G'day - A Re-Introduction
 

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.

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Our 'family' at the time - my in-laws are Porsche nuts too. The 911s and 928 are still with us.

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Sounds like you've been having fun!
Glad to hear from ya Aussie. What a great lineup of cars.

Welcome back !
Do you have more pics of your martini Box ?

Funny, I've always pictured Australia as a dry and barren wasteland, like Texas.

That forest looks like a Northern American Boreal type...Nice!

That would be a great leisurely top down drive I'm sure.

I wonder how the Boxster hangs onto gravelly roads when rallying?

Welcome Back....nice Porsche selection.

Welcome, hope you find the right car soon!

Thanks! Sadly they're not all mine - the 2 911s belong to my in-laws and the only Porsche in my garage at the moment is the 928. I am trying to restore the balance however - going back to a Boxster obviously and I've got a deposit down on a Macan Turbo.

There's a couple more pics attached below - both of the Boxster and the Turbo wearing the same stickers. The local Porsche dealer organised them for the 20 or so cars from our region who participated in the event - I loved them that much they stayed on the car for quite a while, though I did take the Vero advertising off after the event.

That's not really a stereotypical Aussie landscape, that's for sure. That photo was taken in the Victorian alpine region during summer - about 10-15º C (55º F) cooler than the surrounding regions. The rest of Australia's outback is exactly as you imagine - light scrub and eucalyptus trees, very dry, very hot, very sparsely populated.

And yes, I live in the middle of our capital city and there are kangaroos in my front yard most mornings... :)

Thanks! I've got my eye on a few cars, but as I'm looking for a track car and I'm not too concerned about the interior it's a bit of a game finding one with good mechanical history but a less immaculate interior to keep the price down.

There's a huge variation in prices too which makes it harder to identify the 'good' cars without inspecting them all - the cheapest Boxster S on the market the moment is a MY00 for $21K AUD whilst the most expensive pre-facelift car (actually an MY01) is listed for $38k - nearly 80% more.

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Hi James I am presently looking at purchasing a 2000 Boxter S ex Canberra. It is at Lorbecks in Melbourne.
Silver with beige leather.
I know it is a long shot but you know anything about it?
Cheers

Do you have a link to the car online? I might recognise it from the Porsche Club though I haven't been an active member there for a few years now.

Looks fantastic! Not sure I'm a big fan of the front intakes but the colour scheme is great.