"Belle" The Boxster S Project
 

Thought I'd post a few videos on what I've done to my 2001 986 Boxster S after a year of ownership and what mods I've got lined up for the future.

Video is here:

https://youtu.be/jKJTHuyQf4o

Attachment 20181

Porsche Boxster S 3.2 Tiptronic (986)

I wanted an everyday car I could track occasionally.

She’s called Belle

Stats.

• 252 Bhp, 305 Nm torque,
• 0-60 takes 6.5 seconds, ,
• In the owners handbook its states the Boxster S Tiptronic version should weigh between thirteen hundred and thirty five kilos (1335 kg) and fourteen hundred and fifteen kilos 1415 kg , so we’ll take an average of thirteen hundred and seventy five 1375 kg for now
• Gives a power to weight ratio of 183 bhp/ton

Had car for 1 year and driven 6,000 miles

Real world mpg
17 mpg intown.
30 mph on motorway
Using Shell vPower petrol (99 RON)



Maintenance done

• Engine Oil+Filter Twice
• Brake Fluid Twice
• Transmisson Fluid
• Coffin Arms (bush in one place could see daylight though)
• Air And Cabin Filters
• Engine Serpentine Belt
• Brake Pads – EBC Bluestuff
• Fuel Filter
• Aircon Topped Up
• Spark Plugs

My mods

• Bulbs – Phillips X-treme Vision
• Custom Cup holder build
• Tyres – was pirelli p-zero russo now Michelin ps2
• CD player removed and iPhone auxillary fitted with holder
• Spare tyre removed. I carry tyre weld for punctures.
• GT3 brake ducts installed.
• Four wheel laser alignment

 

Things to do

• Refurbish complete braking system – the hoses, master cylinder, servo/booster and caliper rebuilds
• Rear plastic window has a crack
• Alloy wheels have some paint bubbles
• Squeak from rear of car- could be engine mount, transmission mounts or suspension top mounts?
• Coffin arm bushes upgrade to polyurethane (Powerflex)
• Check and replace fluids – coolant, power steering and differential if needed

IMS Bearing repair
1997 to 2004 and it affects all Boxster, Caymans and 911’s from that time period. The purpose of the intermediate shaft is to drive the camshafts indirectly off the crankshaft. If the bearing in shaft fails this can affect the valve timing causing massive engine damage. The fix itself is relatively straight forward you replace the bearing with a 3rd party version that doesn’t fail.

Performance
One thing I wanted to investigate is increasing the power of the engine. What intrigues me is that 2001 Boxster produces 252 bhp but the 2005 model has the same 3.2 litre M96 engine but produces 280 bhp which is 28 more. It would be interesting to find out what changes were made and seeing if I could get the same result.

Looking good Neil!

The passion you have towards your 986 is awesome. Beautiful color by the way, there's something about purple(and I'm hoping the color I see on your car is actually purple) on a boxster that I'm starting to be really fond of.

Nice. Enjoyed it.

I suspect the exterior is Midnight Blue Metallic (same as mine). Can look purple in certain light.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We need more exterior pics with the sun hitting the car please

Thanks for the kind words guys. Will try to post some more pics soon. Sadly it's not purple. It's blue. I should really look up the paint code but I suspect grc0456 is correct and it's midnight Metallic Blue.

Any requests for mods I should do?

Good stuff. I don't know that I agree that your coffin arm bushing has any significant or objectionable wear. Rubber looks good - no cracking or tearing. The place where you refer as seeing daylight through being a problem in itself is not actually a problem in my opinion - this is just rubber casting flash that's been torn from the bushing motion, which is by design. If it bothered you, you could use an x-acto knife and trim off this casting flash on a new bushing before you installed it if you wanted, and tuis very thin amount of rubber is not going to significantly affect the bushing's function.

You are seeing some contact patterns that inside the rubber bushing is moving relative to the outer part under track loads, and replacing the bushing with stronger material or that's more rigid in shape (like without the holes you mentioned you can see daylight through, or with smaller holes) would keep it from moving around as much when using it. There's a good chance this could allow the alignment to not move around as much dynamically, and basically give you more grip and better handling performance at the limit by maintaining better alignment under cornering and braking forces, although hardening the bushings could cause more noise/vibration/harshness for street driving application.

Nice vid, just wanted to share that info / my opinion for what it's worth!

Thanks for advice and kind words Jakeru. In regards to the shot of the coffin arm that showed two holes in the bush (2:02 mark) do you think I replaced them too early?

Next, I used bathroom scales in an attempt to weigh her. Check out the results in this vid:

https://youtu.be/071xPmVgE0Ehttp://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1460118286.jpg

Next up swapped out the brake master cylinder and booster

Video is here: https://youtu.be/LsVANgHiR84

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1460556610.jpg

New steel braided brake lines go on.

Video of how it did it below:
https://youtu.be/Czvr1_lNZew

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1461074079.jpg

Neil, thanks for all these 'how-to' videos. Great information and really good productions.

Ill second that

Yes, those gaps in the bush at 2:02 are definitely supposed to be there.

Well done on the vids.

Thanks guys for the kind words.

I rebuilt the brake calipers. Video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3OfzPEqQJc

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1462293446.jpg

How are you finding the braided hoses? I love the feel of the pedal as standard, the progressiveness you get out of it is quite informative to what the brakes are doing. I'd love for the brakes to be better (as would anyone) but I wouldn't want to get rid of the feel.

How are they?

what an informative post! will be following this thread for some good reference! Thank you.

I haven't noticed any difference in pedal feel with the braided hoses with day to day driving. Have a track day in two weeks so will report back after.

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After 15 years and 50,000 miles how much horsepower has a 986 Boxster S Tiptronic got? We take her to the dyno and find out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3nVzVX79JY http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1462735259.jpg

always enjoying your little videos...keep up the good work :cheers:

Thanks Bran, glad you like them!

So, am considering what mods to do next to Belle. I've put together a list of options such as the 987 Cayman airbox, 996 throttle body etc and compared the bhp gains and cost. Check out the video here:

https://youtu.be/2SPva2p2my0

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1463837417.jpg

Great videos! I wouldn't feel too sad about your HP numbers, automatics are always less efficient than manuals.

Awesome thread Neil b. Weldone.

Ken 🚘

Subscribed!

Very informative series of videos. Well produced, concise and to the point.

Good work Neil!

Hello Neil,

maybe this is helpful to get some hp back: https://youtu.be/efIJHf7h5kI

Regards, Markus

After the disappointing results on the rolling road I was advised by a fellow forum member to check the ignition coils for any cracks or damage as this had been a cause of reduced power for him.

An ignition coil is an induction coil that transform the low voltage from the battery to the high voltage needed for the spark plugs. On the Boxster these are exposed to the elements so it’s prudent to check them for hairline cracks. As it’s very little additional effort and because spark plugs are cheap I’ll replace all six whilst I’m there.

My video of it all is here:
https://youtu.be/H25qLssQNxg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1464118898.jpg

A common fault on Boxsters is that although the stainless steel exhaust lasts for many years (mine is still good after 15 years) Porsche used cheap nuts to hold the manifold to the cat and they rust. This allows a gap to form and causes a horrible noise. The studs you need to remove are stuck fast. Here's a video of how I finally got them out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mITEttfNwAw

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1465229005.jpg

Air con wasn't working so I fixed it. The video shows you how I did it:

https://youtu.be/gokhNvCFuCg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1465677139.jpg

Eagle eyed viewers may have noticed the oil leak when I replaced my spark plugs and ignition coils a few episodes ago. This is because the rubber o-rings that seal the coil tubes fail over time and allow oil to pass through.

Here's my step by step video guide to removing the tubes and replacing the seals:
https://youtu.be/B0y3htZBGxc

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1468354333.jpg


7” bolt – part no. 333 from B&Q (UK)
Coil tubes - (996 105 325 52)
Coil sleeve O-ring (rear) - (999.707.343.40)
Coil sleeve O-rings (front) - (999.707.215)

Swapped out the ant-roll bar bushes front and rear for polyurethane Powerflex ones.

Here's how I did it:

https://youtu.be/IEVIZmUDgug

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1469003326.jpg

My thoughts on whether paying three times the cost for polyurethane bushes are worth it by testing them with day to day driving on normal roads and high performance driving at the track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9H7GnTswHA&hd=1&html5=1

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1469459369.jpg

Here's my video on how I hand washed the engine bay. Came up better than I expected!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DblJ4JqsGY&hd=1&html5=1

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1470125967.jpg

I’ve had my Boxster for about 2 years now and these are my thoughts on whats good and what’s bad about the car.

I also compare the car to others in it's price range such as the BMW Z4, Nissan 350Z and Honda S2000.

Is the Boxster the best second hand sports car you can buy in the price range?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSlO0GTMYAU

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1470488503.jpg

I cleaned the throttle body and MAF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slPzoplzWT0&hd=1&html5=1

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1474219545.jpg

How much slower is my 15 year old Boxster S then when it was new? I test to find out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mK0G-3_UVg&hd=1&html5=1


I thought I’d be fun to test the 0-60 time of the car to get an idea of real world performance and compare that to the time stated when it was new.

From the factory, Porsche claimed the 986 Boxster S with the Tiptronic gearbox could do 0-60 in 6.5 seconds – let’s see how close to that we can get today.

I’ll be using the Vbox Sport from Racelogic. It can be used as a standalone data logger or connected to an IOS or Android app and be used to accurately measure track laps times or, as we’ll be doing today, measuring performance.