The air vs water-cooled debate has raged for decades. Time we find out why
I’ve never fully understood why some think air-cooled 911s are superior to those with their flat-sixes cooled by water. It’s a mantra that’s been accepted and repeated in Porsche circles for nigh on three decades, usually to the ire of 996 owners. Why that might be the case is difficult to pin down, however.
From the off, it’s remarkable just how familiar the 996 feels to its successors, from the ‘clunk’ of the door shutting to the weight of the controls when you’re moving. The two K24 turbocharges take no time to spool up, unleashing all 457lb ft of torque from as low down as 3,500rpm and 450hp at 5,700rpm.
Speaking of power, there’s quite a lot of it. As standard, the 993 Turbo mustered 408hp and 398b ft from its 3.6-litre twin-turbo flat-six, the first series production Porsche with two turbocharges . Then there are the XLC cars like the one we have here, which gained the larger K16 turbos, the X50 pack’s oil cooler and an ECU tweak for a Turbo S-matching 450hp.
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