What was the most useless upgrade you ever did to your Box? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

ChrisZang · 07-16-2007, 07:21 AM

just a quick poll to figure out what kind of "upgrade" I should refrain myself from doing.

I guess my "biggest amount of money thrown away" so far was when I tried to get better sound from the rear speakers:

- picked up Bose rear enclosure
- redid "fancy Bose wiring" so I could connect it to normal Porsche amp
- bought new woofers and tweeters for the Bose rear shelf
- upgraded to a 6-channel amp

Results: sounds exactly as crappy as before with the standard rear speaker shelf

Anyone else who regrets "the ghosts of upgrades past"?

porsche986spyder · 07-16-2007, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisZang

just a quick poll to figure out what kind of "upgrade" I should refrain myself from doing.

I guess my "biggest amount of money thrown away" so far was when I tried to get better sound from the rear speakers:

- picked up Bose rear enclosure
- redid "fancy Bose wiring" so I could connect it to normal Porsche amp
- bought new woofers and tweeters for the Bose rear shelf
- upgraded to a 6-channel amp

Results: sounds exactly as crappy as before with the standard rear speaker shelf

Anyone else who regrets "the ghosts of upgrades past"?

Sounds like you are missing an EQ. If you don't use one of those with all the stuff you did to you stereo it will still sound crapy. I have the same set-up with an EQ and it sounds amazing!

porsche986spyder · 07-16-2007, 07:53 AM

Rear diffusers come to mind. I bought some Carbon Fiber ones and installed them A real pain in the a*s. Then after it's all done, you can't realy even see them underneather the rear of the car unless you are nealing down looking at it from behind. They also tend to get scratched up underneath because the rear is now lower than before and I managed to scrape them when backing up in small parking lots. Should have replaced the rear bumper for complete new one instead of the add on diffusers.

CJ_Boxster · 07-16-2007, 09:30 AM

Oil Changes... Waste of money!...

blinkwatt · 07-16-2007, 09:37 AM

-Aluminum Rings for the Instrument Cluster

-Artic Silver painted interior trim

-Porsche U.S. Spec First Aid Kit

-Soon to my 997 GT3 Brake Ducts

BoxsterBob - CA · 07-16-2007, 09:44 AM

It has to be the Turbonator ™, As Seen On TV!

j/k, but I'm sure it would be the most useless upgrade!

Rodger · 07-16-2007, 10:02 AM

Considering the cost vs. the benfit, my most worthless mod was the PSE. It barely sounds different from the stock exhaust, and I spent three solid weekends getting everything done (installation, pneumatics, electrics).

Painted bumperettes are pretty worthless, too, but I still love'em.

Adam · 07-16-2007, 10:23 AM

Mine is the B&M short throw shifter. I hated how damn stiff and notchy the shifter felt. The OEM shifter is already pretty balky, this just compounded that problem x3.

blinkwatt · 07-16-2007, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schnell!

Painted bumperettes are pretty worthless, too, but I still love'em.

No way,those give the car a more modern look and it just looks better.

porsche986spyder · 07-16-2007, 11:19 AM

-Aluminum Rings for the Instrument Cluster
I have to agree with this one too. To expensive for 3 painted pieces of tin but it does look good.

r9i8c7k · 07-16-2007, 01:09 PM

Cayman side vents...bit I still love the looks of them.

SRQ Boxster · 07-16-2007, 03:19 PM

Front and rear strut tower braces. They look good but have not noticed any real improvement in handling or decrease in squeaks / body flex from the rear of the car.

eslai · 07-16-2007, 11:06 PM

I think I have you all beat:

Aluminum-look Gas Cap.

Woo hoo!!! :dance:

07-17-2007, 12:41 AM

Thats very odd because mine does not feel bad at all. Maybe yours isn't adjusted properly. I think it was a very good modification, even if I did only spend 60 bucks, it would be worth 300 to me.

But back to the topic, my most useless... the push start. It was such a hassle to install since I was the first person to do it to a Porsche and I had to figure out everything myself (lucky people who used my directions better enjoy them, lol). Its still cool, but 40 bucks could have been better spent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

Mine is the B&M short throw shifter. I hated how damn stiff and notchy the shifter felt. The OEM shifter is already pretty balky, this just compounded that problem x3.

Adam · 07-17-2007, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boggtown

Thats very odd because mine does not feel bad at all. Maybe yours isn't adjusted properly. I think it was a very good modification, even if I did only spend 60 bucks, it would be worth 300 to me.

That's what I thought too. I marked the poistion of the cables and followed the instructions to a T though. I even took it out and reinstalled it just to be sure and played around with the cable position to see if I could get a better shift feel. No luck. I sold it on here a couple months back. I wish I could get a shorter more positive shift throw without the excessive stiffness/notchiness. I think my stock shifter is actually more notchy than it should be. I drove a 02 S a few years ago and it felt way smoother than my 03 shifter. Maybe I should take it to the dealership while it's still under warranty and let them play around with it?

porsche986spyder · 07-17-2007, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

That's what I thought too. I marked the poistion of the cables and followed the instructions to a T though. I even took it out and reinstalled it just to be sure and played around with the cable position to see if I could get a better shift feel. No luck. I sold it on here a couple months back. I wish I could get a shorter more positive shift throw without the excessive stiffness/notchiness. I think my stock shifter is actually more notchy than it should be. I drove a 02 S a few years ago and it felt way smoother than my 03 shifter. Maybe I should take it to the dealership while it's still under warranty and let them play around with it?

It supposed to be notchy, have you ever seen the inside camera view of the GT Cup races. The guys using short shifters in those races only move thier rist. The B&M is made to FEEL the same responsiveness. If you did not like it, you should buy the Schnell. I heard it does not have the "Notchy" feeling to it. I love my B&M and the way it clicks into place. That's how a real race car shifts.

rick3000 · 07-17-2007, 07:23 AM

I would say the best mod I have done was the $50 OBC hack. The most useless was the visor airbag sticker removal, and the biggest waste of money was $100 on adding an iPod input to the Becker stereo, I should have bought a new head unit fot $250.

steve00s · 07-17-2007, 07:31 AM

The cupholder that sits in the console compartment. It was a gift but has never been in the car. Very cheap plastic crap that sells for about $50 and would probably retail for $5 if Walmart stocked.

super66 · 07-17-2007, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eslai

I think I have you all beat:

Aluminum-look Gas Cap.

Woo hoo!!! :dance:

ladies and gentlemen we have a winner!!! around of applause for eslai all

I was a sucker for that cap too....haha.....I just haven't bought it yet

djomlas · 07-17-2007, 08:31 AM

i cant believe that you would say that B&M is useless, i would rate that as the best mod i did so far.

mine would have to be:
(still need to get these) sunvisor covers, dont have them at all, u can see the -mirror. waste of money but ill still get them.
-pedal covers? useless but sure do look nice.

and as for the trim around the gauges, well i painted mine so didnt cost me anything other than time, and i love how they look. i actually wanna redo them, colormatch them to the car exterior.