geoff

The cheapest place you can find will be much less interested in inspecting the engine compartment and thoroughly checking everything than a place that charges top dollar, especially if it's late in the day and more people are waiting. The last thing most of these guys want to do is tie up their smog test equipment for an extra half hour while accessing the engine. Just make sure you watch what they do so they don't do something stupid. I found on the Boxster it's also a good idea to make sure they commit to the price up front instead of having them tell you it took longer and charge more after it's all done. A $30 smog check will get you the same exact CA registration sticker as a $150 smog check from the dealer

I finally got new tires - not from where I ordered them, but from my Porsche dealer. Many thanks to Tim (@Ignited) for all his words of encouragement, advice and personal experience with Discount Tires. Here's the saga - I ordered 19" N-rated Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires last November and said I wanted them before Christmas. The holidays came and went and still no tires. Americas Tires (same as Discount Tires) called Michelin national management and was given the run around. Ignited got a set from Discount Tires during this time. My local Americas Tires still couldn't get a set for me. I started looking at alternatives (the Continental DWS look really nice, even if they aren't N-rated) and talked to my service guy at the dealer. He said he could get them no problem. TireRack has 2 divisions - consumer retail and industry. TireRack is the exclusive Michelin distributor in the US for Porsche dealers, and is able to get Michelin tires for Porsche dealers even when nobody else seems to be able to. A week later when I was back in town, I had new tires. (Unfortunately, the parts guy wasn't in when I got the new tires, so the tire tech grabbed the wrong Michelin tires for my Cayenne - the summer tires. They sure drove great! The next morning my service guy called about their mistake and put on the all season Michelins I ordered, which also drive great, just not quite as good as the Latitude Sports) Apparently, Infiniti SUVs use the same Michelin 19" tires and that's where all the N-rated Michelin tires like I ordered went off to. TireRack's web site is still showing the tires as backordered. Americas Tires refunded my order with no questions, and despite all the problems with this order, I'll continue to buy tires from them since their prices are unbeatable My original Continental tires that came on the car were just about down to the wear bars all around. I got just a hair over 30K miles on them, which includes LOTS of fast canyon driving. The tires were just OK to begin with, but I was amazed and impressed with how long they lasted. I did rotate them every 6K miles and checked the tire pressure regularly.

What about a RennTech fan page on Facebook (for all the social crap that doesn't really belong here)?

Is this just for looks? Do you care which wheel is lighter? Or the price difference between 18" and 19" tires? Or whether 18s ride better or hold up better on badly potholed streets?

Loren - with or without the topic hover preview, RennTech 3.0 is a terrific upgrade. Being able to preview part of the post to decide whether to click on it or not is like a third layer of icing on the cake :renntech:

See Mike Focke's excellent reference at http://sites.google....yeardifferences I always thought it had something to do with the wheel carrier assembly

The Porsche recommended air pressure gives a fair amount of understeer, which Porsche's lawyers probably figure is good from a liability standpoint. I run 30-31 PSI in front and 36 PSI in the rear and it seems to work fine for me. At least, that's what my tire pressure gauge says and I've never calibrated it I don't get excessive tire wear, but also keep my tires properly inflated and balanced, and get an alignment every two years or so.

Look in the "Additional Maintenance" link. Transmission oil is listed as a 90K mile / 160K KM service, which seems high to me. But then so does the Porsche motor oil change interval.

After no response here and some suggestions / online diagnoses from a few other Porsche boards, I'm a lot smarter. My third trip to the dealer today might have solved my problem, though. On my second dealer visit, the head mechanic squirted some magic Wurth lubricant on the front lower control arms and sway bar bushings, then tightened the drop links and sway bars. Our plan was to lube/tighten one thing at a time. Unfortunately, the squeak remained and continued to get worse over time. I talked to Steve Alarcon at Johnson's Alignment, and he suggested retorquing everything to factory spec, as he's seen some fasteners loosen over time causing a squeak. I went back to the dealer this afternoon for the third time planning to just have them retighten everything, but the mechanic wanted to take another test drive first. As we started driving through the canyons at 30 MPH, he finally heard the sound (chatter/squeak/rattle). A few more miles through the canyons after doing lots of circles at various intersections, we were finally able to reliably reproduce the squeak (he was calling it a rattle at this point). After driving back and forth numerous times at the intersection of Mulholland and Decker Canyon (me driving, him standing outside), we got the car positioned at the right angle such that he could bounce the front up and down to cause the squeak. After poking around in the wheel wells and under the hood, he closed the hood and claimed success. Driving back to the dealership, the squeak was just about gone. When we got back, he popped the hood, adjusted the hood latch, squirted some WD-40 in the latch, and said the squeak was gone. Sure enough, I haven't heard it since. The good, bad and moral of this experience: I've got a great working relationship with the service department at my dealer. Two test drives, probably 3 hours of the head mechanic's time and a couple squirts of various lubes cost me exactly $0 dollars. I asked them to charge me for their time, but they didn't feel they did anything worth charging me. Is this a great way to build loyalty and repeat business or what? I was almost convinced the problem was worn lower control arms based on numerous posts here and on other forums. I really want some of the GT-3 lower control arms now, but can't justify the cost now. The mechanic saw my notes on our test drive today and said he'd be happy to put them in, but I can't see spending a grand, give or take, when I didn't really have any suspension problem. Several morals to the story - building a good relationship with a dealer (or independent) is invaluable, and trying to diagnose squeaks and rattles over the internet is potentially wrong and expensive. If anyone is interested, my posts on other boards, including some good information on GT-3 lower control arms, can be found at: Boxster Spec.com: GT3 control arm bushings vs. stock, Same or different? Boxster Racing Board: GT3 control arms Pelican Parts Boxster & Cayman Forum: Boxster front squeak

My wife's 997 Carrera just got her second set of rear tires installed a few weeks ago. I check the air pressure every 3 or 4 weeks, have the balance checked every 5-6K miles, and every couple of years get it aligned. She got about 28K miles on each rear set of PS2s, with a combination of canyon, freeway and stop-and-go driving. I don't think she ever hits 100 MPH, but comes close on the freeway at times, and she definitely doesn't drive like a little old lady. No track driving though. Somewhere I read the 997s don't go through rear tires as fast as 996s, but since I get good tire wear on all our P-cars by keeping them properly inflated and balanced, I think that has a lot to do with how well they wear. I've got 29+K miles on the original Contis on our '08 Cayenne S and they aren't quite down to the wear bars yet, even with lots of canyon driving. I can't understand how tires would have to be changed more frequently than motor oil

They worked fine in my '01 Boxster. There's a TSB that describes the process. Also see http://www.skylersra...s_Starting.html I followed these instructions and bumbled my way through the installation. Depending on your electromechanical ability, it's somewhere between trivial and brain surgery. If I had to do it all over again, I would have also gotten how-to Tool Pants' DVD - see http://www.renntech....s&do=_9x6_Werks The Litronics are very nice, although the stock headlights aren't bad

Another option is to just use the blank speaker covers and mount your new speakers directly onto the plastic plate, so you don't mess up your originals. I'm not sure if you can put a deeper speaker in that way or not. See http://www.renntech....__1entry76749 for details on how I did this

Ramps? Like Rhino Ramps

If you are using the VW wires to make the wiring harness, the VW wires are all yellow. See http://www.whiteson....xster/mods/obc/ for the basics, and follow Peter's link at the end for the wire colors. The VW wires needed and the connections changed as of the 2001 model year, so make sure you follow the right set of wiring instructions.

Porsche has pictures and preliminary specs on the new model Cayenne on their web site at http://www.porsche.c...ne/default.aspx - hybrid model included, but no diesel. Interestingly, on a recent flight home from the east coast, I started talking to a car enthusiast from Australia sitting next to me. According to him, and the Oz car mags he was reading, diesel Cayennes have been sold in Australia for several years, but still no mention of them in the US. I didn't realize until talking to him a Cayenne diesel even existed! Proof at http://www.porsche.c...indetail/drive/

I was always a fan of the GT-1 inspired "fried egg" shape for the headlights

I'm trying to track down a suspension squeak, and have asked on several boards. I still haven't isolated the squeak, but if you look at http://www.boxstersp...indpost&p=32552 the replacement part numbers for the lower control arm are listed. elephantracing.com also has replacement bushings for the stock lower control arm. If I can ever figure out what part is making the squeak, I'll know what part(s) to replace

I think Amazon has the best price on these. Try the RennTech Amazon store - link at the top of each page under the Special Offers menu

The nitrogen used to fill tires should have a lot less moisture in it than the air that comes out of a regular air compressor for tires. When you need to fill your tire(s) up and a nitrogen top-up isn't convenient, your choices are to wait until you can get more nitrogen (not necessarily good for your tires), or just add compressed air (somewhat negates the supposed nitrogen benefits). I have an air compressor and check my tires every few weeks, so don't consider nitrogen a practical option for my tires. I did ask the dealer to put nitrogen into my spare tire, since I don't check it very often and want it to work when/if I need it, so no moisture and less gas loss is a plus for the spare.

It's only maintenance free because the original battery comes with a sticker over the acid/water fill openings. When talking to the head tech at my local dealer about my 4½ year old original "maintenance free" battery, he laughed, pulled off the sticker, took off the fill caps, and proceeded to add about 5 bottles of drinking water to bring the water level back up to where it should be (I know you're supposed to use distilled water, but after 4½ years, I figure I'm doing OK and adding water was probably better than not adding it). It's only "maintenance free" because they make it look like you can't top it up with water!

I live in Southern California near the coast, so cold to me is under 45 degrees. We went to dinner in the canyons one night in December a few years ago, driving my Boxster with Michelin PS tires. When we came out, the temperature was 32 degrees. The handling and traction was noticeably worse than when we drove to dinner, but improved considerably as we went down the canyon and the temperature warmed up (within a distance of about 10 miles). I never believed temperature made that much difference with tires and handling until I experienced it first hand

You can also order a certificate from Porsche that shows all the factory options and sticker price matching your VIN, but it costs a few bucks. See http://www.porsche.com/usa/accessoriesands...ofauthenticity/

It sounds like your car has the GT3 console delete. Find someone who has done the GT3 console delete and see if they still have their old parts, or find someone who wants to swap parts with you. If you search for console delete, the instructions should go through all the steps of what to take out and what to install. See the pictures in this topic to find out if that's what you have

Are your Litronics factory installed or the Tequipment retrofit set? I did the Porsche retrofit, and there are no sensors on the suspension arms, only the factory version. Mine go through some up and down process when I start the car, but it's not the true leveling like the factory install, just making sure the motor works to support the high beam tilt-up function. If your lights don't move up when you turn on the high beams, check the second set of wiring that supports the high beam. Otherwise, your lights will be stuck in the most dipped position. Options for connecting the second wiring harness include clamp on connectors, pulling pins or soldering on to existing wiring, any of which could cause a problem. If you don't have the washers for the lights, your lights were added after the factory build

You might want to ask Gert at Carnewal about Porsche 997 Euro lowering springs. Sunset can get ROW parts; I got my ROW M030 from them. I read somewhere H&R makes the OEM springs. Look on their site at http://hrsprings.com/scripts/appguide.php?...1/997%20Carrera They show sport springs that lower front and rear 1.2", not sure if you need to change out the shocks to match. If yes, look at the Bilstein Sport shocks, which are supposed to be better than the stock ones and suitable for lowered suspensions. Tirerack's web site lists both springs and shocks Before you do anything, you should definitely talk to Steve Alarcon at Johnson's Alignment in Torrance for advice on options and tradeoffs. He did an outstanding job installing the ROW M030 shocks, springs and sway bars