Does the rear trunk really get that Hot
 

I'm just curious, I hear a lot of you saying how hot the rear trunk gets. Does it really get that hot ? Or is it just exaggeration ? If it does indeed get that hot, then is it really useful ?

lets just say that its hot enough to keep the papa john's pizza warm till i get home :cheers:

or melt your ice cream if you live further than 10 minutes from the store and you weren't in the grocery store for 2 hours to let the exhaust cool down.

I drove my box across country with the factory muffler on it and dangit, the rear trunk got so hot it melted the laces of my tennis shoes partially into the sole!

Really. :eek:

So the answer is emphatically YES. It gets hot back there.

Of course, adding just about any aftermarket muffler solves the problem due to sheer size and placement changes.

Is this on all years? I don't think I've noticed mine getting that hot. I drive around with my laptop and other equipment back there so I really hope not. It doesn't feel too hot when I take the case out, but I have to be careful not to lean up against the exhaust when I pull it out.

Not only do you have the muffler below the trunk, you have the coolant tank in the trunk.

I had a plastic toy Boxster police car in the trunk for a long time. When I took it out it had started to melt.

I have a blanket in the rear trunk, that I use to cover the passenger seat when I take "Jake", my springer spaniel with me in the car. (It's usually to some trailhead somewhere to do some hiking, or to work on those days I drive the Box---I take him virtually every day.) Anyway, if I've been driving for awhile (without Jake), then get home, I can pull that blanket out of the trunk 2-3 hours later and it STILL feels like it just came out of the dryer.

LB, I'd probably keep the laptop in the front. In addition to less (no) heat, it's less likely to slide around up front.

the trunk did a nice job at steaming some carrots last weekend... they didn't taste half bad...

LB,

I have to agree with Frodo. No matter what year you have, our OEM muffler does an amazing job of baking the rear trunk. I would keep the laptop upfront just to make sure. I have my laptop either in the front passenger seat or in the front trunk.

Yes it gets very warn in there. I have been pondering a hot meal I could "cook" in the trunk on the way to some quaint picnic spot. Think there is a market for a "cooking in your trunk" cook book? :p

Yes- when going on a picnic put the baked beans in the rear trunk & beer in the front trunk.

You must carry a camera in your pants all the time, along with all the tools.

It gets hot enough to make any coolant that has leaked evaporate, so yes it gets pretty hot back there. :cheers:

Well, I got my interest peaked by the cooking aspects of the rear trunk. So I just did the old microwave test. I put a puppy in the trunk and drove around for an hour.

Man, I don't think I'll ever get the puppy guts out the carpet. :eek:

Very interesting :D

lol...couldn't one of us just put a thermostat in the back and find out? piitb

It keeps my baseball glove nice and soft.

I put my bag in the back today, drove about 15 or 20 minutes, and when I got where I was going I took out the bag and felt it. It didn't feel hot to me. The laptop is towards the top of the rolling bag, but the problem is that the bag is so big I can't put it in my front seat and I think it would be a lot more difficult to get it in the front trunk.

This is a picture of my bag. That zipper towards the top is where the laptop goes. I've got my court reporting machine underneath though, which costs more than a laptop.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/...261f6721b9.jpg

If all of that is true, then what CAN be stored in the rear trunk on trips ? Other than just clothes.

I have to travel an hour or two each way for work tomorrow. I'm planning on putting a thermometer in my trunk to see how hot it really gets.

So what exactly is going to happen to my Speedster humps after countless hours of driving with them in the rear trunk? Will they melt and change shape?

Just came back from a 2 hour hwy drive and surprisingly the rear trunk wasn't hot at all, not even warm. When I opened the trunk it felt just very, very slightly warm, but after a couple of seconds the heat dissipated and was the same as ambient. Air temp is/was 58. I was driving the posted speed limit. :D

Maybe the 987 has different heat shielding? :confused:

Anyways, just my 2bits to the thread.

Cheers :)

My bet is that Porsche fixed this issue in the 987 redesign. Probably has to do with airflow as well as more/more efficient heat shields.

LOL....What are you doing with a plastic Porsche police car in your trunk?

hmmm....well if you're right Randall...I'll have to keep this mind for the next mind numbing....."should I get an 04 986 S or 05 987 base" thread :D

987 pros:
ice cream can go in the rear....


for the record, my 987 gets warm in the back, I don't think it gets blazing hot tho

Here, let me clarify, in our Benz it would have been cool, in the 987 it was warm in comparison. Probably warm enough to be like watching Survivor under a blanket with your wife and kids :D

Put it this way, I wouldn't have wanted to leave my ice cream in the rear trunk :(

Maybe that thermometer thing is a good idea ;)

Cheers :)

Us 986 owners can start a cooking show about the versatile Boxster. What have you cooked in the trunk of your 986.

For the 987 in 2007 the plastic coolant tank in the trunk got moved to the engine compartment, just like the Cayman.

If this means mine is a lot cooler than a pre-2007 car, I think I really lucked out by waiting to get mine because it would be a real pain not to be able to put my bag in the back trunk. I'm still going to check the temp tomorrow out of curiousity though. I borrowed a cooking thermometer from my mom and I'm going to stick it in my laptop compartment.

I did just go for a very short drive and when I got home I felt in the trunk with my hand. Under the furniture pad that I keep back there when I felt towards the engine with my hand it felt warm. My cold Red Bull I'd just bought was still cold in the bag with my other stuff though. We get such warm weather here that even a car with the engine in the front could get a pretty hot trunk in the summer.

I have a neighbor who wants to lose weight. I told him he can ride in my truck tomorrow when I go to Greensboro ( 1 hr. one way ). We will settle this issue once and for all. I'll keep you posted.

Better put a bowl of water in the trunk for your friend....

I had to drive for a little over an hour this morning. I took the meat thermometer out of my purse in my house and it read 80 degrees. I stuck the needle in my bag right up next to my laptop in the trunk. When I got where I was going and took it out it read right at about 80 degrees.

I left my car parked for about three hours and left the thermometer in the trunk. Today wasn't a particularly hot day since it was overcast and getting ready to get some light rain. When I went back to my car the thermometer read 100 degrees.

I then put my bag back in the car and put the thermometer under my bag and towards the engine. I drove back to New Orleans, parked for about 15 minutes, and then drove home which took about 30 minutes. When I got home the thermometer read 100 degrees. I felt the bottom of my bag with my hand. It felt warm but not hot.

My car is a 2008.

Excellent experiment w/ good data LB - you are so proficient and expedient it is amazing.
I bet you were good in chem or physics in school - and I really mean that as a compliment. I can't believe that you're single - you're so smart. Very useful data then guys/girls. That's pretty close to ambient I'd say, but too warm for ice cream - d_amn it. Confirmed, ice cream goes in the front trunk. :(

This is kind of like that TV show "Mythbusters". A show that is very interesting and informative too, also entertaining btw ..... and fun too ...... just like this forum.

Then I declare this .... "Confirmed" Ice Cream will melt in the rear trunk of a 987!

Cheers LB and great job :)

Well, keep in mind that if things changed 2007 and after my data may not apply to other cars.

Amazingly I did really well in the one physics class I took in college, because science was never my thing. All of my other sciences were biology, which I bombed. I really was scared I wouldn't graduate because I had a biology class last semester. I think they gave me a D out of pity. Good thing I didn't try to become a doctor.

So maybe for a better experiment someone with a pre-2007 Boxster could put a roast in their trunk with a meat thermometer and see if it cooks or try to heat up a pizza. I'd love that Myth Busters show. That would be such a cool job.

Hehe we really should write to mythbusters. They do shows on almost anything. Such a great, interesting show.

I wonder how you get a myth submitted. I would think that baking a pizza in a Boxster trunk might not be widespread enough to qualify, but you never know. I've seen them do some pretty silly things.

Well I tried my own experiment today. I went for a long drive today and when I got home I immediately opened the rear trunk to feel it. To my surprise it was NOT hot at all !!!! Not even warm !! I'm not saying it doesn't get hot but it didnt today, that's for sure.. I know this is not scientific but it is real world results.

If I remember I'll grab my remote probe thermometer one of these days and monitor trunk then frunk temps for a few days. It's already beginning to feel a lot like summer here in FL...

My wife put her purse in the rear trunk of our 986 a few weeks ago for a 20+ mile trip.

She got her purse out as soon as we reached our destination and suddenly let out an "Ouch!" and almost flung the purse unto the ground. Apparently the metal buckles on the bag had gotten quite hot, not hot enough to burn you but hot enough to give you a nasty surprise.

Can't really say how hot the buckles were since I declined her offer to feel how hot they were. :D

It really must have to do with something that was changed in a certain year then. I have put my purse in the trunk for much longer than 20 minutes and it wasn't hot at all, nor was my laptop or Coke or anything else. Warm a little bit, yes, but no more so than the trunk on any car gets when in the heat we have here.

mmm... mine is a 2000 so I will check it out with a temperature monitoring system..

and of course, since I'm an Electrical Engineer, my set up will be rediculously complex, confusing, and expensive...

Muh trunk is HAWT!

I'm sure your results will be more accurate than my meat thermometer experiment.