Spoiler Button - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Hi All, Gen 2 Boxster 2010 model... sorry...seem to be posting all the time at the moment... I've got a spoiler button which seems to make a small spoiler appear when it's pressed.... When should I press this? Does it really matter that much? Does the spoiler not appear automatically (I was sure i read somewhere that it did).. thanks in advance, Paul.

Use it when washing the car. Or to look silly around town.

Yep, return it to the down position whilst parked up. Then leave well alone and it'll pop up and down when needed.

It will raise & lower itself around motorway cruising speed. Unless you're on track, just leave it to do it's thing.

The main purpose of this button is to make it less reliable for the police to infer the speed at which you were driving just by looking at your car. If the spoiler only comes out at a certain speed then having it out means you were over that speed - which you might not be allowed to do. Having such a button you as a driver can always claim to have had it pressed. That's why it was out even at the lower speed that you claim to have been driven.

Have you ever tried reading the manual?! The spoiler rises automatically at 75 mph and retracts at 37 mph!!

Johnthepotter said: Have you ever tried reading the manual?! The spoiler rises automatically at 75 mph and retracts at 37 mph!! What? Cars and stuff come with manuals?!! Those are the things that detail everything that a man already knows anyway, right? Never read one, only heard about them some time back. Trouble is that when one is pootling along at a certain level of leptons it is not actually possible to see the spoiler lift up (in my 987.1 Cayman S). Is it working or is it not? I realise that this comment has little relevance to the thread query but thought I might throw it in anyway (you wont find info like that in any manual I can tell you!).

Magic919 said: Use it when washing the car. Or to look silly around town.

Johnthepotter said: Have you ever tried reading the manual?! The spoiler rises automatically at 75 mph and retracts at 37 mph!! That's like stopping and asking for directions when you are lost!!

well I could read the manual if I could find the specific page and specific paragraph on the page relating to it, or I could simply post a question on my favourite forum... and have the bright sparks here answer the question for me... I suppose the natural question is, if it automatically extends and retracts...why do you need a button?

cre8toruk said: I suppose the natural question is, if it automatically extends and retracts...why do you need a button? As mentioned above....to fool plod. It's a 'get out of jail free' button.

Raises automatically at 75mph which would mean that in theory when it was up in the UK at least you would be exceeding the national speed limit. I only use the button when washing the car but i guess the idea is that you can raise it at whatever speed you want.

craigjm said: Raises automatically at 75mph which would mean that in theory when it was up in the UK at least you would be exceeding the national speed limit. I only use the button when washing the car but i guess the idea is that you can raise it at whatever speed you want. My experience at least in the USA is traffic enforcement is not so observant. I've been pulled over a number of times in my Porsches and every time with the spoiler up but not one officer commented on that. It as the radar gun alarm that prompted the attention, not the position of the spoiler. Sure, while I have at ready the I raised it manually at the tip of my tongue in case this ever comes up so far it has not. Oh, I have to add that while the manual claims the spoiler goes up at 75mph this is only true for indicated speed. In my Boxster the spoiler goes up at 70mph actual speed and in the Turbo the spoiler goes up at 73mph actual speed. Thus, I would love to see an officer justify pulling one of my cars over due the position of the spoiler only for him to learn the speed at which the spoiler is deployed is lower than what he assumed. Relax. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the spoiler could be up and on fire and the officer wouldn't give a hoot. But my experience that even if I'm going *under* the speed limit and the radar gun alarms and my Porsche happens to catch the eye of the officer at the gun, I'm getting pulled over. IOWs, it is the radar gun that matters. Not the position of the spoiler. So, I just leave the spoiler button alone and let the spoiler go up and down on its own. You should do the same. (A case can be made for at the track though manually deploying the spoiler to avoid the extra wear and tear on the spoiler hardware.) Let me finish by pointing out that if the speed limit is lower than the speed at which the spoiler gets deployed you should consider obeying the speed limit if you are afraid of being pulled over because the spoiler is up due to speed and not because of the button.

I have to say my tongue was firmly in my cheek when I suggested reading the manual. I just wondered what the reaction would be!! I know I'm in a minority but one of the pleasures for me in a new car is reading the manual and no, I don't even own an anorak !! I think its a generation thing!!

that's not a problem... I too love pouring over the manuals and seeing if I can find some hidden feature that will blow my mind... so far a week in I am loving the boxster..the talk the noise of that straight 6... the radio not so much (but that's coming out next week)... incidentally...(perhaps a new thread) a CDR30 will be going on Ebay shortly after next week!!

Hasn't the cheapo tts got this too?

cre8toruk said: the noise of that straight 6... You might want to take a look at that manual.

Rockster said: My experience at least in the USA is traffic enforcement is not so observant. I've been pulled over a number of times in my Porsches and every time with the spoiler up but not one officer commented on that. It as the radar gun alarm that prompted the attention, not the position of the spoiler. Sure, while I have at ready the I raised it manually at the tip of my tongue in case this ever comes up so far it has not. Oh, I have to add that while the manual claims the spoiler goes up at 75mph this is only true for indicated speed. In my Boxster the spoiler goes up at 70mph actual speed and in the Turbo the spoiler goes up at 73mph actual speed. Thus, I would love to see an officer justify pulling one of my cars over due the position of the spoiler only for him to learn the speed at which the spoiler is deployed is lower than what he assumed. Relax. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the spoiler could be up and on fire and the officer wouldn't give a hoot. But my experience that even if I'm going *under* the speed limit and the radar gun alarms and my Porsche happens to catch the eye of the officer at the gun, I'm getting pulled over. IOWs, it is the radar gun that matters. Not the position of the spoiler. So, I just leave the spoiler button alone and let the spoiler go up and down on its own. You should do the same. (A case can be made for at the track though manually deploying the spoiler to avoid the extra wear and tear on the spoiler hardware.) Let me finish by pointing out that if the speed limit is lower than the speed at which the spoiler gets deployed you should consider obeying the speed limit if you are afraid of being pulled over because the spoiler is up due to speed and not because of the button. Whoa fella I said in theory I didn't say police would be watching for it and all that. Most people would have no idea what speed it raises at

Johnthepotter said: one of the pleasures for me in a new car is reading the manual Unfortunately it seems that 90% of the manual has no relevance whatsoever to my car!! And there isn't even a page which tells me how to find the engine. Do they do an "edited highlights" edition?

Hi Ozzie - some manufacturers do, I had a "Quick Get Started Guide" with both my Spyder and a new BMW recently. Says it all really that such a thing is required !! (No, haven't gone to the dark side, still have the Spyder).

If it is heaving down with rain on the motorway and you have slowed a bit, then it is a good idea to deploy the spoiler to reduce rear end lift at a time when the car is prone to aquaplaning. If you see other rear drive cars in the Armco; try slowing down some more.

cre8toruk said: that's not a problem... I too love pouring over the manuals and seeing if I can find some hidden feature that will blow my mind... so far a week in I am loving the boxster..the talk the noise of that straight 6... the radio not so much (but that's coming out next week)... incidentally...(perhaps a new thread) a CDR30 will be going on Ebay shortly after next week!! Straight six? In a Boxster? I must get one of those - but it wouldn't fit in th engine bay.

rdjohn said: If it is heaving down with rain on the motorway and you have slowed a bit, then it is a good idea to deploy the spoiler to reduce rear end lift at a time when the car is prone to aquaplaning. If you see other rear drive cars in the Armco; try slowing down some more. I doubt it does very much more of a spoiler than a wing. I had this thought whilst enjoying my first Cayman near aquaplaning experience on the motorway today. I've got the fixed aerokit wing on mine - which (if I remember reading the literature on it right) hardly adds much and it's way bigger.

apologies flat 6 not straight 6

can it be reset to rise earlier? Anyone know?

Magic919 said: cre8toruk said: the noise of that straight 6... You might want to take a look at that manual. Got there before I did!

Magic919 said: You might want to take a look at that manual. I thought that too

jcarruthers said: rdjohn said: If it is heaving down with rain on the motorway and you have slowed a bit, then it is a good idea to deploy the spoiler to reduce rear end lift at a time when the car is prone to aquaplaning. If you see other rear drive cars in the Armco; try slowing down some more. I doubt it does very much more of a spoiler than a wing. I had this thought whilst enjoying my first Cayman near aquaplaning experience on the motorway today. I've got the fixed aerokit wing on mine - which (if I remember reading the literature on it right) hardly adds much and it's way bigger. A spoiler reduces lift, but increases drag significantly, that is why there is an advantage in terms of consumption by not deploying it. A fixed wing provides downforce, but with less drag / increased fuel consumption. That is why I suggest if you see other cars in the Armco you need to slow some more - neither are super-effective like on a race car where fuel efficiency is not an issue.