ettenw

Pretty sure the apostrophe after the 20 means minutes, so that would be equivalent to about .33 degrees.

Just a price update, at least for an '05 Boxster, from beckerautosound.com, they're now $24.99 plus S&H. (Somebody has a nice profit margin.) Does anyone out there have a connection to wholesalers?

I just purchased new factory front rotors for my '05 Boxster. I've replaced many rotors on many other cars and sometimes they come with a coating that needs to removed from the pad contact area before they're put into service. Do the Porsche rotors have a coating that needs to be removed? If so, how?

Update: Today I started my '05 Boxster and left it idling for a few minutes. Ambient air temp was about 75 F. The radiator fans starting cycling on for about 30 seconds every minute before the engine temp gage had even left it's peg. Examining the fans closer however, revealed that only the right hand fan was coming on! (Its very obvious from the noise and from the air blowing out from the wheel well near the side-marker lights.)

I removed the inner wheel well shroud, prepared to start troubleshooting. When I gently tried to turn the fan it would only turn in one direction. Pushing it back and forth a little harder dislodged a small stone, no bigger than 1/4 inch diameter. After this the fan spun freely, and ran when I subsequently warmed up the car.

Look's like I'll be watching for this on a regular basis.

By the way, I also found quite a bit of crud in front of the radiators settled at the bottom.

I need to make a correction. The service manager told me it was the tensioner pulley bolt. However, a closer look at the repair invoice indicates it was the "deflection roller" (p/n P997-102-119-00) bolt (p/n P900-385-091-04) that broke.

A few days ago, during some fairly aggressive driving, my '05 Boxster steering got very stiff and the the battery/generator warning message came on. I pulled over when it was safe and the temperature was going up too. I figured the problem was a broken serpentine belt (drives power steering pump, alternator, and water pump), or maybe the belt just came off. It turned out that the tensioner pulley bolt had sheared off. The dealer replaced the pulley, the bolt, and the belt. My question is, has anyone else had this failure? The car has about 25k miles on it.

So I guess I should expect the fan to be running a lot. Is that what others are experiencing?

The right rear (USA cars) vent is for the engine cooling. You are hearing the fan. The left side vent is for air intake. What was the out air temp?

As I said, the ambient temp was about 55 (F).

Tonight when I started my '05 2.7, I got a continuous fan noise from the right rear (from within the car, I would guess from the side intake area). The car had been previously driven today and turned off about an hour earlier. The temp gage was reading right at 175. During a ten minute drive, the fan never turned off. The car was then off for about 1 hour. When I returned to it again, the fan noise was there again. Temp gage was 175 again. About five minutes later, it finally turned off. The ambient air temp was about 55.

Having recently purchased the car, I've only driven the car about 1 month total (Nov. 07) and just started driving it again a few days ago. I've never noticed this before. Is this normal? When the weather gets warmer, will this fan be on all the time?

I've tracked my 987S quite a bit. It is track-ready as-is, with afew caveats. The PS2's will wear out their shoulders very quickly. Designed by Michellin to have soft sidewalls and the edges roll over easy, not good for the track. Playing with tire pressures really can't do much without significant compromise in performance. Unfortunately, not many track capable tires in 987 stock sizes. Try Cup tires, with a little compromise on height for the rear tires.

I've played with pressures all over the place. It's a personal thing on what is best. My preference based on my driving style for street tires are the factory pressures, but set HOT, rather than cold. For R.componds, such as the cups, together with more negative camber, I use 32F/36R HOT.

I use stock pads, both on my 987S and C4S for the track. I just use better fluid, the blue or the equivalent gold. Even with R-compounds and threshold braking at all corners, the stock pads hold up very well. I personally think all this hoopla on Pagids, Hawk, etc are just that. Hoopla. That is, of course, IMHO.

I've seen camera mounts at the windstop bar, and on top of the roll bar. My C4s is the camera car, so I don't have any personal experience with mounting a camera on my 987S.

Anything else specific? You say you already have track experience in other cars. The 987 is a very forgiving car, will let you drive yourself out of hairy situations that other cars, like the 911, will spank you for. Get comfortable with the car, then try throwing it around. This car is a joy to throw around!! Rotates around your butt in response to throttle inputs intuitively. A little short on the HP side, but tons of fun in the twisties!!!!

Thanks for input. These are the kind of specifics I was interested in. I decided on a 987 over a 911 based on the reputation the Boxster has for stability. I've only done street driving with it so far, and the grip level is high, but when I pushed it really hard a couple of times, I thought it understeered too much. I tried the same corner with PSM off and it felt better. One item I forgot to ask about is alignment settings.

The power is probably about right for me, since I'm coming from a second gen Miata (stock motor but lowered and stiffened with fairly aggressive alignment) so I'm gaining 100hp. Before that I had a second gen Toyota MR-2 (mid-engined, 200hp in 2800 lbs), before that a second gen. RX7, and way back, a BMW Bavaria.

I was a little surprised by your tire pressures. I've usually gone quite a bit higher, realizing I'm trading away some grip to preserve the tires. Most recently I have a set of Toyo T1Rs that have 9 track days with very even wear.

I've also has pretty good luck with stock pads on some of those cars, so I'll definitely try that. I did some extra wear out of Porterfields on the Miata, but I'm not sure it was worth the price premium.

Thanks,

Walt

I recently bought a 2005 Boxster, non-S but with the S's 18" wheels and tires, and am planning to attend a few DE track days this summer. I've done quite a few of these in other cars, so I'm not looking for general advice, but rather advice specific to the 987, preferably from folks who have done this with 987s or 986s. The car's a daily driver, so I intend on sticking (no pun intended) with street rubber (currently Michelin PS) and streetable brake pads.

What's a good air pressure setting to start with?

Any other high performance street tire recommendations?

What kind of brake pads work well?

Anyone come up with a camera mount for the 987 yet?

Anything else specific for the Boxster for the track?

Thanks,

Walt