Volume II · AutoIndex Editions
Porsche 911 · The 997 Era
The Collector's Companion · 2004–2012
45 pages · PDF download
Register your interest
The last compact, hydraulic-steering 911s and the final flowering of the Mezger engine. Seven dossiers from Carrera to GT3 RS 4.0, with the Wiedeking years and the VW war as backdrop.
The dossiers
- —
Carrera and Carrera S — the market anchor; why the S premium has narrowed and what it means for entry-level 997 buyers
- —
GTS — factory wide-body, 408 bhp, hydraulic steering: one of the most complete 997s and still under-valued relative to the GT cars
- —
Turbo and Turbo S — the VTG turbocharger story; Gen 1 vs Gen 2 power and specification differences, and the Turbo S premium case
- —
GT3 and GT3 RS — the Mezger-engine cars; Gen 1 RS rarity, the 997.2 GT3’s DFI controversy, and the specific chassis numbers the market prizes
- —
GT3 RS 4.0 — 600 cars, no options, the last pure Mezger road car; why it now trades above GT2 RS money and where values are heading
- —
GT2 and GT2 RS — the widowmaker succession; rear-drive 530 bhp, ~1,000 cars, and the growing scarcity premium relative to the GT3 RS
- —
Exclusive and special editions — Sport Classic, Speedster, Black Edition: the collector case for low-production variants in a high-production generation
The era
- —
The Wiedeking years and the VW takeover: the corporate context behind the 997’s production decisions and how the engineering brief changed from Gen 1 to Gen 2
- —
Mezger vs DFI — the engine divide that splits the 997 market into two tiers; what the M96/M97 transition means for running costs, reliability and values
- —
Gen 1 (2004–2008) to Gen 2 (2009–2012): the specification changes that matter, the ones that don’t, and how to identify each at inspection
Buying & ownership
- —
DME over-rev reports — how to pull them via PIWIS, what the logged data reveals about a car’s history, and when a single event is cause to walk away
- —
Borescope inspection protocol for the 3.8 and 3.6 flat-sixes: the cylinder wall patterns, the bearing surfaces, and what each image tells you
- —
The Porsche buying paper trail: Certificate of Authenticity, options list, PDK stamp, service history — what’s verifiable and what isn’t
- —
Ownership costs by variant: the service items specific to the 997 generation, the Mezger coolant-pipe work, and the GT car maintenance schedule
About AutoIndex Editions
AutoIndex Editions are long-form collector references written from the perspective of the market — production data, ownership economics, configuration premiums and the investment case — rather than as general appreciations. Each guide is a one-time purchase: a PDF you own, formatted for screen and print.
AutoIndex provides market information, not financial advice; values can fall as well as rise. Marque names are used for identification only; AutoIndex is independent of all manufacturers.