Day one owner (and a plea for help)

[sandyman65535]

the clutch feels stiff. in my limited experience that means it's got plenty of life, no? at any rate i asked the mechanic to id any possible issues and preventive steps so i'll know later today.

Actually, sorry, but the opposite is true. It's heavy when it's old. Mine was old and heavy when I got it. Put in a new one, and it's as easy as changing gears in a Corolla or similar. Nearly put my foot through the floor the first few times after it was changed.

if i can ask one last stupid question (and i think the answer is obvious but maybe not) if you're driving in the power band at all times, that 3-5k zone, doesn't your mpg average plummet? filling from empty here in the northwest is now closing in on the $50 tab but yeah, yeah i know. this is the bed i made.

The MPG won't plummet exactly. Perhaps it's 10% less. Given it's not great in the first place (esp in traffic), you won't be THAT much worse off. Besides, when the rear stereo (aka exhaust pipe) comes on at above 3,000rpm, you'll forget all about that. This is a fun car, so have fun. Also, have a look at the HP and torque chart in your manual. Below 2,000rpm, it's not doing a whole lot.

Plus, at the risk of opening a can d'worms, there has been some discussion here that driving the car around at low revs could be unhelpful to the IMS issue.

I've heard there is a saying at Porsche: The fun begins at 3000...
Welcome and enjoy!

"I doubt it. I believe engines are most fuel efficient around their torque peak."


A throttled gasoline engine is always most efficient running at wide open throttle at the torque peak engine speed, because the lack of pumping losses and the fact that the torque peak implies highest power output per revolution.

Note that I said efficient; that’s different than economical.

It’s more simple than that; the most economical speed is a slower one.

[mikefocke]

but think what Porsche designed in as the "normal" when they equipped the Boxster with an automatic (Tiptronic). The TIP car starts in 2nd gear and gets to 5th as fast as it can, keeping normal city driving well in the under 2500RPM range 95% of the time. Sure you can start in 1st if you want to and run the tach up towards the red zone for fun in every gear but you soon run out of road or points on your license that way. Not hardly for me. I make sure the car is warmed up before exceeding 2500RPM. Once it has been to the 180 mark for a good 5 minutes, every trip I try to rev towards the red band at least once. I'm not out to impress anyone at the stoplight.

Having a TIP, I drive in auto mode 95% of the time, putting the manual on for fun or to downshift in a hilly area at medium speeds.

I only cite the TIP as an example of the "you don't have to pretend to be on the race track all the time" thinking even within Porsche. Not suggesting a stick car start in 2nd or even stick to the "shift up for saving gas" regime all the time. Just that you don't have to rev the car up the dial all the time or run around in 3rd gear.

IMHO, YMMV

[RandallNeighbour]

"Men repair Boxsters. I am a man. Therefore, I can repair a Boxster."

These are the words that poor Porsche owners say to themselves so they do not have to sell their Porsche.

I say this to myself every time my car need something, and I am as "unhandy" as they come when it comes to auto repair. This car is frightfully easy to repair aside from fiddling with internal motor or transmission issues.