Recommendations for preowned 997 Turbo Cabriolet

[almasi]

I am new to the Porsche brand, at least from a prospective buyer's stand point. I am looking at purchasing a 997 turbo cabriolet with less than 3000 miles. My goal is to create a performance car that I can drive up the coast on weekends with the top down. (I just love the sense of freedom with the wind blowing in my face [not much hair left these days] and the smell of the ocean coming in.). To this end, I do want to make some performance upgrades coming out of the shoot to boost bhp. I rather do in at a performance tuner rather than piecemeal it myself. It seems that EvoSport and AWE are the two go to tuners. I am in Georgia and if there aren't equivalent tuners near by, it will be ok to return to my old haunting grounds in PA and take the ride to AWE. Comments about these tuners or others that may be here in the South East would be appreciated. Stage two is to do some minor mods to the body. Nothing garish but I do have to admit that there are some wide body Porsche (after market modifications) that do catch my eye. I have seen the posts to avoid Wicked Motors but are there legitimate custom shops and or body kits (Tech Art ?) that folk would recommend to tweak the body and achieve the second stage of modification. Thanks for your help and look to see you all of you on the road someday. Thanks

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[NeilM]

hello and welcome to the 6. It's a great board to get feedback/info from your 997TT comrades. I picked up my '08 997TT Cab in April. I've upgraded the suspension to Bilstein B16s, lowered the car an inch, then got a custom alignment(settings I got from this board). I got the bottom lips, rockers, and rear apron painted to match the car a week after I got it. Next up is exhaust and ECU tune.

Like you, I love cabriolets and driving top-down. Good luck with your mods and pls post pics.

[almasi]

Thanks for the feedback Neil. I am going to catalogue all the recommendations and sort through what seems most feasible. Question for you about your paint job: Who did it? Was it tremendously expensive? I have heard prices over $13,000 here in Atlanta is I decided to paint the entire car. This is something I have been contemplating. Aston Martin has a wonderful optional finish where there are apparently flecks of red as an undercoat beneath a high gloss black top coat. It has to be seen to believe how subtly beautiful it is.

Also did the lowering affect the driveability of your car?

Regards

PS: How is Mountain View? I lived there for 5 years while in grad school!!

[NeilM]

I love Mt. View. Been here for 6 yrs now coming from SJ.

Re paint, I did not re-paint the entire car; just the bottom pieces(front lip, side rockers, and rear diffuser). It cost me approx $600. Any good body shop can do this for you. It's a 2-day process including drying time.

Re lowering, the ride is stiffer and the handling is so much better with the Bilsteins. It also works with the PASM system. Night and day difference! The car is much more fun and agile to drive now. Check out this write-up by Cannga.: http://www.rennteam.com/forum/page1.html?vs=0#416268

You'll be busy reading up on this for the next hour or so. Can is known around these parts to be very articulate and detail-oriented when it comes to his posts/reviews. Matter of fact, I got my custom alignments settings from him.

[yrralis1]

Almasi -
If you repaint an entire car it not only becomes a resale nightmare but to get it right with no overspray or fade is difficult (to say the least) . Find the car in the color that you want right out of the box.

[Casey@TPCRacing]

Good luck with your search!

[Eric (Plug Guy)]

Don't repaint entire car. I mean, if you are looking for a 997 TT cab, it should NOT look like a 20 year old Yugo. If it's that bad, pass. There are some excellent condition '08 Turbo Cabs out there, even a few '09's, but not too many dealers willing to make great deals on them. Trust me, I know.

Good luck in your quest. Also consider Champion Motorsports if you are down into south FL at all....they do some pretty nice work (wheels, tubi, chip)....and check Justin at RennSport One down that way too...awesome folks.

[NickyBlack]

He's looking for a custom paint job....black with red specks in it.