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Snakehips

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About Snakehips

  • Birthday 04/30/1951

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Interests
    Blues Guitar & Vocal; Motorcycle Sport-Touring; BMW CCA instructor

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  • From
    Chicago Area
  • Porsche Club
    PCA (Porsche Club of America)
  • Present cars
    06 Cayman S; Audi A6 3.0T Quattro; Honda Fit; BMW 1200 RT; Aprilia Mille R
  • Future cars
    Bugatti Veyron; Ferrari 599; Ferrari F40; Citroen DS21
  • Former cars
    1974 BMW 2002 tii; Porsche 911SC; 1989 BMW M3; 1995 BMW M3

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  1. Yes, that is option #2... It's $900 and it also tunes your ECU differently so you take your chances with warranty too... Option #1 for a quick throttle feel, totally risk free is : sprint booster That's a dongle, removable, goes on your gas pedal and supposedly gives it the sports chrono feel, for something like $250. I've ordered one, will report results... I always try the cheaper approach first ;-) FWIW: My '06 Cayman S came with Sport Chrono. Like others, I like it a lot. I don't use the timer on the dash, but I like the way it looks on my particular car. With stock engine, the car seems to loose about 500 lbs of weight just driving around when you use the Sport mode. Normal mode with the stock engine feels just anemic at normal driving speeds to me. I've since got a plenum and flash package from Softronics. With the plenum and flash, Normal mode is less wimpy and I find that I use it more. Modified engine or not, the engine has a different note in Normal vs Sport...In Sport, it's more edgy sounding, in Normal, exhaust note is rounder and smoother. It's a little more challenging to make smooth starts from a dead stop in Sport mode. Aside from that, it's all good. I did a little trick to help with this. There's a mushroom shaped button up under the dash that is actuated by the clutch arm. The arm pushes it down when your foot is off the pedal. When the clutch is pressed, a very light spring moves the button out and closes a circuit that changes the engine response in some way. I just put some strong tape on the button to keep it in the down position. Engine response seems more linear in that critical time when you're first engaging the clutch. For me, it's a little easier to not kill the motor. I've now also added a SpeedART TUV approved cat-back exhaust system. This weighs a bit less than stock and lessens back pressure as it does away with the second pair of cats (There are 4 on the stock system). With the SpeedART combined with the plenum and flash and Sport mode, the car feels a lot more lively and really pulls hard above 4000. It's more willing at lower engine speeds and the difference in exhaust tone is subtle but it's there. The plenum takes that wheezy midrange torque valley away. It doesn't have the second flapper valve in the plenum, which is, I think the cause of that. You engineers can argue that Sport Chrono doesn't make a difference on paper, but when you are on a track with a 1/8th mile spread between accelerating out of one turn and braking for the next, that extra few hundred RPMs means the difference between an extra shift and no extra shift. There are many other track situations where this rev limiter difference is real. It's not strictly about lap times, it's about the fun factor. You don't drive bar-graphs, you drive the actual car. My car is just more fun in Sport mode. If feel and fun didn't mean anything, we could all save a lot of money by buying some other less dear brand of car. Many cars are better on paper than a Porsche. Sport Chrono's Sport mode increases pedal response and may affect the timing advance or fuel curve or both... I wouldn't swear to that, but the difference in sound points to at least a small goose in the advance curve. The only time I find the Normal mode useful is when the car is warming up or when I'm literally crawling in parking lots or using the clutch a lot in stop-go situations. The rest of the time, it's Sport mode for me. Don't know what year your car is or if it still has warranty or how you plan to use it. My warranty ran out early this year. The Softronic package without the plenum is reversable with a laptop computer. It's a nice addition to a Cayman. It changes fuel curve and ignition advance. If you specify the Sport mode option, they include a routine that permanently turns on the throttle response of Sport Chrono's Sport Mode. You can also specify either type of rev limiter for your flash. Once your software is ordered, you get the Stock program and the Flash program with the features you've asked for. You cannot change them after you order the software. You just add the program you want, Stock or Flash, with a Windows PC and the included cord that plugs into your car. It over-writes the program that's in there currently. The Flash program is undetectable by the Porsche diagnostic system standard tests anyway. If they really have cause to look, they can find it, but they are too busy for that during a routine service... but if you wish, the option is there to just put the stock software back in before a dealer visit to be safe. The cord and downloadable Durametric software allows you to reset service lights and change some things on your car that only the dealer could do previously. That may be a world you don't want to enter or it may be something that interests you. It's your car, your warranty etc. I bought my car used at a good price and knew right off what I wanted it for and that I'd be modifying it. I don't think I'm fooling anyone when I pull in with a roll bar installed. It's as much a mechanical curiosity for me as much as a means of transport or fun machine. I'm still looking for a Porsche dealer that I like. Most of them just try to scare you out of getting anything done to your car that isn't stock...Makes it easier for them because they can just look in the cookbook and charge full rate for apprentices working on your car. They also look at you like you have a target on your shirt. I'm willing to put a little extra time and effort into making my car MY CAR. Not too much...just enough. The Sprint Booster is very simple. It just turns on the zippy throttle response mode of the Sport Chrono. It does not change the rev limiter or change the amount of stability control intervention like Sport Chrono does. I like the Sport Mode's reduced PSM setting for a new track or for a cold or wet track etc. I turn PSM off once I get my confidence up with my tire & track conditions and my driving. On the street, I just leave PSM on. It almost never activates but you never know. It can be a great help in a sudden emergency or if you over-do an exit ramp or something. I would think even more so with a rear engined car than a Cayman.
  2. Well, if you want Michelin Pilot Sport IIs, which are on a lot of Cayman S cars from the factory, you're going to pay. If you want to know going rates on tires, the most useful website is www.tirerack.com. A lot of local tire dealers buy at least some of their tires from Tire Rack. I'm perfectly happy with my Nitto NT555s for 19" wheels. I got these at Discount Tire. They were about $1100 for the set including mounting, balancing and rebuild kits for my TPMS units (one per wheel). The ultimate handling is a little less but the ride is better than with Michelins. Not sure about tire life yet. I have seperate tires for track use and another set for winter use, I use the 19" wheels in summer on the street simply because they look so swell. There are other Nitto tires with a more radical tread and look to them, but the dealer told me he's had complaints about tread noise, so I got the 555s. They look very similar to stock tires. I've used Nitto R compound tires for several years. Quality is very good. Because I don't use these summer tires on the track, I'm not concerned about tread chunking or other concerns that come with continuous real hard use. They are fine in the rain and stick well enough to entertain me. For 18" wheels, the cheapie tire of choice seems to be Sumitomo HTRZ III. Tire Rack lists 235/40/18 for the fronts at a paltry $105 each. Rear 265/40/18s are $161 each. You will pay shipping and have to take them to a tire shop for mounting and balancing. If you have a good shop in your area, they will probably welcome your having the tires shipped from Tire Rack directly to their store. You can take your car in when the tires have arrived, eliminating one trip. Also you will be able to know the price for mounting and balancing before you make the decision to purchase tires this way. For 17" wheels, Summitomo sells a 215/50/17" HTRZ III for the front 10mm wider with the same 50 series profile should be fine. Price is $65 each. They also make the stock 235/50/17 for the rear. Price is $109 each. This is A LOT cheaper than Yoko or Michelin or other Euro tires. I have not used these Summis on my car because I needed 19" and they didn't have good sizes for me. A lot of Cayman and Boxster drivers are using these Sumis in the 18" size. I did not find a suitable 17" size for a Nitto tire that I'd use. If you're using your car for daily driving and not strenuously, Either the Nitto or Summi tires will work great. I have heard that the earlier version Summitomo HTR Z II tires are not good and that they should be avoided, but the IIIs are a stellar bargain. Note that none of the choices I've shown are recommended for cold weather use. They are summer only tires...50 degrees and above. Have fun shopping.
  3. You engineers! The question is "How can I add Sport Chrono?" So you go off for pages on the benefits of various aspects of it. The short and to the point answer is that Softronic and others have software "Flash" packages you can buy that not only enhance performance but give you the Sport setting of Sport Chrono all the time without any other mod to your car. No dash switch to add or anything else, just the great fuel/throttle map that makes the car feel about 600 lbs lighter. I have SC on my CS. I love it. I don't care if it doesn't add a single HP or Ft Lb. I don't care if my 0-60 times are the same. It's more fun to drive the car with it in Sport Mode. The clock on the dash is pretty worthless, but I like the way it looks on my black interior. Anyone using that clock-timer at the track ought to be paying more attention to his driving instead of trying to get lap times that are destined to be not very accurate. The Softronic flash with Sport option will not affect the Tiptronic or the Sport Exhaust or the PASM if you have any of these, just the throttle mapping, but that's the important part. This is a good way to go.
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