atmorris

I'm replacing my CDR23 (and amp) with an Alpine 9885 HU, and I'm told that some late model VW wiring harness adapters may work on a Boxster. Anybody out there have any idea which VW models/years might be candidates to be used on a MY03 Base Boxster with a CDR23? Not finding too may off the shelf wiring adapters for Porsches at the Crutchfields or Woofersetc of the world :P

Question for anyone who has a 986, tracks it now and then, and has changed the front bumper from stock type to a GT2 or turbo type. From what I can see, the stock configuration on my '03 (or an '04) states a drag coefficient of 0.31 - very sleek. The GT2 or 911 Turbo, while I recognise that it is a different body style, states a drag coefficient of 0.34 with the wing up and 0.31 or 0.30 with it retracted. This data seems consistant throughout the model line, so the frontal area configuration being base stock, GT2, Turbo, or GT3, does not seem to affect the drag coefficient at all. SO, it looks like it is a reasonable assumption that changing the 986 front bumper to a GT2 or Turbo style bumper will not change the drag coefficient, and therefore will not affect realized top speed. Since none of us are Aerodynamicists, I'll put the question to those of you who have actually have ran a 986 in both configurations at high speeds (on a track I hope), do your experiences support this ?

Ok....maybe I need to learn something new here. I'll pose this question for any of the Porsche techs out there...... USUALLY white smoke is water, and oil smoke is a blueish white. Is the synthetic oil different?

Your SURE the smoke is pure white? Not with a slight blueish tint? Does the smoke have a sweet smell to it?

Unfortunately because those eccentrics have so much slop in them, this in no way guarantees that you're at the same alignment as when you started. If you've ever aligned one of these cars you know that if you turn the eccentric, often no change in alignment will occur for the first 1/16 of a turn! You may be fine - but I'd suggest getting an alignment. Quick question - did you still have to disconnect the axle doing it your way (removing the eccentric bolt)? Right, but it puts it back close enough to get it to the alignment shop. For me, it's a given that anytime your changing suspension components an alignment is mandatory afterwards. I wouldn't even think of not doing one. I already had the axle loose before I decided to go with removing the excentrics bolt, but no, you wouldn't have to.

Love that color.... :clapping:

REALLY nice job. Well thought out and fabricated. Very impressive.

...Wow. Pretty unprofessional and screwed up. Glad I read this. Zenonmods isn't the only game in town for these products. I think I'll remember that when I order.

I have the PNP kit in my MY03 with the M490 option. The PNP kit comes with a harness that you have to run up to the front and plug in to either the head unit or the amplifier, depending on what setup you have in the car. If you have the M490 option like I do, the PNP kit plugs into the amp, and that's it...done deal. In that case, yes the fader works as you expect.

I battled through that decision a couple of months ago Rom. Coil overs or ROW M030? Insite, who posts a lot on this board, and tracks his car pretty often, was so impressed with the ROW M030 that his opinion....and data...pushed me over the edge in that direction. I can honestly say that I am not dissapointed in the least. I think the coil over setups are better if you just track the car, but the ROW M030 accomplishes the same goal, minus the adjustability, at less than half the price. That makes it a good street/trrack option. Plus, it is still OEM Porsche and specifically designed for the car. A good alignment shop who can/will give you a good setup is an important part of the equasion as well. My setup is -1.2 camber F and -2.0 R, with 1/32" total toe in F and R. My car just plants and rails the tight stuff, staying flat as a pancake. It takes the Boxster to a whole new level. Before you decide on which motor to throw in, you might want to read this. There is some very interesting information here that is food for thought : Hartek Boxster/996 engine discussion Best of luck in your endeavor....

Don't know if you have an S or not, but if I had the change, I'd stick a 3.2 or 3.4 in my Boxster with headers, Maxflow exhaust, a six speed, Brembo brake upgrade, and ROW M030 suspension with a good setup. That combo would kick *** with a good driver and still be very streetable. The Elise is tempting for sure as far as AX or just pure play, but as I understand them, really not all that streetable.

No typo, that is the data that I found for the racks and pinions (number of teeth rack/pinion). Stock 5 speed 2.7L = 32:9 rack and pinion = 3.56:1 final drive ratio. Stock 5 speed 2.5L = 35:9 rack and pinion = 3.89:1 final drive ratio.

Graeme, I recently completely changed my suspension over to the ROW M030 setup. It was the first time I have ever worked on Porsche suspension, and I used your guide. It was a great help to me during the process. Good illustrations and clear instruction. Thanks for taking the time to put such a great guide together. :thumbup: One note to potential users: When you get to the rear suspension, I found it much easier to unbolt the lower control arm at the chassis, than to split the lower ball joint - even though I have the Porsche type splitter tool. Just clean the adjuster cams good with brake cleaner first and let them dry, then mark the cam positions with a sharpie before loostening the bolts. Then its easy to put them right back in the same positions.

My 03 has the Porsche M411 optional 18" wheels, but Porsche offered that option with specific light weight alloy Carrera wheels to offset the issues that Jim stated in his post.

Exactly, you only hear the bad stories on a discussion board. If you look at the numbers produced by the engine failure survey done over on the Renlist board, among 255 respondents, the catastrophic engine failure rate was about 8%. First of all, I would suspect that 8% is not all that unusual for a performance car, no matter who makes it. Also, interestingly, the survey data showed a significant correlation between those 8% failures and pre-2002 models, which were driven throughout the wintertime, and were not usually allowed to warm up properly. That data correlation says volumes to me.... Make sure you do proper maintenance, with quality parts. Use quality fuel of the proper octane rating. Let the car warm up properly, especially during cold weather. Keep your foot out of the throttle until the engine is fully up to temp. Your car should run for a long, long time. Anyone see anything here that isn't just good old fashioned common sense?

OK, how about this one........ From a post over on the Boxster Racing Board: "Savowood, your 2.7 has a five speed with a 3.56:1 final drive...the five speed in the 2.5 Boxster has a 3.89:1 final drive...I'd bet (but I don't know for certain) that the ring and pinion from the 2.5 five speed would fit..." Another racer confirmed that the R&P from the 2.5 would fit. A jump to a 3.89:1 FDR would definitely impact the acceleration positively. I would think it better for AX, and most of the tracks that DE's are run on as well, while still maintaining good "street-ability." I took a look and dCautomotive shows 2 part numbers for the 2.5L 35:9 rack and pinion: 012409143CA @ $668.89 and 012409143CQ @ 805.86. Not sure what the difference might be. Opinions?

OK, so pretty much as I thought, the 6 speed is the best/only route. Anyone know if it's pretty much a plug-n-play change with the trans ? For example, will the 5 speed shift linkage work?, The B&M SS appears to be the same model for both non-S or S, is it? Any difference in the half shafts ? The 6 speed instrument cluster is different I believe, what is different about it? Does it have to be changed? etc..

I'm wondering a couple of things and would appreciate input from anyone out there who might have some experience along these lines: a) how difficult is it to upgrade a MY03 base Boxster with the 6 speed "S" trans? ......and/or B) what, if any, modifications can be done to the 5 speed, to shift the gearing a bit more biased toward the acceleration side. I don't seem to be able to find any CR gear sets or anything out there for the 5 speed. Lots of guys are AXing and racing Boxsters....they can't ALL be "S" models. :-) and Please, no need to reply with the obvious "...get an S ", I'm aware of that route thank you.

Just a note to clear up a couple of things I see in these posts that are worth addressing. 1) Stock M490 option amp contains crossovers internally and will only feed low/mid bass to the door speakers. For that reason, mid bass drivers are the best selection. However, placing coaxial drivers in the doors will work ok as well, but the bass quality may not be as good - depending on the driver being used. No mid/high frequencies will be received by the driver anyway, rendering the high frequency driver inactive. You might want to do this however if, for example, you plan to later change the head unit and/or amp (have to do both at the same time in a MOST system - ie.. MY03 and later) to aftermarket units, and intend to allow the door drivers to broadcast full range sound at that time. There are compact sub systems out there, like the Kenwood KSC-SW1 that can easily, and inexpensively, be added and produce much better bottom end than the door drivers do anyway. 2) The stock drivers, to the best of my knowledge, are 4 ohm. I am not certain of this for every model year, but make sure you check yours out and are positive. Staying with this impedance is the best and safest bet. Be carefull of mixing impedances, as it changes the load the amplifier sees and, under the right conditions, can damage the amp. It is generally considered safer, where you MUST use a different impedance driver for some reason, to use higher impedance drivers althought output power will suffer. Use of lower impedance drivers can more easily allow the amp to be over driven and go into clipping, potentially causing damage to the amp, speakers, or both. Thanks for all the kind words about my guide. Glad to see that it is helping people. :)

awesome, isn't it? the compromise in ride quality is almost unnoticable. i really think it should have come standard like this. I'd have to agree insight. Considering that the cost difference to Porsche would have been negligible at build, not sure why they wouldn't have done this. The car performs at a whole different level configured this way. I never would have thought that it would change the envelope this much......whole different level. P.S....just read about the ernie bar. Very impressive. Just sent an email to stan..... :P

I might suspect (in order) 1) Collapsed lifter 2) Broken valve spring retainer 3) Cracked or broken valve spring ....and I don't think I'd be driving it until I found out for sure. Don't want to suck a valve and do BIGTIME engine damage.

OK...its been a whole week now. I L-O-V-E this suspension. I may need to move someplace that has lots of super curve laden roads now. :D It's insane how much more speed I can carry through a tight corner now and the car still doesn't even feel remotely close to the edge. It's obvious that I'm going to have to get it on a track to get any idea of it's full potential, and then I think it's going to scare me a little at first. Life is good. :notworthy:

Looks pretty neat. It is an electrostatic gun. You then just bake at 400 degrees to cure the paint. Kind of limited in the size of what you can do, because you need a curing oven, but probably works real well for small stuff.

I'm pretty sure that powder coating is an electrostatic application process, then it is heated and cured. Not sure how the Sears thingie might work.

If I were doing mine again, I would probably go with Infinity drivers in both the doors and the dash, then replace the (4) 3" drivers in Harvey's kit with Infinity's as well. Not that Henry's drivers are bad, I just don't like mixing drivers. If you never plan to change the HU and AMP, then consider using midbass drivers for the doors, otherwise I would put coaxials in the doors so that I could use them full range later when I changed the amp and HU, and just add a compact powered sub like the Kenwood unit behind the pass seat for stronger bass later on.