Modded Boxster - New to the Club - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

FUHRIUS · 06-15-2005, 01:45 PM

here are some marginal pics I took last night...just got my newly-painted kinesis k58's on the rears last night (10" with 285 pilots sports...not a lot of room left in there, but no rubbing noticeable); also pics of my favorite mod to date: the techart billet aluminum shift knob which I found used for $150, techart-style alum pedals which I got from brandywineporche for $170, and you can see the other painted insets in the interior. Look closely in the pic of the pedals and you'll see the knog, nicely integrated and hidden away for the front and rear laser / radar detectors the previous owner had installed; and lastly, the nice 'false floor' in the front trunk that was made with nice hard acrylic ccovers for the sony amps for the stereo. The stereo heaad is a removeable blaupunkt unit with a blaupunkt 5 disc changer underneath it (for a total of 6) with new speakers all around and big woofers under the seats which end up sounding really good.

FUHRIUS · 06-15-2005, 01:51 PM

pics of the wheels from a little further back

FUHRIUS · 06-15-2005, 01:54 PM

techart billet aluminum shift knob...feels great in your hand...cold in the morning which makes you aware that all other metal is cold (so don't go too hard on that throttle right out of the gate) then sort of warms up organically as you drive...

FUHRIUS · 06-15-2005, 01:55 PM

sorry for the multiple posts...can't seem to figure out how to post multiple pics per post

FUHRIUS · 06-15-2005, 01:57 PM

nicely done by the previous owner, contained under a 'false floor' and thick plexiglass

Perfectlap · 06-15-2005, 04:09 PM

nice...I have pedal envy.

make sure to wax dem wheels! I had polished out lips on my autocross wheels and it was a bit of work to keep them from staining. I use NXT and Klasse All In One weekly.

Check out these mats with piping, a nice compliment to your expensive pedals.

Alshig · 06-15-2005, 08:36 PM

I have a 3 spoke with airbag I would be willing to sell for $600.

911sc · 06-15-2005, 09:26 PM

that a nice boxster ,if i seeing it right ,the bumper white paint has a bit off ,may be due to the bright sun ,it happen to mine aswell

boxster3000 · 06-15-2005, 09:48 PM

fuhrius, love the new wheels. i'm not much of a fan for black wheels but it does look sweet on your car, i must admit. you mentioned the techart engine kit has improved the sound, which exhaust do you have on the car? i'd love to hear it and compare it to my b&b triflo exhaust. anybody have any ideas the best way to generate an mp3 of these sounds?

alshig, thanks for the offer. i'll think about it. i would do it in a second if your 3-spoke wheel had aluminum inserts so that i could paint them white.

FUHRIUS · 06-15-2005, 10:17 PM

the engine kit is the 'version 3' of the techart kits (the most mod'ed)...all the parts are techart branded, though I'm not sure if they're all made my techart. for instance, I know the 'techart' springs on the car are actually made by eibach.

the kit includes exhaust, pre-cat delete, headers, ecu, expanded throttle body, and air filter.

the whole kit was $7k installed (done by the previous owner of my car). it does sound great...and feels good too. ;-)

jpcolin · 06-15-2005, 11:19 PM

fhurius I'd like to know more about your subwoofer, as I said I'm busy upgrading my stereo, by installing a big subwoofer is not really an easy job, sill lokking for inspiraton!

Perfectlap · 06-16-2005, 10:05 AM

How much additional HP did the $7,000 upgrade reap?

FUHRIUS · 06-16-2005, 12:23 PM

jpcolin: on the subwoofer...I actually don't know how it was done, let me check into it a bit and see what I can find. the previous owner had the work done (and I believe he did the stereo / radar / laser stuff at the same place that the engine / suspension work was done...Germanautotech in Florida, but give me a few days to look at the receipts and I'll get back to you). The steroe wasn't of great importance to me, frankly, but it does sound great. I wouldn't tecommend the blaupunkt removable head that I have, though, as it's a little finicky and non-intutive to operate. I also wouldn't have spent the approx $3k for the stereo / radar / laser stuff either, but to each his own. I figured I paid a small fraction of that as the second owner.

I was really just after a very well-cared for, low mileage, still under warranty, white s...this car was all of that plus the goodies.

perfectlap: here again, I don't think I'd spend $7k for the engine mods...but afer driving 6-10 different s's, I was defenitely llured by the add'l punch and incredible song of this one. Back to the stereo comment, I'd rather listen to the engine than the stereo, and this car sounds great (understanding that beauty is in the eye, or ear, of the beholder)...and some people may think it's too loud. In fact, in my underground parking garage at work, I do set off a few car alarms every once in awhile as I motor through. At speed (like winding up hwy 9 to skyline blvd here in the santa cruz mountains...lots of 30-55mph twisties, it's heaven to my ears).
On the hp, TechArt claims 35-40 add'l hp. I take all such claims with a grain of salt, but techart is a pretty reputable tuner, and even my porsche dealer service guy has said stuff to me like "we're leary of modd'ed cars, but at least it's techart"...and it's reputed to be a mild, not wild tuning. the whole kit is designed to work together, which is a plus too, I think. So, I have not had the car dyno'd on a high-end machine (wind tunnel and all), so I'm not really sure. I think one of thise machines is critical vs. one of these deals where they try to set fans up to blow air at your car... that just can't simulate the way air actually flows over the car and into the motor in real world driving. I also think some of these cheapy dyno guys lie, frankly, so they can sell you something else...like the guy who was trying to talk me into buying a GIAC ecu to replace my techart ecu because he sells GIAC ecu's. (by the way, I had a GIAC chip in my last car, and audi a4 quattro and it did do a hell of a job on that little turbo).
The car pulls noticeable better at the low end, but it's not driving a vette or something. It feels like my buddies carrera...a little more savage than the boxster. Where I think it really helps is at speed, pulling from 35mph plus...the rev limiter is set at stock (or darn close) so it's not like you get add'l rev range, just a little less inhibition throughou the range.
So bottom line is I don't know exactly how much hp it added (I don't even know how much hp this particular car had before the mods...I know an '01 s is supposed to have 250 at the motor...but there are variances between cars).
I do know that I love to drive the car...it puts a smile on my face every time I drive it...just as every boxster puts a smile on the face of the owner who appreciates what the car was designed to do, and does very well...all-around super balanced, easy to drive fast (which means more that somply accelerating fast), etc, etc.

I've got a pdf file of the techart parts / price manual if you want to see that...so far, I'd say thaat the techart stuff seems rock solid...a tad pricey but well-engineered.