Carbon side intake - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

MrPegazus · 07-04-2008, 08:09 AM

New to Porsche, but got great stereo-help in another thread, so I´ll try this one as well.

I have seen great looking carbon side-intakes on Ebay and might buy a pair.

I have an Arctic Silver Boxster and wouldn´t it look cool with black-painted "frames" and Silver painted grille on the side??

U understand what I mean??

Anyone done this?? And have pics??

Have a Great Weekend all of You out there!!

ekam · 07-04-2008, 08:32 AM

As an arctic silver owner I do not think it will look good at all. Plus you're buying knock-off stuff on ebay to put in your Porsche.

MrPegazus · 07-04-2008, 03:58 PM

OK, but lets forget about Ebay-stuff for a while....

What about the idea of having the side-intakes painted black, and the grilles painted colour-matched in silver??

//Mats

rick3000 · 07-04-2008, 04:54 PM

It's your car and you have to drive it, so you can do whatever you want.
Personally, I don't think it would look that great. If you want to do something, color match the vents to the car to give it a cleaner look.

jonnycool · 07-04-2008, 10:29 PM

a black car might get away with it at a push

trieullionaire · 08-21-2008, 08:06 PM

I'm a big fan of OEM parts just as much as the next guy but the carbon fiber side air intakes are pretty awesome. I recently added them to my Ebay store and kept one for myself because I liked it so much.

My originals were color matched to the vehicle. It's a white car and I always thought it looked pretty good the way it was. Never really intended to change them out but I must admit I like the carbon fiber ones a lot better. It looks pretty aggressive if you get a chance to see one in person.

I attached pics with it installed, and also the white ones I had on before. Anyways, everyone is entitled to an opinion and I think it's great otherwise we all have the same Boxsters

Happy driving!

rd400rz · 08-21-2008, 10:31 PM

Very nice looking How much do they run $ ? I want a set for my 98

dmcutter · 08-22-2008, 04:36 AM

Those are sweet! I think the color matched on the 986 look bette than the silver on the 987, but I love anything carbon fiber. Don't know if they'd be noticeable on my midnight blue except up close, though.

jmatta · 08-22-2008, 05:34 AM

I painted my intake grills arctic silver...nice contrast to my black car IMO.

trieullionaire · 08-22-2008, 08:57 AM

Hey dmcutter,

If you need the contrast, you may want to consider painting the grills. I was going to paint them silver since it was already off when I was installing the cf side intake but kinda tied up with our store at the moment so no time to paint and bake them in the sun. Anyways, the painted grills would definitely give that area a bit of depth from a distance, the kind of contrast that would help visually enhance the look of your Boxster.

Btw, what do you guys think about red grills against black carbon fiber intakes against a white car instead of artic silver. My brother suggested it would nicely accent my car because of the red calipers and the red tail lights. I do like a bit of red against black because it does feel sporty and the colors go well together. But it's still up in the air for the moment.

trieullionaire · 10-14-2008, 08:33 PM

I painted my grills metallic silver over the weekend. Plus installed headlight covers.

dmcutter · 10-15-2008, 05:01 AM

I like 'em.

Allen K. Littlefield · 10-15-2008, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trieullionaire

I painted my grills metallic silver over the weekend. Plus installed headlight covers.

Tri-e, I think that the side vents with the silver vanes along with your wheels give the car a touch of interest that works. I replaced my side vents with '03/04 vents for the same reason except I painted them Arctic Silver to match.

The headlight covers don't do it for me. It looks added on, something like a burglars mask, and rather cheap. Paint them White or remove them. There, now that you asked you have my opinion. However, and it is a BIG however, it is your car and if it tickles you the way it looks then go for it. After all I am not buying the paint.

AKL

eslai · 10-15-2008, 11:18 AM

I don't say this very often about cosmetic modifications, but WOW! the silver vent slats are a GREAT touch! I think everyone should try this--it kind of ties the 986 in with the 987 a little bit too.

But, that bottom section where the vents are connected, I would've masked off the flat section so that only the slats were painted.

Regardless, it looks great, nice job! Now ditch the headlight covers.

trieullionaire · 10-15-2008, 07:28 PM

Guys,

Headlight covers. Yes they are cheap, that is cheaper than getting my headlights deambered. (That alone can help a needy child in a 3rd world country for many months but then again not having the covers at all would probably help as well...but it is the lesser of two evils I suppose). Personally I like it either way, on or off (the shape of the lights are beautiful as stock), it's just the amber lights is an eye sore for me and I'm not ready to drop money on upgrading my headlights just yet...love the xenon ones though (if anyone w/ xenons avail...hit me up). <--you see, caught the bug...difficult to shake.

Yes, I may paint the headlight covers down the road, but that is also the reason why I went with the piano black abs plastic headlight covers, you can put them on and not have to paint them immediately. I mean, I got a set of rear diffusers waiting to be installed for the past two months because I haven't gotten around to getting them painted. So they are sitting on my shelf.

As for the grills, I was going to tape them off like you said just so the fins were painted but with plastic, I wanted to make sure the paint adhesion was going to be as strong as possible.

At any rate, we can't win them all but I'm glad to see you guys taking the time to let me know what you think. I'm sure my next mod is going to draw some criticism or some compliments...painted my gauge rings white like my exterior. Long story short, I got a ding in my chrome gauge ring (the center ring) and because of the polish, you can see how the reflection was not perfect even after I repaired it back to it's former shape. Disappointed, I decided to sand it down and paint it with metallic silver. But then, I figure when will I ever be nuts enough to ruin a perfectly beautiful set of chrome rings again...might as well go on the deep end with this project and have fun. So I painted them white. Will have some pics available by the weekend. Stay tuned.

Lordblood · 10-16-2008, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trieullionaire

I painted my grills metallic silver over the weekend. Plus installed headlight covers.

It's your choice, I thought about getting carbon fiber intakes and mirror caps, but I decided against it.

I decided if I wanted my Box to stand out, I'd get a Turbo style rear wing (keep it raised all the time) and get color matched grills and bumperettes. In addition I wanted to add aluminum pedals and a carbon fibre door sill (I don't like the silver ones all too much).

Trieullionaire I am in love with your rims! Where did you get them and for how much?

trieullionaire · 10-16-2008, 06:10 PM

Thanks Lordblood, I get a lot of compliments on my rims when I'm out and about. But yes, the rims are Miro rims. 19's 8.5 fronts and 10 (w/ 5mm spacers) rears. As for the turbo style wing you're talking about, post a pic like to see what they look like.

By the way, I just got my rear diffusers painted today. Looks really nice, pretty anxious to install it over the weekend.

I also finished installing my white painted aluminum gauge rings today. Under normal circumstances, I would never take a $100 plus set of beautiful aluminum chrome rings and paint them but I dented the center ring. I got it back to original shape but the reflections aren't perfect, so I took a chance with it. I'll post pics soon, it's a hate it or like it kind of thing...no sideliners please!

Lordblood · 10-17-2008, 08:59 PM

Ah you're right I should post some pictures

.

Thats with the Wing up

Thats with the wing down

On ebay for around 300 bucks, I think I saw cheaper than that elsewhere new.

nefarious986 · 10-18-2008, 12:49 AM

Hey trieullionair,

What size tires are you running with those rims ? Notice any performance / handling differences from stocks ?

I have those rims (with the black 5 spokes) sitting in the garage waiting for the old tires to wear out enough where I can justify a new set of tires.

jmatta · 10-18-2008, 05:52 AM

Lordblood,

I have had the wing on my Box S for three years now without problems. It came pre-painted (nicely done) and was simple and reversable to install. I like the way it looks and I get alot of compliments and "where did you get that" comments. Don't recall what I paid, but it was under $300 shipped. I like to keep my car simple, with only minor mods; I feel this blends right in nicely.