adsach

I removed the airbag stickers in place--- denatured alcohol in a cotton swap until it started to loosen then slooooowwwwllllyyyy pull up on one end while wiping under the sticker with the swab. I put rags on my seat for protection against drips.

hmmm... When I adjust my middle strap, it is loose enough that I can push it in front of the seat cushion when not in use.

I prefer the 6-point sub belts that come together in a V or Y shape - the ones where the belts come together in a metal plate seem like they should help protect the family jewels by keeping the straps apart, but they end up being a pain in the thighs.

18,500 isn't much on a clutch, I would expect 50,000+ miles. If half of those miles were by someone else it may be a clutch issue, but I suspect this is more of a cable/spring/clutch fluid/linkage type issue. I think it is more likely you deglazed your street pads and they are now giving you applause :clapping: for a job well done. As you fall back into your gentler street driving ways, they will become quieter in the next week or so. IMO the S pads are sufficient for DE at the track. If I were running a 2 hour Enduro, I would switch to Pagid Orange or Blue - mostly because I would want to make sure I didn't totally wear out my brake pads. Because of the high pedal effort for track pads when cold, I consider them too dangerous for everyday use on the street. Even if you remember to allow long braking zones 97% of the time, the time you forget could cause an avoidable crash. Plus they squeak wore than stock pads. Somewhere around 10-15 hours a year of aggressive on track driving time, the track brake pads start to make sense because of better wear characteristics. When/if I reach that point, I plan to swap in the track pads before tech inspection, and reinstall street pads after I get home from the track. If you leave off the wear sensors and install speed bleeders, replacing pads takes only 10-15 minutes per wheel.

Brakes I have 02S. I only had brake fade once on stock 1.5 yr old brake fluid. I think the brakes are terrific and adequate for my track needs. Some folks think the S brakes need upgrading. I think it depends a lot on the driver. My advice would be to upgrade the brake fluid (I use ATE blue for the color change when replacing the fluid). If you experience brake fade on the track, and you feel this may become an issue, THEN I would consider a brake upgrade to the 996/S brakes on the front only. 16" wheels will no longer be an option after a 996/S brake upgrade.

I had this on my 6-speed new from factory. After 6 months I would find myself grinding gears once a month shifting into 2nd. After 11 months and 11,600 miles it jumped out of 2nd gear twice and the dealer replaced the transmission under warrantee. Replacement transmission has not had any trouble in 30,000 more miles. Under extreme cold conditions (1st 3 blocks at 20F degrees) sometimes feels balky going into ANY gear. Your experience may vary - just wanted to share the decline and fall of my original transmission.

I recently purchased a sony personal CD player that plays MP3 and "ATRAC" compressed MP3 burned on your PC for "490 songs per CD". The technology is evloving quickly in a good way.

Using the stock seats, I run a two strap anti-sub belt side-to-side around the base of the seat. I tried having the sub belt come around the front of the seat, and I tried sitting on the sub belts with my thighs, but wrapping around the seat with the correct amount of slack seems to offer the best pull-down performance. This is an imperfect solution and requires frequent inspection to make sure the belt is not getting cut or chaffed. It is also time consuming to properly adjust upon install. IMHO, you really need an aftermarket racing seat for optimum harness fit and protection. IMHO 4-point sucks compared to 5/6-point. You just can't keep the lap belt low and the shoulder belts tight without a sub-belt.

Yeah - but considering Eric makes the first aftermarket prodcut many Porsche owner's buy, this new offering by Bumper Plugs is relatively big news :D

Re: Lumbar support I have heard of guys shoving a mouse pad under the seat cushions. For really long drives, I straighten/recline the seatback about an inch once every hour or two. According to track driving schools, most drivers choose too much recline for optimum comfort and control.

I'm trying to figure out how they get the spare tire in the REAR trunk in Brazil - I did see an extra depression into the top folding area in one of the photos.

This information I gave before is not correct - reading the details, there is a seat base tilt adjustment on a couple of seat upgrades, All versions of the seats have a reclining adjustment. Now I got to wonder - It appears with the 987, they share the radiators with the 997 Carrera so the book shows NO center radiator for the S unless it is an S with the Tiptronic transmission. Yet there is a center opening in the S bumper. I understand the branding reason to have a center opening, but it seems like a fairly high drag penalty to pay for appearances. I never use my dipstick so I won't miss it - I check the electronic a few times a week. Sport Chrono sounds like it would be a nice toy, as well as helping clear out most of the PSM complaints. I wonder how hard it would be to keep the features and loose the clock, a big clock on a separate dash binnacle is way too retro looking for my taste. I kinda miss the old fashioned 030 - though PASM seems like a good idea. Remapping throttle response to make things feel better seems more like a sales cheat than an advantage. Overall, a lot of the 986 complaints seem to ave been addressed. Footwell lighting, PSM aggressiveness, low roll hoops, brake pedal high vs throttle, shallow fenders, better exhaust, redesigned intake snorkel, removing the alarm on the center console, new cup holders, etc. It seems Porsche has done a good job responding to the demands of their market. Styling, the 987 seems to be a mixed bag(I like the lights and dislike the new body lines and interior changes). The performance and functional improvements seem to be solidly in the right direction.

987 Manuals online (at PPBB) 987 Order Guide http://www.ppbb.com/public/2005_987Boxster_US.pdf 987 Product information http://www.ppbb.com/public/ch_1-3_usa_porsche-boxster.pdf http://www.ppbb.com/public/ch_4-6_usa_porsche-boxster.pdf http://www.ppbb.com/public/ch_7-9_usa_porsche-boxster.pdf http://www.ppbb.com/public/ch_10-16_usa_porsche-boxster.pdf I've just started reading them - one surprise, the standard and sport seats have no recline adjustment.

Looks like pipe insulation to me - as in house water pipe.

My that header & muffler setup looks fine. If it fits the 986, and the 987 engine performance boost is just intake/exhaust/ECU bits, 987 exhaust could be a real popular 986 upgrade. As you can tell - I don't have inside knowledge, just speculating.

Thanks for the pics and story - good work!

Brad Yep - that's pretty much what I went through on my custom ordered car. 2000 miles gives you time to play with the windows, wind screen, a real good wax job, the right wheel brush to clean your wheels, tire pressures, choosing between 9-3 and 10-2 driving position, heel-toe downshifts, etc. BTW what options are you ordering? (and you better say heated seats!)

HEDDOK - The first time you punch it at 5000RPM in 2nd gear, it will feel way better than it did cruising up to 100MPH in 6th gear. Prior to the Boxster, I took my 94 Nissan Sentra (previous car) up to redline in 5th, and tried to upshift into a non-existant 6th gear. The first time I made that 5th gear redline shift to 6th in the Boxster was a very satisfying moment :D

shirt answer: 4200 RPM looks to be about 103MPH. long answer: The gearing and final drive in the 987 is supposed to be different than the 986. The November Porsche Panorama has a transmission diagram for the 987S on Page 19, that shows a 6-speed with top speeds in each gear of 38-68-100-124-145-(174) In my 02 owners manual, the 986S diagrams show top speeds of 40-68-99-122-145-(176) These numbers are so close that I am not trusting these diagrams in PANO, especially since they have the 6-speed diagram labelled as a 5-speed manual. :oops: Either that, or there is no new transmission, just new shift linkage. My best guess is, about the same as the 986S: 4200 RPM will be 103MPH. What your speedometer will say: My observed speedometer readings are 42-72-100-125-150-(?) Given the chronically optimistic speedometers on past German cars, 4200 RPM on a 987S will yield a speedometer reading of about 107MPH.

HEDDOK - I agree. I edited my previous post from 1000 miles to 2000 miles, this was the recommendation on page 14 of my owners manual and I followed it as well as possible. I resisted the urge to red line with only 2-3 exceptions. My book says 2000 miles/3000km. Some folks claim their books say 1000 miles. Some europeans have claimed their books say 2000 km.

My S has been a daily driver for 2.5 years, ordered new in 2002. I did a 2000 mile break-in, and finished the 2000 miles on the way to my first day at the track (driver's Education). During the break-in, I kept the revs mostly between 2000 and 4000 RPM. Every morning, I start the car I do a mini-break-in. I keep the revs mostly 2000-4000 RPM until the temperature gauge shows the engine is warming up. Since I have only a few traffic lights, my tires are fully warm when the engine is warm. At this point, I drive the car any way i want to. I watch the revs - watch them spin! I (almost) redline before every upshift unless I am accelerating slowly in traffic. If I want to have 'power on tap' I have no concern about keeping the engine at 5000 RPM for minutes at a time. At 40,000+ miles, my engine feels strong and I don't feel that she has been abused. I try to avoid letting the RPMs get too low on the freeway, and find that my mileage is best cruising at around 2800 RPM - although my best top down mileage ever was cruising at around 4500 RPM in 6th gear. I believe the basic advice 'drive it like you stole it' is a great way to enjoy a Boxster. I only temper that with a decision to wait until after the engine is warm. Fortunately for me, I hit the country road section of my commute about 6 blocks after the engine warms up. AdSach ps. Gratuitous advice - Join PCA now and sign up for driver's Ed for Late Summer/Fall. You will probably need to register in the Winter or Spring to reserve weekend track time. I suggest a few months into the ownership experience so that you have 'the feel' for your car on the street before taking her to a track - but you don't want to wait until April to think about it or you will miss the whole track season. If the idea of driving Mont Tremblant sounds even a little tempting, you will LOVE the experience.

I have these for my 17" snow tires. The tires and wheels are a little lighter(and smaller) than my 18" turbo twists - nothing that I would call especially light.

jersey joe Just to double check. Are you talking about fan sounds up near the radiators or a fan sound from the air scoops leading to the engine compartment?

The 18" Pirelli PZeros that came with my car would flat spot overnight - every night. 100 degree lows, 40 degrees lows they would flat spot. My Yokohama ES100 will start to flat spot overnight when it gets below 20 - that is kindof my signal that it is time to go to the winter tires. In a way flat spotting is a good thing - it reminds you that your tires are not yet up to operating temperature. Flat spotting is dependant on tire compound, tire size, ambient temperature and time. I think of it as a tire 'feature' rather than a tire 'problem'

Since this car is new to you, and not in perfect condition, I would spend the $900 for a 30K service. In the long run, having the thorough inspection is probably worth it for your first service. It is better to find problems early than discover them stranded away from town on a 45 degree day. Changing alternator - If this car were still in the US, the alternator would be covered under US warrantee. Ask your dealer to explain why this is not covered. If the answer is not totally convincing, it is reasonable to ask the Porsche Regional rep for an explanation. I'm not from Dubai, so all of the above is based on a US perspective.