Rothsport conversion

[PDXBoxster]

I picked up my 2001 Boxster yesterday from Jeff at Rothsport. I bought this car with 10k miles and now it has just over 12k on it. I've atatched some images of before and after. Here is what was put on the car:

• Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 225/40 R18 and 265/35 R18 front and rear
• 8mm wheel spacers on back to help clear wheel/tire after lowering 1.5"
• Bilstein PSS9 Suspension kit lowered car 1.5" - front set at 6, back set at 5
• Rear toe links were modified to bring toe in after lowering from 5x out of normal to neutral
• Rear camber is at max positive after lowering and is at 1.8 (in spec but will wear inside of tires on normal street use - great for the track however!) Jeff is going to fab an after market part to bring camber back to about 1.3-1.5 for street use.
• Corner balanced
• GT3 front sway bar
• H&R rear sway bar
• Mintex C-tec sport brake pads - both front and rear
• Castrol SRF high temp brake fluid (at $85/liter!)
• '03 air inlet ducts - painted body color (the vanes were black on stock ones)
• Aero kit II rocker trim
• GT3 front bumper
• Litronic headlight kit
• Clear side and headlight marker light assy

Impression so far: Awesome! I only drove it about 20 miles to home and I can say my box not only looks very different (I just like to stand and look at too!) but handles completely different also. I haven't had enough stick time yet to make any corrections to the shocks or sway bars and will drive it for awhile before taking any leaps. I haven't even begun to take the car near its limit but I've found so far is that now I am turning too soon when approaching a corner at speed. Compared to the old suspension and almost worn out and hard Contis this setup is biting into the road. It is almost like I give it steering input and it says, "oh, you want to go that way? I'm there!" The PS2s are giving me a completely different world. I don't think it is oversteer but rather has more to do with the operator. We'll see over time as I put some miles on it.

The litronic headlights are very nice also. Jeff hooked up the stepper motor wiring assy so when I turn on the brights the lights move up a bit. It wasn't dark yet when I got home so I had it in the garage and was flipping the lights on and off just to see that initial "pooof" and flash.

Jeff is going to handle selling the old headlights and front bumper on eBay for me and put the money in my "account" with him for the next steps...engine/exhaust performance. I really want to drop a 3.4l or 3.6l into it but we'll have to see.

Oh one more thing; on the way home I pulled up to a stop light and three teenagers in a totally trashed rice burning mini-pickup leaned out of their window and said, "Hey dude, your car isn't very fast you know. You can buy that car on any lot." I just shot them a big grin. They obviously don't understand and have never really taken a real car through a corner. Can you say, "envy?"

[KRZTACO]

That looks sick!!!!

I am currently waiting to put my Voghtland Coil Overs, your front bumper looks awesome. How did it look with the GT3 bumper and NO Aero kit side panels?

Thanks,

KRZ

[Brucelee]

Looks great!

[nastyboxster]

GT3 bumper and side skirts looks great!. I have a 00 S with factory side skirts already, but I'm too cheap to dish out the $ for a GT3 bumper. However, my body shop client has a 99-01 996 bumper and he said that I can swap it for my bumper. Need to pay labour only for paint and install. Looks similar to the Gt3 without the lower lip.

What do you think guys? Worthwhile for the swap?

[PDXBoxster]

KRZTACO,
Sorry, I don't know how it looked w/o the rockers. I only saw them on the car as a set.

Actually, when I saw the unpainted rockers in the box from Porsche (the first go around Porsche sent two left sides) I was unimpressed, but I was looking at them upside down and backwards and now that they are on I love them. Jeff told me Porsche tested these in their wind tunnel to assist in increasing the down force like the GT3 bumper does.

Yeah, you're right, the car does look sick!

[PDXBoxster]

Wow!

I took it up on the west end of skyline just now and for those who aren't familiar with this road in the west hills of Portland, Oregon, it is filled with twisty turns some down to 20mph. For the most part that 20mph turn can now be taken at 40+mph. There was one turn that did a 180 degree turn and the car did let go on that one but I was surprised at how easy it came on letting go and how predictable it was. Recovery was simple, just eased up on the egas and she quickly got the line back. I checked the speedo and in my 5 speed I was in 3rd most of the time doing on average around 60-70mph and I know it can do those turns even faster.

Needless to say the Pilot Sports heated up nicely and has anyone noticed that with the top down when your tires heat up they change the sound they make. Hard to describe but it seemed to me that they are sticking and had that flowing sound of gooey rubber in the corners. No meltage but I did have to check.

My friend has an '04 Guards Red GT3 and we are going out this Sunday at 3pm for a few hours of "road work". Should be fun and I can compare the "new" box against a race car...at least in the corners since my 220hp can't touch his 380hp. I'll try to remember the camera and post some pics.