well, I took the plunge...
 

Hey there!

Just thought I should say hello. I've been around Porsches since I was a wee lad and my father bought a brand new 1960 Convertible D-a normal. After a few years he bought a 912-a '66-in which I took my driver's test in 1971. My oldest brother sold Porsches in Anchorage in the mid '60's-he had a signal yellow 4-speed 912 up there. Me other bro had two 911's at once for a while; a '71 911T and a '77 S. Then a couple of years ago he bought a '97 Boxster, a real beaut, with 7,000 original miles on it.

A couple of days ago I bought my first Porsche-a 1999 Boxster. I love it...one of the most fun cars I've ever driven, let alone owned. It seems to be mechanically pretty sound-it runs like a watch-but cosmetically it's a little tatty. It could use a bit of paint work, mainly. A few cracks in the leather, too. It's that dark blue with grey leather, and a blue cloth top, which has been one of my favorite combos. Okay, okay. It IS my favorite combo. It's nice to be back in a Porsche-key on the left, tach right in the middle where it belongs. The temperature gauge is a bit unsettling, but I'll warm to it (no pun intended).

My car came with the factory-optional 18" BBS wheels; yesterday I put a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports on it (225/40 in front, 265/35 in back) as I have had very good luck with that particular tire. When I got it back I noticed a bit of spring squeaking, like maybe when it was on the rack the spring hung down and became slightly unseated. I'll live with it for a couple of days, and if it doesn't self-correct I'll jack the car up, pull the wheel off, and root around a bit.

But that got me thinking about springs, shocks, and potentially coilovers. What's the best way to go on all that? Maybe with a Porsche stock is best; I've seen some talk about the European M030 suspension. All that said, the car handles pretty darn well as it sits. Unfortunately, I'm one of those can't-leave-well-enough-alone kind of chaps unless I get some strong advice to the contrary. So-please don't hold out on me! This car will mainly be a road car, but I foresee some autocrossing and some track days in its future.

Thanks in advance-and again, hello to you all that have tons of experience and knowledge that I don't have, but that I want to learn.

Congratulations and welcome!

The M030 suspension is a very nice upgrade to the stock suspension, works well for street driving, and is quite affordable. The next step up from there is typically a coilover like the Bilstein PSS9 along with adjustable drop links and adjustable sway bars. The PSS9's are fine on the street on full soft but will rattle your dental work on the stiff settings.

We only have one rule here on the forum - pic's or it never happened; so post up few pics!

Congrats / welcome.

I 2nd the motion... some pics of the car are in order.

I'm also curious about what these optional BBS wheels are. Never heard of these.

Sorry I don't have any suspension advice, I'm riding on stock underpinnings.

I've got a Metrospanksual blue interior and top myself. Silver exterior. The combo is rather nautical. So hello to another blue lid owner.