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stickshiftnz

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  • From
    Auckland, New Zealand
  • Porsche Club
    No
  • Present cars
    '01 Mitsubishi Galant 2.5 V6-24
  • Future cars
    BMW E46 E-series
    Audi A4 B6
    Porsche Boxster
  • Former cars
    '96 Audi A4 1.8 20v
    '92 Audi 80 2.0E
    '88 Audi 80 1.9E
    '85 Audi 80 1.8 GTE
    '81 Audi Coupe GT-5S

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  1. stickshiftnz
    "Side light" sounds like British terminology; if that is the case, the side light would be the front parking lamp.
  2. stickshiftnz
    That can happen to automatic cars when parked at an incline. Try this: - Stop the car, keep foot on the brake. - Shift to Neutral, engage the hand brake, then release the brake pedal. The weight of the car is now borne by the hand brake. - Foot on the brake again (so the car doesn't buck), then shift to Park, ignition off. The weight of the car is not borne by the gearbox's Park gear, making it easier to shift out of Park. Getting stuck in Park on a slight incline is like on a manual gearbox when you can't get it out of gear and you need to push the car a little to ease the load off that gear.
  3. stickshiftnz
    A friend told me that if I ever fitted a towbar to a Boxster or any Porsche for that matter, he would come over and kill me with his bare hands :) Well, I understand his point, but in many places outside North America, for one, many of us only have car park space for one car (whether or not you could afford another vehicle). The odd few times that you need to carry something not necessarily heavy, but bulky, it's easy enough to hire a trailer off the gas station for NZ$20 (about US$13) than have to hire a van just to take home a Christmas tree, or the odd sheets of plywood. That towbar fitment looks pretty good, would even be better if it were removable.
  4. stickshiftnz
    I believe the logic behind having only one rear foglamp (some Opel/Vauxhall manuals refer to it, I think properly, as a "fog tail lamp"), is that in fog or very bad weather, the driver behind can tell the driver's side of the car he's following. From what I can remember, from a BMW 5-series manual in the '80s (English language, general export), in the Federal Republic of Germany, the rear foglamp is only to be used when visibility ahead falls below 50 metres (164 ft/55 yards) to reduce glare to the driver behind, and front foglamps if visibility falls below 100 metres (328 ft/110 yds). For the rear foglamps, that's about 10-11 car-lengths. Also, from the manual, as the 5-series ROW cars had 7-inch outer (high/low beam) headlamps and 5-inch inner (high beam/driving) headlamps, the front foglamps are wired only to operate with the low-beam outer lamps. The manual said that in Germany, only four headlamps are allowed on at the same time, hence the wiring. (But it didn't say it was because high beams are useless in fog)
  5. stickshiftnz
    For daily driver tyres, also take into account the noise. It is not so much of an issue in countries with smooth paving materials, but where coarse chip asphalt is used, like NZ, driving over these surfaces causes a drone inside a car. Over fair distances, it makes me drowsy or fatigued. Changed tyres on my Audi from Yokohamas (the car was a Japanese market vehicle imported second-hand into the country), to Dunlops, and immediately the drone was diminished.
  6. stickshiftnz
    How is it a girly colour? I say, you buy what looks and feels good to you. Colour is very subjective, and to each his own. And also what the situation is, like here in NZ, the predominant car colour is silver, and since many new cars are leased or bought under business names, once finance is approved, they want a car available right then and there. They can't wait 3 months for a special order. So the importer brings in only cars which it knows will sell immediately -- silver, black, navy blue, maybe gray or the odd red, with black leather. For me, if I'm buying an expensive or otherwise special car, I wouldn't want to have what everyone else has got. If I were to buy one now, I'd get a coupe in Malachite Green with a sand beige two-tone with black or dark gray interior (haven't decided), Aqua Blue with gray trim or Cream White with cocoa, just because I know it isn't going to be common here. The Targas are rare here, but I've seen one, and the chrome trim that extends atop the windows to the back looks really smart, but the glass roof I fear will make the car too hot to get into if parked out in the sun in summer. But with a targa, I'd definitely go Malachite Green or that burgundy metallic because the chrome stands out so nicely. I like that colour, nothing wrong with Nordic Gold. Enjoy it.
  7. stickshiftnz
    One thing too, cleaning all the surfaces may take care of much of the cigarette smell, but you may want to have your air conditioning evaporator cleaned too, since the fins may hold some of the smell. There are shops which specialise in this, they hook up the machine to the recirculation source vent and run the apparatus with the airconditioning on.
  8. stickshiftnz
    When I first saw the 997.2 in photos earlier on, I too had my doubts about that tail light design. But after having seen it in the flesh, and getting a Porsche brochure with photos at the correct angles, I must say I'm OK with it now. But it looks better from the rear in some colours than others. While the older tail lamps kind'a plant the units firmly onto the bumper base, on the new car, the lines from the sides of the rear window coming straight down and bending under the tail lights I think makes it look a little spunky. Looking at them from the rear, this is just my opinion but the red reflector strip on the C4/C4S models actually detract from those lines; I quite like the purity of not having the reflector there. But that's just me. The rear lights that, so far, I do not like, are those on the new Cayman and Boxster. I'll wait to see it in the flesh, but there's something "un-German" about it. A little too organic (I'm thinking of the word, I hope that was it -- for blobs) for my liking.
  9. stickshiftnz
    That's good, the item I read mentioned something about oil coming from the PCV system hitting the hot head and baking it on, and with fuel not coming in contact with it, is not able to clean it. If such is the case, then I suppose it's really a matter of diligent maintenance and checking/replacing the PCV valve or similar component periodically, if it's what keeps oil from getting in to start with. Re: the Mercedes 123 diesel (I assume all older diesel engines with mechanical low-pressure injection systems), would they have this PCV valve?
  10. stickshiftnz
    It's widely accepted that when a basically all-new engine or component is introduced, there will be teething problems unforseen by the manufacturer until it's used in the real world. The new Direct Injection engines powering the 997-2 has gotten rid of the intermediate shaft, one of the problems which though hopefully not too common (no official figures released), is still a worry; that should eliminate one source of expensive grief. The DI engine of course will help improve economy and help comply with near-future emissions regulations (or else get legislated out of existence). However, the direct injection engines so far available from other manufacturers (notably Mitsubishi, VW & Volvo in Europe) have seen a spate of problems with carbon build-up in the valve/head area. I've read two or more comments about that being a common problem of direct injection engines. Now, I will not profess to be an expert in this so feel free to correct me, but in some articles and blogs I've read, the more common engines (port injected?) make use of the detergent in fuel to keep the valves clean of build-up. DI engines, however, inject fuel directly into the cylinder, so the valve stem areas don't get cleaned by fuel. I'm hoping that this doesn't end up being one of the problems of this new engine. Any thoughts on the matter?
  11. stickshiftnz
    Using the jump starter as a trickle charger will mean that the radio won't lose its coding. You keep the battery charged, and as the jump starter runs out of juice, just take it indoors and plug it into your home power outlet, ready for action again the next day.
  12. stickshiftnz
    What about using one of those portable jump-start devices, hooked up to the cigar lighter as a surrogate battery? It should have enough juice to keep the car charged for two or so weeks, then while the car's battery is still fully charged, take the jump starter in and recharge it overnight, then put it into the car again the next morning? I've seen some of those jump starters on special here in NZ for as little as NZ$50 (about US$27).
  13. stickshiftnz
    When the ignition is off, and you step on the brake pedal, do the lights come on normally? I was going to suggest there may be a grounding issue with one of the lights, but if all three of them turn on, it would be something centralised. If the car has some lighting system black box, you may wish to check that out.
  14. stickshiftnz
    So does this mean that the latest direct-injection engines on the 997-2 and the incoming facelift 987 Boxster/Cayman could still have "catastrophic engine failure" even when the new engines do not have the intermediate shaft? Too bad there's no way to check or access the tensioner. So basically we can just hope and pray that the engines don't blow up in the meantime, and when time comes to get it overhauled, then strip it all the way to the tensioner. It makes me wonder then -- this IMS problem seems to be this mysterious disease that doesn't seem to have a logical or easily pinpointed cause (be it driving style, maintenance, mileage), highly unusual. Is it possible that Porsche, who should have a fair few engines shipped back to them from around the world during warranty repairs, knows about your discovery and has just kept mum about it and perhaps snuck in updated fixes into the new engines?
  15. stickshiftnz
    I've got a JVC KD-SDH707 in my Galant, which I've had now for almost three years. Full aluminum front, Germanic look, bells and whistles including motorised face angle adjustment etc. I have read that JVCs were not very reliable, and kept my fingers crossed, simply because my unit was a top-line one a few years earlier, costing something like NZ$800 (US$464 at current rates), which I got "shop-soiled" for only NZ$200, complete with box and manual. I've been very happy with it, very flexible system. What I can perhaps say though is that my unit's build quality (even the feel of the buttons when you press them, or turning the volume) appears to be much better than the typical JVC units now out for as cheap as NZ$300 new. Mine may have been expensive but over-engineered. The unit you like I believe is currently the top line model thereabouts, so if they didn't scrimp to get the price too low, then it may turn out to be OK. Simply judging the book by the cover (if they take THAT much effort into what the cover looks and feels like), the internals may be equally good. Cheaper JVCs just don't look right even.
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