New owner - 04S project car - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

AndyA6 · 01-15-2016, 05:23 PM

You do the right thing! Awesome project car.

I had a '04 and did a few things like the exhaust mod, free, TB, 2nd cat delete, UD pulley and it made a big difference for sure. Sound and power very much improved. The hesitation between 3-4,000 rpm gone. Smooth as glas. Search for my thread a few years back.

I hear you, that little bit is missing stock but with above you will be happy. All DIY and parts are reasonably priced.

Handling, I never touched the stock suspension except spacers front and rear with 17" wheels and a front strut brace, good enough for me. Made a nice difference as well. Turn in much better.

So, what I'm saying is fairly simple, with a few fun mods the car wakes up and is super fun!

Oh, forgot to mention, scored a 997 shifter via eBay for $90.

Later,
Andy

boxxster · 02-20-2016, 12:52 PM

So I just spent about an entire week properly detailing the car. Clay, DA compound, wax etc. There was a ton of tar all over the back bumper and on the inner side of all the wheels that took FOREVER to get completely off. Still have a bunch left to do. Transmission fluid will be changed, test pipes are going on, and I still have to protect the top and leatherique the interior. I have to say, I know I said I wasn't crazy about the car initially, but I took it for a proper ride today with the sun out and the top down and we CONNECTED!! What a machine. Really just a joy to drive on a nice day on a curvy road. Handling, brakes, power delivery - all excellent. The 997 shifter actually turned out to be a nice touch as well. I still think it needs just a little more noise to wake it up though. Hoping the test pipes will help in that regard.

boxxster · 02-20-2016, 05:47 PM

Oh and a question about the headlight issue I was having. When I was driving the car during the day, the drivers side headlight (the projector, specifically) goes out after about 5 minutes. If I turn the car off, then back on again, it will go on for another 5 minutes. This is all with the headlight switch in the off position (I have DRLs). However, when I drove it just now in the dark, I had the switch all the way to the right (which basically just turns the interior lights on in my case) and both lights were still on after a 20min drive. So from what I'm gathering, whether or not that light stays on appears to be related to switch position, even though in my case all turning the switch to the right does is turn the interior lights on. Does this sound like an issue with the headlight switch? Or would an issue with the switch cause both lights to go out? Keep in mind, the light that is giving me trouble is the one that was undamaged, not the one I had to replace.

boxxster · 03-06-2016, 09:15 AM

Got the top speed test pipes installed! Exactly what I was after. Sounds great when you're on the throttle but stock volume otherwise. A subtle, but noticeable improvement overall. I wouldn't say it would be worth it at the price fabspeed charges for these pipes, but for what the top speed pipes costed it's a great value. A word of advice, the bolts included in the kit are garbage. All of them accepted 14mm nuts but 2 of the 6 didn't have 14mm heads. I ended up putting the stock bolts back into the welded top nut on the header flange and I plan to change out the rest of the top speed bolts at some point. I also had to cut about a 1/4-1/3" off the adapter piece on the passenger side to make it fit. Drivers side fit perfect, however. I'll try to take a vid if anyone else is considering this setup.

BoxsterSteve · 03-06-2016, 09:29 AM

Hey boxx,
Post up a vid of how the car sounds now. I've done the Crios mod and it sounds great for how simple of a mod it is, but I'm still wanting a bit more volume while on the throttle.
I originally had a two can Brullen muffler on my car when I bought it. I liked the volume it gave, but it had brain rattling resonance between 2500 and 3500 rpm and it was brutal with the roof up!

boxxster · 03-07-2016, 08:33 AM

Here's a quick little vid. Like I said, the sound change wasn't enormous. If the top and windows are up there's virtually no perceptible change in volume. With the top down you'll notice a nice growl under load though. Couldn't embed the vid as I'm on mobile.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6BDSL28XgZI