number9ine

Sounds like you got off cheap. What's the "shoelace problem?"

Hi, Not a 987 owner but I had a 986 with Bose. I'd suggest checking two things. First, look for a loose connection or frayed wiring on the subwoofer harness plug. Second, remove the sub box and check that your engine compartment cover is seated and secured correctly. A very remote possibility would be that critter(s) decided to nest in your sub box while the car was hibernating. I certainly hope not, but flip the assembly over and open it to inspect if everything else checks out. No matter what, setting your fader to rear is going to make the stereo sound like mud, because the frequencies going to the sub are low-pass (probably ~20Hz, but depends on Bose's definition) and the tweeters don't do much work. Good luck. Mark

Awesome, Steve! Glad you got it open. Let us know what your mechanic diagnoses when you get the latch fixed. Mark

I'd try two people, one pulling on the emergency cable, the other pushing down on the Porsche crest and simultaneously using something to slide into the gap between the hood and bumper cover to catch the safety release. If the latch mechanism has been lowered over time you may be able to raise it again. try a few lengths of strong twine under the front of the hood, and one person on either side to hoist the twine and lift at the hood. It may pull the latch mechanism to a height where it will release the trunk. Once you've opened the trunk, the latch is adjustable via mounting bolts beneath the trunk carpeting at front. I'm not sure what the next step would be if you can't get it open. I'd take the car to a dealer to sort it. Good luck. Mark

They're all going to peel off after a staggeringly low mile count, but I'm a big fan of Bridgestones. I've done S03 and RE050 Pole Position, both had great wet/dry traction and decent treadwear considering their mixed track/street use. And the cost is MUCH lower than the other OEMs like Bridgestone, Pirelli and even Conti. They come in N-spec on some of the latest 997.2s. I don't know about Kumho, but a friend had them on his Camaro SS and Z06 vette and loved the performance for the price. Said the treadwear was pretty awful, but it is on all these tires. Mark

I turned the feature back on and cleared my cache, and it seems to have them hovering over their forum titles now instead of under my mouse. It'll take a little getting used to but if the hover is predictable then it's fine by me. Thanks! Mark

Has the topic hover preview changed recently? Since the 3.0 upgrade it was showing a small snippet on hover under my mouse a la tooltip, now it's showing a larger one that obscures what's over my mouse, meaning I have to clear it before I can click on a topic. I've disabled it because I don't find it very useful in the larger size. Is there a way to revert back to the older functionality? Other than this minor gripe, v3.0 is awesome so far. Mark

It's my understanding that Porsche calibrates the speedometers to a specific, standard wheel and tire size per model. This number could be thrown off by anything making a small change in tire diameter, a change to aftermarket or optional wheels, etc. My car has N-spec (Porsche OEM approved) tires on the standard 19" wheels for its model spec and the speedo is dead-on as measured against an aftermarket GPS, which itself isn't 100% accurate. Is your car on stock wheels and N-spec tires of the proper size? Either way, our findings are anecdotal. I've owned many cars with an optimistic speedo calibration. Every VW I've owned, for example, seems to have a 5-10% higher reading than GPS or radar (ugh) suggests. Mark

Next time I'd avoid the "fix-a-flat" sealant (Porsche's or Pep Boys) because the mess it makes won't ever be cleaned off the inside of your wheel. Tire "professionals" hate the stuff. I use a $6.00 plug kit for punctures to keep me rolling down to the tire shop. Most punctures are slow leaks, so I can use the compressor to keep air in until I get home. Pull out that 10 amp fuse and replace it with the 7.5 amp, lest you fry something that's expensive to replace. Like Berty987 says, the cig lighter outlet works fine. Make sure you read the label on the compressor itself, which warns you that the pump should only be run for x minutes before turning it off for a rest. I can get about 30 PSI into my tire from the Porsche compressor in about 4 minutes.

The part you refer to is commonly called a "clamshell." It's unfortunate that it was dented and scratched. A paintless dent removal expert may be able to remove the dent, but the paint will need touch-up. If your car is a lighter metallic color it will be very difficult to make it "invisible" via regular touch-up in such a visible area. You can ask a detailing professional to do it for you, they may have better luck. If PDR and touch-up don't yield a result acceptable to you, the next stop is the body shop. The shop will probably need to "blend" the paint they apply to the repair on your rear quarter and decklid, and the bill could get expensive pretty quickly. I'd go the dent-removal and touch-up route first, it'll cost you maybe $200 at most depending on whether or not you have a detailer apply the touch-up. If the results don't look good to your eye, take it to a body shop and get an estimate. Best of luck. Mark

Try replacing the stock filter box and resetting the CEL or seeing if it goes away after a few cycles. If it does, perhaps there's something in your CAI setup that is causing a leak.

Maybe it's the relatively low quality of the photo, but the paint on that rear quarter looks horrendous--the reflections seem to show massive amounts of orange peel. There's something wonky about the rear suspension as well. The front is lowered, and the rear looks like a 4x4. Unless you mechanic is a former body man with a paint meter in his toolbox, get a body shop to give you the real lowdown on the body of that car. Wouldn't Porsche be able to deliver information on options added to the car via their certificate of authenticity service? If it's meaningful to you to know, that might be a good way to find out. I assume your mechanic has done a PPI on the car. What does he say about the awkward suspension? How does the car check out otherwise? The extra inches of sheetmetal and tire aren't worth it if the car has been otherwise abused, IMO. Mark

Great job on the speakers, Gary. I'd be concerned about losing the foam, doesn't it protect the speaker from direct sunlight?

A failure is MUCH more expensive than a replacement. My indy charged me $600 to do the water pump on my wife's '99, which started dripping about a week after we bought it (of course). My understanding is that it's easy enough to do DIY if you want to save some cash.

Mk1 aerokits are beautiful, but I think you should buy the best example you can find. Your price cap is near the bottom of the market for a Mk1 996, which at best will be someone looking for a quick sale, and at worst will be a damaged, salvaged, and/or abused car. Aerokits can always be added later, and better examples might be found if you include cars that don't have the kit. You might also consider waiting a bit and putting together a little more cash to find a really pristine example, which I see out there in the $25k range. No matter what, get a thorough PPI. I'd definitely want to put my hands on a 10-plus-year-old sports car before buying it. Too much risk of disappointment when it arrives on the trailer, sight unseen. Good luck! Mark

Hi, A quick search yields your answer: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?/tutorials/article/47-replacing-the-sim-card-tray-in-a-pcm2/ Becker can be contacted via the info on their site: http://www.beckerautosound.com/ Best of luck, Mark

Awesome work. One day I'll get my hands this dirty... Kudos to you Yeeha!

I agree, if there's no sign of damage then you should pursue a warranty claim. If you must pay for a wheel, use the "Porsche Parts at Dealer Cost" link above to buy from Sunset Imports. Of course, shipping might negate some of your savings. The other option is to find a used OEM takeoff wheel (many are removed by the owners on delivery for a set of aftermarket) and have a reputable wheel or body shop paint it the factory yellow. Good luck. Mark

To each their own, of course. I just love arguing my preference. :) I don't know about you other six-speed drivers, but when I'm not shifting both hands are on the wheel. loose but steady grip, 10 and 2.

Other than the stitching on the instrument pod and the crease in the door cards, it's hard to tell without some closeup pics. Post here and maybe the peanut gallery can decide.

In case it's unclear, the argument I'm making isn't the performance potential of manual versus PDK (or rudder v. wheel as you'd have it), but the level of interaction between the tool and its user. In any system there needs to be a balance between simplicity, ease of use, and control. Manual is my tool of choice because a) it's simpler, B) it has a steeper learning curve that requires (fun!) practice to master, and c) it allows more control over the driving experience. I'd argue that the mark of a true enthusiast is their desire to extract the full potential from the tools of their choice. Since the PDK's ease of use has been inferred here as superior to that of a manual, that might also infer that a manual requires that much more involvement and dedication to perform well. There's no need to question my statement about torque since I qualified it by saying an automanual gives you some control, just not all. With PDK, I can't finesse the throttle and clutch because I have no control over the clutch. Intangible as this is to some it's a quality I appreciate, and it adds to driver involvement. I'll also note that PDK/Tip in any mode will handily upshift without your consent at redline, which may or may not be a good thing. An illustrative example: my wife's tip Boxster upshifts on the trackout through the carousel at Watkins Glen. In less than ideal conditions, the sudden absence of torque under lateral load could result in an unhappy off-track event. There's absolutely nothing that will stop the car from doing this, because when driven properly the car is at redline every time. I haven't driven a PDK on the track yet, perhaps its ratios obviate this behavior. Its software does not. Agreed 100% on the distracted driving. But as we remove ourselves from the mechanics of driving, we also remove the incentive to pay attention while doing so. We can reactively respond to the safety consequences with legislation and enforcement, or we can proactively respond by driving cars with a level of involvement proportional to the risk of piloting heavy metal objects at high speed. Mark

Knowing the year and model doesn't guarantee anything. The image on the left is a full leather door card, and full leather is an option in all 996/986 cars. The obvious visual difference is a tucked leather seam on the full leather card vs. a molded ridge on the vinyl card. Not all vinyl on the cars is created equal. From 97-99, the Boxsters and 996 had a "bumpy" vinyl net optic grain that felt and looked a bit cheap. They returned to the traditional leather-patterned vinyl in the 2000 MY. Mark

Let's not get carried away. The double-clutch gearboxes I have tried (DSG/S-Tronic, PDK in Panamera) are trick and even enjoyable, but in favor of the manual transmission: You're more connected to the car when you're controlling your torque instead of letting the car guess when you want it served up, regardless of how good the car's guess is. Flappy paddles (or toggles) give you some of that, but not all of it. A good clutch foot comes from using all of your senses to know just when to engage. It's becoming a lost art, many people have never driven a manual car and couldn't if they had to. Ferrari can offer whatever they like for a transmission, I'm not buying. Modern Ferraris are overpriced, oversized, with loud looks and a pretentious air IMO. Fine driving machines though they may be, we're on a Porsche forum. For many drivers, putting it in "D" seems to disengage their active awareness, inviting distracted driving, not checking mirrors, lane drift, panic braking, and other dangerous habits. My DD is an automatic wagon, and I dearly wish it was optioned with a stick. In my automagic, sound-deadened, leather-coated, iPod-equipped cocoon I feel less connected to the 2-ton mass that carries me to and fro, and while I actively maintain my situational awareness there's far less incentive for me to do so. Stick is fun. There's so much reward in maximizing your powerband, making smooth, quick shifts, grabbing a lower gear for a pass, and heel-toe work in the twisties. There is absolutely no question that a manual has built-in driver involvement that can't be matched by any auto or automanual tranny. One day soon, rowing your own gears may go the way of the dodo--just like controlling your own car on a freeway, or deciding how fast it goes. I prefer a stronger blend of human in the driving equation. Mark

Glad this worked for you! Any product labeled "polish" is simply a liquid form of abrasive, just like sandpaper. The only difference is the amount of cut. There are some jobs that still require a deeper cut and sandpaper is sometimes an ideal first step, but by no means the final step. For example, metal or other liquid polish won't eradicate a nasty rock chip in my headlamp but I can wetsand it out and then use a polish to restore clarity. I find that for maintenance, PlastX works fine to keep my headlamps in nice shape (no affiliation, it's just easy for me to pick up locally). It also seems to have a hydrophobic component that acts like wax without the residue or fog. Mark

Depending on the speed achieved, it probably is illegal. :) I have yet to try the PDK, might go and kick some tires the next weekend with nice weather and free time to spare. Did you try the launch control? I bet that would make your salesman sweat...