Modified Porsche 911 997.1 Carrera 4S Review - Can £10,000 Improve My Favourite 911?

Today I'm driving a modified 911 that aims to recreate the popular clubsport/restomod vibe, but with a modern car and on a tight budget - can it be done, and can it be done well?
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[@craigwalker2640]

If you want to review modified cars I have a gen1 R8 v10plus. Oh yes it’s supercharged 😮

[@kyledavies4651]

This would be awesome

[@clownworld-honk410]

I'll "review" it for you !

[@memomomomomo185]

Hope you guys realise the account jayEmmcars2 is fake

[@shebyjlo]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@intocars_24]

Email him better that way than commenting

[@stephenwooliscroft4887]

For what my opinion is worth I love the level at which this content lives. For people like me who love engineering and cars, but where even a £40k budget is the stuff off dreams, it’s great to see how someone with vision can find a platform to create a driving experience that gives them the buzz they need. It’s ace…

[@ianhortonplant]

Lyn is a really great guy. He comes out for drives with us down in Devon. You're more than welcome to join us as there are plenty of Porsches to see.

[@RandomUsername1995blah]

I’m loving these new moving camera shots. Kudos !

[@danrook5757]

Bought 997.1 convertible in the fall, engine Being bored out to 4L, going to be over 400hp. At least calculated hp. Cant wait

[@danrook5757]

Update, car stolen from driveway this spring, waiting for insurance payout

[@lijax9606]

@@danrook5757 wow, so sad man

[@drivingnirvana5164]

Thank you, great that you reviewed the seats - they are on my short list 👍

[@marshallsonmotorsltd2101]

No aftermarket bodykits look right on any 996/997 imo

[@m.p.509]

That car is BEAUTIFUL. Great talk as always…..especially the parenthetical ‘tart / irony’ comment. Pure greatness. Thank you, James! The camera crossing the road in the beginning as the Porsche drives away was an incredible filming.

[@dadcars]

I should be driving my first 997 soon, great video as always 👏

[@TheEarlofK]

I agree about the 3.8 badging, it takes the edge off the styling.

[@Ztandard32]

Looks nice. Can't go wrong with any 911. I have only driven two, but I am convinced I am right.

[@evoguy23]

My biggest regret is not picking up a 997 S before the pandemic. Now the prices are insane

[@MagicAyrtonforever]

I had a manual Gen 1 997 2007 C2S found it pretty boring. Much prefer the Cayman S.

[@gregmayled]

They’ve tanked again. Seen a lot of manuals back in the low 20’s

[@tyler9703]

Felt that, dealer down the street from me wants 80K US for a 997 C4S. Far too much money.

[@jonnywalker3208]

*scamdemic Should have cracked on and got one anyways lad, we ended up with a new type R and the Mrs got her N-line hyundai whilst all the sheeple hid indoors because of a cold.

[@fujohnson8667]

Car prices are gonna tank again soon

[@fredsalfa]

I would remove the red door pulls asap if I bought the car. I couldn’t stop laughing when you showed those

[@motorclaimguru]

great vid as ever. I do love a 911, especially a modded one

[@berniedmd1901]

A friend of mine turned me on to your channel and I must admit I really like your reviews and video quality!

[@ooohhenrybmblm]

The 911 I was born to. 😍 Man, it would be nice to pick up a 997 someday, maybe in 5-7 years or more.

[@ThomasDoubting5]

Probably more I'd say , best to say nothing and do it , or you will end up in my position , I like to share my dreams none of them have come to fruition . bottle it up and use it as fuel and tell nobody , you will make it happen then . Everyone really wants you to fail I don't but most people do , and that has power it's best to 🤫 about things you want because it throws away the desire to gain it . It's like having a wank about a woman you fancy ,

[@ooohhenrybmblm]

@@ThomasDoubting5 Agreed.

[@dodgywheelsandropeywiring5697]

Bare in mind the vile new regulations coming into force by that time, those things are going to leap in price and nobody will want to let them go.

[@harveydolden8572]

Agreed that the 3.8 callouts could go to make it a little more subtle and a valved exhaust would be the best of both worlds but still a lovely car 😎

[@L0RDLUK]

I love the camerawork in this video.

[@gsmoto9790]

i thought your favourite was the 996 C4S?

[@michaelmctomney7568]

Nice - not sure about the exhaust- I modified the original Porsche exhausts to fit valves like the PSE- perfect sound.

[@julianowens4071]

Love that one( even the 3.8 stickers)

[@Indecisive7337]

Oh Yes! What a lovely noise, a really lovely car that one!

[@iamspyvspy3077]

Nice mods. Q - is it legal to remove airbag steering wheels in the UK ?

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

Not the most spine tingling of exhaust notes... If I'm honest. Although the driveby sounded pretty good.

[@stevenblanc8301]

By far the best mod I did on mine was a set of Koni FSD and RSR gear linkage

[@mattdowney6540]

Agree. I put Koni FSDs on my 996 with M030 sports suspension. Great body control, but with nice compliance on choppy road surfaces.

[@GerberFlerber]

Great video and a great car

[@markwright3161]

Personally I like the red accents inside and out (although outside it appears more orange on my screen, which I like). Makes the blandness of the black paint and interior bearable, or an overall appealing appearance when you include the stripes.

[@psircos]

It certainty is a good looking car! As it was before too.

[@fteoOpty64]

Agree, the red 3.8 badging is yucky!. A bronzed/dull gold anodized badge might not be so bad as it matches the porsche logo badge up front.

[@GryphLane]

God, those wipers!!

[@morphyon]

I like that intro alot!

[@MrVrob8]

How did that pedal box feel in comparison to the stock one? Cheers!

[@midnightlexicon]

Beautiful vehicle. Only thing i would change is the 3.8 badge on the hood. Get rid of that. And all is good.

[@StraightUpHippo]

I need to know where I can find that black centre console! Can't find anything online!!

[@grahamsmith2022]

For a man that wears "unique" shirts,you sure know your style and design Jay,I agree with all your criticisms of the colour and styling changes,lose the 3.8,red console stripe and fabric door handles and it's pure class all the way.

[@plunder1956]

I wonder how long the silence at the start was on the first play through. Did you make it longer 😎. Because it works.

[@KosmicHRTRacingTeam]

H&R are too low for the car. Most people end up getting rid of them. The 3.8 badge is a little odd as is the GT3 smile vent without some sort of front lip (just bite the bullet and get the GT3 front bumper and ditch the HR springs). What was done to get it to 385HP?

[@AdamParry]

I thought the same, what’s been done to get the BHP up by 30th p or so

[@steffydog]

Always interesting to see what people spend there cash on, thanks gents.

[@KRBY555]

Are there many modded 997's in the UK? Seems like they aren't very modded in my region. This is not my taste, but a C2s with some GT3-esque mods, but keeping the daily nature would be the dream.

[@zzhughesd]

Love shirt. Seen before. Like the red detailing. Mirrors. Duck tail and grey stripe. Just the wheels and side skirts doesn’t do anything for me. Interim trimmed subtly . Overall great low money turn around. Not for me. But respect it.

[@flat6croc]

Looks nice, but would surely drive a fair bit better based on the C2S.

[@ianmead7712]

Hi how many 911s have you driven

[@klausnielsen7102]

What’s the price difference (%) between .1 and .2 in your markets ? Like for like it’s 25-35%+ here!

[@davidmartin2957]

Tarty never, love the shirt. Lol.

[@robinskeppstam]

Anyone know the model name of the cobra seats 👀👀

[@kevmoore2148]

Watching this with my 4 year old and he wants to know why you're wearing your pjamas 🤣🤣 . He does like the fact they have spiderman batman and the flash on though👌

[@mattdedasc]

Hmm, not sure about this one. on a 997.1 I'd focus on engine work and suspension, maybe with a good Centre Gravity setup a little lower than standard but still supple, and that's it. For £10k I'd have the engine sorted by Hartech and have a real screamer

[@richardsholl5977]

It’s got a Strasse engine, aftermarket springs & new dampers. Plenty of places can set up the geo.

[@oploupe]

The stripes and particularly "3.8" are nineties Halfords level naff

[@GRfourfun]

I don’t get the lowering springs with oem shocks. Doesn’t it undermine the suspension that Porsche spent their time developing.

[@kw8757]

I agree, if you're going to bother replacing them do it with good coil-overs like Bilstein B16's or similar.

[@pjay3028]

Agreed

[@FrostbiteWCUE]

James, do you prefer the 4 over the 2? Back on topic, I love my 997.1. But I can’t think of a worse car to buy with the intention of modifying it. You end up chucking masses of money at them to improve just a little over standard. Chuck ten grand at a golf R, however, you’ll create a monster.

[@mrdayumfine109]

997.1 XR3I

[@TXSTIGG]

Do you prefer the 4s over the 2s?

[@oscoe]

Congratulations you have been contacted by a scammer.

[@simonodell2103]

Nice car ....but the 3.8 stickers ...nah

[@Ace-fq3vy]

Easiest way to improve for no cost: Remove the garish external stickers, mate! 😅

[@samhassall1926]

Karl Urban ❤️❤️❤️

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

Curious as to why it needed an engine rebuild at only 65K miles?

[@os3990]

Bore scoring. Not a question of 'if' but rather 'when'.

[@WFOSA67]

Yep happened to me twice😳 it’s not internet rumour and do not let anyone tell you anything different!

[@os3990]

@@WFOSA67 twice? Again After rebuild?

[@WFOSA67]

@@os3990 not the same car! Once on a 20,000mile 2005 997.1 C2S years ago which I’d only had for a couple of months which I very luckily got my money back on as I had a good relationship with the dealer. The second was a 2007 C4S X51 which I got bore scoped after buying from RSJ for piece of mind, it was showing early signs so I got my money back on it. I wasn’t prepared to risk it, to be fair to Joel he was great. It’s poor form from Porsche, I love the 997.1, I really do but unless it’s been to Hartech I wouldn’t touch one again.

[@FrostbiteWCUE]

Yeah boring scoring is a problem and some no doubt will need to be rebuilt. It’s a major problem but two points I want to make here: 1) 997.2 is much more expensive than the 997.1 because of the reputation of the engine. However, the difference now exceeds the cost of a rebuilding. This means you can easily price in the future cost if you are looking at this generation 911. And don’t think getting a 997.2 will save you from potentially massive bills. If you ever have to change the pdk box in the 997.2 it will be nearly as expensive as a 997.1 engine resleeve! 2) you can just get a borescope done to see the general condition of the cylinder linings. This isn’t like the IMS problem where it randomly blew up giving no indicators. Scoring happens over many tens of thousands of miles. Another point I want to make is that bore scoring wasn’t just a design issue. Porsche has a two year service intervals and this encouraged some people not to change their oil regularly enough. Secondly, the 0w40 oil recommended by Porsche is a rather poor choice designed for economy. Yes, it’s impossible to know how a car is treated in its life but once a rebuild is done there’s plenty of room for preventative maintenance. Mine had a rebuild at 38k for some of the obvious reason of previous owners not running the car properly (infrequently driven, short distances, not warmed up properly, idling too long ect all will increase chance of scoring over time) and now it gets driven properly and cared for with frequent oil changes and a nice slow warm up no issues after many years.

[@qwerty69600]

That 3.8 on the front is bloody awful.

[@Corvolet5]

Shame it's not a C2S. I don't really get what people see in the 4WD that just slows it down.

[@danieldenizen5799]

Not necessarily, Top gear tested the 997 C2 and C4 round a track and the 4WD was marginally quicker. I have also seen other cases of this. The C2 may be quicker when the conditions are perfect but that's rarely the case in the UK

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Yeah I seem to recall 997 generation was where the AWD started getting faster than the 2WD

[@yellow1one]

I have a C4S. Forget the performance that can only a very good driver on a track could differentiate. It's the wider body! The proportions of those hips to the waist does it for me every time! The C2S's body just doesn't have the same visual presence in my opinion.

[@Corvolet5]

@@yellow1one Interesting. I was looking forward to buy a 996 in the near future but I wasn't too sure if the 4WD wouldn't make it a bit slower. I haven't driven one nor do I have any decent datasheets where I can compare both variants.

[@johnrayner3940]

My 987 Boxster wipers are squeaky, too. Anyone know why?

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Replace the wipers, they may have dried out

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

Sounds X51 spec for the engine. I am pretty sure that the 2S and 4S have the same body.

[@pjay3028]

No, all 2 wheel drive 997 Carreras are narrow body.

[@oliverradcliffe7974]

4 is WB

[@mattdedasc]

2S is narrow. only 4S is widebody

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

@@mattdedasc 44mm wider; you’re right 👍. Also never knew the GT3 was a narrow body whereas the RS is wider!

[@scott8919]

He removed an airbag to prioritize an aftermarket wheel?

[@MrGODSVILLA]

Yeah, I never really understand this. Unless you're going to fit harnesses and wear them every time just gotta hope you dont crash

[@archieyarr9357]

Welcome to modified cars I guess

[@Synysterjmz]

Just don’t crash, it’s fine

[@Sebb747]

Especially considering you can easily upgrade to a more modern 911 steering wheel and have modern looks without sacrificing the airbag or steering wheel remote.

[@jonathangiles4854]

It’s idiotic

[@curranhouse]

Nice car nice mods except the 3.8 badging.❤

[@jonathan9380]

That is a superb car, but those door opening straps are the most ridiculous things I've ever seen 🤣🤣

[@truebluemiata]

Looks great for sure, but I don't know about that exhaust, sounds too farty to me.

[@jonnywalker3208]

Go compare ad I couldn't skip in the middle was enough for me to duck out early lol sorry.

[@oliverradcliffe7974]

30k for a well sorted 997.1 C4S is non-existent in the states.

[@JBsC6]

Nice porsche 911 r3view with light. Too bad 911 needed a engine rebuild at 65k miles? Anybody else find that concerning

[@MadelnMachines]

£10,000 will get you an engine rebuild

[@Watty101]

Great video but don’t like the modded car at all

[@ThomasDoubting5]

What's improvement ? It's Very subjective

[@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle]

Complete engine rebuild at 65k? Wow

[@craigwalker2640]

I’m guessing the RMS bearing went.

[@kw8757]

@@craigwalker2640 RMS? Do you mean the IMS?

[@craigwalker2640]

@@kw8757 that’s the one. 😂

[@peterbest5938]

The 2005 onwards models came with the stronger IMS bearing so it was never a problem. You were more likely if anything to find bore scoring (approx 2% of cars sold experienced this) on the 997.1

[@psircos]

@@peterbest5938 I'm guessing it's one of those jobs that needs so much labour, you might as well do the extra work whilst the engine is apart? Or does the bearing failing, mean damage to the engine? I know little little re porche power trains.

[@DanPyjamas]

Who is this person trying to spoof Jay in the comments?

[@seinsmeld13]

Why do you say brake horse power instead of just horse power?????????????????/

[@oscoe]

Why do people always extoll the engineering quality of Porsche when so many have serious issues such as needing an engine rebuild at 65k??? My 911 Turbo gearbox failed at 35k. My Boxster S water pump, and fuel pump failed at under 40k. From a quality engineering point of view Porsche are THE most overrated prestige manufacturer

[@kennedy5097]

I think you should start using an insta 360 camera because just watching you drive these cars is not interesting because we cant even see the car being driven at least if we could see the whole outside of the car while you are talking would be a good thing

[@jonathangiles4854]

It looks chavy. Sorry

[@neblolthecarnerd]

The comment message bot impersonators are back.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Yep, I must be getting popular

[@_Archambaud]

It doesn't sound great.ducktail yes.steering wheel yes

[@jonnywalker3208]

People actually fell for that car? 🤣 deary me.

[@neilburgin4257]

Exhaust sounds terrible, body kit does not suit the car and ruins the classic look of the 997. Why take the rear seats out on a road car and put in racing seats ? The duck tail spoiler is harking back to a previous generation of 911 so why would you put it on a 997? Bonnet stripe looks good but what is the 3.8 reference meant to convey? Sum up -Trying to be mutton dressed as Lamb.

[@gregspark9845]

@Neil Burgin: Well Porsche did exactly that (ducktail) on the 997 and 992 Sport Classics. To hark back to the 2.7 RS. Like most styling things it's personal taste. Some like. Others don't. No right or wrong. I like. Judgemental much 😂

[@richardharrold9736]

@@gregspark9845 quite! And as for the rear seats, they're so useless anyway, why wouldn't you delete them?

[@ingvartorma9789]

It doesn't matter how many hundred thousand pounds man. would put on any Porsche model, it will never be better. The same ugly body shape and a sour 6a for an engine that sounds awful. Well, before you can make it look nicer and better, this by placing 100 kilos of dynamite in the car and blowing the crap up.

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

You might be in the wrong channel

[@ingvartorma9789]

@@chriscarbaugh3936 You have to realize that not everyone likes Porsche and thinks that those within the Porsche group are cowards, and those who like Porsche are narrow-minded people who are against change.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

And you have to realize not everybody hates them either, if you are so anti them I am also surprised you came here to watch this video!

[@ingvartorma9789]

@@JayEmmOnCars I NEVER watch a video with any Porsche. I'm just criticizing the shit.

[@JamesCairney]

@@ingvartorma9789 so you search youtube for videos that you don't want to watch, and you comment on them without watching them. Do you enjoy wasting your own time and annoying yourself? This is the most bizarre way to entertain yourself, find something to be angry about. As long as your anger makes you happy. Each to their own I suppose. People really are weird.

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

Remove that rubbish flat 6 bore score engine and fit a v8 👍

[@richardharrold9736]

Or just put liners in it instead of a boat anchor engine like an LS that won't fit without hacking up the shell...

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

@@richardharrold9736 £13,000 for an engine rebuild in n Ireland, there’s a company in England that do the LS V8 conversion and it’s lighter than the rubbish flat 6

[@richardharrold9736]

@@Ricky-cl5bu the LS is no lighter and it's a garbage pushrod boat anchor that can't rev past 6500 and is all done at 6000 power wise. Awful engines. If you're going to engine swap a 911 there are much better options than the LS, which is over 25% longer than the flat six. Something like an Audi 4.2 would be a much better bet.

[@barrybritcher]

Shite looking wheels tho.