vick57

when you moved the seat heater buttons did you have to splice in more wire to reach the switch blanks behind the ashtray? or were the factory wires long enough to reach? i've got the parts from suncoast porsche. it could be a DIY, but i don't want to mess with wiring. update: oh. i took a closer look at the last pic. you moved the seat heater buttons up to the stereo surround. i guess they reached there ok?

beautiful car! i love the taco wing.

congrats on the car! you'll love it. my name is vick and i'm a mod-aholic. :D seriously tho, you can rack up some big bucks on mods for not much return. you're just not gonna squeeze that much more power out of a normally aspirated engine with bolt-ons. start adding up cold air intake, plenum, mufflers, headers, ECU software and you're talking $5K or $6K easy, probably more. and, the tricky part is that 10HP+20HP+10HP+20HP+20HP equals around 20HP. here's my subjective personal experience favorite two mods and why: ECU software from softronic definitely made my car rev faster and more fun to drive; fabspeed mufflers sound a lot better than stock. the real rational answer to enjoying your car more is to join the porsche club and do some driver education events. that's like a few hundred bucks. if you're a great driver and you reach the performance limits of your car's stock setup, invest a couple or three grand in suspension upgrades. if you find yourself at the track all the time and you're super good, drop another three or four grand on brake upgrades. same $6K in mods, but your car will be a track monster that you can drive much faster and more safely.

the shop i use here in austin charges $130 for a performance alignment. the factory suspension is not height adjustable. i may be misunderstanding what you want to do. you cannot corner balance a car that is not height adjustable. anyway, corner balancing is $150 in addition to alignment charges at the shop i use. i cannot imagine what they are charging $1100 for unless that includes new suspension parts. again maybe i'm misunderstanding, but i thought you said you wanted your car to remain stock.

i just put in my new lloyd's mats this weekend. they have a clever clip mechanism that mounts to the seat rails and clips on to the mats so they don't slide around.

yep. i have a MY03 C4S and my passenger seat rattles when unoccupied. i've learned to shut it out. i had a squeak in the sunroof right above my head that the dealer fixed under CPO. that one i couldn't live with. looks like there's a tie-in here with another thread about consumer reports, at least for my model year, where rattles and squeaks are a black circle. no other issues with car, except for the obligatory RMS replacement, done under CPO, which i think dealer just did as a matter of course as i never saw an oil leak.

yeah, i went into an off-camber curve too hot and lifted the inside front wheel. scared the crap out of me. not the car's fault; stupidly aggressive driving on my part. the sport dampers/springs are great. and it's certainly not wallowing around. i just want to see if i can tighten it up with thicker sways. i'm still checking prices on GT3 bars. i want a matched set. if the GT3s turn out to be too expensive and i go with H&R, i'll keep you in mind. thanks. vick

i searched around and found that GT3 sway bars require new shorter drop links on narrow body 996 C2s. i didn't find a definitive answer for wide body cars like my 03 C4S. i want to tighten things up to see if i can reduce some body roll. i've seen the GT3 bars advertised for less money than H&R aftermarket bars. but if i need new drop links in addition to the bars themselves it about doubles the cost. anyone fitted GT3 sway bars to a 996 C4S, or know whether or not drop links need to be shorter (replaced)?

i just ordered mats from US speed inc. they have a lot of options to choose from for contrast stitching and whatnot.

thanks for the reply. i'll check into a repair manual set. it might be just what i need. i understand that it's at least 1000 pages. nothing like a little light reading. :)

i'm looking for more detailed information about 996 engine internals. things like valve size, maximum lift, cam specifications, etc. searched here, google, amazon... closest i've gotten is engine rebuild books that are more how-to than reference. any recommendations?

thanks for the replies. i was trying to settle an argument that there isn't one. i use aural cues for sensing when it's time to shift.

hope i'm not covering old ground. did a search, but no joy. is there or isn't there an indicator light on the tachometer for when the needle hits redline? (asking about MY03 996 C4S.)

i had the IPD plenum installed two weeks ago. i can hear a difference in the intake sound and feel a difference in the seat-of-the-pants dyno. but, i doubt *seriously* it's making 30 HP. however, you have the 3.4L engine and they claim more gains for your car than mine.

found some old pics laying around...

loren, yep. that's my understanding too. the seat cushion is thinner. it's firm, but still comfortable. don, thanks. i've already gotten valuable info from this site. i'll snap a couple photos after i wash the car tomorrow.

yeah, i hadn't heard of the lowered seats option either. apparently it's popular with track guys because it gives more headroom for the helmet. i don't track my car, but i'm 6'2" so i like the 10mm extra headroom. car needs detailing. then i'll post some pics. :)

i just got my oil changed at my local dealership for $75. an oil change on my old boxster was $150. you need a new dealership. dealerships love making warranty claims. it's all service money to them. service is a big percentage of their profit model.

ok. i read loren's blog and i totally agree with the "prove it" demand. but, even statistically verifiable results for a single product can be misleading in a broader context of multiple aftermarket products. i guess i'm beating a dead horse though. :)

there is a question that has puzzled me for some time. for the sake of argument, accept for a moment that aftermarket bolt-on performance part power gain claims are true. (i don't accept that assertion, but that is a whole other discussion.) aren't some of those claimed horsepower gains overlapping? in other words, i don't believe the effect can possibly be cumulative. don't you have to consider the system as a whole? so, optimizing the flow on an engine can gain, say, 10 horsepower. that's an absolute. a cold air intake can't free up those 10 horsepower and headers free up 10 *more*. it doesn't make any sense. am i just looking at this wrong?

hey man, i figured there'd be some spill over. good to see another 6speed'er here. thanks for the welcome. vick

i learned to love cars from my dad who was a master mechanic. he tweaked every car he owned. i must have inherited the gene. paid my dues in sweat and scraped knuckles on my '66 mustang. (gone but not forgotten.) i'm a computer geek to pay the bills. lately i've been reading bosch manuals about engine control software and playing with dynosim modeling my porsche's 3.6L engine. i don't pull wrenches on my 911 except for basic maintenance if absolutely necessary. i do like detailing it. kind of zen thing for weekend afternoons. my first p-car was a 2003 boxsterS. best handling car i've ever driven. for a number of reasons, i decided to move up to a 911. did some research reading fora like this one and other web sources. my budget put me in a 996. found a CPO 2003 Carrera 4S at a dealership in dallas with 39K miles and went for it. my car is: MY: 2003 BS: C4S coupe TR: 6 speed Color: Arctic Silver/Black Options: 342 Heated Front Seats. 446 Wheel Caps with Colored Crest. 513 Lumbar Support-Right Seat . 586 Lumbar Support-Left Seat. 680 Bose Surround Sound System . 692 Remote CD Changer. 982 Soft Ruffled Leather Seat . E82 Aluminum Look Interior Small. M6A Black Mats - Porsche lettering . P74 Bi-Xenon Headlamp Package. X54 Stainless Steel Exhaust Pipes . X71 Aluminum Instrument Dials . XCE Rear Center Console Aluminum-Look. XSC Porsche Crest in Headrest. XSU Lowered Seats (-10 mm) Y06 Aluminum/Leather Shifter/Brake Handle Mods: Softronic ECU flash IPD plenum K&N drop-in air filter Agency Power coated SS brake lines Bumper plugs in front Color matched bumperettes in back Planned Mods: Turbowerx headers Fabspeed mufflers my car is a daily driver. i don't track it. but i do enjoy spirited jaunts around the central texas hill country. i'm a good driver, but i know i could be better, so thinking about doing a DE weekend to help me safely find my limits and (maybe) the car's limits. cheers, vick

i've been a member since december, but not posted yet. just thought i'd say hi. i spend a lot of time on 6speed, but i've found excellent information on this board. cheers, vick