NEW PORSCHE OWNER, NEW TO THE FORUM - Page 3 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Hi John, Congrats! There are a couple of Boxster owners on the forum, who'll be happy to help if you need any tips or advice. And enough 911 owners to convince you to remortgage your gran's house before the 25 years are up! Rgds Domster PS Don't use caps - people interpret it as shouting, and, just like in a pub, people tend to stay away from shouty people as they are normally estate agents ;-)

Welcome. Quite a new member myself, and pleased to say very pleasant bunch. Even more pleased to say I get my 911 on Friday

Welcome, johnf. I still look out the window occasionally just to view mine! (Nearly a year later!). Hmmm a 911? Perhaps next..we'll see. Enjoy your car..and don't take any TVR v Porsche p1ss-taking seriously on the forum - its all in good humour. Have you joined the PCGB yet? The Track Day programme for the year looks good and is reasonably priced if you're considering Track Days in your pride and joy. Enjoy!

Welcome John, I agree that you should not take the TVR v. Porsche 'debates' seriously. I am a TVR fan (and previous owner) but am likely to end up with a 911 for practical reasons (I live in Hungary, Porsche is available, TVR not). Enjoy your Boxster while you save for the 911!

Thanks for the welcome guys. Sorry about the caps, I had them on for work and forgot to drop down! I Have been following with interest the whole TVR V Porsche thing for about 5 months now. The reason I started looking at this site was a love for TVR Cerbera's and I have been trying to convince myself ever since that I could live with running costs and worry of potential breakdown/faults. In the end after looking at about 6, I decided to go for the Porsche. But I still love those Cerbera's even if they a bit(?) tempremental, I think the guys are lucky to have them... John

Get mine in about 4 hours....got in the office at 7 this morning just so I can leave early. Desperately trying to do some work !! Best of luck John ! Greg

Fantastic!

congrats on the new boxster, enjoy. re. porsche v tvr debate, i work with a guy who drives a griffith when the weather is fine, sunshine and all (ie. once every month begining with "a"). i suspect he feels superior to me and my 964 C4 but the porsche will leave him in the rear view any time the road isn't straight without a soul in sight. all the best leslie

..the A329M it is then Kett.... Ed >> Edited by EdT on Friday 8th February 13:36

johnf, I see you were looking at tiv's for a while. Did you also consider a used 911 as an alternative to the boxter? I've seen a few tasty looking 996 c2's going for 40k ish with low milage, circa 20.

Well, it arrived yesterday. Finally !! Slight panic as the car was trailered down to our place - Tracker hadn't been informed so they called the dealer in all a panic. Proof it works anyway !! What can I say ? Its beautiful, like John I found myself opening the garage door and taking a peek at it....at 31 years old !! Only got a short drive (in the rain) last night, but found myself dropping gears, just to hear the induction noise.... Recommended. Greg

Roadrunner - check out the lhd 996 thread, theres a fair bit of detail on getting a s/h 996 from benno.

Yep. I still wonder if they REALLY know where mine is!

Well i'm off to Birmingham now to pick up my Turbo 2. I will then drive to my parents house near Chester (A41, ummm...) to celebrate my sisters birthday. What an excellent way to enjoy someone else’s birthday

Congrats ultra, you lucky lucky man. Enjoy and let us know just how much fun it is!

Well, picked up the car yesterday and drove up to Chester. Boys at Shirleys couldn't have been better, the car was prepared exceptionally. Unfortunately, I spent most of the journey home in 40MPH traffic (and off boost) due to road works etc. Rain didn't help either. Once home did the 'keep looking out the window thing ' Didn't sleep that well either. Anyway tomorrow (today) is another day. And I spent most of it getting comfortable with the car. Given the modifications to the car I only had a rough idea of its BHP. What I do know, though, is that 0-60 times are well under 5 secs. Other thing that is making me laugh is the exhaust. Mid silencers removed and SS back box. It sounds bloody great, especially coming off throttle. You know, going through built up areas. Gurgle, pop, pop..... Kids and grown men alike can't help but look. Excuse self-indulgence, almost over. The other thing to note has been the attitude of other drivers. It's split 50:50. Half feel the need to try and over take or drive up my arse (regardless of road conditions/speed). Others as friendly as your favorite slippers. In summary well chuffed

Just incase it wasn't clear before,

Please both of you tell us much more about your cars, impressions etc, after a week or so (colours, exact type, handling, performance and so on). It would cheer us all up at this time of year. Wish you max enjoyment!!

Ultra, nice one! You must be on a good buzz now! Can't wait till the end of summer for my forthcoming dip into Porsche ownership. I remember tailing a turbo some time ago to encourage a display of acceleration! Wasn't left dissapointed.

McNab, when you said "both of you", did you mean me ? Greg

Greg, yes, but I should have said 'three', not both! I hope I've got it right now - yourself, Ultra and johnf - all with something to tell us about. Apologies for error!

Thanks McNab, well folks, here's my starter for 10: Had car since Thursday. Emma drove it in to work Friday and spent all lunchtime giving various (male) members of staff runs in it. Well, it is her car after all. I'm just a named driver ! Drove it to Braintree in Essex on Saturday and back via Milton Keynes - approx 300 mile round trip. First impressions are that it is a wonderful drivers' car - so communicative and it sticks to the road like a limpet. Its riding on standard 17's, BTW. Inside there is not much more noise than my Merc saloon - and that's a tin top ! Very easy to speed though - although luckily there's a "nagware" setting on the computer to chime at a certain speed. Currently set at 95 So far so good then...lovely to find that its perfectly happy to pootle along in traffic, clutch not too heavy and gearbox really crisp and direct, despite being cable operated. Does take a bit of getting used to changing down from 6th though - I've taken a few corners in third, when I should have gone down one more...a sad legacy of being a daily sludgebox driver, I think. Mpg according to the computer is 27.5 right now (shock !)- thought it might be bit lower than that, but not complaining (well, Emma isn't) It's finished in Arctic Silver, with Boxster Red leather interior. Extras are CD storage, cruise (handy, surprisingly), rain sensing wiper plus self dimmimg mirrors, wind deflector (thrown in by dealer, bless 'em), and on board computer. Odo now showing just over 3200 miles. Still taking it for silly drives (4 people at lunchtime), and still open garage door at least once an evening ahem, to make sure its okay. A dream come true.

I'm usually around Braintree / Chelmsford area at the weekends. Any other Piston Heads out there in this part of the country?

I am going to attempt to post a photo of my car in the "readers cars section", I am not sure how clear it will be as it was emailed to me by the dealer before I picked it up. This damn weather has put paid to most of my driving fun, but I have been amazed by other peoples interest in the car, two 10 year old kids trying to get me to sign a book with what seemed like little or no belief in the fact that I was not a footballer as I pulled up to Watch Celtic here in Glasgow on saturday. (very surreal).... My car is yellow with the following extras: traction (BOO) lowered and bigger wheels, the sport pack I think it was called. Full leather, cruise, computer, air con, heated electric seats, centre console/cd holders, a shiny spinny aftermarket cd system thingy by sony which I fired in yesterday, oh and those little coloured centre caps for the wheels which make the car faster.. (cough, shuffle feet etc.) And a tracker which, like others here, I am not convinced really works...8-)

Ok McNab, must promise you'll tell me to stop if I get boring. First impressions of the car are good, very good. It was the super car of the day when I was 15. I said I would have one at the time (schoolboy humor), somehow I managed it. Having had time now to really look over the car I can't get over how good the bodywork is. I have only found one visible stone chip which is showing signs of rust but it is only 3mm across (it will be seen to though). On the inside the carpets are in good condition although there is a slight tinge to them. I will give them a couple of hours of my time and if they don't come up spotless i'll buy new ones. They looked at lot better before I took out all my family (with their muddy bloody shoes). The leather on the gear knob and handbrake had worn quite badly and I had asked for the items to be replaced before I pick up the car (at my expense). Shirleys said it was easy enough to recondition them. To be fair they look brand new now. They didn't charge and have offered to do the seats. They are not in bad condition just need to be revived. Does anyone know what they would have done to recondition the leather on the handbrake/gear knob, and can I do it myself (or give it to someone in London)? I can't wait until i'm in Birmingham next. The rest of the interior is fantastic, and every knob does what it should. I love the efficiency of the sunroof it opens so fast. Germany efficiency for you. It has a Porsche CD radio, the CD is great the radio is shit (no RDS). Don't listen to radio anyway. I am toying with various cosmetic enhancements to the interior. Will at least change the interior door handles to aluminum, the standard ones are crap. Don't know how cool (or not) upgrading to other various aluminum bits looks (from the likes of design911.co.uk). Anyone bothered before? As I have mentioned before the car has been lowered with RS suspension. It is too low in my opinion, and the ride a bit nervous. It is quite like the RS I drove, but a little more forgiving. It is also causing slightly incorrect toe-in at the front which means the tires are likely to wear unevenly. I will probably stick with RS spec springs if I can get slightly taller ones. The car also has new 17inch Boxster wheels. I'm not a big fan of new wheels on old cars. In fact I think it is sacrilege. But they don't look bad, they will be replaced with 18inch Turbo 3.6 split rims once the suspension has been done (won't go on otherwise). I have already mentioned how much I like the exhaust ( or lack of it) and that hasn't changed. I'm getting quite good at instigating the various noises on demand now. I have also spent the time to read through all the documentation that came with the car. I took a lot of it at face value before I bought the car. It has a full OPC service history and the RS suspension was factory fitted. The car has had extended Porsche warranties all its life and had a full Porsche inspection before the previous owner bought the car. I also have bills for any work/service carried out on the car from new and every MOT. All filled neatly, how reassuring. I will stop soon..... As far as driving the car goes i'm feeling more and more comfortable as time goes on. I now love the offset peddles and their alternative mounting. I love the firm feel to the clutch, I love the short direct feel to the gear changes (apart form 1st to 2nd under heavy acceleration, quite difficult to make that one smooth). I love the sucking sound behind my head (so to speak) as the turbo comes to life. What is more difficult is remembering that I no longer have to floor the accelerator every time I want to overtake (I had to in my old car). This normally results in quite ridiculous speeds and significantly more cars falling pray to the Turbo 2. Unfortunately, it also means playing catch up with the road ahead, which i'm ashamed to say caught me out once over the weekend. All a learning curve, I suppose. The last thing to say is, I’m totally taken by the colour. I was not that sure to start with, but now I’m positive I have made the right choice. Everyone commented how nice it looked, even blokes, but they had the decency to ask how fast, first.

Nice post UV... "they will be replaced with 18inch Turbo 3.6 split rims" ...and the absolutely perfect choice of wheels. Just watch out or the bi-plane rear spoiler will start calling you! Rgds Domster

Excellent write up UV, loved every minute of it ! Congratulations to you mate, here's to many happy miles ! Greg PS - don't know if you have already, but I removed the (red) floormats out of the Boxster, gave them a damn good seeing to with AutoGlym Interior Shampoo, and then gave them a ScotchGard (sp ?) - should be easier to clean then.

Well, it seems to have worked out well for all concerned. Good, and may it continue! A relatively cheap way out for worn carpets which I've used three times would be Autostyle. Either as carpets or mats - they do a good job as long as you send them a paper template (each side, back and front). They keep patterns for most Porsches, but better to be absolutely sure. Worth a visit if you can spare the time. Go for their top quality - it really is good. Better tell you about my 996 before I get thrown off the forum (see General Gassing - Biddies)! This is my first 911. Nearly bought one when they first came out, but got diverted by something else, and later took several in part-xchange when I was doing Ferraris. Got the dancing donkey out of my system and then went for a long spell with 928s, then the riotous Supra upped to 400bhp, then had to think. Wanted the Turbo, but too long a queue, so settled for Carrera 4 Tiptronic coupe. Midnight blue metallic with grey interior and Turbo wheels and standard wing. Didn't want the car to be too noticeable because we have a crazed policeman a few miles away (he organises road blocks for rapid drivers!), and the locals have never approved of me much anyway. No body kit or other interesting exterior bits. Delivery in October, but have only managed 1,500 miles because we've had so much snow and ice and salt, and let's face it, the car is a little jewel - for God's sake will I never grow up! Anyway, immediate impression was that it's smaller than anything I've had for quite a while, and this suits me down to the ground because I usually drive alone, and the roads here seem to get narrower and all the other cars bigger! Also easier to get it in the garage. Took quite a while to come to terms with all the knobs and things, but 100% at ease now. Only dislikes are seat and steering wheel (plastic). Seat gave me backache - all Porsche seats have always done that, but the initial firmness is beginning to wear in a bit, with less backache. Ordered a leather wheel (Can't imagine why leather not standard), so that will do just nicely. Incidentally, Tiptronic because my left foot doesn't work all that well. Turns out to be huge fun. You can hammer into corners under hard braking and a couple of little taps with the finger takes you down two gears with no jerk or roughness, very satisfying. The up change is slower though. I press it 500rpm before I want it to change and it works very nicely. This will need practice when running in complete (3,000 miles?) so that I don't get into the cut-out area around 7,000rpm too soon. The automatic option is miles better than 928s were - certainly the best automatic I've ever met, and it really does seem to know instinctively how you want to drive. Not much slush about it either - nice sharp clean change. Had expected disappointing performance after twin turbo Supra, but astonished to find there is hardly any difference (as far as I can tell while still running in). It picks itself up at 3,000 and simply goes on from there as if it would go on for ever! Supra used to come in at 4,500 and the wham, but nothing below that. 996 torque characteristics are truly excellent, so performancewise (although nothing like a 996 Turbo) I'm more than satisfied. I found the brakes a little unresponsive at first, but now that they're bedding in they're better, and I'm getting used to pushing the pedal a bit harder! Handling is very impressive - much more direct than even a Ferrari, the steering really does communicate, and I don't think there will be any complaints in that department. I haven't been too adventurous yet, but throwing it into a corner in the wet leaves it totally unconcerned - not trying hard enough perhaps, but we'll see how things go when the miles build up a bit. I haven't tried switching out the PSM because I want to know where the limit is when PSM is working. Maybe getting a bit too ambitious in my old age. The suspension does react to lousy roads though, and I find myself making small corrections more often than in the 928s. Natural, because this is much more a sports car, and precisely what I wanted. The ride is well on this side of comfort, and the car isn't taking too much of a beating over bad surfaces - thank goodness, because these roads are horrible in places. When you get to a good bit you realise why the Germans like to test their cars over here for rattles etc. That's about it for now I think. The luxury of the thing is much appreciated, and they seem to have achieved the perfect compromise. Gone on too long - sorry - must try to stop the schoolboy bit! >> Edited by McNab on Thursday 14th February 00:08

Again, a great post McNab. Even for a biddy ;-) In all seriousness, I think experience is always invaluable on a forum like this, and even though I've driven quite a few cars and done quite a few sexy things like skid control at MIRA and Nurburgring Nordshliefe, you will undoubtedly know a ton more useful opinions to share. Interestingly, the early 90's Porsche tiptronic - and even late 90s Audi tiptronic (same or similar?) always left me underwhelmed, apart from in traffic. Is the 996 system uprated? Best semi-auto manual I drove was 355 F1 (BMW SMG was crap), best semi-auto auto was Merc new shape S500. Rgds Domster

The only semi-auto I have deiven was in the States, a Dodge Stratus 2.5 Sport. Full auto with an over-ride position. In the over-ride position you could flick the lever left or right, one way was change down, the other change up. Worked very well, just like a clutchless manual.

There are two tests for any semi-auto: speed and smoothness. The BMW SMG took about half an ice age to swap cogs. It must have had a ZX81 chip doing the thinking and a hamster on a wheel pushing the clutch in and out. The 355 F1 was good tho' - felt like Schumacher fiddling with the paddles up to roundabouts!

Anybody tried an Alfa SeleSpeed ? My neighbour has one and I've been in it a few times, very jerky when you use the buttons on the wheel. If you leave it to itself it's quite smooth. My Merc isn't bad - no proper semi setting sadly (post '99 so missed out on that...just). Although if you put your toe down, there is about half a second's hesitation before it drops 2 gears - not the best thing if you've already moved out and committed yourself ! Greg

Dom, they certainly have developed it. Minimal hesitation on downshift. Slight pause on upshift but no slower than a manual shift. Incredibly smooth both ways. They must have a lot of faith in it to offer it as an option on the 996 Turbo. Greg, Autocar agrees with you completely - at first I thought they were just being Autocarish, but what you say proves they were right. 996 gear lever only needs a nudge across the gate to put you in full manual - or you can use the buttons in automatic and it goes manual for 8 to 10 seconds and then reverts to auto. Using auto only the thing is very clever - figures out the driver's mood and behaves accordingly! Best auto I've ever driven.

Apparently the new SMG is the bollocks. Quicker to shift than an F1 car. Its on the new M3 and the (maybe, maybe not) CSL. From my experience of the Porsche TT box, I can certainly recommend it. +'s and -'s over a manual but net-net a very good little package. OK slower to the major milestones, but in real world situations probably quicker. And if like me you live in a city f*cked up by our ever so popular government you'll quickly thank that oh so 'boring' auto. Anyway if 0-??? is so important slap a turbo on it

Just thought I share my first drive with my wife's Boxster. She's had it since the 1st of Jan and must admit I'm very impressed with the car and it is a real pleasure to drive. The build quality is fantastic and it feels well planted on the road at high speed. Hardly any wind noise with the roof up, oh what bliss. I only wish we’d opted for the sports suspension to tighten the car up a bit as I was disappointed by the fast country road driving experience. It nowhere near matches that of my Elise, the steering doesn't give enough feel and the throttle isn't responsive enough. You can definitely feel the extra weight of the Boxster when going around corners and feels quite scary when jumping from one car to the other. Other than that the car is great and the wife loves it.

Cus, I agree with you about the sports suspension, I had a test drive in another boxster without this before I bought mine, and was surprised at the difference the sport pack (lowered sus, bigger wheels, traction) made to the handling of the car. I know there is a school of thought that insists traction control in the devils own device, but as this is my 1st Porsche and I have had the light on a few times, I for one am glad for it at the moment. 8-)

ZUCZ PERFORMANCE EXHAUSTS Has anyone tried a ZUCZ exhaust on their Boxster or 911 ? Is it any good ? Any thoughts on lowering a Boxster by using aftermarket springs only, rather than changing the shocks too ? Whats involved in removing the springs, do you need special spring compressors ? Cheers. SP

Relpy is on main thread.

Such talk from what was the grey dot ahead of me, that became the grey dot in my mirror ! 1-0 England Ed

Welcome John! PH is a great way of spleen venting so do make good use thereof. Congrats on your Boxster, which I'm sure will delight. All you need do now is contact Gemballa and figure out a way of implementing their 450bhp upgrade plan. Drool. BTW, Ultra V, your car - how do you find the rwd/ Turbo handling-wise? Also is your's the 360bhp car? I believe some of these were upgradeable to 400bhp.

It's a fun car. It's never going to keep up with RS's and 993tt's on the track (in standard trim). However, in real world driving you can really work the boost to your advantage. I've dicked so many quick cars at around 80-120 just because I can teeter off boost and then nail them. In a plain drag race i'd loose. The RWD side is there to be worked, it’s never caught me out, although wet corners are fun….. Mods ( 1 bar, C2 cams, hybrid turbo ~420-450BHP)may well be on the way (or new car), just got to get divorced first. Oh, it's the 3.3 T2, with Techart exhaust. Puts out 315BHP at rear wheels.

Sounds like F-U-N!!!

JUST PICKED UP MY BOXSTER ON SATURDAY, AND THIS IS MY 1ST TIME POSTING HERE..... ITS MY FIRST PORSCHE. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE I AM A HAPPY BUNNY. JUST HAD TO SHARE A STUPID GRIN AS I DONT THINK MY GIRLFRIEND UNDERSTANDS MY I HAVE TO KEEP POPPING OUT TO THE GARAGE EVERY 10 MINUTES. CANT WAIT TILL I CAN AFFORD A 911 NOW.......(IN ABOUT 25 YEARS PROBABLY....) CHEERS JOHN.