try and see what happens when you run out of grip. Well, I am no drift master of course, and didn't have many 911 experiences so far, but definitely this ain't a drift car the back is really so heavy it just won't let you kick it out. Also to be noted tires are really new, ence maximum grip. When you go for it, you can often feel the front washing wide, but in a very typical AWD way. After a sec the system tries to bring things back in check and the understeer quickly cancelled. You really need to carry some mad speed into a corner to hope and feel the back loosing it for a fraction of a sec, but honestly, it's not funny at all. The 964 C4 has to be driven like on rails and not like a WRD car or a rally special that could do some cool 4 wheels slides in a well balanced stance.
The way the car handly is really something special and complicated to describe really. It's like on tiptoes as soon as the pace rise to a good level, but in reality it's so planted you will trust it fully. It requires some positive efforts to be on top of the game: all the commands beeing damn heavy, after an hours of hard driving I was much more tired than I was in the 944, that, after the 911 seemed soooo soft!! Brillant fun! Really something and I think only a 911 can give such sensation, and an old one since we are at it.
Sadly the brakes are a bit old now and pads need to be changed in a while I think, so breaking isn't really perfect IMO, difficult to really understand how much pressure to apply, resulting in some "amateurish" pumping every now and then because you misjudged, but will be fixed soon
Grinning factor is at its max though!

What are the most positive features of the car?

The "backpack" factor
A classic disguised in a 1990 car
Performance

What are the most negative features of the car?

The "backpack" factor
No real boot
"4" sometimes compromising steering precision

How do you think this car compares to its direct competition?

Useless to waste many words here: the 964 like basically any other 911 was the best allrounder in its class, period.

Conclusion

Again, I don't regret having bought this car, it's entertaining in a very special way!