Need advice...getting my first Porsche...

[z12358]

Spy4cia, congrats on the predicament!

Few thoughts...

Don't get the GREEN interior. In addition, convertibles with THREE very different colors for body, top, and interior don't look good, IMHO. Combined with the RED on the calipers, there's just too many colors. There is no "theme" there. But I may be an extremist in the "mono-chromatic" camp (triple black). If you're going to spring for a custom leather and you're dead set on the body color, at least try to match the interior to one of the available top colors. Brown, perhaps?

Forget the HARD TOP. Do you ever see snow where you live (CA)? Does water ever freeze there? For rain, you have the soft top, right?. And it's very well insulated so you won't freeze, believe me.

Now, it's so bad there for a hard-top but not bad enough for HEATED SEATS? Get the heated seats. Early morning, evening, or night drives can all use them. My fiance allows me to get the top down at night ONLY becuse there's a heated seat for her to turn on.

If you plan to take the car on the track once in a while (2-3 DE events a year) get the PASM. I don't have it and haven't tested it but I wish I had it after my first DE event a week ago. Forget the salesman's talk about it being to low. It's only 10mm lower while people here have lowered their cars an inch (25.4mm) and I don't read much complaints.

I wouldn't get the 19" WHEELS. Actually, I think I calculated that the 18" wheel + tire has a slightly larger total diameter than the 19". With the PASM nicely lowering the car, the look will be very cool but not overdoing it. People have reported that 18" actually perform better, and tires are much cheaper for them.

I personally wouldn't get the XENONS. The 987 halogens are almost as good as many have reported here.

The PCM I would only get if you plan to play MP3 files on a cd. I don't have it and I don't miss it. Honestly, I rarely want to listen to ANY music while driving this car with the top down. The engine sound is all the fix I need, and I don't want to spoil it.

Get the windstop. It helps.

Carbon package? Personally, no.

I don't lift weights but I do have wide shoulders and lats. The standard seats are some of the most comfortable and supportive seats I've ever sat in.

13 back surgeries and still lifting weights? More power to you.

Z.

[z12358]

I was assuming, sounds incorrectly, that you have to have 65+ degree weather to have the top down. With the heated seats, it seems like you can go topless all year. Shall I NOT get the hard top???

Forget the hard top in CA. Period. You should be able to go topless all year there. And when you can't, that's what the soft top is for. The hard top is for people in Montana, Nebraska, Canada, etc.

I found the regular sports seat too narrow. The sales guy told me the adaptive sports seat have an adjustment to widen it along the "back" and "seat" portion of the seat. I should probably try and find an Adaptive Sports Seat in stock and sit in it before I order one.

Can't help you with this one. But if you're having problems with the standard ones DEFINITELY try the adaptive ones before ordering to make sure you're OK with them.

WHY on earth would you have a smoother ride on 18 vs 19" wheels????????

18s have less metal and more rubber then the 19s. Rubber is smoother than metal. The diameter of the whole 18" wheel + tire is actually larger than the diameter of the 19" wheel + tire.

The Sport Chrono Package Plus includes: "analog and digital chronometer, sport button in the center console and display in the PCM, also adds ability to adjust lighting wipers, AC and door locksing to suit personal perference." I was told this option allowed you to "turn on" a sport option to stiffen the car up, etc. when you want to track the car or "go faster" on curves, etc. Am I wrong???

The option that stiffens the suspension is the PASM. It does that when you turn its "sport" mode.

Z.

[Spy4cia]

I'm sure glad I posted here before placing my final order.

Looks like I've got a number of things to add, and a few to drop off.

What kills me is the 19" wheels...I love the way the 19" mags look, but performance should ALWAYS (almost always) take precedence over looks...

If you like the look of the 19's you should get them . I have the 19" Carrera Classics and love 'em. Ride is great. Who cares about extra costs at tire replacement time...all Porsche tires cost a lot!

Spy4cia, have you ever seen the Cocoa Leather? It is very nice. Looks great with a silver/grey exterior and Cocoa top. I would have selected the Cocoa Leather myself, but I really wanted a light (cool in the sun) colored leather.

[Spy4cia]

Stick with a grey top, too?

I was told TAN gets dirty pretty easily, but TAN looks sooooo nice.

[Spy4cia]

DEFINITELY A GO!!!

Thanks....

[Spy4cia]

So what do you think?

Meteor grey, Terracatta interior, and Cocoa top OR Black top???

I'm guessing that carbon would NOT go with the terracatta interior...

[binaryc]

"I was told this option allowed you to "turn on" a sport option to stiffen the car up, etc. when you want to track the car or "go faster" on curves, etc. Am I wrong???"

Pushing the "Sport" button will change the throttle mappings and other engine variables, if you have PASM, it will also simultaneously enable "Sport" mode of PASM which tightens up the suspension. See here:
http://content2.eu.porsche.com/prod/boxster/boxsters.nsf/papenglish/chassissport_chrono

Wheels:
The problem isn't the larger wheels, it's the lower profile tires. Low profile tires are good, but not if they are too low. I don't have data either way, but it does make sense that the lower profile tires of the 19" wheels would be stiffer. In this case, just go with what you like.

Colors:
You're right, carbon probably wouldn't look too good with the terracotta interior... I've never seen one in real life, but looking at pictures, I can't imagine a brown interior going well with the dark grey exterior. I think it looks better with the colored exteriors (blue, red, yellow, green).

What about this combination:
Meteor Grey Metalic exterior, Black Soft Top
Two-Tone Black/Grey Leather Interior
Carbon Package

The two-tone interior looks awesome and really pulls together the outside colors. Plus, it should look good with the carbon. I just made one up in the Porsche configurator and it looks hot.

Headrest:
I also second the opinion that you should get the Porsche crest in the headrest. It's fairly cheap ($270) and really adds that finishing touch. It's more important than painted crests on the wheels imho.

Seats:
Before you buy anything, you really need to sit in each of the seat options. You will feel the seat more than anything else on the car, so it's very important you find a seat that fits you comfortably.

[drburton]

Be careful with advice on this forum, many choices are personal taste and you are the one that is going to purchase and live with this car. I think there is very good advice and experience regarding functional items - windstop, Bose, hardtop or not, PASM etc..

However, when it comes to wheels and colors etc.. get what you want. If you love the 19" wheels get them. The ride quality difference isn't that big.

The one consideration is resale value, so I wouldn't necessary get a very uncommon or unusual color combo (ie green interior).

Make yourself happy, you will love the car.

[jeffsquire]

This woman regrets getting green seats for her porsche.



Please refrain from greeen seats!! They are hideous. You might as well spray paint graffiti on your car, or attach pink fur interior, or curb feelers. . . . hell, those would be improvements if you had green seats.

Please no no no no no.

[denverpete]

Originally Posted by jeffsquire

This woman regrets getting green seats for her porsche.



Please refrain from greeen seats!! They are hideous. You might as well spray paint graffiti on your car, or attach pink fur interior, or curb feelers. . . . hell, those would be improvements if you had green seats.

Please no no no no no.

I'm sorry, I'm in agreement with DrBurton - keep in mind that all of this advice is FREE and therefore worth exactly what you pay for it. It's your car - get what you want. Or, you can just do what most people do and get a 3X Black Boxster.

[Spy4cia]

And I can't place the order for a few weeks, so I will, in fact, take my time!

Here is what I think looks great...and I have seen ALL THREE colors today at two different dealers:

Meteor Grey metallic
Cocoa Top
Special Leather in Terracotta (saw it in a Carrara GT and it's amazing)
19" turbo (love those mags, and not worried about a slighly stiffer ride)
Bi-xenon
Delete Model desigation
Windstop (Deflector)
BOSE
PCM 2.1
PASM
Sport Chrono Package Plus
Chrome Exhaust
Instrument dials carrara white
Adaptive Sports Seats
Heated Front Seats
Thicker Stering Wheel Sport - Leather
Porsche Crest in Headrest

VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I STARTED WITH. If you go to the Porsche Boxter S and build one, and you can see the 3d version, the color combos look great. And I'm not ordered a hard top, either.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR OPINIONS AND SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES...

Please feel free to continue to comment on this thread, as I will monitor it daily.

Michael

[z12358]

Spy, not keeping track but looking at your list and wondering if that MSRP is toying with $80k yet. What kind of a deal do you expect to get?
Z.

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Spy4cia

...Here is what I think looks great...
Porsche Crest in Headrest... Please feel free to continue to comment on this thread, as I will monitor it daily.

Michael

Hi,

I'd lose the Porsche Crest stamped into the headrests. It isn't very well tooled and the Crest becomes partially obliterated as the leather expands over time to it's original dimensions.

It isn't tooled (read cut) into the leather like a tooled belt would be, rather, it is just stamped with a die. As I said, eventually, through cleanings, changes in humidity, getting wet, etc., the Leather will want to expand to it's original dimension and the crest partially disappears. This has happened to my '99 and I've seen it on other cars as well, as late as an '03 S model. Wish mine had never had them. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Perfectlap]

just wanted to say that I've cleaned lots of cars as "an enthusiast".
Without out question, the EASIEST combination is the one I have now.
Silver and Red.
Even if it rains a few days the car looks like it was just washed.
THe colors also hide imperfections incredibly well and the "new look" is
preserved much much better than a dark color interior or exterior.
Second to that I would have gone with light silver and cocoa brown or cinamon toast crunch.

I'd spring for those nice interior upgrades like aluminum or painted interior components.. They really set a pcar apart and cost an arm and a leg if done stateside. Porsche crests on the headrests seems like overkill to me. I have them on my GT3 seats and it seems kind of redundant. The damn car screams porsche no need to restate the obvious!

Get PASM, CaymanS motor, skip the Zenons and evaluate the stereo options by making a point to test out the stereo in the showroom and on a test ride.

p.s.
deviating stiching makes it look like $70K car.