Can PSM be added on a C2?

I'm looking at buying a 2004 C2 but it doesn't have PSM which I really want. Can the dealer add this option or the only way you get it is from the factory when the car is made? Thanks for all tour responses. It looks like mission impossible to add. Jason gave me the best feedback.

Why would you want to turn a sports car into a computer controlled car? Spend the money on driving lessons and you won't need PSM.

I suppose everything is possible but not financially effective. If you want PSM, get a car with it. I don't have it and don't miss it since I live in CA. I just don't drive aggresively when it's wet. When dry, I don't need it.

Answer: No. Resolution: Sell your car to a track ***** and buy a car with PSM from the factory. The track ***** might even pay you a little premium for your non-PSM car. If you are wondering, I have been called a ***** now and then

1999Porsche911 - PSM is a matter of personal preference, and can be a graet safety feature. I am wondering, if you don't want a computer controlled car, when are you going to turn of your engine manangement and your ABS, after all don't you want to be a true purist. Just kidding! My original 911 was a 1967, Weber cars, no abs, etc. etc., it was fun, but I would never trade it for my C4.

I have a 2004 C2 without PSM. When a DE instructor asks if my car has PSM and I answer no, their universal response has been "good". That tells me alot....

If I am on a dry track, that is swept of dirt and debris on a regular basis, and cleared of oil spills, coolant and other contaminents, and I want to learn the nuances of controlling the car, braking, drifting, etc. etc., then I would probably want to turn off the PSM, even as I was lapped by the cars with the PSM on. But in the real world of everyday driving, with rain, sleet, snow, dirt, gravel, debris, oil, coolant and other substances regularly being deposited on the road surface, PSM sure seems like a nice feature/safety factor. And in 6 years of driving a C$ with PSM (after 25+ years of driving Porsches without it) I have rarely encountered a situation when the PSM was invoked unless is was wet, or snowing or some other outside factor not found on a track was present. I would not think about adding it to a car, but then again, I probably would not buy a 996 without it, you can always turn it off.

PSM hardly turns a sports car into a "computer controlled car". What it might do is bail you out should you try to bend the laws of physics. And of course, you can always turn it off.................

This is hard to say without it sounding cocky, which is not my intent!.....I have a C2 with PSM.....its on at the track...it does not come on unless I really have to do, something like avoid hitting a spinning car..... I run steady 1:20 at Roebling with a few in the high teens.....The car is not slower due to PSM. Leaving the PSM on will make you a better driver, you will get smoother till it does not come on any more.......you can't really turn it off...you can turn off some aspects of it..but under hard brake with the car out of shape it will come back on...even with the button on off.....! If your learning to swing on a trapize, would you do it without a net?...Once your good enough does the net get in your way? I hear these excuses all the time........Yea maybe if your Hans Stuck you might be faster with it off....but then Hans does not have to pay for the cars he drives on the track......try it next time, be smooth and it will NOT come on...I promise :-)

I find it interesting, all the "track guys" who poo-poo on PSM. These cars aren't really track cars - they're just nice, expensive cars that are fun on a track. A real track car has a roll cage and one seat and not much else. Anything below that is a compromise on the track. For all those who think modern cars are spoiling the fun of "real driving", you should consider the days when a race driver had to adjust the ignition timing and fuel mixture with levers on the steering wheel. Kind of makes synchromesh gears seem like they're made for pussies. And let's not forget that F1 and LeMans drivers no longer really shift gears for themselves. I'll take my street car with DSG or Tiptronic, ABS, PSM, etc. And I'll take my track car with a roll cage, open exhaust, big sticky tires and whatever else I can get at a price that is totally "disposable" (you should never drive a car on the track that you can't afford to just throw away).

It could be done but there are so many different parts required that it wouldn't make any sense to try (i just went through PET to get an idea). The control units, hydraulic pumps, sensors, brake lines, etc. are different so (literally) just about everything other than discs & pads would need to be changed. You are better off buying a MY04 with PSM already installed as the replacement parts would cost you thousands (5k > $PSM$ < 10k) of dollars.

Great analogy.

It is a great analogy . . . too bad it is not entirely accurate. I actually agree with Armando and Realist for the most part. My car has PSM and I leave it on at the track. The reason why the analogy is not accurate is because PSM actually can interfere wiith trailbraking even when you turn it off, becuase you can never really turn it off. If Porsche had permitted owners to turn off PSM completely without fear that it would turn itself back on under certain circumstances (e.g., trailbraking), then the system would be ideal. As it stands, it can occassionaly interfere with intermediate-advanced track drivers.

I've gotta go one more round on the "real drivers don't need PSM at the track" issue. PSM won't actually make you slower (not in a street car driven on the track), so it's really an issue of whether or not you believe you're "cheating" by having PSM. If you're in the camp where you think "driving aids" are taking away the driving experience, then you should be driving a car car with no power steering, no hydraulic brakes (and certainly no ABS), no sychromesh gears (you've really gotta heel & toe ... and double-clutch!), and heck, why not control your own fuel mixture and ignition advance while you're at it - that's the way "real" race car drivers used to do it. I believe these modern advancements improve the way our cars work, and it's still up to the driver to get the most out of the car. It's not "cheating". And I'm sure none of us could get the most out of an early 90's F1 car that had auto-shifting trans, ABS, traction control, yaw control, constantly variable ignition timing (run "live" by the engineer in the pits), and many other techno gizmos we don't know about. Even in cars like that, driving truly fast was a unique skill mastered by very few. Just because the car shifted for itself is no reason to believe the driver was any less a master. For all you guys who poop on PSM and Tiptronic, etc., I say it's time you join the modern era, or you'll just become one of those old geezers who reminisces about how great it was back in the day.

R.D., I definitely hear what you are saying with the one exception being Tiptronic. To me, half of the religious experience of driving my 996 is shifting through the gears. To paraphrase "Top Gear", it's just biblical ripping through the rev band, dumping on the clutch, sliding through the gear box (admittedly shorter because of the SSK), and then pounding on the throttle. I just like being a bit more involved with that one aspect of driving, though I surely don't want to be adjusting fuel richness on the fly. So, I guess what I'm saying is that for me, I say 'No' to shifting.

I also get what you're saying nycebo, I enjoy manual shifting in my track car. But I prefer TIptronic for my street car (actually, Audi's DSG is infinitely superior). You realize though that there are top-rank race drivers these days who have never put their foot on a clutch pedal before. They look at us like we're from another era (which we are), like we're listening to big band music in the rock 'n roll era (hence my comment about old geezers reminiscing about the good old days). Kimi Raikkonen had only been in 23 car races before starting his first F1 race. All of his experience before that was restricted to karting, where you shift without using the clutch. So effectively, he's only driven using a clutch pedal 23 times. My prediction - within 10 years all cars will be available only with a CVT auto or a DSG-style auto-shifting manual. Both of these transmissions are significantly less costly to produce than old-style automatics, and old-style manuals. Cheers.

R.D., totally agree with the statement about Tip. Indeed, did you see that the latest 997 tubro is faster to 60mph with Tip than without (something about better launch rev matching)? Like I said, manual shifting is old school. You're right, I wonder if they'll even keep making it in the next decade.

I really don't feel like the 996 has enough power to worry too much about PSM. Might be different if you were talking about a modifed 996TT. Hard to get into too much trouble unless you drive really hard in the rain. I certainly would not add it after the fact. If you like the car get it.

Where PSM will help: unforeseen oil/water/sand/ice/object in the middle of the road.

Hey nycebo, only motorcyclists think of "unforeseen oil/sand/ice/object" - good on you! My track experience includes several years running a 125 GP bike competitively. No probs with those bikes lifting the back wheel off the ground under braking in the rain, as long as you know what is on the track surface. You should never do that type of thing on the road because of "unforeseen oil/sand/ice/object".