LuisR

it's a friend's guage. you can get them from smart racing products. you can also make one with a level from home depot, but it's kind of a pain. as for toe, i do have toe plates that i use from time to time, but my alignment guy only charges me $60 for a four-wheel, so i mostly just take it to him. changing the toe up front is easy. measuring it in accurate relationship to everything else is tougher. BTW, everyone says that changing the camber on these cars also changes the toe, and it does. i've found, though, that the front toe is particularly insensitive to camber changes, so i can change my front camber a lot without changing front toe much. for me, i have it set up so that when i set the camber to my track setting, front toe goes to zero. when i set it to street, toe goes in slightly, which is desirable for street driving. Thanks, So if I change the car setup to max neg camber (three bolts all the way in) what toe value would I have??? I just want to know if I would be ok by just changing the camber to max neg for autocross and then when I get back home I switch it back to street setup.

Insite, What device are you using to measure camber?? Can you let me know where did you get it from? thanks, Also, is it hard to change the toe on the front by yourself???

The main reason why I went for the catbypass pipes was because since I had the car up on jacks, I might as well replace them!!! The Boxsters (US Market) came with 4 catalic converters!!!! 2 are mounted on the header (which probably restricts the flow like hell!!!!!) and the secondary cats are on a separate pipe that connects the header to the muffler. By removing or replacing the secondary cats there are no emission effects or lights that will come on, these are an additional cat system, so you will be fine. I guess I feel a little more responsive throttle and maybe sound!!! The only complaint I have about the Fabspeed by-pass pipes is that the driver side pipe does not align perfectly with the muffler once installed. Fabspeed include s an extension pipe in their kit so that you can play with tolerances and get it close but the driver side was OFF by 1/2" (that is a lot!), so during installation I had to bend one of those extension pipes in order to fit the muffler square! I will call them to have them address this issue. My next upgrade will be replacing the headers, but I will do that next year most likely. LRR

Sounds sweet Luis. :thumbup: Thanks, and to tell the you the truth, I only went up to 4000 rpm !!!! I didn't go beyond that because the engine was not warm enough!!!! So it should sound a lot more at 6000rpm!

ok, here it goes!!!! enjoy!!!

The tubes used are Stainless Steel T304, 1" (OD) 16 gage. I used my original exhaust and replaced the tip. (see pic). I need to check with my friend about the welding, I believe is MIG or TIG, something like that. I will post a sound clip the weekend!!!

Well, it is done!!!! and boy, does it look nice or what?? and the sound, is superb!!! I have a friend who has an '04 911 Special Edition with the Porsche Sport Exhaust system and let me tell you that the sound is identical!!! I have a couple of sound clips, I will upload soon. Enjoy the pics!!! Let me know if you would like to make this mod! The car is still sitting in my garage waiting for the rear bumper diffuser to be installed, so I have not test the car on roads and highways. I only started her up and listen to the symphony!!!! As soon as I get her on the road, I will let you know if the interior noise changed. LRR

I did ask this questiosn to the guy who is selling the wheels, but I wanted to get more than just one opition. He tells me that he loves the Kumhos for their quality and price range. Thanks again for all the info on the RA-1, I didn't know they were that good.

Since you are getting a set of track wheel you will want R-Compounds. 235/40 and 255/40 Toyo RA-1's are the tires of choice for Boxster stock 17". My brother and I have used these for the last 80 or so DE days and many AXs. (Almost everyone else in our region use the same.) Just to preempt your next question. Yes 235s will fit 17"x7" rims. The extra rubber helps dial out understeer esp. at corner exit. How about Kumho Vito Racers!!!! The wheels that I am getting come with a used set of Kumhos Vito racers. They are pretty much worn down but I should be able to go through them for the summer. I am also planing on driving to events with these tires!!!! I can't afford to have a trailer or a second car to bring the track tires separately. Would i be fine by driving the Kumhos or RA-1's on the street??? Will I damage the tires by driving them on the street??? LRR

i know what you are saying and all, but i am at a point where I am looking for a used set of wheels, therefore I won't lose anything by trying to get the best overall wheel-tire set. i don't want to buy a set of wheels to then find out that I could have bought something better!!!!! i am not saying that by getting lighter wheels i will become a faster driver, no, I am just trying to spend my money wisely!!! i have found a used 17" set from a standard boxster (7" wide fronts and 8.5" wide rears). i know that a wider front wheel will give me better tire selection but I think is a good deal.

Thanks Toby, you seem to be the only one around here that knows something about OEM porsche wheel weight. I am just trying to get a used set of OEM 17" wheels for autocrossing and occasional DE event, and since there are a hand full of Porsche OEM 17" from the 993 and Boxster, I want to get the lightest set possible. LRR

ok, I definitely recommend removing the rear bumper if you want to remove your muffler to make your life much easier. Also, what the hell is the wire on the pics for???? is that to hang myself if I forget how to put everything back??? :thumbup:

Are the 986 Boxster MAXFLO 2ndary Catbypass Pipes offered by Fabspeed any good??? I have my 2002 Boxster S on jackstands because i am working on a PSE system for my car and since I have the car up in the air I was considering replacing the 2ndary Cats with this kit from Fabspeed. I know I am not going to gain 100HP but overall does it help on throttle response??? Anyone here done this mod???? Thanks LRR

Does any body know the weight for most of the 17" wheels for porsche. I am looking for a used set of wheels for Autox and track DE and i want to get the lightest OEM set available. I would preffer the 7.5" front and 9" rear for better car control. If you don't know the weight but know where I could find it let me know. Thanks LRR

Does any body know the weight for most of the 17" wheels for porsche. I am looking for a used set of wheels for Autox and track DE and i want to get the lightest OEM set available. I would preffer the 7.5" front and 9" rear for better car control. If you don't know the weight but know where I could find it let me know. Thanks LRR

I know this has been talked over and over, but I am a new autocross driver and will be doing 2 or 3 track visits a year. I don't want to use the wheels that came with the car since they got scratched on my first autocross event. I am looking for a used set of wheels from boxsters or 993/996. I will preffer not to go with the 10" rears to avoid using thick spaces. So, I have 17" and 18" wheels offered on ebay. Which ones will be better in terms of performance??? I do know that tires will be cheaper in 17' size but since I am not autocrossing and tracking every single weekend I will not going through that many tires anyway. So, what do you guys think I should go for?? What is your experience to those that have gone either way? Thanks LRR

I went to my first AutoX yesterday and boy.. did I have fun!!! I have the OEM 18" wheels and I was considering getting a set of R rated tires and maybe a used set of wheels so that I don't damage the originals. I have seen many different Boxsters on track with 17 and 18 inch wheels. i know that by changing to 17" wheels the tire profile will increase, so is this better for track/AutoX??? What are your thoughts?? Thanks LRR

I have 47k on mine so its probably time to change anyhow, what do you guys recommend for replacement? OEM Porsche or any other German aftermarket clutch system. I am not tracking the car right now, but I will be doing maybe a hand full of autoX session this year and maybe next year i will do 2 or 3 track events (not racing!!!!, just driving on the track "Seat time"). Any upgrades I should be considering??? I was told that the '03 Boxster S has a different flywheel that the '02. Is this true??? Would it be worth it to change my flywheel for the '03 flywheel??? Thanks LRR

I have a 2002 Boxster S (US spec) and I have noticed how my clutch is a lot harder than my friends '03 Boxster S. What causes the clutch pedal to be so hard on earlier Boxsters. Can I change my clutch to the '03 spec ??? I have also driven a friends' '04 Special Edition 911 and his clutch is more softer than his '03 Boxster. Why is that??? Does anybody experience this??? or is it only me??? Thanks

from a balance perspective, increaing the stiffness of a swaybar will reduce the grip limit of that axle relative to the other. so, if you increase the front sway, the front tires will slip sooner, hence increased understeer. increase the rear sway, the rear tires slip sooner, so DECREASED understeer. to an extent, the loss in grip can be regained by manipulating tire pressures. so, you want thicker sways because they reduce body roll, improve transient response and high speed stability. you can then reduce tire pressures slightly to increase grip. if you go too thick on the sways, you lose your independant suspension (one side is linked to the other). this results in poor performance over rough or bumpy surfaces. it also results in unpredictable tire breakaway at the limit. since sways are so easy to change, a lot of people try to stiffen the car using this route, which is fine to an extent. often they go overboard and ruin the handling of their cars; they might feel stiff and crisp, but driven at the limit, they are unpredictable and darty. ideally, roll stiffness should be controlled by springs and dampers, then supplemented and fine tuned for balance by using the sways. the factory sways on the box are tuned to heavily favor understeer and comfort. the M030 option dials out some of this understeer (desirable for the enthusiast) and adds some roll resistance at the expense of comfort. the added roll stiffness helps vehicle control at high speeds and helps the vehicle change direction better (i.e. quick left to quick right) by limiting motion caused by lateral weight transfer. this comes at a sacrifice to ultimate grip. with the M030 options, the best set of comprimises, in my opinion, come with the S front bar and the base rear bar with slight changes to tire pressures. configured this way, i am actually achieving higher grip limits with the thicker sways because of the lower tire pressures, but the car is much more controllable at speed. it will break away more sharply, though, than the stock setup. Thanks Insite for your replay, that clarifies my confusion. One another note, remember that you are running a 911 staggered wheels setup. Not all of us Boxster owners out there have this setup. I have the factory 18" wheels for the Boxster with 225 in front and 265 in rear. Would you still recommend the Base M030 ROW sway bar for the rear axle??? By you having the wider rear tires, you will definitely experience more understeer then us. What are your thought on this???? Thanks

I also have a 2002 Boxster S (US spec) and I have noticed how my clutch is a lot harder than my friends '03 Boxster S. What causes the clutch pedal to be so hard on earlier Boxsters. Can I change my clutch to the '03 spec ??? Thanks Anyone!!!!!! Anybody here knows the difference between the clutch system on 2002 - 2004 Boxsters??????

I just called Porsche and that kit will take me back $2,200 not installed!!!! Ouch!!!

not trying to make it oversteer; trying to make it understeer less. porsche dials more understeer into the S M030 package to create a safety margin for the larger motor breaking the tires loose. to good drivers, this understeer is not desirable. i have run the car with the following combos: base front w/ M030 base rear S front w/ base rear S front w/ M030 base rear M030 S front w/ M030 base rear the last combo, in my opinion, is most preferable. the M030 base front sway is exactly the same as the S (non M030) front sway, btw, so the base M030 package really includes the base S front sway and the M030 base rear sway. handling was good here, but a tad darty at speed for me. using the M030 S up front and M030 base in rear w/ adjusted tire pressures to me feels optimal. So, you are saying that by using a stiffer sway bar in the rear makes the car will experience less understeer??? Could we also say that if we use a stiffer sway bar up front, will the car tend to oversteer more??? I have never had this concept clear. Thanks

Thanks, I am actually going to install the same exhaust back on the car. I just need to remove it so that I can install two by-pass SS tubes to simulate the Tequipment exhaust. See pictures from Germany maker below. I saw this on ebay but I don't want to pay over $1000 for something that can be done here in the states. i already found the tube and a good welder. The kicker here in comparison to other countries is the freaking labor. This guy quoted me 5 hrs to do this work, which equates to $300, plus $120 in material. So total is $420. It is still a lot less than most after market systems. I keep you guys posted with the results.

thanks to all for the help provided. I got another question, i want to remove the exhaust and I want to do it if possible without removing the rear bumper. I know some of you will say that this is easy but I rather not remove it if I don't have to. So I have attached a picture of an OEM muffler with some elliptical and rectangular figures. I am assuming that to remove the muffler I will need to loosen the bolts enclosed in the elliptical shape and how about what is inside the two squares??? Do i have to unbolt anything there??? or that has no bolts??? Thanks,