stickshiftnz

Appears to be acceptable. 23.5 MPG is about 9.877 km/L (10.13 L/100 km). Even with average cars like an A4 1.8 automatic or a Galant 2.5 V6, I could only manage max of 12.5 km/L (29.7 MPG) on a long drive. Remember that your car is not necessarily a featherweight, and it does have 6 cylinders. Do you drive with the air conditioning always on? That can increase fuel consumption by as much as 20%. On the Audi and Galant, my average consumption for a week's combined city/motorway commute of 8.5-9 km/L (20.2-21.4 MPG) can drop down to 7-7.5 km/L (16.6-17.8 MPG) just by using the aircon constantly. Fortunately here in NZ, often you can get away with not using the air conditioner, I only use it when it rains (to defog), blistering heat after getting into the parked car, or at least 10 minutes every month including winter, just to keep the compressor lubricated. At times I will run the aircon for 5 minutes then off for the next 10.

Headlamps will need to be compliant (low beam fluting on lens), the right side rear fog lamp will need to be activated and the left side disabled, and the side marker lamps may need to be modified to comply. I'm not sure if the UK allows constant-on front amber markers, or if it needs to be converted into a side repeat indicator (side turn signal).

The upper part, just from the photos, doesn't appear to be a "full red" lens, but a tinted one (or possibly one with thin strips), would that still be able to emit amber (or orange, in Nth America) light perhaps via a coloured bulb? I've had a few problems where very bright sunlight bounces off the fluting of white lenses (front and rear) and even reflects back from the aluminum shiny bit inside, and it's difficult to tell if the turn signal is on until the car is at a different angle to the sun. Amber or red lenses don't seem to be affected by it. White987S -- there are several European cars not sold in Nth America which have similar lenses, where the reversing lamp is on the nearside cluster and the rear fog lamp is on the driver's side. Unlike in Nth America, where by law two reversing lights are required by law, other countries allow cars with only one. The red tint is to make them look symmetrical, it doesn't appear to have adverse effects on the reversing lamp function.

Wanting to have a second-hand Boxster someday, I’ve been studying these sites to find out what I’d be up against. Unlike many modern cars, the Boxsters don’t seem to have a lot of inherent build problems – no bad batches of coils or thermostats, windows falling off tracks, faulty ABS and ECUs, automatic/CVT faults, or bad oil pumps, despite using the same suppliers as humbler vehicles. Common problems like the RMS or air-oil separator are more nuisance issues, but won’t render the car useless. But man, that intermediate shaft scares me. Inherent problems on modern cars are usually detectable, preventable (e.g., plastic impeller water pumps), fixable, surmountable, or at least affordable enough to rectify, for good. But it appears that no amount of care, maintenance, prayers, babying, love, attention, awareness, or knowledge could warn, prevent, or explain this functionally and financially debilitating problem. Sure, it’s just probable rather than inevitable. I’m under no illusion that you can run a Porsche cheap, but anything that prevents a full engine replacement still drops costs to something more palatable. (Of course, I’d be foolish not to buy a warranty). Does this turn me off Boxsters (or Porsches)? No, because solve that problem (even putting up with the RMS), and it’s the perfect all-around car. For now though, this mystery must be the equivalent of cot death.

I did a search within the forums but couldn't find anything, so I hope I did a thorough-enough one. Was reading a Wynn's leaflet for a fuel system service using "Enviropurge", which cleans deposits within the fuel system, just wanted to check if anyone's ever used it and if it's any good. Thanks, Tony

There was a post just a week or two ago about rear foglamps, someone taking a RHD UK car to continental Europe requiring LHD rear fog lamp conversion. May be useful. The UK also has a largish rectangular plate used for vehicles where rear long plates are not suitable (say, for a Toyota or Mitsubishi SUV where long plates would stick out from the rear door's edge. The letters are on two lines therefore. I've seen it used in photos of US vehicles in the UK. I hope you find a cost-effective answer to the headlamps. For normal cars, you just cover a certain portion of the glass with a decal.

If in none of those instances the front right bulb did nothing (yet the bulb was fine -- I assume you swapped it over to test), then it's a physical "disconnection" of some sort. Check to see that the connectors, wiring and the bulb receptacle are all intact and not loose.

I didn't know fog lights were directional -- I know that low-beam headlamps have glare shields or have lens fluting to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers on a two-way road, while the clear triangular sector lets light shine higher on the nearside kerb to illuminate traffic signs. That could be done with lens conversion tape kits that block off that triangular portion. Not aware of foglamps needing that. Wait -- were you talking about the front ones, or the rear foglamps (or fog taillamps?)

Manuell is the German word for "manual" or "by hand", as opposed to automatik.

Hi, you might want to also check any relay that works on the fuel pump. You said something about it starting again after five minutes. Had an Audi which had a similar problem (almost like being starved of fuel), and would start normally again after a few minutes. The auto association fellow came and removed the relay, opened it up, and showed me a hairline crack on the solder, so with a soldering iron, managed to cure it.

Hi there, The issue with the American "side marker lights" (basically orange parking lights in the front of the car, and red at the rear) may not have anything to do with the light function itself, but the embedded reflector. American law I believe requires not only the lights, but reflectors which can be viewed from the side of the car (red for the rear, orange for the front). Some years ago, an American-spec 944 was tested in Europe, but had its front side markers blacked out literally with tape (rather than just having the bulb disconnected). Someone at Ford UK Personal Import-Export informed me it was because of the reflectors. You will notice in the Netherlands (and NZ for that matter) that Volvo S40/V40 cars as standard do have side markers (but all are orange, even the rear ones), check to see if they have reflectors. Chances are they do not. If that is indeed the case, you'll need to convert your "side marker lights" to "side repeat indicators" (also called "side repeaters"). This means you will need to purchase non-DOT spec (basically non-North American) side repeater lenses (or it may come as an assembly) in either amber (not orange!) or clear (with an amber bulb inside). For the wiring, it SHOULD be simple enough to tap into the front indicators, however, turn signal relays are usually load sensitive, and will flash in a different frequency if more lights are added to the circuit, so you may need to change the relay too. Else, besides the flashing frequency not within legal requirements, it will also affect how the car indicates from the inside that one of your signal bulbs is blown (by flashing much quicker than normal). Also, North American-spec cars (from what I remember -- correct me if I'm wrong) are required to have front parking lights in orange too, rather than white. You may need to get that converted too (outside North America, orange/amber is only ever used for turn signals). A local auto electrician should be able to help you out with those. Knowing the Germans, Bosch will have some OEM equivalent relay with the right load capacity which slots straight into the relay carrier. Hope this helps. Cheers, Tony