GranburyChuck

Okay, this would have been a stupid question about a year ago. But now that I am paying $4.20/gallon for gas I thought I would go ahead and see what the response will be. Previously, I have had an Acura CL and BMW 328. On both cars I put cold air intakes and cat back exhaust. Each of these modifications netted me about 2 more mpg. For example on my daily, mostly wide open, highway drive of 42 miles each way I initially got 25 mpg in the BMW. Intake got me into 27 mpg. Adding the exhaust boosted that to 29 mpg. These were consistent numbers for my commute. Interestingly when I changed tires to an aggressive "chevron" pattern BG Goodrich F1 I lost 2 mpg. So my question goes out to those who have done these modifications. Do you notice a consistent increase in mpg? I know Izzy has posted on a muffler bypass pipe for $200. If it would net me a mile or so more per gallon that could add up quickly for me. By the way I pretty consistently get 22.5 mpg. I am not sure if the high flow factory replacement filters would gain much but the cold air kit from Evo Motorsport might. Although, both my Acura and BMW had fairly restrictive flow paths for the incoming air. The Porsche does not seem to be (2000 996 C2 Tiptronic with 95k miles). Thanks for all input.

I tried one of those JE. My coffee mug just fell out one day. So got rid of that plus it is in my way. Zoomsan I have had the seat moved all the way forward and this does not contact it. I made sure of that when constructing it. I do give a guy at work a ride home every day and he is about 6'2" and 230 lbs. It limits his left leg a little bit but I don't really care. He just has to suffer so I can have my morning coffee. Danyol I don't have a DIY on this. Basically, I took my coffee mug, wrapped it in aluminum foil. Then use fiberglass to create the base of the cup holder. Then I took the vinyl off of the side piece, cleaned it up very good. Then using foam board and hot melt glue created the bridge between the round cupholder and the side panel of the car. Finally, I used body filler to fill in the gaps and smooth it out. I am at the point now of considering on whether I want it covered in leather to make it look better.

I had a slight grinding/rubbing sound on the front end of my car. Could really only hear it when doing 35 mph because road noise became more prominent at speeds higher than that. Turned out to be the wheel bearing. My car had 80k miles on it at that time. Never noticed the sound really change much when I would weave while driving at 35 mph. I only found this out because I was changing the front suspension and was pulling\pushing on the front\back of the brake rotor. Took it to the dealer to get fixed. Initially, he said it wasn't the problem because he grabbed it by the tire and didn't notice the play. Took the wheel off and was much more prominent. Anyway ~$400 later and no more sound.

Hey GForce, I too live in Texas (Fort Worth). My car was experiencing increasing temperatures recently (just as the weather is getting warm). Usually it rides at the bottom edge of the 0 on 180. When I stop at a traffic light for a couple of minutes it would rise into the far side of the 0 on 180. This is after I had cleaned the radiators. I got a lot of junk out of them but most concerning was the tar that had built up inside the fins. I assume this came from road construction on highways were I live. Temperature was still increasing more than I had expected. So I looked at the radiator fans. One of them was not working. I swapped out ballasts for the fans and this indicated the ballasts were okay. I had to replace fuses several times. I came to the conclusion that my resistor (located under the nose of the car below the radiator) was out. I replaced this ($90 from Park Place Porsche). I could tell my old one was burnt out by doing electrical check. I started the car and noticed a burning smell. Shut the car off and looked under where the resistor was. It was smoking. I reached up to check the fan was free (car off) and burnt a hole in my hand on the resistor. When that cooled I reached under the car to spin the fan blades. Drivers side hard to turn, passenger side spins freely. So it was the fan all along. Ran out of time to do the work myself (this is my daily driver) so I took it to Autobahn Porsche. I think it was around $500 to replace. So my take on it is this: when car is cool reach underneath and spin the fans on both sides just to make sure they spin freely, second clean the radiators (only takes about 2 hours unless you have to spend 3 hours cleaning out every little fin). That is the easy work. Also check the fuses and ballasts (this is if you find your fans are not working). As Loren points out when the temperature of the car is up at operating temps and the A/C is on then the fans should spin at high speed (can hear a definite loud whir sound and placing hands down by intake can feel sucking air).

My 2000 996 is approaching 100k miles and I have recently been getting a P0430 and P1275?(I think can't remember) code. Some of this may be due to fuel (had the problem some time back). Switched gas stations no more problem. anyway I concede that at 100k miles my O2 sensors may be going out and also my cats. So I am looking at options. Obviously the Porsche factory cats are one (expensive) option but I was also considering a 200 cell cat. I have seen Maxspeed Motorsport sell these for $800. Performance Products sells some Dansk 100 cell cats for $1500. I am sure there are others out there but at more expense. Has anyone tried the Maxspeed units (price is acceptable to me but not w/ CELs popping up all the time). Thanks

Can't help you on a 997 but I did the same thing on a 996. My assumption was that most, if not all, aftermarket springs are going to offer some level of lowering. Looks great, for me, terrible daily ride on rough roads. I decided to buy M030 springs (Porsche sport suspension). Car rides very reasonably now and I don't give up that much on cornering. Look is okay but something you will have to live with.

Are you sure factory spec is 32/36? I have 18" Porsche Sport Design wheels and the manual says 36/44. I wouldn't expect your 2003 model to be that different. The 32/36 in my manual is for 17" rims.

The 911 is very particular about it's tires and tire pressure. Check the inside of the rear tires. I thought I had brand new tires on my 2000 model because of the tread I could see from the side. However, first rainstorm revealed a car that handled like on ice. Looked at the inside of the tire and it was bald. Also, could just be that you are noticing tire sounds more now that you have had the car a little while.

Lightfall, Bought a 2000 C2 coupe tiptronic last June. Car had 76k miles on it and it now has 91k and is my daily driver (100 miles every day in highway traffic). No issues at all with rear main seal. Car had a PPI and everything was in order. Still in that time frame I have spent ~$4000 on repairs, that includes me doing some of the work. Little stuff, but still costly. Right now car is at the dealer getting the drivers side radiator fan replaced. I love the car as it always gets looks (aero kit, Gaurds Red) as compared to my neighbors M3 convertible. Personally, I have owned a couple of BMWs and they were very nice cars. Perfect for running around town and doing some road course stuff. Still the Porsche has a unique flavor that I really like. Unfortunately if the little bills keep stacking up it may sour my opinion. As others have mentioned every manufacturer has some issues with certain cars. I have had 3 Acuras and all had transmissions replaced. Nothing is perfect.

I found that my driver side fan is somewhat hard to turn by hand. The passenger basic spins freely when spun by hund (obviously car not on). I bhad replaced the ballast and drivers fan ran for a little while. Then after I got everything buttoned back up started the car again and no drivers side fan. I started to notice some smoke and noticed that the ballast resistor I had just replaced was smoking. When installed it was a black color. After a minute or so it was a brass copper color. Burned my hand when I touched it. So I assume that the fan is locked up and this is causing my problems. Question is has anyone replaced the fan? I haven't found this anywhere on the website. Looking for radiator fan replacement instructions. Thanks

I replaced the ballast and fan worked for a little while. Ballast got so hot it was smoking. I notice that this fan is much harder to turn than the passenger fan. Has anyone replaced the radiator fan? Instructions?

Pulled mine out last weekend when I cleaned the radiators. It is pretty straightforward. You have about 4 plastic rivets holding the panel in on the drivers side. There are a couple of 10 mm plastic nuts also. That is inside the wheel arch area. I think there is a panel that is either connected to that by screws that is under the front bumper. If this is on the passenger side then pretty much the same thing except that there is a plastic rivet hidden behind the strut. I would get some of the plastic rivets and maybe even the 10 mm nuts from the dealer in case you break them. They were only 34c from the dealer. You may want to just go ahead and remove the front bumper and clean the radiators if you have never done this. Quite a bit of dirt and debris gets caught between the A/C condensor and radiator. You can't get to it unless you take the bumper off. Well worth the trouble.

Loren, Do you think it would hurt the fan motor to connect it up straight to the battery?

I have a 2000 C2 Tiptronic with 90k miles on it. As weather is starting to warm up I noticed the temp gauge would slowly creep up when I got into stop and go traffic. Needle went from between 8 and 0 on 180 to just past 0 at a fairly short wait (couple of light changes, outside temp ~ 80F). I had cleaned the radiators last weekend by removing bumper and separating the two (A/C from engine radiator). Had quite a bit of sand in there. Anyway, I still noticed the temps rising so I checked the fans. A/C was on. Drivers side is not coming on even though passengers does. I checked the fuses and one was blown so I replaced it (don't remember if it was C8 or C10). Still the drivers fan was not working. I then tried the relays. Swapped low speed relays (engine temp could have been too high as passenger side never went to slow speed). Swapped high speed relays and the passenger side still works so I assume the relays are okay. I now assume it is the ballast resistor. However, just read a previous post that indicates the ballast resistor is for slow speed operation. So I assume in north Texas with outside temps of 80F and the A/C on the high speed fan should be on so I don't know if this ballast will do anything for me. Is there a way to check to see if the ballast is okay (resistance check)?. Also, I have the Durametric software and just plugged it in. No error codes noted. I used the Drive Links and tried to get the fans to turn on but nothing happened. I had the engine running but couldn't get fan speed 1 or 2 to do anything. I started the car and the passenger fan came on after I turned the A/C on. Loren HELP!

Alan, Make sure you have the stock suspension to start with. I bought a 2000 C2 and it had Eibach lowering springs. Way to low for daily driving and pretty harsh considering my stock 18" tires. Check your option badge to see if you have M030 suspension. If not you should have the softest suspension Porsche makes for the car. If that is the case then one other option is the wheel size. I have 18s and they are okay for me until I hit some fairly rough roads. Then I would prefer a 17" wheel. As Izzy says make sure the tire pressure is right. Other than that your not going to get much softer than the stock suspension. Most all other options are for more extreme (harsh) suspension.

I did it myself and it took 11 hours. But I was slow and had a problem removing the rear strut. I was quoted $600 by Ruf in Dallas and$1000 by Autobahn Porsche in Fort Worth. Those prices are with me providing the parts.

Yes, AC was on, still no fan.

I've done some searching on here but am not quite sure about a problem I may have. Started to notice my temperature increasing (of course it is getting warmer in north Texas). I cleaned the radiators last weekend and got quite a bit of stuff out. Drove to work the next day and at some stop and go noticed the temps starting to rise again. Checked on this site again and suggested checking the fuses. Found one of them blown so I replaced it. However, I have only started the engine just to move it so not warming up this weekend and noticed that the drivers side fan is not coming on (can't hear it no suction while the passenger side is clearly working). My question is should I expect the drivers side fan to come on too after just starting? I checked the fuses and both were still okay. So next thing to check would be the relay, followed by ballast, and finally the fan (that is if the fan is supposed to come on after just starting). Where are the relays? I know where the ballast is based upon information on this site but don't know what to check.

Thanks, seeu. I had actually considered that but realized that it would be underneath my leg or all the way on the passenger side. Not at all easy to get to. I had placed something similar to that on the door (I have pockets and no speakers) so it would sit well there. However, I found in getting out of the car my foot would always kick my coffee mug and possibly spill some. The piece I made is very solid and will hold a coke under pretty extreme side loadings.

Just wanted everyone to see the way I dealt with adding a cupholder to the 996. Mine is much more stable than the factory. Of course it doesn't look as nice and is partially more permanent. I haven't finished it yet as I am trying to figure out if I just want to paint it or cover in vinyl. I can't find the exact color match for my Savannah Beige but found if I paint it black then mist a light coat of honey it gets pretty close. Please be kind to my first attempts at fiberglassing.

I created a cupholder out of the side panel on my 2000 C2. It works great, very stable and holds a full size drink. However, I had to create this by removing the leather or probably vinyl from the side panel on my center console and fiberglassing a cup holder onto it. Looks actually better than it sounds. I used body filler to smooth all of the surfaces. I want to cover in the original material but can't find this color: sahara beige. I have tried GAHH and they don't have that color. Currently I have painted the part with a flat black, followed by a light coat of a honey color. Actually looks pretty close to the original color but I wanted to put material over it. I was also thinking of wrapping the entire center console in material as well. I have taken out my original ash tray, and fiberglassed in a tray (also remove the two fake buttons that roll down the rear windows on a cabrio (mine is a coupe). So now I have the perfect sized sunglass holder. Anyway, anyone have any ideas on a source for Sahara Beige vinyl? Thanks

I have the wood trim option in my 2000 C2. Problem is in several, but not all, areas it is or has disintegrated. Just under the front window it became warped and cracked. Does anyone know where I can find replacement pieces and not have to buy the whole kit?

Thanks Jon996, I assume it is the cooler weather too. I am here in north Texas and one morning it is 19F and in the afternoon 68F. I drive about 50 miles one way to work on highways so speeds reach close to 80 mph (ooopss don't read that). My temperature gauge is well within normal range every time I get the car onto the freeway. So I feel pretty confident it is related to the cooler air temperature. Never saw it in the summer. This car is my daily driver to work and usually not used on the weekends so every trip is a long distance high speed? trip.

My Durametric only came with the software, cable, and basic connnection instructions (just like pomocanthus). Doesn't it seem ludicrous to have the computer jump to their website for information. I guess they assumed everyone has a wireless connection. So every time I get a fault I have to take the computer from the garage, go in the house, plug in the computer, and actually search on Renntech.

I have noticed the same thing. My oil is clean, nothing in the radiator reservoir. I seemed to have noticed it when weather got cold. So as Horseman says may not be any problem. At first I was concerned about the air oil separator but I only have a light smoke on start-up. So I'm hoping it is just the temperature change.