996 horsepower

Dkp_1998 · #1

I’m curious why the 2002 996 is listed with 320 hp and the 2003 is listed with 315. The engine is unchanged as far as i know. Can someone enlighten me?

#2

Where are you seeing it listed differently? All the places I found list them both as 320? Maybe you saw a site that listed power in a different rating standard...?

https://www.stuttcars.com/porsche-911-c ... rformance/
https://www.stuttcars.com/porsche-911-c ... rformance/
https://www.excellence-mag.com/resources/specs/63
https://www.excellence-mag.com/resources/specs/65

#3

Oh, and welcome to Carpokes!

Dkp_1998 · #4

Edmunds says 315. Motor Trend says 320

Dkp_1998 · #5

Car and Driver also says 315.

#6

Ok, I see the discrepancies now. Can't really explain why some sites list it as 315 (or 316) rather than 320, but suspect it is not a coincidence that 320 metric horsepower (PS) is equal to 315.52 imperial horsepower (HP). Porsche itself just says 320PS for '02 - '4 on its site (at least for models where it lists a horsepower rating -- targa, C4, etc.). So, I'd be all ready to chalk it up to metric vs. imperial HP, but Porsche itself adds to the confusion by listing the M96.03 motor with slightly different KW levels in its parts catalog (232KW for the '02, and 235KW for the '03, which translates to 315.4 metric horsepower, and 319.5 metric horsepower, respectively). Since the sales brochures and Porsche's current website list 320PS for all '02 to '04 (as far as I could see anyway), my pure guess would be that the engineering department and marketing department didn't compare memos and created the confusion. Rated horsepower numbers are as much art as science, so again just a guess but this could be just a rating update by the engineers for the same M96.03 motor, whereas the official (advertised) rating was always 320PS. But that's just speculation.

From PET....

: pet hp ratings.jpg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 179 times

Dkp_1998 · #7

Thanks! Clear as mud now. Just know my ‘03 has plenty of power to scare me at times.

#8

Tom wrote: ↑Sun Feb 18, 2024 10:10 am Ok, I see the discrepancies now. Can't really explain why some sites list it as 315 (or 316) rather than 320, but suspect it is not a coincidence that 320 metric horsepower (PS) is equal to 315.52 imperial horsepower (HP). Porsche itself just says 320PS for '02 - '4 on its site (at least for models where it lists a horsepower rating -- targa, C4, etc.). So, I'd be all ready to chalk it up to metric vs. imperial HP, but Porsche itself adds to the confusion by listing the M96.03 motor with slightly different KW levels in its parts catalog (232KW for the '02, and 235KW for the '03, which translates to 315.4 metric horsepower, and 319.5 metric horsepower, respectively). Since the sales brochures and Porsche's current website list 320PS for all '02 to '04 (as far as I could see anyway), my pure guess would be that the engineering department and marketing department didn't compare memos and created the confusion. Rated horsepower numbers are as much art as science, so again just a guess but this could be just a rating update by the engineers for the same M96.03 motor, whereas the official (advertised) rating was always 320PS. But that's just speculation.

From PET....
pet hp ratings.jpg

Awesome research and fact-finding Tom. Enlightening, for sure!

Dkp_1998 · #9

Tom-
Thank you for wading through this and finding the answer to my somewhat trivial question. As a recent Porsche purchaser I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions. Nice to know there’s an easy and friendly resource available.

Doug