G'day all from Canberra, Australia.
It's been a very long time since I last posted on this forum (nearly 6 years infact) and I didn't think I'd ever be back here, but as I'm now finding myself browsing the posts again I thought I'd re-introduce myself.
Back in 2006 when I first signed up on this forum I had just bought a 2002 Boxster S Tiptronic - Arctic Silver with Metropole Blue interior. It was my daily driver for a very short time until I discovered the race track and I started throwing money at it to make it a worse road car, installing things like GT3 seats, 6 point harnesses, R Spec tyres and the like. I spent a couple of years learning to drive it on the track, mainly running sprints and regularities with the local Porsche Club.
I soon struggled with the limitations of having a Tiptronic on the race track, and as I improved as a driver and started getting closer to the car's limits I began to worry about the financial consequences of punting what was still a $100K (Australian) car into a wall without insurance. The final straw was watching a friend's Boxster smack into a pit lane concrete barrier during a tarmac rally event - it was a wake-up call that the Boxster wasn't the right car for the sort of track driving I was doing, and so I sold it and hung up my forum membership.
I've decided to separate out my track and weekend cars and I bought a VW Polo (a smaller Golf) for the track, and spent the next 6 years running in circuit events, tarmac rallies and autocross in what became a highly competitive FWD car.
With the start of the new year I decided that I'd had enough of front-wheel drive, and it was time to get back into a rear-drive track car. The criteria were fairly simple - manual transmission, decent performance, road legal (my local AX club won't allow unregistered cars) and cheap enough that I can afford to replace things that go bang or dent along the way.
Strangely enough I kept coming back to the Boxster S, and as a result found myself reading through every thread in the Racing forum here learning what people are running on the track these days. I've now pretty much sold myself on getting into another Boxster S, and already have a shopping list of mods once I find the right car.
Plenty has changed on the forum since I was last here. Back then I was mainly concerned with cosmetic and convenience issues - my main queries on the forum in 2006 were trying to connect an iPod to the Porsche head unit and wondering if I could fit a Carrera style exhaust system and bumper to my S. IMS and RMS problems weren't a concern, mainly because the cars were still under warranty and any major failure would just mean a call to the dealer and a loan car until the issue was resolved. Of course I also had to update my personal info, as I'm no longer in the '21-26' age group...
Anyway, that's my little re-introduction. To everyone whose posts I've been quietly reading these last few weeks - thank you for keeping this place alive and still as informative and enjoyable as when I was last here in 2008.
My old S - stickered up for a Porsche Cars Australia driving event back in 2007. And yes, that is a gravel road in the middle of a national park.
Our 'family' at the time - my in-laws are Porsche nuts too. The 911s and 928 are still with us.
