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Very interesting write up. Thank you for sharing. So the freeze plug let go internally during an overheat condition?? I would not have expected that. Totally repairable. I have been getting a little intermittent grinding noise from the front of my motor lately (77k miles). Sounds like a water pump bearing. Time to take a closer look. :o

It looks like you have done this sort of work before. Did you use a service manual for the tear down or just take lots of pictures and wing it? I have been inside many Chevy/Toyota/Nissan motors but the M96 looks so...German. Any surprises along the way? What did you figure your costs would be for an electric motor conversion?

Yes Laguna Seca is a piece of history and a must do racetrack. Yes, the 92 db restriction is difficult to meet on anything other than the stock exhaust on a Lexus 330EX at full throttle. Didn't anyone mention to all those people buying houses up on that hill that there was a legendary racetrack nearby that might get a bit noisy? We are getting ready for Winter Nationals in Pomona next month. I wonder if Top Fuel Dragsters will have to meet 92db limits. Not likely. Good luck with your sound deadening mods. I'll see you in the corkscrew. :cheers:

I too have been doing performance driving and track days for two years on street tires. I will share my experiences. The first three or four days I saw plenty of outside edge tire wear even with a max negative camber alignment. As I progressed and drove faster/smoother the outside edge wear disappeared. Tire wear is now very even across the tread both street and track.

We have a bunch of fast drivers in our area running R888s and I have considered changing to these tires next time. In talking with other drivers it seems that the R888 needs 2-3 degrees neg. camber to get the most out of the tire and avoid excessive outside edge wear. This means the car must be lowered. I currently run 17" wheels and plan to go with 245s all around next time to reduce under steer and allow for tire rotation. I consider this an intermediate step to running full racing compounds like the BFG, R6, or V710.

Yeah, kinda what Mike said. Any Porsche makes a good track car. Figure out your goals first and get the car that best fits those goals. If HPDEs for kicks and grins are all you need, any car will do. Spend your first year in a stock car on street tires and really learn the sport. If you think Boxster spec racing is in your future a 97-99 2.5L is the only car. If doing time trials, the most competitive car class in your area is where the action is. Get one of those. Right now there is no established class for a 3.6L Boxster so they will probably drop you in with the fully prepared and modified race cars (A pretty tough crowd to run with).

Have fun. Drive safe.

so will they fit on their without any spacers ?

Without knowing your wheel offsets it's hard to tell. Those tire sizes will be pretty tall also so you may disturb your speedometer, ABS and PSM. Standard size for your car is 225/40/18 Front, 265/35/18 Rear. The standard wheel diameter is 25" for both.

The only thing I regret about the purchase of this car is buying it in November! It's too cold to be cruising with the top down! Months and months and months until prime convertible weather again... Bummer... :(

Oh, I don't know. Anything over 50F and clear is top down weather. Great heater in a Porsche. That is why God made sweatshirts.

Congrats. I see you got it in the fast color B)

I too have avoided mod mania for three years. Once I run off this set of rubber I may go with Comp tires/M030. We shall see.

Here is the inside scoop on the PDK from Jay Leno. Amazing technology:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_...html?vid=820021

This past weekend I took a direct hit by a stone to the windshield which left a dime sized bruise directly in the drivers vision. :censored:

I know there are some methods to slow (or possibly stop) the spread of spider cracks, but this mark is annoying to say the least, very distracting as it is right in the middle of your vision as you look directly ahead.

Are the windshields in a cabriolet replaced sooner because of such damage because they form such an integral part of the safety structure of the car? What are Porsche's recommendation on windshield damage?

Thanks

It is not clear to me if "bruise" means just a smudge or a "star" in your field of vision. If there is a star it's time for a new windshield. No easy fix. May be covered under your comp insurance. Many companies will waive your deductible on this.

would this cause the misfiring on all back 2 (cylinder 4, 5 and 6)????

Looks like bank 2 is pretty fouled. Could be several things like .... Bad AOS. Didn't someone suggest this before?? Other possibilities include bank 2 head gasket, bank 2 injectors, bank 2 O2 sensors fouled. Your previous post suggested significant oil in the intake and throttle body. Bad AOS or oil overfill could certainly cause all of your symptoms including fouled cyls in bank 2. If it were my car I would check my oil level, yank the AOS quick, clean the intake and TB, clear the codes and as long as I don't have a flashing CEL from deeply missing cyls., drive her to see if the fouled cyls clean up. Or find someone with durametric or PST2 software to get a more in depth diagnosis. Further damage could occur with fouled cylinders, O2 sensors and or fouled cats so pay close attention. Good luck.

How deep do you want to go?

A simple pocket scanner will read and clear 80-90% of the codes you are likely to see. The Durametric gives much more in depth diagnostic info for more serious shade tree mechanics and tuners. The PST2 will give you virtually everything a certified Porsche mechanic will get. As with any tool I get the one I will most likely use regularly and when things go over my head I find someone smarter than me with the tools to get the job done.

How deep do you want to go?

newer member here, wanted to ask an aero question.

when im overtaking a car on the highway in the 85-90mph zone, the car feels, i hate to use the word "unstable", but it seems "squirrely"

Its a 2000 Boxster 2.7L with no body kit mods or anything like that, and it has the stock retractable spoiler. I have 17" rims (8" wide i believe) and just recently added front and rear strut tower braces.

is there anything i can do to improve the stability at higher speeds? for example, it was pretty windy here in the great city of San Antonio, Texas!!! and i hit the 85mph mark on the highway. right away, i could feel the wind moving my car slightly in the lane... i want to be more confident doing 85mph, and would think the boxster would be very stable and be able to maintain a fairly straight line in windy high-speed conditions.

thoughts?

Squirrely at 85 is not good. 1st make sure that your spoiler is rising at 75mph. 2nd make sure all your underbody panels are in place. My car has stock aero and is rock solid at 120mph+ at California Speedway. Yours should be too. Next check your alignment and tire balance. Good luck.

ok, thanks Loren

I cleaned the throttle body today, seems to be oil in the intake pipes, quite a bit too, is this normal?

Sounds like oil change overfill or failed AOS.

I have a 2001 Boxster S. My local independent Porsche specialist installed Dansk headers and extended the second set of O2 sensors aft of the secondary cats. In conjunction with that - and an EVO cold air intake - he had Powerchip program the ECU with the modifications in mind and I've had no trouble at all. In fact, my car still passed the smog sniffer for the DMV with no problems. The sound is fantastic and it seems to have way more power than before (you can save your somments about my butt dyno being unreliable - its the only one that matters to me). Much more responsive and no CEL after about 5,000 miles.

This does seem to be the most thorough and effective way to add headers and get the most out of them. Others have gone this route as well with good results (i.e. car runs well no CEL). Not cheap. Will still probably not pass smog cert. in most states. Not sure how much tangable performance gains (faster lap times) to be had vs tires/suspension mods.

Took a test drive in a C2S with the PDK transmission and sport chrono. Fantastic is the only way to describe it. If felt very, very fast. In manual mode the gears will hold until you change them. It is the fastest shifting car I've ever driven and the best accelerating car I've ever driven with the benefit of having an automatic in heavy traffic. Very good ride characteristics too. The PDK makes me question the benefits of a manual in these cars.

A showroom stock PDK Carrera on comp tires took TTD at Streets of Willow against some well driven, well prepared race cars, GT3's, Lambo's etc. Scary fast!

The trouble with slush-o-matics of the past is that while performance driving they always seemed to be in the wrong gear. I have no love for rowing gears but I do appreciate being in the right one in any given circumstance. A no compromise AT that always seems to be in the right gear is very interesting indeed.

In my Boxsera I run GS610. I boiled the Ate stuff (both Super Blue and Typ 200). The first time I thought it was just old. When I boiled it after 5 laps the second time, I put in SRF. Not wanting to spend $70/bottle again, I looked for something else with a very high temperature. GS610 is very high and the price is right. I haven't boiled it yet, but I'm trying. :lol:

-Michael

Savor,

Get off those brakes my friend. The fun pedal is the one on the right. :P

I am no heel toe expert but I use the ball of my foot for the brake and blip the throttle with the pinky toe. No heel involved. I have driven some cars where a simple aluminum plate was added to the gas pedal to make it an easier reach. Worked great.

I agree with your reasoning. Out of 100 986 owners who have added headers most have wrestled with these problems. Several have killed their motors. It seems the laundry list of downsides far outweigh the possible upsides of adding these. I have not tested them myself.

A good set of 285 track tires might shave 6 seconds off a 90 second lap. A good set of headers might shave 1/10 of a second. I don't see any point in adding them except for the peacock factor of a small bump in your dyno run.

Many of the hot-shoe-fast-guys in Boxster class use 17X8.5 wheels with 245/40/17 track tires for low weight/max grip, widest choice of track tires, and the ability to rotate tires around for even wear. Good cost/benefit in a dedicated set of track tires. Maybe not a great novice setup as the tail will rotate more freely here.

Sounds like he decided to make you his own economic recovery plan. Very enterprising indeed. Most are simple enough diy repairs with a Bently manual and a little time. If it were my car I would do the brakes, bearings, reinspect the AOS and invest the $7600 in a vacation home :D .

Folks,

I am flying over from NJ to San Diego to finalise the purchase of a 2004 turbo convertible - one owner, 43kmi. I would like to know if there's any PPI location that anyone would care to recommend. Thanks!

Black Forest is pretty good. They have been around the block and are reliable.

What about more significant wear on the clutch plate?

Depending on how aggressively you release the clutch, probably the difference between 100k miles on a clutch and 120k miles on a clutch. It will have a minor effect on wear and tear as opposed to really clean heel/toe downshifts. Most clutch wear occurs during launch from a standstill and aggressive upshifts.

I too wrestle with good clean heel/toe downshifts. Old bad habits die hard. I agree with other experienced drivers and instructors. The problem with that "bump" when you release the clutch is not so much damage to the drive train (as long as you avoid over rev) but possible loss of traction and loss of control. That "bump" as the engine revs to match clutch speed unsettles the car a bit as you enter the corner. Release the clutch while driving in a straight line... no harm done. Release the clutch mid corner while your tires are already at their traction limits and you'll take a trip to spin city. Ask me how I know. :rolleyes:

Jake,

As kind of a marketing guy I envision the 2.5spec, 2.9mod, and 3.6mod to be your top sellers both as a complete motor and as a kit. The turbo versions will probably be more of a specialty item. Just one guys opinion who has marketed and sold a lot of stuff over a very long time. Consider these things while you decide how you will invest your valuable time, energy and $$ in the coming year.

Maybe it's time for all us P-car guys to get a man purse. Group buy anyone??? :lol: :lol: :lol: