ADias

Thanks Paul!

4000 RPM in 5th gear (Tiptronic) is over 110 MPH. Very few places you can do that sustained.

OK. Sustained 80MPH+ (3000RPM+) drives in the West (Nevada, Arizona, etc.) oil temps. No one?

What is the oil temp during extended drives at 4000RPM+ and high ambient temps?

Any idea what the tip-transmission fluid temp is under those same conditions?

No one drives these cars on the road at high-revs?

What is the oil temp during extended drives at 4000RPM+ and high ambient temps?

Any idea what the tip-transmission fluid temp is under those same conditions?

Find a body shop with experience working with Porsches. The bumper can be refinished or replaced. Either way it will cost about $1000. Your insurance comprehensive should pay a good chunk of that.

Any idea what kind of failure caused that disaster? Was the car stock? Any electrical mods in the dash?

Have it thoroughly checked. Ideally by a Porsche dealer. Watch out for abuse, namely type 2 overrevs.

Chances are your engine will not last long. Let's see... a TT engine is around $50k or so. Ouch!

I see more and more this type of behavior. Pardon me, but that's not Porsche behavior. It's more old muscle car type behavior.

You say the engine has been driven hard. How hard? If within its operating limits it should be OK. Did you ever have a type 2 overrev?

If you did not abuse the engine you should be fine and PAG will give you a new engine. I would not play dumb, just state what happened. Ultimately the decision lies on the electronic records.

I hope this is not your case, but I read a lot of posts describing serious car abuse. One should be very careful these days about buying these cars used...

I wonder how servo-actuated clutch-driven manuals behave and wear under real-life tough driving conditions.

Say on a long steep hill (uphill that is), with constant stop-and-go traffic. We all know how that is with a conventional manual, but there an experienced driver can manage clutch slippage and wear is kept to a minimum. A conventional torque-converter auto deals with that perfectly, as that situation is seamlessly dealt with by the hydraulics of the torque converter. But what about a servo-actuated clutch? How does it endure that stress?

I'm starting to hear about early failures of BMW's SMG, but do not know the reasons.

I welcome comments from Audi DSG drivers and BMW SMG drivers.

Modifying aero parts is treacherous. PAG spent 40+ years balancing this car. To deviate from their design is asking for trouble.

My rear tires got down to the tread bars and I noticed that the wear was most on the center of the tires. I thought that meant over-inflation, and since I ran on 33PSI front and 41 PSI rears (PAG recommends 36PSI front, 4 PSI rear for my 996 C4) I thought I should drop those further. Wrong! My tire installer told me today that it is precisely the opposite - the tires were worn in the center due to under-inflation. That has to do with the fact that these tires have short, very stiff, sides (18" wheels), which buckle out when the tire is under-inflated, pulling the patch up, and more so in motion, aided by centrifugal force. This means uneven wear AND a smaller patch, therefore less available gripping surface.

So, there you have it. This is the price to pay to run high performance tires. Want performance and even wear? use the recommended tire pressures. Want more comfort and accept diminished performance? lower the tire pressures (but not by much for safety sake).

In my opinion, installing a nitrous kit on a 911 means you have completely missed the point of what the 911 stands for.

I agree. I'm more and more convinced that true Porsche aficionados are few these days. The car is bought for its image, curb appeal and for some, raw power, to show off on the drag strip - therefore the nitro kit. Those people have no clue of what the car is all about.

Note: this is not an indictment of the original poster, who seems to be an installer, actually said he knows nothing about Porsches, and is doing this for a client. It just occurred to me... his client could go all the way, replace the boxer with a Z06 V8 add a large nitro bottle and drive the car on the drag strip and elsewhere mostly on a straight line. :)

why do you say that?

Porsche boxer engines should not be modified without serious care. By adding nitro you are increasing engine pressure and temperature. Would I do it? No? Should I want more power/torque I would look at PAG's X51 or a RUF or Gemballa mod. At least those have some serious testing behind them.

has anyone done this before that can give me some info?......ive installed plenty of nitrous kits on cars before but i usually work on camaro's and corvettes...... this is for a customer of mine and im having trouble removing the rear bose speaker enclosure.... will this give me access to the engine? any advice will be very helpful....

The speaker removal and install will be the least of the worries... how long will the engine last after a few applications?

I've tried Lexol, Meguiar's, Griot's Garage leather conditioners and was never happy, as they all leave a lot to be desired. They tend to leave a sticky/shiny feel and the leather surface does not feel natural.

To resolve an issue with some fine leather furniture, I came across Advanced Leather Solutions (www.advleather.com ), located in Hayward, CA. They are leather specialists recommended by high-line stores like Roche Bobois. They understand leather and they developed their own leather treatment chemistry.

I started using their leather conditioner-protector SG25 and love it. Very easy to apply (just a little dab applied with a slightly moist cotton rag) and the surfaces come to life, soft, smooth and sticky free. Highly recommended.

bjcarrera: keep us posted on that will you?

I know this much. This is not RMS. It looks like that the bolt near the leak needs to be properly torqued.

Thanks for the update. Yes my 18s are lower profile that the 18s on the 997. I agree with you that the 19s on the 997 are a stupid fad. Walter Röhrl prefers 18s and he is no dummy.

I went from a C2S w/ 19s and PASM to a C2 with 18s and no PASM. C2 has a better ride.

Please note that these are sports cars with controlled suspensions. All imperfections should be felt. PASM Normal should smooth out the more violent jolts. I thought it did that the last time I test drove a 997 CS.

I drive a 996 with 18s, so I know how a 997 w/o PASM and 18s drives. You really thought the CS w/ 19s and PASM (in Normal mode) was a rougher ride around uneven pavement? Can you elaborate a bit more? what sort of pavement? what sort of ride?

Stiff suspended sports cars take a pounding on Bay Area roads. What's the consensus of 997 PASM owners in the area? Less pounding? Better handling of road imperfections and expansion joints?

Sorry.. i should havebeen more clear in my original post. I am not launching at 4K...I realize that is a disaster waiting to happen. What I am more referring to is after clutch engagement and straight line driving. Just running it toward redline in any paticular gear. Example-- take off launch at 1KRPM, accelerator depressed afterward to floor, run to 6.5KRPM, (foot off gas, clutch engage, shift, clutch re-engage) now in second. Now clutch feels softer...

Thanks for clarifying it. Do make sure that you only re-accelerate after fully declutching. I can not make sense of it and I would suggest showing it to your dealer.

My rear tires are near the limit at 14k miles and the interesting thing is that maximum wear is in the center of the tread, meaning overinflation. PAG recommends 36PSI front and 44PSI rear for my 996 C4. I think that is way too much for street use. I have used (for the life of these tires) 33PSI front, 41PSI rear, and... evidently, that is still too much. I checked with Loren and he agrees that a lower pressure might make more sense. For street/road use I decided to lower it to 32PSI front and 38 PSI rear. I just made the change and so far I like it. YMMV.

... if I get on it above 4K RPM the clutch pressure seems to get lighter for the rest of the time until parked. Then it goes back to being a little stiffer the next time I drive it. Is this normal?

I assume you are saying that you launch your car at 4kRPM+... well, I hope you'll realize your clutch won't last long (and it does not take many launches).

Porsches IMO are not drag strip straight-liners. I routinely launch below 1kRPM.

Actually, with the 356's, blinking was rather unique since very few cars had a momentary headlight switch on the turn signal stalk.

Yeah, blinking is very much a european thing. Over there it is routinely used for passing, and I think it makes sense. In the US many frown at that and I'm told some cops stop you if they see you blink.