What's the problem with amber?
 

It seems like the majority of forum members are anti-amber. When individualizing your cars, most members choose to de-amber when possible. I don't get it. I like the contrast with the amber on my black boxster, especially at night when the lights are on. I don't think it makes the car look older. So for me, the amber stays. I am interested in why so many members de-amber.

Eric

Of course it's a personal decision. I think the front with amber looks like HR Puffinstuff's giant eyes. It's also my opinion that the litronics look way cooler, they work much better for lighting as well.

Some of the broad dislike of amber has to do with the fact that the orange plastic was used in the 90's and clear plastic is used in younger cars. De-ambering makes the car look far younger in particular and in general.

I wanted a 2003 S when I bought my beat up old 1997. De ambering the tail lamps, side markers and upgrading to litronics (xenons) made the car look far, far newer.

The amber looks best on a black car, however, the current trend is to have as little amber on the car as possible. Therefore just by default yours looks a little dated, don't get me wrong you have a beautiful 986 and ultimately I would do what you like best. The amber looks good on black except on the front headlights where the Litronics definitely much better. I deambered mine and upgraded the tail lights and my boxster instantly looked 5 years newer.
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Personally I think my car looks much better deambered, but then again it is just my personal taste. Do what you like!

i can see both sides to this topic.... i would like to de amber mine, but then when you come to sell it the car cant be classed as original so you are closing down your market for people who dont want other peoples taste.............. but on the other hand i think as stated by others that the car looks years younger with the clear version.........either way "we drive porsches " cant get better than that :)

As others have said, amber looks older. It contrasts, or maybe "clashes" is a better word, a bit too sharply with the car's color for many people's taste. I think there are several colors that are an exception to this statement; red, yellow, and possibly that aqua-blue. Black looks satisfactory with amber, but it looks tougher with the smoked lights.

Even on the smoked lights, when the lights are on they illuminate amber.

Plus, with the exception of headlights, it's a relatively cheap and easy to do mod. Even if you prefer amber, I think the red/clear tail lights make such a significant difference in the appearance of the 986/7.

Non-amber lights are/were available from Porsche, so could it still be considered original kegman?

WingNut- is that the front bumper from 986 Design or whoever it is that I see on various websites and eBay? Same for the skirts and what looks like rear valance?

As to de-ambering, I would agree it is simply an updated look. Litronics will make your car look 5 years newer, and you'll enjoy the significantly improved lighting at night.

Patrick

bmwm750 - front bumper is Caracter from xtrememotorcars on ebay, sideskirts are Techart from LLtek and rear is Gemballa from 911ava(Gemballa North America) on ebay. It's a mutt body kit but it worked.

Litronics are a must upgrade in my opinion, by the far the best bang for the buck

I am with the original post. I like the "fried egg look" as one poster called it. Maybe its a black car thing. I am keeping the amber. As I keep telling my kids, "There is nothing wrong with older." :D

I also think it's personal taste. With my Box being red (that sounds nasty) the smoked lens look better. I also like the Euro look, the amber lens, I believe, are a U.S. DOT mandate. Any time you can get one against the establishment, right?

Also, Wingnut2u...

I love the pictures of you car, that ******************** looks bad ass!!

I think the amber looks O.K. against my blue car, but I really want to de amber. However, I think it looks silly if you de-amber in pieces. When/if I do it I want to do it all at once... Personal opinion of course :cheers:

If you have stock litronics, ditch the ambers and go clear oem. Just looks so much better.

I did save my old ambers for the next owner, but I doubt they would want them.

I like my amber but like it's been mentioned, my car is black too..

Seal gray with black mesh 19's, chrome rolled lip. Rolling the HB as a proud member of the Amber Army.

Yeah. Then give the amber litronics to me.

My car is white and I dont mind the amber at all. All personal preferences.

I bought my used '02 with a few mods already done to it, de-ambering was one of them. Never really had given it a thought until I started noticing other Boxsters with the amber lenses lol. Like amber or not, it's funny how something so small can really change the look of a car.

I'm with GMBoxter. I kinda like the amber on white. My first car, a '48 Renault 4CV, had amber headlights, which I thought looked pretty cool then. Probably still do.


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No such animal as amber litronics. All factory cars equipped with litronics include the headlight washers and are clear / partial smoke lenses which made me want to upgrade.

My car is red so once I changed over to the oem smoked side markers and clear tailights, it really made it look great.

If you have standard halogens with amber, then I might just stay amber, but with litronics, it's a natural transition to go on with the euro lenses. Very classy looking in my opinion.

I have a silver 1997 and the amber never bothered me. It does look a bit odd on a speed yellow.

When the clear tail lights came out for model year 2003 everyone wanted them, but back then it was hard to get the US version. I have a friend in Germany that does work for Porsche and he got the US version clear lights for me and sent them via DHL as "samples."

Never put them in. Stayed in a box in my garage. Still had my amber headlights and side markers. Thought about selling the clear tail lights.

Then I got backed up into by a truck, and broke my amber headlights. I took this as a sign from the Porsche god it was time to deamber.

I told the body shop not to replace the headlights. Shop gave me about $850 for the lights that were not replaced. Borrowed amber headlights from a friend who switched to litronics for a few months earlier, while I looked for cheap 996 clear headlights.

I found 996 clear headlights for $300 and the side markers were $30. The tail lights were free.

If it was not for the accident I would still be amber.

996 headlights and red/clear for the rears. My car is black and I just like the simplicity of the looks.

With Amber, Without Amber
 

With Guards Red, I initially didn't mind the amber at all, but now that I've de-ambered, I think it was a definite appearance upgrade.

Front - With Amber

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...1/DSCN0588.jpg

Front - Without Amber

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...1/DSCN2289.jpg

Rear - With Amber

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...1/DSCN0591.jpg

Rear - Without Amber (painted bumperettes were a big improvement as well)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...1/DSCN0945.jpg

Most feel that it's an instant way to modernize the exterior, but it seems color dependent. Some colors like red, yellow, green & blue almost HAVE to have clear lenses to look up-to-date. I'm not so sure about black, white & silver.

I have a neighbor with an Arctic Silver 2.5 that's been de-ambered & I honestly can't say that his looks better or more modern than mine. Maybe it's because he has 16's. If he had 18's too, it might be a more accurate comparison. I would consider them if they were reasonable! Every pair of headlights I saw on eBay was $900+. That's the same cost as a Revo Flash.

Seal Gray and Amber for me.

[QUOTE=Thumper]With Guards Red, I initially didn't mind the amber at all, but now that I've de-ambered, I think it was a definite appearance upgrade.

Thumper, i like those painted bumperettes. Did you have those done up at Bumperplugs.com? I was thinking about this, just 275 seemed a little costly, but the finished product looks great!

Yep, I had Eric at Bumperplugs paint my bumperettes. He did an excellent job. He is pricey. Not only does he charge $275, but there is also an additional $300 core charge that he refunds quickly when he receives your old bumperettes. You just ship them back in the box that he ships you the painted ones in. My wife thought I was crazy (she liked the black ones) until I put the painted ones on and she quickly changed her opinion.

Again, pictures say 1000 words and they look great, but in your opinion, how is fit and finish of the paint up close? Does it blend nicely?

I liked my bumper plugs, but these are a little larger, thus will be able to see differences in paint. My existing paint is pretty glossy as my car has always been a garage queen....

Are there metal poles holding the fence up?

The paint match was perfect and the finish glossy smooth. I mean he really did an excellent job. They are absolute perfection. I could not find a single flaw in the finish, even looking at all the edges that would normally be hidden or hard to see. If you can stomach the cost, you definitely get what you paid for.

Yep. Galvanized metal poles. Never rot, never warp out of shape.

If someone is on the fence about BumperPlugs I just wanted to agree with Thumper on the quality of their work. I've had my Bumperettes for 3+ years and they still look as good as the day I got them.

No affiliation, but they just happen to be located in Charlotte. The couple of items that I've bought I picked up in person from Eric's office. What a sight to see all of the beautiful painted Porsche parts in various colors waiting to be packed and shipped!

I have to vote for amber on black. The 987 doesn't have the amber lower half headlights, so that helps, I would definitely de-amber those!
I'd like to black out the grilles in my rad openings and smoke the fogs when I get my Cayman side grilles painted and put in, but I'm still on the fence on that one.

Thumper, you have the best damn siggy I've ever seen!!
If you ever saw me drive my avatar, you'd be like my old racing buddies. Every time I see one, the first question is, "You're still alive?!" :cheers:

My amber has never bothered me. I'm not saying de-ambered looks bad, but it doesn't look good enough to me to worry about changing the color. And my car is only 5 months old so I don't see how it could make the car look old.

Youre wheels look great.

That's what i was getting at..edges and transitions are what i was concerned about. Yeah, that's pretty anal, but I think I'll pick some up now as your pictures have sold me.

:confused: Hi, I like the amber look on my car and don't think i'll de-amber for now, but if i ever do, i'll go with the smoked look.

i agree with all of you including Bunny....I never had anything against my ambers, thought they were great....picked up the clears and held them up to the car and debated for weeks....the day I put them on...I will never regret....I think the clears would look great on your car bunny.....

as for the others, if I had a 986...I think they look great with the litronics but it's a lot of $$$$

As my Boxster is black, I was ok with the amber until I started seeing the de-ambered pics. Big difference!

Is clear and red the general consensus for tails? I saw these smoke and red ones on eBay and kind of like the way they look on the black car:

Smoke / Red

I like the idea of smoked taillights, but the LEDs make them look too . . . ricer.

I have the clear on the top and red on the bottom. The yellow shining through is from the sun. I like this combo. My .02


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