Kirk's Ride...

[tamk2]

kirk,

i love your car.

[Kirk]

I got a good deal here on 986forum, so I decided what the heck.... I got front and rear strut braces. They were on my wish list, just low down on the wish list. I plan on doing more autocrossing with the car and figure these can't hurt.

Here's the two braces that I just got:




Here's the rear strut brace mount:




And the whole rear brace in the car:




Then a few pics of the front brace. I have plastic covers that would normally cover the sides, but they don't fit now because I had to tweek the remote reservoir mounting location. I only use the battery cover now. No big deal....







Kirk

[Kirk]

I've also had some trouble really getting my JRZ coil overs set where I want them. Part of the problem is just that it's hard to measure the ride height well, whether using the fender or lower suspension points. Trying to adjust the coil overs to get an even ride height was very frustrating. I thought maybe I was just having suspension bind problems with my Boxster.

Well then I bought my 996 C4S with TechArt coil overs and raised the ride height. I had the exact same problem with getting the height dialed in with the accuracy that I wanted. So it wasn't a problem specific just to my Boxster. Time for a change - time for a better tool to more exactly set the coil overs based on exact weights rather than body height: time for digital scales!

I got my scales yesterday. I had checked on getting scales last year and the best deals I could find were around $700 for used ones and $1,100+ for new ones. What I just bought were Longacre scales rated at 1,500 lbs/pad for $880 shipped. The shipping alone was probably about $50 as the box was over 70 lbs. I thought this was a pretty good deal for new scales.

Well I didn't hesitate and got my 996 up on the scales last night.



I used sections of vinyl tile under the wheels in the rear to shim up the car so that it's at least sitting on the scales level (verified with a water level). I also changed all of the screwing around that I had done with height adjustment and reset the coil over heights back to being even. I use digital calipers to measure the height between the adjusting collar on the coil overs and the bottom shock mount. This way I can get the collars set at the same heights side to side.

It looks like setting everything even got the car pretty close, you're looking for a cross weight of 50% to have it perfect. It also looks like my car is a portly 3,381 lbs!!!



I then placed 210 lbs of weight in the driver's seat to account for my fat arse. Then I adjusted the ride height at a couple corners to get this final setup:



Perfect 50% cross weight!!! Very cool. I couldn't be happier. The scales make it easier to very precisely set ride height and get everything even on the car. It's not perfect though as taking a passenger or adding more gas will change this balance, but it's a LOT better than the half-assed method I was using before of setting ride height based on the height of the fender. That really was not a consistent way to measure for me.

Now I need to do the Boxster and then align it for an aggressive cornering setup. I'll then be set for ripping it up at the next autocross.

Kirk

[Kirk]

Slipped on the stock 17" rims for the winter. I finally got new tail lights too. A lot of people HATED my ricer, clear LED tails. I thought they were okay, but had also looked at the OEM updated clear and red lights pictured here. Price for these OEM lights was $180/pair but was going up now to about $360/pair. I found one dealer who had three sets left at the old price, so I snatched up a pair....

These are some pics from a Porsche club run this last weekend. The new lights:







I don't think the stock rims look too bad:



My Assistant and the car:



Here's a before and after, Porsche OEM later model tail light on driver's side, clear LED tail on passenger's side:



The new clear/red OEM tail light matches those on my C4S:



I've got a Gemballa-style carbon fiber wing I'm going to put on the trunk. Once I do that I'll have to disable the stock spoiler. Once I disable the spoiler I might replace the silver plastic cover with a red plastic cover to match the strip between tail lights that you see on my C4S. I don't know, I think that might look cool...

[Stroked & Blown]

Kirk,
I like the look much better!
Before I couldn't get past the taillights to take in the bumper. Looks fantastic now.
Your C4S is beautiful, as well.

You should get some chromed amber bulbs for the turn signals.

[carguy]

On behalf of many, thank-you! Ride has now transformed from interesting toy to serious machine.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by Stroked & Blown

You should get some chromed amber bulbs for the turn signals.

Yup, I was thinking the same thing... If you look at the picture with my C4S you can easily tell the difference. The C4S does have the chromed amber bulbs, while the Box does not.

Kirk

[CVstarBoxster]

I'm amazed at your dedication man! I have the mod bug as well, but unfortunatley not as handy as you are. Great looking car. I had seen your in your signature on your posts; nice to see how it all came together. So, which do you like better, the 986 or the 996?