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Paul Strong

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Everything posted by Paul Strong

  1. An independent Porsche specialist near London charged me about 20-30 mins labour to fix the problem. The switch itself cost very little, IIRC.
  2. Yes please. I'd like to try to do a proper fix on my visors, so the more information and pictures the better. Thanks.
  3. That looks like a pretty easy change. On the Boxster is it just a case of pulling out the transmission plug and quickly replacing the switch, ie a 5-10 minute job? Thanks for your help (and Loren too). You two do a great job on here!
  4. To clarify my previous posts: the bulbs aren't new, but I only temporarily put the reverse bulb in the indicator holder then operated my left indicators to ensure the reverse bulb was OK. This told me the reverse bulbs were OK and that it was a switching problem elsewhere. From further testing since my first post I've confirmed that sometimes I can get the reverse lights working (either both or neither come on). Basically it's an intermittent fault somewhere in the switching when reverse is engaged. Where is the reverse switch located on the transmission? Thanks.
  5. Thanks Loren. The car has never had an RMS replacement that I know of, but the reverse lights were definitely working a month or two ago, plus it passed the UK's yearly MOT test and a full Porsche inspection in February before I bought it. I've checked the fuse and it's fine, but I've tried engaging reverse while the car is parked a lot of times over the last few days and both reverse lights do come on about 30-40% of the time, but it is very much intermittent. I can shift it in and out of reverse 10 times and the lights won't come on, no matter how I put it in reverse (slow, fast, pushing lightly past the spring, pushing hard, pushing far to the left or not etc etc), then they'll suddenly start working several times in a row. Which wires were you suggesting to check that could be loose? Thanks.
  6. I've noticed that both of my reverse lights have recently stopped working (RHD, 99 model, 996 C4 coupe, manual) and I wondered if anyone's had the same thing happen, or what I can check myself before getting Porsche to look at it. I've confirmed that the rear left side reverse bulb is still OK by plugging it into the indicator bulb holder. The only thing I've found in the forums is this recent topic entitled "Are any of these the reverse wire sensor?" http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2119 I assume there's a wire from the gearshift to the box under the seat on the left, and then the signal is taken from there to the lights? Which wire is leading into the control box -- from the gearshift or out to the lights, or doesn't it work like that? BTW, does the engine have to be running to activate the reverse lights, or does having the ignition on and the gearshift in reverse enough? Thanks for any info you can provide!
  7. Loren, Does your car have the black plastic "air guides" that normally sit behind a standard front bumper? I'm replacing my damaged std '99 front bumper with the GT3 one and I'm wondering whether there's any point replacing the cracked air guides or just leaving them out. The middle section of the new GT3 bumper won't be cut out if that makes any difference. Thanks.
  8. Exactly, there are so many different styles of driving -- like the 355-driving **** near me who likes to accelerate hard up the backside of cars, brake hard to avoid crashing into them, and then proceeds to sniff at their bumper until the poor sod moves aside for his highness. Grrr.
  9. Don't forget that ffelan is quoting UK mpg where a gallon is 20% bigger than the US. So his US MPG would be 17% lower: 15.8mpg city, 22.4mpg highway. 27 UK-mpg doesn't sound too bad for a Tip unless you drive at a constant 80mph on the motorway and rarely never accelerate/brake. Could it be that you're more used to the car now so you use the power as much as possible, which you're less likely to do in an unfamiliar car on a test drive? Also, do you use regular unleaded (95RON), super unleaded (97RON) or Optimax (98-99RON)? You should get better MPG with the better stuff.
  10. I've now got a 996 and have the front console removed. Now all I need is the GT3-delete trim in the right colour. My interior is Savannah / tan but my supplier tells me that his Porsche parts system lists the carpet piece (part #1 in Loren's exploded diagram) as only being available in 3 colours: black, dark grey and brown (T11). However, Carnewal's description of this item says it's "available in most factory carpet colors". Does anyone know what type of brown the code T11 is, or has anyone ordered this piece in a colour other than the above three?
  11. Thanks Loren. I'll have a go and see what I can break -- it can't be much worse than at the moment.
  12. If it's any help I used to drive a mk1 MR2 with a 320mm Raid steering wheel and although I wouldn't go any smaller on any car, the size was great and really sporty compared to the stock wheel of 370mm, ie about the size of a 996 wheel in fact. My only concern would be with the fairly weighty steering of a 996, which can only get heavier with a smaller wheel. If I had to make a choice between 370, 340 and 320 for my 996 I'd go for 340mm. Note that I only went for the 320mm wheel in my MR2 because I physically couldn't drive the car with a bigger wheel -- I'm 6'7" and the cockpit of the mk1 MR2 was built for people a foot shorter.
  13. On my 5-year old car my passenger visor's lid springs are gone (lid just flops down when opened) and the driver's side is half-way there too. Porsche told me this is a common problem but that the whole visor has to be replaced and of course they're something like £160 ($280) each. I wasn't going to worry, but if I can fix it myself then that would be great. Can these be fixed? Loren, could you send me any details you have? Thanks.
  14. I don't know where the original information was obtained from but the info below was posted recently, in this forum I think. I don't know what model year this refers to. The facelifted one I guess if Jim has had noticeable problems at 145mph... Here is a little trivia for you about how even the "little" stock wing on the carreras impacts the just the lift aspect of aerodinamics (996 carrera): Wing down Front lift (at 157mph) --> 64 kg Rear lift (at 157mph) --> 136 kg Wing up Front lift (at 157mph) --> 5 kg Rear lift (at 157mph) --> 14 kg BTW: GT3 rear lift at 200km/h (124mph) --> 0Kg GT2 rear lift at 200km/h (124mph) --> -8Kg
  15. Thanks Loren, that's a very informative expansion on what I've seen printed about the system in various car magazines. What I'm still missing though is how the 4WD system is utilised as part of the PSM program, if at all. At least one car magazine has stated that the 4WD system is used by the PSM to give extra benefit over a C2 with PSM. Does anyone know if power is sent to the front wheels without instructions from the PSM system -- ie the viscous clutch system just does its mechanical work -- and then if PSM notices a >7% slip it intervenes and does its work, presumably at which point the maximum 40% of power would have been sent to the front wheels if they have sufficient traction?
  16. I've had my 99 C4 manual coupe for a couple of weeks now and being an inquisitive sort I've been exploring the workings of the PSM. Last week in the wet in first gear while exiting a roundabout I mashed the accelerator and the PSM did its job as expected after the rear end slid sideways by a good number of inches. There was a bit of fishtailing but I can't be sure that I didn't instinctively apply some corrective lock that I shouldn't have with this sort of system. However last night I started throwing the car around at fairly slow speeds in the dry to see what happened. During two separate maneuvers the PSM activation light flashed a few times as I, rather ungainly, threw the car into slow bends/turns while putting the power down very early. However there was no discernable slide. The car just seemed to handle it and shot off down the next straight. So I'm left wondering, was the PSM light flashing because power was sent to the front wheels or because it noticed a slide (and a hooligan at the wheel) and applied braking to individual wheels before any real slide developed. From what I've read I wouldn't expect the latter as I thought the PSM system allows a noticeable slide to develop before intervening. Any explanations appreciated.
  17. I'm surprised no-one has mentioned that the owner's manual says that the rear spoiler warning light stays on until the car is moving, only then does it go out. Or is the activation of this warning light different on the cab? Not that this should stop you putting the top down, but it's worth knowing.
  18. Here's an interesting tyre comment from a UK weekly car mag 'Autocar' (27/1/04 issue), where they've been running a 2002 C2 manual coupe for almost 2 years: "Tyre and wheel choice is critial to the enjoyment of the 911. I was seduced by the 18-inch five-spoke Carrera wheels introduced with the 3.6-litre engine. Since they also reduce unsprung weight by 10.6kg, they seemed appropriate. I requested 'all round' tyres, but my car rolled out on Michelin Pilot Sport SXs and the ride was taut at the front, unyielding at the read. And this on standard suspension, rather than the more strongly sprung and firmly damped sports suspension. I discussed the matter with a couple of Weissach chassis engineers. They say that if most of your driving is in cities and on speed-restricted motorways, you're better off on the 17s and all-round tyres. Regardless of the brand of tyres, 18s affect the ride because the tyres are lower profile. Porsche splits the tyre choice between 'all-round' and 'sports' rubber on the 911's 17- and 18-inch wheels. Unfortunately, complexity on the assembly line means Porsche doesn't allow the buyer to make a choice of brand when ordering the car, so you'll need a friendly dealer if you insist on a particular tyre. But the choice is yours when it's time to replace the tyres. I was immediately aware of the improved ride upon swapping to Pirelli P-Zero Rosso N4s. I was so impressed that I spoke to a Germany-based Pirelli engineer, who explained the N4's tread pattern and compound were specifically developed for the 996 to provide improved ride comfort, while improving wet weather and mechanical grip. If you want Pirellis, N4 is the magic label."
  19. If you've got the full PSE installed, ie with the automatic quietening of the system at slow-ish speeds, maybe it is related to this feature?
  20. How easy is it to remove just the centre console unit? I'm 6' 7" tall and had my first drive in a 2000 996 C4 this week. I found that although the legroom was good, there wasn't quite enough room between my left leg and the steering wheel (RHD car) to turn the wheel without regularly knocking my knuckles on my knees. The independent dealer I visited noticed that the centre console sticks out more than the transmission tunnel and that my leg was resting on the console not the tunnel. So, I'll be removing my centre console when I find a 996 with the right spec. When I find the right car I'll want to test drive it without the centre console to make doubly sure that its removal liberates enough room for me. Is it something I can do with a screwdriver alone? I only need to remove it temporarily, not fit the delete kit, and I don't care about the wires and airbag control unit it exposes. Many thanks.
  21. Sounds like a 993 I saw a couple of years ago at the Nurburgring. It was making such a racket. We were in the car park were just shaking our heads saying "he's not going to get out on the track with that, he's taking the *****". He was duly told to sod off by the marshalls without even a noise test.
  22. Yes I'd agree that a GT3 is louder than stock from the few cars I've heard. I didn't realise that an open PSE was effectively a straight through exhaust (with cats)! How come there's no increase in power with a PSE? The cats I guess. It sounds like an PSE without the 'quiet mode' fitted could fail a UK trackday noise test.
  23. Is a stock early 996 with PSE quieter than a GT3 or similarly noisy? Also, does anyone know the noise level readings of a PSE? If PSE has a quiet mode to pass noise regs in some part of the world then I'm wondering whether it might fail a strict track day noise limit. Isn't Jonathan Palmer's place 95db? I've seen GT3s at the Nurburgring pass the ~100db limit there but that's quite a lot louder than 95db.
  24. Scouser, I don't think the £795 price (ex VAT) is a mistake, and anyway their Terms & Conditions page includes the clause "14) The right is reserved to alter price's and specification without notice." Have a look at this recent topic: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=983 It mentions a quote from an OPD of £1019+VAT for the hardware and £620+VAT for fitting. £795 vs £1019 sounds like the sort of saving I'd expect from a parts specialist over a Porsche dealer.
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