Letter To My “Cozza”
“It all began as a child, when I saw the first 911 of a father’s friend.
I was won over by the rumble and also by that lines, clean but special.
Already in high school I drew the silhouette of the 993 (1994), which appeared to me as the most beautiful 911 ever.
The passion grew, matured, but unfortunately it wasn’t the same for my economic possibilities.
The constant study of technical books, magazines, friends, led me to a deep understanding of the 993.
Then, once I became an airplane pilot (another dream longed for as a child) in the year 2000, the pursuit of “my” 993 began seriously.
A busy year, including studies, photos, information collected.
The choice fell on the 4S with the rare X51 option, because of its clean design, its sound and maintenance costs lower than the twin turbo 408 hp.
Since this was my only car (I sold everything for it), it had to be comfortable, everyday’s usable, but also a sports car, retaining its shape and the essence of a proper 911.
The “Cozza”, so I nicknamed it because of its half-shell clam’s shape and the fact that it was a hidden beauty, with his RS engine without the clutch and lightened single pulley, took away large satisfaction.
I’ve traveled with snow, rain, ice, mountains, to the sea, in short, we were always with luggage.
But now we come to it: the Cozza.
The 4S is essentially a twin turbo 993 without the snails (turbo), then the chassis, brakes, shock absorbers, etc., is oversized with respect to power, which makes it very safe, but also a bit ‘tied on dynamism.
After almost fifteen years of living togheter, I can tell you that you can even enjoy doing some drifting with her, being a fictitious 4-wheel drive, the Torsen part with 95% at the rear and 5 front and can keep up with 2WD; you just have to know how to bring out its gritty soul, not made of brutal acceleration in a straight line, but heavy cornering, braking at the limit and four excellent shocks set ad-hoc, four tires and an adequate braking system which is always efficient.
The interiors are of the highest quality, then if you’re lucky enough to have some options, traveling and driving become the ultimate pleasure.
The Cozza is equipped with everything you need (I chose the best of it).
It starts from the cruise control, the fuel tank up to 92 liters to the radio and CD changer with DSP and Litronic headlights for long motorway journeys.
For the sport side, sports bucket seats in fiber, front TTS’ air intakes, front strut brace, Bilstein PSS10 shock absorbers, semi-slick tires (even if I do not run on track days) and finally the 3800 cc engine from 300 hp which represents the highest expression of the evolution of the 2.0 6-cylinder of 1963.
The 15 hp on paper seem few, but I can assure you that the difference is substantial both for performance (the upper torque leads to a better acceleration), and fun, which also play on the side of the sound, now darker and hoarse, like a 911 must have!
Then, the major changes are on the exhaust side.
The Cozza is practically as it went out of factory, unless the playful side-view.
I changed the side arrows with those clear, mounted door base in stainless steel with the 4S badge, stainless steel rings for cockpit instrumentation, 5mm spacers and double grill which could be ordered as an option on all 993, but only standard on the S version.
For the part of the exhaust note, which is the part that involves me to 70% in the occasional driving I do, I can only tell you that I worked for over a year and now it sees changes in the bellies thanks to brass in it, optional M159 motor sound kit with more permeable filter box, oval final and 200 cells cat converter.
Always travel with sunroof open to enjoy the music!
The mental operating costs that I have reserved are huge, but you will be rewarded consistently, starting from just looking under the towel, turn it on for a short ride, until you get tickets of people who want to buy it or photos made by car overtaken on the motorway.
I close this love letter by saying that my Cozza has yet to realize another dream of mine, to go along at the Nurburgring for a walk on the world’s most exciting road.”
Francesco