Adrian Streather’s Porsche 996 The Essential Companion

If a book’s quality was to be judged on weight and heft alone, then Adrian Streather’s Porsche 996 The Essential Companion would win most contests quite handily. With a shipping weight just over 5 and 1/2 lbs this book offers 640 pages of technical and anecdotal insight into identifying, authenticating, purchasing maintaining and optimizing the Porsche 996. In other words, just about anything a current or future 996 owner could want to know about their car is included in this easy to read, must have for the Porsche enthusiast.

This book on the Porsche 911 (996) series is the fourth of a planned six. It carries on the tradition established with the author’s first Porsche 911 book on the 964 series. Everything a 996 owner needs to know plus a lot more is contained within the covers of this particular book. Every known model and version is described. The various engines and engine management systems for the many different nations of the world are covered. No matter where on planet earth the owner resides, their version of the 996 is covered. Manual and Tiptronic transmissions including the automatic transmission fitted to the AWD Carrera 4 and Turbo models are explained in detail. The different suspension systems are covered. All the new technology advancements of the 996 of which Ferry Porsche was so proud are written about along with all the advantages and improvements over previous 911 models. With 1300 photos and extensive appendices, this is a fact packed book and a must for any 996 owner. –Product Description on Amazon.com

My first exposure to Adrian’s work was during the research phase prior to purchasing my 1997 Porsche 993 C4S. Porsche 993 The Essential Companion was recommended to me by a friend. At first I was a little taken back by the cost, $62 and change (same as the 996 book) but now I know I could never live with out it. While not as complete as true shop manuals, both the 993 and the 996 companion books are workshop manual for those of us with only “modest” technical skill (which I believe covers the majority of us.)

As most of you know, Porsche 996 The Essential Companion was sent to me courtesy of Motorbooks after they read my interview with Randy Leffingwell. Given the amount of books I received, I ran a short contest asking for reviews of some of the other items included in my shipment from Motorbooks.

Last week’s post Book Review: Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook, 2nd Edition, by Vic Elford was written by frequent contributor Valerie Roedenbeck. Thanks to her well written and thoughtful review, Valerie will receive a copy of Adrian Streather’s Porsche 996 The Essential Companion (now that I’ve had a chance to go through it.)

Valerie is a long-time Porsche 996 owner so I was surprised to learn that she didn’t already own this book. At least I know it’s going to a good home.