Is it necessary if I'm driving the car at least 2x a week, 20miles each trip?

 

Not necessary.

 

Kosmo,

Dont listen to 1999......he is new to the forum and has no idea about the Porsche mechanicsROFL

 

It may not be necessary, but it won't hurt the car. I plug mine in when I know I won't drive it for a few days, and it always seems to want to charge for 4-5 hours even after a heavy week of driving.

 

I only drive my car once/week, and I have never had any trouble without a charger.

 

if you have digital voltmeter - just check voltage on your battery when car sits in the garage for long time and if you`ll see voltage falls down close to 12.0 V - put it on charger. If you do not have any charger at all in your garage - buy one, preferably with integrated starter battery and air pump. It is a must have item in any garage.

 

You don't need to use it if you are driving twice a week, 20mi each trip...but I still think it is a good thing to have on hand.

If you let your car sit for an extended period (vacation, emergency travel) you'll want to have the charger plugged in to the cig lighter.

Lots of threads on this.

-M

 

No you don't need that, but check each 6 month the water level on battery, and check acid each year


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This advise is for normal use :

I don't know if you have GPS, DVD player, PS3, Xbox, freezer, fan, toaster, TV, or something you can plug on the battery.

 

Just proves that newer is not necessarily better. Even after 6 weeks sitting in the garage, unlocked, in freezing temps, my 99 fires right up. Maybe it's the 15W50 I have in the crankcase.

Even my 04 GT3 could sit idle for more than a month and fire right up.

 

I've had a few "low-battery" issues in my garage over the years in every 911 I've owned after the '89 variants. (The pre 993 models didn't have nearly as many low-battery / slow crank, stutter issues...but then again the cars were much simpler back then.)

I accidentally let my last 911 sit for ~90 days without a maintainer active (the plug's circuit was accidentally disconnected, in exchange for our electric-starter on a snow-thrower.. egad! We then left for a few months ) I paid the price when I got back to ME. Let me tell you . what a royal pain in the @ss it is to get your battery recharged-(tripping the circuit w/ another battery, breaking into the car, electronicly -popping the frunk, etc. ) The battery at the time wasn't that old.

I never understood why the drivers side manual frunk release was discontinued. I heard there is now a way to break in on the passenger side wheel well area, but I don't see the lever on my new Targa.


By the way, another thing to remember is to keep your keyFOB a safe distance from your car ...(I learned this in the forum). Lock your car when it sits. It keeps the FOB from 'communicating' to your car, and initiating random system stuff. I believe, these cars have electronic gremlins!!! There is a way to deactivate some of the settings when the car is locked through the PCM or something like that.....but I'll let someone else take the lead on describing how to do it. It is beyond my years of age.

 

You must have the magic touch! Hopefully you are my new retirement fund-manager. Are you using 15W50 year round?
RJ

 

15W50 all year.

 

I have an 09 C2S and have gone several weeks without driving. Car is garaged but it has been 0 degress here in NY and never had a problem.

 

I plug mine in when I am not driving in the next 3-4 days. For you guys that leave the car unplugged after a week. It might start but if you stall quickly after you might have none or one more crank available before the battery is dead. The charger costs $50 from porsche... It is an easy decision IMHO

 

Porsche charger for $50? I doubt it! Mine cost $109 about 3 months ago and that was about $10 off normal price. Good luck!