[jwade]

+ 1 for Mike Focke's website.

I researched his site and others quite a bit before I purchased my '01 S. You need to be aware of everything involved with ownership as it can be pricey. I was so impressed with Mike's site, and since I have emailed him questions and received very quick responses.

Tires:

My original sport contacts were replaced not long after I had possession of the car. They had 13,200 miles and were still ok, but due to the inherent camber setup on the 986, the insides were worn and coupled with the age (Porsche does not recommend keeping tires over 6 years), I replaced accordingly with N spec pilot sport cups. The tires you can get from the tirerack and my dealer in Nashville was cool with me having them drop shipped to their door. Otherwise, the tires would have cost me $100 more per tire. Mine has the 18" wheel option. See picts.

Dealers are expensive, but also note that correct documentation is important to me as when I go to eventually sell, the person on the receiving end will get a great well taken care of documented car.

Try to buy a low mileage car, but definately have a PPI done by an authorized specialist or dealer. You need this to know what you have ok.

When I purchased mine, I also had the 15k service performed. It cost me about 700, but I figured with the age of the car, it was time for fluid changeouts and other stuff. I will probably get an oil change later on this spring as I have accumulated a little over 3000 miles since a year + of ownership.

You will love the S model and quite frankly, that's all I would be looking at. It is a very quick, balanced, and well engineered car. Looks are impressive too....still cannot stop looking at it! You will get all kinds of looks at gas stations...it's pretty funny.

It's not a drag racer, and I would never treat it as such, but I have smoked a Rousch prepped mustang and blew his doors off on the high end about a month ago. I had no problems keeping up with him and we hit a long stretch of intertsate where there was plenty of visiblity. He was in the right lane just a length in front of me when he hit it full bore. As an ex mustang gt convertible driver, I just had to see what this car could do.

Anyhow, I took it to almost 7000 rpm in 4th, then through 5th, and the last thing I remember was passing him shifting into 6th at just over 160 mph. He was pissed, but I kept on going to eventually let the car gradually slow down without doing any hard braking. At the next ramp, we both exited and he asked me what I had under the hood. I told him the truth...it's totally stock...

Pretty funny when a 250 + hp porsche can outrun a 400 + hp mustang, but he was bouncing off hit rev limiter at 155....and yes, although dangerous, the car behaves rock solid in higher triple digit territory. Porsche definately designed this car for the autobahn.

Mods:

Mods are very expensive and do very little, unless you perform a complete engine swap and take displacement from 3.2 to 3.6. This will cost 20,000, but I assure you from my statement above, the stock S is fast and it's hard to imagine what another 100 hp would do in this light of a car. It would be ridiculous fast...

Everything else like chipping, exhaust, intake, etc.. will not yield more than about 20 - 25 extra hp, and it can / will cost thousands to get it. A big name on this site is Fabspeed and their stuff is not cheap. Check them out on the web. There are some very reputable others too, but stay clear of the cheap stuff as it can do damage.

Know Factory Options:

Do your research, find that special car that has all the options. Not all 986 S models are created equally...

This is where I studied up on the car. Some nice options to have are full leather (just makes the car), litronics, 18" wheels, sport package, PSE which is basically OEM Tequipment Sport Exhaust. '00-'02's have the coolest PSE as it has polished bypass pipes and a really nice sound. See my picts.

Any questions, feel free to pm me. Jon