I Ordered A Carbon-Fiber Roof For My Porsche 996 Turbo And I Might Throw Up A Little

If something is worth doing, it's definitely worth overdoing

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Image for article titled I Ordered A Carbon-Fiber Roof For My Porsche 996 Turbo And I Might Throw Up A Little
Image: Bradley Brownell/Jalopnik

I bought maybe the cheapest Porsche 996 Turbo—that’s right, Jalopnik is a two-Porsche 996 family—on the market a year ago, and I’ve mostly been happily stacking miles on the odometer since then. I have been working on making the car my own with a period-correct set of wheels, some extra carbon trim, and a GT3-style center console. I’ve also been fixing a few of its minor quibbles, as it served as the previous owner’s track rat for a few years, and was, um, cosmetically challenged.

The front bumper and hood are mismatched, but I don’t like the factory Seal Grey color anyway, so I’ve been waiting for the winter when I wouldn’t be driving the thing to send it in for a bit of paint and bodywork. Today, knowing it would take a month or two to fully bake, I ordered up the carbon fiber roof that will be installed at the same time.

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A few months ago I started following c1composites on Instagram, as they’re building an all-carbon 996 track car right now, and I was intrigued. I won’t be going nearly as far as they will, but a custom laid carbon roof and hood were certainly in my plans. When I reached out and discovered the roof would cost me just $1,600 plus two bills to ship it, I was surprised. It’s still a tough pill to swallow dropping $1,800 on a single part when there technically isn’t anything wrong with the roof my 996 Turbo came with from the factory.

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If you want a carbon roof for your 911 from the factory, it’ll cost you almost $4,000! I’m sure there will be not-insignificant installation costs when the car goes in for paint and bodywork, but hopefully getting it all done at once will make the process a little easier and a little less expensive. I still reckon I can get a carbon roof installed in my 996 for less than Porsche would charge you to put one in a 992 GT3.

Image for article titled I Ordered A Carbon-Fiber Roof For My Porsche 996 Turbo And I Might Throw Up A Little
Screenshot: Porsche
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By deleting the sunroof and swapping cold hard metal for this carbon piece, I should be removing nearly 70 pounds from the very top of the car. With a few other modifications, I’d like to see how close to 3,000 pounds I can get the car from its original 3,380. This is a big step in that direction.

My goal with the project is to develop a period-correct custom 996 Turbo more in line with today’s 911 S/T or 911 Sport Classic. There will be some throwback tweaks, but mostly it’ll be a push to make a lighter and more engaging 911 Turbo without resorting to the completely track-focused (and occasionally deadly) 996 GT2. A bit of carbon here, a bit of extra horsepower there, and some extreme use of color to really set this car apart from the crowd.

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For now it’s fall, so I’ll continue driving the car through boost season, but then it’ll head under the knife for a bit of a revamp. I’ll leave you Porsche nerds with a few key words to get your imagination going.

Ocean Jade Metallic paint. Exposed carbon roof and hood. Full-leather Nephrite Green interior. Green wool tweed seats with a single hardback sport seat for the driver and a comfort seat for the passenger. The hardback, the half-cage, the center console, and the gauges color-matched to the exterior. Yeah, this is going to be good.