Team996

Another great alternative is always the BIRD Armrest...<http://www.birdautomotive.com/996.htm>. I didn't say it was cheap, but it looks killer and I've heard great things about it. I intend to put it in soon.

56,000 kms and still going strong.

My only problem till date was a bad MAF.

Do you instruct at Rex-Kwon Do?

Loren, as always, you're a great help. The only thread I can find on V1 telephone hardwiring is "Another Valentine 1 hardwire installation," which I'm uncertain is the right instruction. Is there one thread you prefer over another for optimal installation you can easily point to? Thanks again.

FYI...prices seem to be a bit more as the link is almost 2 years old (3/06)! :)

996 652 101 10 $12.67

996 652 102 10 $6.78

Not if you buy from Sunset...

I completed the replacement, but none of the buttons on that panel work now (including door locks). It's pretty sweet when things like this happen for no reason. Any suggestions?

Are you sure everything is plugged in the right places and there are no blown fuses?

If I had a diagram for correct plugging and knew what a blown fuse was, looked like, and where to find it, I'd be able to answer your question better. However, I'm super-layman to taking apart even the little P-things.

Does anyone have (1) lighter electrical plug and/or (2) fuse diagrams?

Thanks. I'd love to get some power out of my lighter for my new V1 (which I do plan to eventually hardwire).

FYI...prices seem to be a bit more as the link is almost 2 years old (3/06)! :)

996 652 101 10 $12.67

996 652 102 10 $6.78

Not if you buy from Sunset...

I completed the replacement, but none of the buttons on that panel work now (including door locks). It's pretty sweet when things like this happen for no reason. Any suggestions?

FYI...prices seem to be a bit more as the link is almost 2 years old (3/06)! :)

996 652 101 10 $12.67

996 652 102 10 $6.78

Not if you buy from Sunset...

There was a problem with earlier models where the upper strut bearing would creak.

The only fix for that was to replace the upper strut bearing (which is usually not sold separately).

Try spraying a little soapy water on the upper strut mounts and see if it goes away.

Thanks, Loren... I'm going to do a search for a diagram of the upper strut mounts so I know where to spray a little soapy water.

I hope at least one us here knows something about struts... I'll appreciate any input! Thanks!

My steering sounds like a door hinge on an old Spanish ship...sometimes and sometimes not, but I haven't figured out the trigger. My mech told me it's my forward struts, and I would just like some Renntech consensus. The stealership gave me a price of $1,500 to replace them with rebalancing, while my local specialist quoted $850. Any thoughts?

ive been developing a sound similar to a "movie attic door creeking" while turning the wheel at stopped or rolling speeds. i kept the car running and turned the drivers wheel with my hands and induced the noise.

ps fluid? or nothing to worry about

MY99C2cab-thanks PJ

Actually, last week I took mine into my specialist for a routine check-up, and one of my complaints was the creaking you're talking about. The guy told me it's my struts (whatever those are) and he recommended replacing them (naturally).

Anyone know more about these "struts" and whether or not the diagnosis checks out?

How much did you get the IVA-W505 for? I think I'm getting it, as long as it's Blackbird compatible!

Hey all, I've been really interested in this Bird armrest, but find it very pricey for what it is (frankly, even with the $100 discount off the $500 price tag that Sam Bird is currently advertising). I wrote him to see if he'd consider selling it to me at $350 (still a little high IMHO), figuring that he's heard some complaints about the high listing. This is what he wrote me this morning:

"I've been making this product line for Porsche since 1985. Price then: $499 + $50. Sales: thousands per year. Your price today: $399 + $50. Our costs over 22 years: up 70%. Sales: hundreds per year. This is what you'd call a "mature" product line. Never dreamed it would be selling many years since patent expiration. We have retained quality and return rate below 1/2 of 1%. Outlook for future? Better buy soon."

Does this mean he's going out of business? I didn't love the tone of his email (it's as though he was offended I could imagine his product would be sold for less than $400). That aside, if I were Sam Bird, I wouldn't lower my prices when I'm selling more than I ever expected to. In fact, I'd raise my prices in order to maximize profits and reduce the number of units I had to produce to satisfy the market. Why would sales drop from thousands to hundreds of units when he the lowered the price to something more reasonable? It should be inversely proportional.

I wish he had a competitor I could buy from, but I'll probably just end up going back to him in the end and pay his inflated list price. It does look like a strong, functional interior mod.

Max,

Sweet set up. I think you've convinced me to go with the W205/B200 combo, looks pretty killer and available for under $1,200. Thanks for sharing!

I have a 1999 996 C2 Coupe which has developed a bit of shake around 70+Mph. Once I get a bit faster the shake is bad enough to where I have to back off throttle.

Can someone recommend a good place to check my alignment/wheel balance in LA area. I am in Southbay area but will travel for a place someone has had good experience with. I plan on going to a track day soon and want to be sure the car will not have issues at high speeds as well.

Thanks for any help in advance!

Jascha (the photosuperstar),

I recently had the same issue with the shakiness, close to unbearable between 68 and 75 mph, and when I told my Hoehn P-service writer that I needed an alignment to fix it, he told me it was a balancing issue and not an alignment issue. I'm still kind of unclear what on the distinction, except that front balancing costs about 1/10 of an alignment. So, check it out before you pay $200-300 for an alignment.

Good luck.

Jascha,

I must say you're one gifted photographer. I know the P-car inspires, but you've got some raw talent!

Tall women are great, aren't they?

Whatever you do, don't go to Peter at Performance Imports in Atlanta. They had my car for a few days (!) to do the PPI and eventually gave me the thumbs up to buy. When it came time to see what they actually checked (I was hoping for some sort of a semi-professional report for the warm and fuzzy), boss Peter sent me an email with horrendous misspellings that amounted to what I felt was a total blow-off. Who knows if they actually gave the car a thorough PPI before I bought. I'm just glad the car hasn't blown up yet.

I replied to the email telling him what I thought, and never heard back (that was 6 months ago). I know you're no where near Atlanta, but I felt like venting.

I took my 02 996 on a 5000 mile round trip from California to Ohio and back last summer with no problems what so ever. Averaged 79 mph and 29.6 mpg for the trip. Just check the tire pressures, and oil level.

Sick photos, Orient!

any of you guys out there hit the road with your porsches? i'm talking 500+ miles on the highway at a time, just wondering if any of you actually do it wiht such a nice car, also how do you prepare for such a journey in such a car?

How's 2,200 miles in 32 hours? I actually flew out to Atlanta from Fresno to buy the car, and drove it to San Diego in less than two days. Hell of a test drive! I counted on my third-party PPI and the dealer to prepare the car for the journey. As for myself, I brought the then-new Foo Fighters album and a credit card.

I'll never forget this feeling...

I just bought the 4-piece super-duper heavy-weight premium Lloyd mats in black for $180 after shipping. These better be some mf'ing charmin' floor mats. They better be the Cary Grant of floor mats.

These are definitely the best floor mats I've ever felt or seen. They're so thick and soft that you're actually petting them when you touch them. Though I feel kind of stupid for getting the rear 2, since I don't know any chinchilla-sized people to fit back there who might admire them and remind me how cool my 6"x6" floor mats are. But at extra $15 a pop, why not go ahead and be a completionist?

I highly recommend Lloyd's "heavy-weight premium mats!"

Cheers.

Sometimes I really wish I wouldn't post.

Seriously though... Cruising at 4K? Posts a picture of a shifter to show us all that "this is similar to what he uses to shift the gears with"

I see nothing negative about asking the OP to clarify if he is really serious or just having fun.

A serious post deserves a serious answer. A joke post deserves..Whatever.. Have fun with this folks.

P, you made me laugh out loud with your first post. Yes, I thought it would be pretty ridiculous to post an image of what I like to use to shift my gears, but I admit feeling a little ridiculous asking the question, so I thought I'd top it off.

I appreciate everyone's responses. I just wanted to see if you're SUPPOSED to cruise at 4,000 RPM, and just "get used to the engine noise at higher RPMs," as vette said. Good to know there's not really a rule, and I think my tendency is to want to baby it (but I'd like to get over that and start DRIVING my 996).

Great posts, and I will definitely (!!!) pick up the High-Performance Driving Handbook when it comes out.

Thanks, Porschefans!

I'm new to "performance" driving, whatever that might be, but I do want to hone in some optimal driving habits. One thing I do, and I don't know if it's just because I'm overly fastidious or methodical, is up shift when I'm at the top of a specific range of RPM (i.e., between 3,500 and 4,500 RPM). Before I started thinking about it, I was up shifting around 3,000 RPM, which i now feel is too low. So, I raised it to 4,000 RPM, which feels like there's a much higher charge behind me. Is it okay for the engine if I cruise at 4,000? If not, is there some kind of doctrine to this? Thanks.

This is similar to what I use to shift my gears with:

A week ago I was driving down to San Diego from the Valley when I blew a rear tire 230 miles away from my destination. AAA towed me the rest of the way for free to Big O Tires in Carlsbad, where I had fortunately already ordered 2 rear Fuzion replacements rom TireRack. Fairly seamless, and I'm lucky I noticed the severity of the tread wear in time to buy the tires in the nick of time.

One thing that remains a nagging annoyance to my P-driving enjoyment is this untolerable shakiness in general, but is especially pronounced between 68 and 75 mph. It's much better around 90 mph, but doesn't solve my problem. When I took it into Hoehn, my service writer told me the shakiness was a result of improper balancing and not alignment issues. So he advised me o replace the front tires before getting them rebalanced.

My questions are:

A. Has anyone experienced this ridiculous shakiness?

B. What is the difference between balance and alignment?

C. Does the service writer's diagnosis sound correct?

D. Does it really make more sense to balance once I replace the front tires?

Thanks, Porschefans.

I just bought the 4-piece super-duper heavy-weight premium Lloyd mats in black for $180 after shipping. These better be some mf'ing charmin' floor mats. They better be the Cary Grant of floor mats.

After careful deliberation, I've settled on getting Fuzions for my '01 C2 from TireRack, but the "recommended installer" they gave me urged me not to go with Fuzion because they're not "N1 rated" and could "void the suspension warranty." Can someone put this into simple, but informed English for me? Thanks!

I'm ready to order replacement mats from www.usspeedonline.com which look identical to the Lloyds mats on www.automotion.com but are a few $ cheaper. Unlike the automotion site, usspeedonline doesnt ask about whether or not you have the Bose stereo.

My 2000 Cab 4 stereo sounds crappy... so I wouldnt be surprised if it is the Bose.

My passenger side does have a very narrow footwell due to a carpet covered protuberance which looks like it could hold a subwoofer but there is no speaker grill down there. The only speakers I can see are on the dash, doors and in the backseat area.

I know for a fact that I have the CDR 220 reciever.

Nothing in any of my owner documents says anything about Bose.

My factory invoice says "Digital Sound Package with 490". I cant find anything on the internet to tell me if the 490 means Bose.

Is this the Bose system people are warning about that requires a non-standard passenger side floor mat?

Follow Up: My local dealer says that I have the Harmon Kardon system; that the Bose wasnt available until 2002. However they still werent sure if I have the subwoofer issue. They have both passenger side floormats in stock and I will check them out next week when I go by to pick up some other parts Ive ordered.

In reference to an '03 Cabriolet C2, be aware that a 996 with the Bose sound system has a different passenger floor mat than a non-Bose system. The reason is that the sub woofer is located on the side, resulting in slightly less floor space than a non-Bose set up.

I learned this from direct experience, as I just had my mats replaced - and they inadvertently ordered the wrong ones.

Hey, I'm sort of in the same spot as you. I bought my car with these horrible "universals" in front: (1) They don't fit and (2) they're sh*tty in every other regard. So I've been looking around for the right ones at the right price, and think I've settled on Lloyd's Premium Plush Mats. They can't embroider them with cool script to remind you you're driving a Porsche in case you forget, but they look spectacular in quality...like driving-barefoot quality. The set of 4 is $232 ("free shipping") at www.autoanything.com, but I'd like to see them lower.