Returning to the Boxster 986 fold. - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

12 years ago I bought a 3.2S Boxster new, for £40K. Lovely thing, in speed yellow, and I loved it. Ran it for 2.5 years and 26K miles and sold it on as I changed jobs and wasn't using it. 4 weeks ago I bought another 2001 3.2S as a second car, for £6.5k. Silver, 76k miles, nice condition. It took 4 weeks for the garage to sort out an airbag light (needed new ECU) and today was the first run out in it. It's gonna take a while to get used to it after 10 years in a succession of XJRs and the current Range Rover Vogue. It's noisier than I remember it being, and the stereo is just as crap. The brakes feel spongy and the steering heavy. Bu this is all in comparison to the RR. Despite the garage having PDI'd it, I've had to put 1 new brake light, and 1 new front light bulbs. And most alarming at the time, was hitting 5K revs and it dumping a truly epic amount of white smoke out the back. The van I'd just overtaken just disappeared behind me as the whole road behind me was enveloped in dense white smoke. I thought I'd borked the engine, but other than the Check Engine light coming on for 30 seconds, nothing else untoward. A google reveals I need a new air oil separator! Looking forward to getting reacquainted although I think it's going to take a while and I'm not sure if it's as good as I remember it being. I think I need to take it around a few more bends and B-roads.

Enjoy. If it hasn't had new suspension arms then it will probably need them for it to feel anything like your previous new one. A good geo may lighten the Steering a touch.

How old are the tyres?

I have a long slightly squishy pedal on my new to me 550 compared to my last one. I'm hoping a brake fluid change will help in the short term.

SkepticSteve said: How old are the tyres? The tyres all look brand new, certainly as near as damn it. However, unlike the one I had which had standard wheels, this one has a set of turbo 18", so possibly it's got bigger rubber making the steering feel heavier than I recall.

edc said: I have a long slightly squishy pedal on my new to me 550 compared to my last one. I'm hoping a brake fluid change will help in the short term. It's on my list to bleed them through and see if it helps. I think after being so used to massively assisted brakes which are more of an on/off switch, the brakes on the Boxster seemed ineffective the first few prods. In fact, the first couple of proper brakes felt like it wasn't going to stop and that I had left it too late. But that could have been the corrosion that had built up on the discs from sitting around for so long.

Hi! I have just brought one also last week - 2001 3.2 S with 58k on it, trading down from an M6 and up from a countless list of reliable Honda's, inc a supercharged S2000. If the car has been sitting around a while check the inside edges of the disc's they do tend to rust which hampers braking performance, but these days no longer an MOT fail. I had mine replaced straight away and got an independent inspection carried out to see what else may be needed. Ok so far for me!

Piersman2 said: SkepticSteve said: How old are the tyres? The tyres all look brand new, certainly as near as damn it. However, unlike the one I had which had standard wheels, this one has a set of turbo 18", so possibly it's got bigger rubber making the steering feel heavier than I recall. Check the manufacture date, 4 numbers after the DOT on the sidewall 4411 would mean made in week 44 of year 2011. Are they N rated? Mind you there is a lot of leaf mulch on the roads and last night heavy rain has made the road less slippy. but still needs a good few days to wash them fully clean. Good luck, as I really do like driving mine. Having two cars and being able to swap allows me to really enjoy driving it. Mine is my main commuter, so comming up to 100,000 before Xmas!

I took the car out last weekend for it's first proper run. hit 5k rpm on a dual carriageway and it was like I'd thrown the worlds biggest smoke bomb out the exhaust. Lifted off and slowed down, the smoke stopped, the engine warning like came on for 30 secs and then all clear. Hmmmm.... back home to google... quick! Seemed I'd blown the AOS (air oil separator) so ordered a new one up and just spent the last 3 hours fitting the b d thing. You know the old joke about a gynecologist being able to decorate their hallway through the letterbox? It's like that, trying to reach a variety of pipe connectors through the only gap in the chassis big enough to just get your arm through, only 1 arm mind. I really thought at one point I was going to fail. But kept at it and all sorted now, car seems smoother and more responsive, so all's good. But the pictures online don't accurately portray just how awful a job it is!

anonymous said: [redacted] Indeed, since having it out for a couple of run it's all fine, just a case of re-adjusting after 10 years of driving XJRs and Range Rovers where the brake pedal is like an on/off switch and the steering is fingertip light. Had the other half shouting hysterically at me on the way out earlier. She's not used to positively accelerating into roundabouts!

Had mine for just over a month now (2003 Boxster S) and I confirm that I find the brakes a bit spongy. I'm hoping some more aggressive braking will get them working better on the front. The rears were almost worn out so I had the discs and pads replaced. It's all out about relative experiences regarding steering feel.I assure you it IS light when compared to a TVR Chimaera, even supposedly with power steering.

A Porsche is designed to be driven hard and fast. I too thought brakes were spongy (genuine pads and discs on mine) and steering heavy and difficult to manoeuvre BUT...........wind her up, the front end lifts an inch as you feed in the power to the rear wheels and the steering becomes a delight, precise, you feel the road underneath in your palms and fingertips. The brakes you need to press hard and it feels more progressive as you wipe the speed off. I don't think drivers know how hard the brakes can bite which is the main failing point of wanna be racing car drivers when they jump into a car with numbers on the bonnet and doors.