runawayjim1977

Why don't you just flip the drivers seat forward when you get out (so it touches the steering wheel) that keeps the sun off it and it's not scorching hot when you get in the car...

Seems pretty simple to me?

Jim, one thing I noticed about this practice, is that you will put a nice little dent in the leather's side bolster! The seat belt clasp hits the leather side bolster, and makes a mark. The mark comes out, but repeated practice, combined with heat, may not be a good thing long-term. Just my observation.

So, the tint is on, and I have not spent enough time in the vehicle during the day to comment on heat reduction. I can say that I think it looks MUCH sportier, and I'm very very pleased with the looks of it. Makes it strange to me that people rarely tint Boxster windows, but I know it's just a personal preference. For me, I wish I hadn't waited this long.

When are you going to put your "spinners" on? :)

As soon as I get my gold tooth crowns I ordered from Walgreens in the mail. Should be here Friday, but I won't be able to test the fit on my grill until I get home from community service duties at the county jail.

So, the tint is on, and I have not spent enough time in the vehicle during the day to comment on heat reduction. I can say that I think it looks MUCH sportier, and I'm very very pleased with the looks of it. Makes it strange to me that people rarely tint Boxster windows, but I know it's just a personal preference. For me, I wish I hadn't waited this long.

I have an '01 2.7, and my gas gauge also goes MUCH faster over the first half tank than the latter half. I filled up yesterday and drove 10 miles, and it had already dropped to 7/8ths.

Got his rear speaker setup off Ebay, and later added the amp....and after the 90 days expired the amp died. Let Harvey know about it (not even asking for anything new, just for some help on what went wrong) and he sends me a brand spanking new amp. And I didn't even bother to send in my registration card either.

Turns out the amp had an internal short, and the new amp now works perfectly.

Thanks Harvey for going above and beyond.

If you guys are considering buyiny his rear speaker package, do it. Get the amp too. The system sounds like a million bucks, and Harvey is a real stand up guy.

Pleasure to do business with a guy like that.

I have been considering getting the rear speaker package...heard nothing but good things about both the sound of his product and the seller himself.

Yes, I am going to tint the old Boxster front windows. I don't care how it looks.. It has been 105 for 20 straight days in Dallas. If you park in uncovered parking while at work all day and live in this sort of climate, you have no idea how hot that leather is. Unbearable.

So, for 95$ tomorrow at lunch, I am tinting my 2 windows with this:

S O L A R G E N I C S

Worlds finest automotive film

Heat Reduction 56%

Lifetime Unlimited warranty

Scratch Resistant Coating

UV rejection 98%

Now, come to think if it, I've never noticed a 2 seat convertible with side tint, but I'm sure they exist, and 1 more will exist on the streets of Dallas tomorrow - hopefully running my A/C at less than full blast.

Ah, in an (perhaps futile) attempt to summarize, I'll make a few concessions:

-I hope that no one on this forum believes an aftermarket spoiler is better, aerodynamically, than the specific spoiler the car came with (at the point that porsche determines it should deploy)

-As far as aesthetics go, it's entirely too subjective on whether or not you find the spoilers good-looking or not, if you do, great...if not, don't buy one

-I, personally, do not drive over 75mph very often, and although I have an English degree and never took a single engineering course, my (potentially retarded) feeling is that even at 90mph, the aerodynamic benefits of an OEM spoiler that Porsche dictated should only have deployed 15mph ago are nearly negligible

-At the same time that I know zilch about aerodynamics, I still think I would be retarded to think that the downforce wouldn't have SOME benefit at, say, 110mph or higher (but I like safety and dislike law enforcement, so I'll resist the temptation)

-Now that I have rambled on and on, I realize I could have simply said: I will probably buy one because I like the way it looks, and I do not drive fast enough (in my opinion) to feel I am sacrificing safety for aesthetic individuality

Porsche considers the pop-up spoiler essential to the car's stability at higher speeds. Note that Porsche put a warning light in the dashboard that illuminates when there is a problem raising the spoiler. That indicates the importance they place on the spoiler. I wouldn't mess with this. Why would you sacrifice functionality and safety for looks?

Gary

And that, Gary, is mostly where this debate lies: whether or not the functionality of the spoiler is undermined (at least it's what I had hoped to learn in this link) at normal driving speeds. I don't suspect anyone reading this thread is hoping to themselves "jeez, I want an aftermarket spoiler, but I hope it works well in directing air flow when I'm driving 145mph down I-80". The spoiler pops up at 75mph automatically, which, one would assume, is a conservative speed (in terms of the spoiler being truly necessary) as dictated by Porsche. I, personally, never go over 90, which probably isn't brilliant in itself, since all speed limits in urban Dallas are, at most, 60.

When I saw the pre-painted spoilers on ebay, I liked the way they looked in the pics, and my main concern was the paint match and fitment, not safety at normal driving speeds.

Actually, I hope someone else purchases and installs these spoilers and takes some close-up pics, so I can decide whether or not my (like most Porsche owners) perfectionism will be satisfied by a large and very ostensible aftermarket add-on.

I have the same problem....open for suggestions.

As I have mentioned elsewhere on this forum - I had Kumho's on my 01 when I purchased it in March w/ 50% treadlife remaining....and although I cannot speak about Kumho's handling brand new, I thought they sucked *** for the month I had them. Just had them replaced with Goodyear Eagle F1...couldn't be happier.

I thought w/ the Kumho's the Boxster felt like a car on stilts in the rain.

I have some of his sill plates for my Boxster...they are almost IDENTICAL to the OEM parts at the Porsche dealer for 1/6th the price. Cannot beat them, and they look just as sharp as the real deal for far less $$$.

We use about a dozen Brands and types of tires....

And everyone has their opinions and biases.

It is hard to get good comparison information about tires. And people who have opinions (like me) are frequently comparing old, used tires like yours with new tires newly balanced and possibly with a new allignment. And self justifying the wisdom of their purchase...it is human nature.

I'll bet most of your problem is worn tires and allignment. And any tire you buy will be better. Never even slid in the rain in the Boxster unles I meant to .... and I don't drive 3 MPH and I know how to control a slide.

I've had 3 brands on Boxsters. All were used when I got them, 2 because of car purchases and one because I bought some wheels and they were on them. So I have experience in driving worn tires and comparing them to worn tires.

1. Pirelli Russo and Asymetrico were on my first Boxster. Good tires. Good grip. Quiet.

2. Yokohama AVS ES100 were on my second Boxster. Fabulous grip wet and dry. Noisy to the point where I couldn't wait to get rid of them.

3. Michelin Pilot Sport Ribs were on the set of wheels I bought, no idea how many miles on them when I bought them. I've driven 8k miles on them and they have another 8k left on the rear. More on the front. Very good grip wet and dry. Quiet. Expensive.

Another tire I've heard good things about recently is a Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. Very agressive tread. Cheaper than the Michelin.

I'll confess to a bias for Michelin tires, probably bought (or influenced the buying of) 25 sets for family cars over the last 35 years. 5 family cars have them now.

Also note I live in the DC area and don't drive the Boxster in the snow so I only have summer tires. Your needs could vary.

go to www.tirerack.com which is a great place to research reviews and prices. Many buy through them and use their recommended mounting shops to ship them to and have them mounted.

Thanks for your thoughts. Tirerack.com is exactly where I started. My only problem was that most often the tires reviewed were for different vehicles than a Boxster, and I was interested to hear responses on my exact vehicle. Based on what I have read on customer reviews, the Pirelli's wear down extremely quickly. Other tires were extemely loud, some didn't grip, etc. It almost seems like no matter which brand you choose, you are making a compromise: if it grips, it wears down quickly - if it's quiet, you pay double - if it's got long treadlife, it's a noisy tire.

My main concerns (out of price/noise/grip/treadlife) are grip and treadlife. I'll gladly spend more to keep from replacing them in 10k miles as some have asserted the Pirelli's will require. But my rain traction in the Kumho's is horrendous.

In March of ’06, I bought my first Porsche, an ’01 Boxster with an extremely low 18k miles on it. The tires looked to have 50% treadlife remaining on the Kumho Ecsta AST on Porsche Sport Classic II OEM rims. At the time it didn’t bother me much, but I wondered if they were the original tires, just halfway through their treadlife span but 5 years old already. Since I purchased the car, I have spun out in wet weather twice, one time doing an entire 360. I am NOT an aggressive driver, and I feel very unsafe in the rain, to the point where I take turns at 3mph and get honked at by those behind me. The dealer inspected the car over the weekend, and I found out that the rear tires were in worse shape than I thought – and that there was no way a dealership would sell a new Porsche with those tires on them so they must not have been original equipment. When I went to look up new tires for the vehicle, I discovered that the Kumhos I have are about the cheapest tires you can buy to fit my rims.

In short, I would hate to think that the car is intrinsically horrible in the rain (when driving slowly and as safely as possible). I prefer to think that my horrible traction is due to the tires. What kind of tires to you guys use on your vehicle, specifically for wet weather traction?

Thanks for any info.

I would like to lower my car about 1", I purchased a set of EIBACH PRO-KIT SPRINGS system. It is very difficult to change it by myself, I came across with some article show how to replace those springs. Can anyone tell me after changing the springs, do I have to do any other follow up work on the car, such as checking the aligment, brake and etc...

If you had done it before, please let me know it is just a simple wrap of the factory spring with the EIBACH PRO-KIT spring, or ther is a lot of other concern too

Thanks

how much does the springs kit cost?

Entertaining as it was, all this nick and dan banter got us nowhere. I have also been interested in the Powerchip for my 2001 2.7. I hope someone who has actually had it installed can give a report...the testimonials on the powerchipgroup.com website are fantastic for my vehicle, but I guess they could post all the fabricated testimonials their wives could type up...

In the meantime, I remain a skeptic, and I will hold on to my $900 until I have a better feeling on it.