My 1995 Porsche 993 Coupe in Polar Silver is the car that started my love for air cooled Porsches.
Without question, the 993 brings the best of air cooled into a package that includes relatively modern conveniences as well as the peak of the performance that could be achieved from the air cooled flat six engine. And, of course, there’s the gorgeous design.
I recently did a video about The 10 Reasons I LOVE My 993…But Why I’m Thinking About Selling It. If you’re into watching video vs. reading content, I urge you to check out this video (and many others) on my YouTube channel, Rennthusiast.
But if you’d rather read, then read on to understand the 10 reasons I absolutely love this car.
Reason #1 I Love My Porsche 993 Coupe: The Interior Layout
The first reason I love my 993 is the interior layout, as simple as this is. If you’ve ever sat in a vintage Porsche 911, then you know the way the interior flows is absolutely unmistakable…and the 993 is no different.
When you get into a vintage 911, the first thing you’ll notice is that the face of the dashboard is very utilitarian. There’s nothing there that you don’t need and only what you do need. The gauges are amazing, the button locations are kind of quirky, and the controls aren’t necessarily always where you think they should be. But, in my opinion, that’s part of the charm.
And that’s what I love about the 993 (and really all air cooled Porsche’s): the fact that the interior design really supports the idea that these are driver’s cars…and I’m a driver.
Reason #2 I Love My Porsche 993: The Fister Exhaust
The 2nd thing I love about my 993 is the exhaust note. In my case, I’m running a Fister stage two exhaust, and I have to say, this is THE best exhaust note I’ve ever been able to achieve out of any car I’ve owned (and I’ve owned a lot of cars across a lot of different brands).
When the car showed up on the delivery transport, it was much louder than it is today. The previous owner had installed a Fabspeed X-pipe on the car in addition to the Fister stage 2 exhaust, and frankly it was just too much. I mean, it almost sounded like a muscle car.
So, after living with both exhaust mods for a bit, I pulled the X-pipe off, and sold it on Rennlist Marketplace for $1,000. I was pleased about that. At this point, I’m just running the Fister stage 2. It is, quite frankly, badass. In fact, Fister’s exhaust work is so solid, I’m going to upgrade my Stage 2 to a Stage 3.
Bottom line: if you own a 993 and are considering an exhaust upgrade, I strongly recommend you look at Fister’s exhaust offerings.
Reason #3: The Bilstein PSS10 Coilover Suspension
I absolutely love the suspension set-up on this Porsche 993 911. I am running Bistein PSS10 coilovers on this car, and they were not cheap to put on…but they were worth every penny.
As I recall, these coilovers cost somewhere around $4,500 installed.
In my opinion, though, the PSS10 coil over upgrade for the Porsche 911 993 is the single best mod that I have ever done to any car I’ve owned.
There are 2 reasons I say that:
Putting the Bisltein PSS10’s on the 993 gave a vast improvement in handling and performance. The car feels much more planted and has this unbelievable go-kart feeling when you’re going through twisties. Because of this suspension set-up, the car is incredibly confidence-inspiring so I’m not afraid to push this car through the mountains at high rates of speed. I did run the stock suspension for a while. In fact, I went to a road rally with the stock suspension on it and I drove the car in a spirited way..and of course, the car did stick. Obviously straight from the Porsche factory it’s going to be very capable, but it did have a lot of body roll going on. When I put the PSS10s on the car, that was eliminated.
The second reason I think that the PSS10s are so fantastic: I love the lowered look and I love just how tight my 285 rear tires are to the fenders. I love how it gives the car a more menacing, performance-inspired look. It’s one of those things that causes you to just keep looking back at the car as you walk away from it in the parking lot. And if you’re reading this, I know you can relate.
Reason #4 I Love My Porsche 993: The Smells
So reason number 4 that I love my 993 (and this is going to be a little bit odd…but if you are a Porsche guy or a Porsche gal, you’re going to appreciate this) are the smells you experience when driving and being around these cars.
When you get into one of these older air cooled Porsches, it hits you: the oil smell and the smell of old leather.
As I shared with you earlier, I’ve owned a lot of cars in my obsessive car buying, collecting, experiencing and selling “career,” and there’s just not been anything quite like the smells of an old 911. My 1986 Porsche 911 Coupe has its own unique smell, but it’s different from the 993. So as difficult as a smell is to share with you in a blog post, I’m not going to be able to do it so you’ll have to just trust me when I say it’s a very unique feature of these 993s.
Reason #5 I Love My Porsche 993 Coupe: The Compact Size
The fifth thing I love about my 993: the compact size.
Long before the days of the GT feel of the 991 was a time when the 911 was small…and while the 993 is larger than the cars that came before it, it’s still small enough to feel very tossable.
You kind of lose sight of just how small it is when you’re driving it regularly. It really hit me when I picked up my 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo. I picked it up from a seller about 6 hours for me. I drove that car home so I had a ton of windshield time in that car, and when I got home I immediately jumped in my 993. I was experiencing air cooled withdrawal. When I got in the car, it really did feel like a little go-kart. It felt so much smaller.
So it’s so compact. It just gives you that nostalgic sense of this is how these 911’s used to be back in the old days. And yes, they became a little bit larger through each generation. And I’ve not driven a brand new 911 yet, but I can only imagine that this 993 would feel so much smaller after getting in one of those newer cars.
So I love the size of this car.
Reason #6 I Love My Porsche 993: The Gearbox
The 6th thing I love about the 993 is the gearbox.
I’ve published quite a bit of content on the 915 transmission that I have in my ’86, and obviously that’s a very, very different transmission in many ways than is in this 993.
With regards to the 993 G50 derivative, the shifting action is so clean and so nice to drive. My 993 does have a relatively new clutch in the car, which I’m sure helps the overall feel of the transmission. Bottom line, the clutch engagement point is so tight and the gears shift so well that it’s just like butter.
As an item of interest, my Porsche 993 Coupe is running a FD Motorsports golden rod (another great FD product) as well as a short shift kit, which is what came on the car. So, in fairness, I can’t really tell you what it felt like coming stock, but I can tell you that I just love the way the gearbox shifts. There’s nothing quite like downshifting it, rev matching it, and punching it.
Reason #7: It’s A Higher Mileage, Driver-Quality Example
The next thing I love about my Porsche 993 Coupe is that it is a higher mileage example that’s not in pristine condition. It is a driver quality car. Now there are some issues with the paint and a couple of cosmetic things with the car that have been bothering me. I did a video on that topic, talking about paint issues, cosmetic issues and seal issues that I’m experiencing with it. So it sounds a little bit like a paradox. I love that it can withstand stone chips, but I kind of hate that there are paint issues.
But with all of that being said, I have fallen into the trap in the past of wanting and owning garage queens, and there’s something so freeing about having this 993 with 110,000 miles on it that I can just take on back roads, follow buddies closely, and have stones flying at me without being worried about it.
So, if you’re thinking about getting a 993, I really would not overlook higher mileage cars as long as they’re well-documented. There’s something fun about just using the hell out of this car the way it’s intended to be used.
Reason #8 I Love My Porsche 993: The MY02 Wheels
I absolutely love the wheels that I’ve selected for this car.
My particular example came with stock 17″ Cup 2 wheels. Of course they’re period correct for the car; however they’re not my favorite look for the 993. I do have buddies who run them and who love them. I simply don’t think that they look as good as an 18″ wheel does.
So one of the first things I did is after buying my 993 is to keep an eye on the PCA classifieds until I found a set of MY02 996 wheels for sale. The nice thing about the MY02s is they are 18 inches, they fit the 993 right out of the box, and they’re also super reasonable in terms of how much money they’re going for used.
So, that’s just my personal preference (MY02 wheels) but that’s reason number eight that I love my 993.
Reason #9 I Love My Porsche 993: The Gauges
The next thing I love about the 993 are the gauges.
The gauge look and feel are certainly not unique to the Porsche 993 Coupe. It’s an air cooled thing, and I just love those round gauges and how they lay out across the dash. They look very vintage and there’s just something really appealing about that, at least for me personally. When I first got the car and I got over the disbelief that I actually had bought one of these, my eyes were just drawn to the gauges.
Now for a little bit about my gauges. I have taken a little bit of flack in my video comments about tilting my 993 gauges. People ask me why I’ve done it.
By tilting the tach I can see the red line a little bit better out of my peripheral vision, which is helpful when you’re hammering on it and you really need to keep your eyes on the road while at the same time monitoring the revs.
And the reason I had the speedo turned is because at highway speeds, when it is cocked correctly, the 70, 80, 90 mark is hidden by the steering wheel, so it’s hard to keep an eye on your speed.
Reason #10 I Love My Porsche 993: Air Cooled Porsche Culture
The final reason I love my 993 is the air cooled Porsche culture it introduced me to.
I have experienced many different brands in many different car cultures, but this one is very, very unique. The people involved in this group are very passionate about these cars. There is an underlying belief that these cars are meant to be driven and experienced, which I love.
And also there’s this very cool, mysterious vibe around modifying…and of course there’s the whole vintage end of things with the deep and rich history Porsche has. I just love the air cooled Porsche culture and community. If you haven’t been to an air cooled Porsche event, I strongly recommend you check it out.
Ok, so there you are. 10 Reasons I Love My 993. If you’re considering getting one of these wonderful machines, don’t wait. Get one now!
And if you currently own one, then you know exactly what I’m talking about in this article.
If you’d like to get a better sense of what it’s like to own, love, and financially support air-cooled Porsches, please check out my channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/Rennthusiast/featured