DANNOV

tryqve Exactly what I'm looking for, thanks for the info.

I'm considering putting a Brey Krause rollbar extension on my 03 Boxster S. Has anyone done this? Does it look dorky? Is it easy to install? Is the optional padding necessary? Will the Windstop fit once the extension is installed? The BK website has instructions for the installation of all their products but there is nothing about the rollbar extension. I know adsach has one - what do you think?

adsach I don't want to belabor the point about heel and toe downshifts but consider the following hypothetical situation. And, remember that it is a given that you believe a heel and toe downshift in a Boxster cannot be done at anything less than a full threshold breaking situation. Suppose you are on a race track in a DE session. You have exited a blind corner in second gear and have just shifted into third gear. Suddenly, there is a slow car in front of you. It is not an emergency situation but you want to position yourself for a clean pass. You are lightly on the brakes but it is not a threshold braking situation. You are merely trying to keep a safe distance but you are closing fast and you are trying to read the mind of the driver in front of you. As you brake your revs drop to below peak torque. You are in the wrong gear for a clean pass. What do you do? I would do a heel and toe downshift with my foot lightly modulating the the brake at less than the threshold level. I make a smooth downshift with my foot never leaving the brake pedal. If the guy in front of me does something stupid I can brake immediately. If he sees me and gives me a point to pass, I am in the correct gear and can immediately get full acceleration, and get by in the shortest time and distance possible. If as you suggest, one cannot do a heel and toe in a Boxster except at threshold braking, you must lift completely off the brake and blip the gas to get a clean, non-jerky downshift. But the car in front is close, do you really want to get completely off the brake? Generally the slow guys are new to all this, I'm not very trusting. You got to be careful here! Suppose you keep you foot lightly modulating the brake and do a downshift without a blip? In the worst situation you unsettle your vehicle at high speed while close to another car. What happens then? Crash. bang! In the best situation you get a big jerk which puts a burden on the expensive mechanics. If you don't downshift, you are stuck in the wrong gear. This makes it harder to pass if you are running out of track. Also, you are probably set up wrong for the next corner. My point is: if you can only do a heel and toe downshift at threshold braking, you lack flexibility for situation where a downshift is necessary at something less than the threshold. In DE events and racing those situations occur quite often. I want the flexibility to do a clean and smooth downshift in any situation, regardless of speed, and I don't want to unsettle the car in the process. Everything happens very, very quickly on the track. The downshift is done without thinking, it is instinct. You have to be able to do a clean (non-jerky) downshift in any situation and at any speed, and it is comforting to be able to brake at the same time, and comforting to know that what you do will not unsettle the car at high speed. Adsach, as an aside - I notice that your car has a Brey Krause rollbar extension. I want to do a posting shortly about how this extension is installed, any disadvantages or problems, etc. But, I have not yet searched the old postings to see if this has been discussed in the past. If I can't find anything I will put it on the BBS, I would appreciate your views.

adsach I'm sure you know how to heel and toe, and I also know the maneuver, so I don't mean to question your skill. Just before I got your replyl I was driving in stop and go traffic with my 03 Boxster S, on our Edens Expressway here in Chicago, never more than 45 mph, and going down to a complete stop at times. I was in mostly in third gear except when traffic slowed or stopped. As the car in front of me slowed I got on the brake gently, maintained brake pressure and slowed, then I rolled my foot to the gas pedal, blipped and downshifted into second. A nice smooth downshift, no jerking. But I was no where near threshold braking and was on the brake the whole time. When I got home and read your reply, I thought to myself, what is this guy talking about , it is easy to heel and toe in traffic at low speeds, I just did it for 45 minutes in heavy traffic, and while it was not particularily enjoyable, it was good practice. You say there is no such thing as a half pressure heel and toe, indicating that it is not possible. I disagree with that. At the Skip Barber school at Road America 10 years ago, I recall a fair amount of low speed (30 mph) practice in the Formula Fords on braking, maintaining brake pressure, blipping and downshifting. from second to first (these cars had a high first gear), at far less than threshold braking. It was only afer you mastered the low speed stuff that you tried it at threshold braking levels. You mention that there is a "large difference in pedal height between moderate braking and threshold braking". I agree that there is a difference but it is not LARGE. Certainly not so large that at heel and toe maneuver is not possible at moderate or even low braking pressure, at least that is not true in my car. I suspect that what we have here is a situation much like I experienced with my 1985 911. My gas pedal was too low, and the heel and toe maneuver was difficult, though not impossible. I mentioned this to other 911 owners but they had no similar problem. I thought perhaps it was me that was the problem. And then I drove someone else's 911 and discovered the pedal heights were much better positioned than on my car. On the Pelican 911 site there are many discussion about this topic. My conclusion is that sometimes the same type of car can have a brake and gas pedal positioned at different heights. You have an 2002 S and I have an 2003 S. There should not be a difference but I wonder. Let me leave you with a quote: "There isn't a successful race driver in the world who doesn't heel and toe on every downshift. And, again, it can be practiced every day on the street. In fact, its the only way to drive all the time." This is on page 22 of Speed Secrets - Professional Race Driving Techniques, by Ross Bentley. Bentley wrote a series of three books on race driving in the late 1990's and he has a great knack for explaining how to drive fast in an easy to understand manner. They are great reading. All this stuff we are talking about is there plus a whole lot more. Bentley's books are some of the best I have encountered on high speed driving, he may not be a Michael Schumacher but he knows his stuff and more importantly he how to explain it.

Adsach I don't agree. If the pedals are set properly you should be able to heel and toe even at low speeds. The way to thoroughly learn this technique, is to do it all the time, even on the street, even in traffic. That is the only way in which it becomes an automatic action done without even a split second of thought. On the track there is not enough time to think about more than a few things at a time, and one of them should not be how to heel and toe. As for putting a piece of wood on the gas pedal in order to raise it, this is not my original idea. It was recommended by Henry Watts in his book "Secrets of Solo Racing", page 50. In his book, Watts talks about the relationship of brake and gas pedal heights and he concludes that in some cars the pedal heights are not set properly for the heel and toe maneuver. I do a lot of driving in Europe in rental cars (they are all manual trans) and I have encountered huge differences in pedal heights in various cars. In some, the heel and toe maneuver was practically impossible, and these are usually underpowered cars with small engines that must be downshifted constantly. I would also suggest that as one masters the heel and toe technique, one should also add double clutching. When Sinbad was at the Skip Barber school the only way to get a smooth downshift in those non-syncro Formula Fords was to do a heel and toe combined with a double clutch. A lot of people say the double clutch is not necessary on a modern car with a full syncro gearbox. They are welcome to their opinions and are probably right, but I have been doing heel and toe double clutch downshifts all the time - I mean always, every downshift - for the last 40 years. I have never had to replace a clutch or repair a gearbox on any car I have ever owned, and I generally keep my cars for a very long time (had my 911 for 15 years and my Vette is 9 years old).

Sinbad If you learned the heel and toe technique at Skip Barber you were probably in the Formula Ford type cars. If I remember correctly, in those cars the brake pedal was rather small. That made it easier to fully apply the brakes with only a portion of your right foot, and to blip the gas with the right side of your foot. The Boxster has a much wider brake pedal, so don't use all the pedal as you would in normal braking. When I do a heel and toe downshift in my Boxster or my Vette, my right foot is about 1/2 on the right side of the brake pedal. The other 1/2 of my right foot rotated down to blip the gas. On my cars I have done so many throttle blips on downshifts that the right side of the brake pedal is noticeably worn. Every downshift gets a blip from me whether on the track or on the street! If your gas pedal is too low relative to the brake pedal you may find that this half and half technique will not work well because you may not be able to get effective force on the brake. If that is the case then it gets a bit hairy in braking down from high speed, i.e. foot slips off the brake. If you think that the gas pedal is too low, try this experiment. Cut a piece of 1/2" plywood in the same shape as the gas pedal. Go some place really safe and deserted. Attach the plywood to gas pedal with racer tape. Try some low speed heel and toe maneuvers. If that solves the problem then you know that the gas pedal is too low, and it is probably not a fault with your technique. Then, you have to figure out how to raise the level of the gas pedal. I suspect that the level of the gas pedal can be adjusted just like on the 911, but I can't say that for sure. If not, then, you need one of those thick aluminium pedal covers. I have noticed a few postings on the web about problems in contacting Wings Engineering. They may be out of business.

I put Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires on my wife's 1995 Corvette. This is classified as a Ultra Hi-Performance All Season tire. You can check out the specs and reviews on the TireRack website. It ranks fairly highly in just about every category. This was the only ultra hi-performance all season tire I could find when I started looking for a replacement tire a few years ago. I my opinion these are great all-around tires. Work very well in the wet and are OK in light snow and cold, but also have hi-performance characteristics. I have never seen these tires on a Porsche but I see no reason why they would not work. I wanted a hi-performance tire that that would be useable in the light snow and cold that we get here in Chicago, as well as being a good rain tire. They fit the bill for me.

Sinbad On my 1985 911, I eventually went to an adjustable accelerator pedal made by Wings Engineering of Ridgefield CT. It clamps onto the existing pedal and has 6 way fine tuning in 3 axes. It was easy to install (no drilling) and I liked the full adjustability. It cost about $110 and comes in a standard width and extra wide version. In the past, Wings Engineering has advertised in Porsche Panorama but I checked the last few issues and could not find the ad. Unfortunately, they do not have a website. If you do a Google search on: "Wings Engineering" and Porsche, you will find some reviews, comments and perhaps a source to purchase.

Sinbad I use the same heel and toe technique as you described, in my 2003 Boxster S. I have no problem in the 986 and always use the technique on the track when braking and shifting down from high rates of speed. Once you learn the technique it comes natural and I also do it on the street along with a double clutch downshift. That is probably unnecessary in the 986 but it helps to practice, and is easier on the clutch and gearbox. I move my knee a bit to the right as I roll the right side of my foot to blip the accelerator. I am only 5'8", if you are taller perhaps that may be why you experience a problem with the center console. On my old 911, the accelerator was too low in relation to the brake pedal and as I rolled my foot to blip the accelerator, sometimes my foot would slip off the brake. In some high speed situations that got scary! On the 911 you could adjust the height of the accelerator pedal, that solved my problem. I suspect that if you could get the gas pedal higher it would solve your problem. I don't think you need more area on the gas pedal, you just have to get it higher relative to the brake pedal. I wonder if the 986 pedal is adjustable like the 911?

Everyone should look at the Porsche site for a complete view of the new Boxster, see the link noted above by Geoff. I agree that the the car would have been much better looking in front if the fog and turn signals were out of the grille area. They should be above the grille as on the new 997. But I can see why Porsche did it this way, they didn't want the new Boxster and the 997 to look the same from the front. So it looks different than the 997 but it is less than satisfactory, kind of like an add-on that they had to put somewhere. Another alternative would have been to continue to use the existing all-in-one light assembly, and have the two big air scoops on the front, like the 996 Turbo or the GT2 or GT3. Also, the diagonal body seam in front of the rear tail lights is not a clean look as in the earlier Boxsters. Notice that the roll bars seem a bit higher and thicker. It is hard to tell from the photo, but I hope that the new look is not as massive as on the BMW Z4. But the good stuff is more HP and ceramic composite brakes as an option on the "S". I wonder how much $ that will run. I guess my final conclusion is that my 2003 Boxster S looks at least as good as the new version. I'm glad I did not wait.

I just finished the job of installing the rear speakers on my 2003 Boxster S (with the M490 external amp and door speaker option, and CDR23 radio). It is really a rather simple job provided you pay attention to some of the tips mentioned in this and other threads, i.e. removing storage compartment, installing grilles, attaching the small plastic clip to rollbar and finding the holes through the firewall, etc. Tool Pants provided a few valuable tips that really helped to simplify the job. The instructions provided with the kit just give a broad outline of what to do but a lot of the seemingly simple stuff is not covered in detail. It is the simple stuff (attaching rollbar clip, installing grilles or finding the holes in firewall) that can often result in time consuming problems. I have the fade set at about 4 and the sound is very much improved. This is a worthwhile modification, and even though I did it in several small steps over a few weeks, it can easily be done in 4 or 5 hours. I recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their current sound system.

I'm not sure the windstop is worth the money ($300+) or the effort to build one. I find that it is probably an unnecessary accessory. Usually I forget to put the thing on and I don't much notice the difference. I haven't been over about 70 mph with the top down so I can't judge it effectiveness at higher speeds, but I have my doubts.

Just completed this stage yesterday. The grommet that Tool Pants pointed out is not under the battery. My mistake. If you move the battery about 3" to the passenger side ( no need to disconnect battery) there is a rubber grommet about 1.5" in diameter behind the battery on the vertical firewall bulkhead. Put the speaker cable through this hole. The vertical bulkhead in front of battery has a similar grommet about 12" over on the passenger side. Go through that hole and you can run the speaker wire to the amp.

her 986 Interesting idea, but a Boxster S has larger diameter brakes than the normal variety. I doubt if a 16" wheel could fit, especially on the front. Also, I have looked at the specs for various 16" tires and the diameter seems to be an inch or more smaller than my existing tires, i.e. the diameter varies with the aspect ratio. What I really need is a 17" tire with about a 185 width and 25" diameter, mounted on a 6" rim. That would probably be narrow enough to fit in the trunk (3" wider than the skinny spare) and the diameter is close enough to the existing tires. Unfortunately, no one seems to make a 17" tire less than 205. I'm beginning to think that the skinny spare is probably my only alternative. Guess I'll just have to live with it.

adsach the skinny spare has a max speed of 50 mph per Porsche, not the "legal speed" you mentioned. To be safe, I would probably run under that 50 mph speed. If I had a simple flat my first inclination would be to repair it on the spot with a plug, using the spare to only get me to some safe spot for repair. My big concern is a cut tire or a blowout that cannot be repaired. I had a bad experience in central Nebraska trying to find a replacement for a blown out 17" tire on my wife's 95 Vette. When you get away from major population centers it can be very difficult to find a 285/40-17 tire, or even a reasonable substitute. I had to limp along for several hours at under 50 mph to find a replacement. The only tire I could find was some kind of 17" truck tire, which I soon discovered was of a different rolling diameter than the stock Vette tire. This caused the Vette's traction control to go nuts because it was detecting a wheel that was rolling at a different rpm than the other three That problem was solved by shutting down the TC. But the car was impossible to drive as it had a slight lean that made it unstable at any reasonable highway speed. It took me another two days (one day was a Sunday and nothing was open) to find a proper sized tire from a Chevy dealer. This was a real PITA experience and destroyed my vacation. Last fall I was driving my Boxster up in the upper peninsula of Northern Michigan. I was a bit haunted about what I would do if I destroyed another tire or if I broke down way out in the northwoods. That trip was 1200 miles and I saw one Porsche when I left Chicago and did not see another for 1000 miles! When you get away from the big cities; help, parts and tires for these cars can be hard to find. The alternative is to have it hauled to the nearest Porsche dealer and continue via rental car. A real spare tire for the Boxster would be nice. I don't want to relive another bad experience.

I do some long trips in my 03 Boxster S. I have the stock 205/50-17 fronts and 255/40-17 rears. I have stock Bridgestone SO2-A tires. The diameter of the 205 is 25.2" and the 255 is 24.8", this is data from the Tire Rack site. I am not comfortable with the stock 105/95 17 temporary spare tire. Has anyone attempted to use a 205/50-17 as a spare tire in place of the dinky temporary spare provided by Porsche? I'm thinking that perhaps I can carry a 205/50 17 as a spare. Its diameter is slightly bigger than the normal 255 rear (25.2" vs 24.8") but in an emergency it probably won't make that much of a difference if put on the rear. Or, will it? In the worst case it could confuse the PSM system. Could extended driving with such a misfit tire put an overload on the PSM system? Also, will a full sized 205 fit where the spare tire sits? The spare is a 105, about 4" in width. The 205 is about 8.0" or twice the width. When I eyeball it, it seems to fit. Has anyone ever done this? I'm willing to give up a bit of trunk space for a real spare tire. When traveling, if I have a problem, I just want to put on the spare and feel that I can drive safely at 65 mph for as long as it takes (perhaps days) to get a repair. Also, 205 is the narrowest 17" tire I could find, and there are a lot of choices. Does anyone make a 17" narrower than 205? I can't find one on the Tire Rack site. Any ideas about a cheap 17" wheel? Tire Rack has one for about $200. Are there any cheapo wheels that would work?

Thank you. Tool Pants I never would have looked under the battery.

Tool Pants Thanks for the tip. It is indeed very difficult (yes, impossible) to attach that clip to the square hole in the rollbar, but that is true only when the top is fully up or fully down. If the top is partially open and the rear panel covering the seat belt is removed, it is no problem getting into that area from the front. I attached the clip and connected the harness with no difficulty, probably in 15 sec. You really don't have to put the top in the service position to get at the attachment point and make the harness connection. The biggest problem I have had so far was something I thought would be very easy. It was fitting the speaker grilles into the holes in the storage compartment. I didn't want to use excessive force for fear of cracking the grille (a thin piece of plastic), but pressing a small block of wood against the outer end gives you the leverage to snap them into place. I then used epoxy to make sure they do not pop out. My next job is to find a hole in the firewall to run the small harness to my amp. I have not looked at that yet but it should be straight forward.

I'm in the process of installing rear speakers on my 2003 Boxster S. This requires removal of the rear storage compartment. The car manual has instructions for a procedure whereby you partially open the top, unhook various parts and take the storage compartment out the rear. I opened the top partially to do a check to see how this would work and I came to the conclusion that there is a better and simpler way. When you partially open the top, just take it back gradually in small steps and watch the space between the top of the rollbars and the convertible top edge. There is a point where that space is wide enough for you to bring the storage compartment over the rollbars and remove from the front. The way suggested by the factory is simple enough but I am apprehensive about unhooking anything related to the convertible top, it seems we get a fair number of posts about problems raising and lowering the top, and I don't need those problems.

I had my Boxster S on the track this last weekend. It was a bit wet and the PSM was a lifesaver. It is a great option to have, not just for wet weather but also if you just get careless and "overcook" it in a corner. either wet or dry. I live in Chicago and the heated seats are nice but not really necessary. I seldom use the heated seats in winter in the Boxster or in my VW Passat. The big problem I have with heated seats in the Boxster is that it is too easy to hit the switch with your elbow. That happened several times last summer. I just removed the fuse and never put it back. Incidently, on the track you really have to do something extreme to automatically activate the PSM. It only comes into play when when you go a bit over the edge. I am a fairly smooth driver on the track and the only time PSM kicks in the dry is when I accelerate too much and too early coming out of a corner, or if I enter a carousel type corner too hot. It is a nice warning that gets me to smooth out my cornering technique. It is definitely a good option to have.