sd_boxster

More 911 pr0n. Question: Does PSM freak anyone else out when it kicks in, or am I doing it wrong? When the suspension gets light while cresting during a rising turn, PSM thinks I'm understeering and hits the inside front brake, scaring the crap out of me and attempting to point the car at the nearest wall. This is my first 911 and first car with PSM, so I'm not sure how much it is excessive nannying, or if I'm really not driving correctly and it feels like I'm in immediate danger of dying. I took this corner at 1.5x the speed in my Boxster for years without feeling that I was on the ragged edge of fiery death. Should PSM be disabled for anything except the most conservative driving, or do I need to really dial back the speed entering turns, much moreso than I needed to in the Boxster?

After impulse-buying my '99 C4 w/ aero kit, I scheduled a service/suspension lift/"post-purchase" inspection at Black Forest.The dealer I purchased from said it had been "recently serviced," but I had still Black Forest do an oil change so they'd get some quality time with the car on the lift. I'm relieved to report that it came back with a clean bill of health... not flawless, but as close as a 13 year old car can get. There are a couple of things to address at the 60K service (the left cam cover needs resealing), and some stuff I want to jump on immediately (low-temp thermostat, brakes, etc.). It looked awesome slammed, but the extra inch of ground clearance makes getting in and out of the driveway much less stressful. The computer scan came back with great info - no over-revs or other details to indicate it had been ragged out by the 3 previous owners. Interesting info from the Carfax report: almost all of the mileage was put on by the first owner. The third owner only logged 3,171 over the 3 1/2 years he or she owned it. Seriously? 906 miles a year? Buying a Porsche with no service records is dicey. Some people will tell you you're an idiot to consider it, but this beauty was impossible to walk away from. If it has some dark secrets, they'll show themselves eventually, but I plan to drive the hell out of this beautiful ride in the meantime. I finally started swabbing out the engine bay... lookin' OK now...

Sorry to hear about the collision. Any pictures of the carnage?

Shifting at < 5k rpm is criminal. Wind the gears out... have some fun. If you want to hypermile, get a Prius. :cheers:

After careful consideration (about six seconds), I picked up a 1999 C4 with 49K miles. It's in amazing shape. The second owner had the GT3 aero kit installed by Porsche - all parts (except perhaps the wheels - I don't know) are Porsche sourced. I'll miss the Boxster, but ****, I'm in love...

To answer my own question for the sake of anyone who might come looking, they're quite substantial. You'd have to try to put a dent in 'em. Maybe a ball-peen hammer.

I did that mod and later added secondary cat bypass pipes to my '03. I love the sound. I had my Boxster in for its 30K mile service yesterday - when I called to see if the detail was finished, the service manager asked me about the exhaust setup... said it sounded sweet.

I picked up a set of aluminum track mats. For those of you who have these, can you let me know if they dent easily, or can I leave 'em in for daily use? My floor mats are pretty much done, and I'd prefer to just leave the track mats installed all the time... but I don't know if the wife's high heels are going to ding them up.

The CDR-23 is always powered - you can run it even with the key off. It powers itself off a few seconds after the switched power lead indicates that the ignition is off.

A while back, I added a JVC KD-AVX44 head unit in place of my CD storage tray and use an inline RF modulator to play it through my factory headunit. The modulator is powered by the 12V switched power from the phone connector that runs to the center console. My remaining vexation about this setup is that the RF modulator powers off with the key, while the factory radio stays on for a few seconds after the key goes off. If I'm in range of a station broadcasting on 88.3 (or whatever the radio is tuned to so it matches the RF modulator), I get a few seconds of unexpected music. Any of you who are electrical hobbyists - can I wire up a capacitor inline to my RF modulator that will be sufficient to power it for those few seconds? Any tips on cap size, as well as wiring (inline or parallel, etc.) would be great. And if it's a stupid idea, knowing now would be better than knowing later. ;) Thanks in advance!

Oh, darn, I read that wrong. '05 turbo vs. '08 non-turbo. If they're both CPO, I'd get the '08 with a nice, long warranty.

If you can afford either, by all means get the turbo! 500HP!

Skid plate.

Excellent! I will try tapping the antenna pin tomorrow. :D Looks like the one person who had issues clipped the lead - so I will be sure to just tap it rather than clipping it. If this works, I will be 100% happy with my setup. Thanks to all who contributed.

I'm still very happy with the addition of a JVC headunit to my Boxster using an FM modulator and the CDR23 as the amp. However, my only complaint is that the Boxster radio stays on for a few seconds after ignition off, but the cell phone power I tapped under the batwing to power the FM modulator turns off as soon as the key comes out - so for a few seconds, the CDR23 plays whatever is coming in on FM at whatever volume it's set to. :( Does anyone know if there's +12v wire in the harness for the CDR23 that's used to switch the amp in the frunk - or another +12v accessory wire coming from the CDR23 that is hot as long as the CDR23 is active? I'd like to tap that for the RF modulator so the modulator is powered whenever the CDR23 is on. Thanks in advance!

No, my goal was to improve add capability to the stereo - on a comparatively small budget - without making drastic changes to the factory equipment.

After getting a $2500 quote for the exorcism of the MOST bust in my '03 Boxster and the installation of an AVIC unit, I elected to graft a JVC KD-AVX44 head unit onto my CDR-23 using an inline RF modulator*. I removed the CD storage tray and installed the JVC into the console. Parts required included: • JVC KD-AVX44 Multimedia Receiver • Scosche Audio FM Modulator (with RCA inputs) • European to Motorola antenna adapters (Crutchfield parts 12040EU10, 12040EU20) • JVC KSSRA100 Satellite Radio Interface • Sirius Radio SC-C1 kit • Silicon, zip ties, Torx bits Console removed - I used the cell phone harness to get switched and constant 12V and ground. This picture shows the RF modulator siliconed into place. I later pulled it back out, as it interfered with the console seating properly. My bad. I also mounted up the Sirius tuner with a couple of screws, a nylock nut, and a little silicon to ensure there's no vibration. I rotated the console 180 degrees away from me so you can see what it looks like in its "normal" orientation... Since I'm using the line outs, I just heatshrinked the ends of all the speaker outs so they don't inadvertently ground out, connected up the RCA's for the front line out, and dealt with the antenna (Boxster antenna goes into new headunit, audio out from new headunit goes into FM modulator which feeds CDR-23 via antenna in). I connected up the constant, switched, and ground for the headunit, the JVC sirius interface, and the FM modulator. The Sirius antenna is housed in the cutout on the dash, and I was able to use the seam between dash panels to completely tuck and hide the antenna lead. Here's what she looks like all buttoned up: The JVC deck comes with a USB 2.0 cable for playing music off a USB thumb drive or for controlling an iPod - so I ran that to the center console... Here's a showing how it looks and works...

So fess up - how many donuts did you do on the lake? :D

Has anyone fitted the Agency Power cold-air intake on their Boxster? I see lots of mention of the evoms intake, but a search for the Agency Power intake came up empty. Just curious if anyone has tried this intake and if so, how it fared for them... Thanks in advance!

Autocross was a blast, though I need to practice. A lot. :D

Not trying to start an argument - I'm totally willing to admit that I'm probably wrong - but I'm not sure how it would possible to draw enough water into the intake to produce hydrolock - especially given that the intake is now about six inches further inboard than it was with the snorkel in place. Can anyone else chime in on this? My Boxster lives in San Diego and doesn't see any rain unless it's absolutely unavoidable, so it definitely falls into the "fair weather" category. This may be largely moot, anyway - while there is a noticeable tonal difference with the snorkel off, it is not the amazing difference I've seen people write about when they desnorkel their 986's. At about 3K rpm, the engine sounds a little deeper, but not a lot of difference toward redline. I believe the '03 exhaust is tuned differently than previous Boxsters ("modified acoustic presence"), which may explain this difference.

Got tired of waiting and went exploring again. The short answer: Yes there is an intake extension behind the grille that is removable and is tapered, presumably to restrict airflow. If you yank on that extension, it does in fact pop off and you're left with a larger intake hole. Going to go for a spin (to buy a torque wrench so I can snug up my lug bolts for tomorrow)... will update on whether it made any difference.

Been looking for a definitive answer to this question forever. Does the '03 Boxster have a removable snorkel? I am aware that the intake design changed for MY03. But, can an '03 be desnorked?

Thanks again. First perf. mod will be the Evo intake. :D Signed up for my first autox this weekend, too. Looking forward to that!

Thanks for the ideas! My '03 came with clear fronts (no fried-egg look), and the sales guy at Pioneer Centre here in San Diego (Matthew Bang - awesome name for a Porsche salesman!) would not let me drive off the lot with the orange side markers. I need to read up more on the stalk transplant - looks a little daunting from what I've read so far. Seems to me from what I've read (and from pulling off the intake cover) that the '03 doesn't have the same removable snorkel as earlier Boxsters. Can someone set me straight on this belief? I've been thinking long and hard about the sound system, but not sure I want to get into that mess (I've got the "upgraded" system and would have to rip everything out and start over... not sure that's where I want to dump $$$ into the Boxster. I didn't buy it for the stereo or cupholders. :D). Thanks again for the ideas. Keep 'em coming!