Had a little weekend fun-run with the fellas. Didn't take the Viper this time, took the little baby Box Kept up just fine for the most part we didn't get too crazy. Thought you guys may enjoy the pics;

 

 

So 'bluebird' as it's been affectionately named by the SO, has gotten a few goodies. Springs came in, spacers came in, and the custom plate we got was finally delivered.

First, off to install the H&R springs;



New plates;



Spring install was tackled by a friend with a shop as I just didn't have the patience/time to tackle it on my own. From what I hear though, and the DIYs I read over when I figured I'd just as well do it myself, it is a pain in the ***, big time.



Car returned at a much better ride height. I beleive the drop is 1.2" up front, 1.4" in the rear. It's amazing what lowering yourself 1" in ride height does to how you feel in the drivers seat. I felt like I was sitting on the ground first time I drove it. Car feels even more like a go-kart than before, took out pretty much any body roll there was to start, and after everything settled in after about a week or so, I couldn't really discern any negative impact on ride comfort. Or maybe I just got used to it.

Got the car aligned a week after the install, one thing that surprised me was the techinican told me there is no camber adjustements on boxsters/caymans from the factory. Is this true? Kinda threw me for a loop when I looked at the alignment specs. I don't mind the -1 in the front, and -2ish in the back on the camber (apparently thats a good street/auto-x setting), but I wish that it was even side to side.



Got the car home and gave it a bath before the spacers went on;




New plate on;



New ride height. I will get some better before/after pics soon. I am pleased, it sits the way I would have preferred from the factory, about 1.5/2 finger gap all around;



Ordered and received the 15mm rear spacers and extended lug studs from ECS tuning. Threw those on;




Before;



After;



Before;



After;



All buttoned up. I think it if it wasn't for the over 2 degrees negative camber I'm running it would look completely flush. I was thinking eh, should I have gone with an 18mm? Decided to leave it alone for now, plus I figured if I went too aggressive I'd be rubbing somewhere for sure during full deflection at the track/autox.





Front spacers (8mm) came in a few days later. Threw those on as well;

Before;



After;



Before;



After;



Completed front and rear;



Just waiting on my clear sidemarkers to get in and I'll be done with the ricer stuff Got an Auto-X day scheduled with the Houston SCCA soon so we'll see how she gets on!

 

While I was washing the 'ol girl my buddy came out with his big boy camera and snapped a cool pic;

 

 

Nice build! Looks like lots of fun so far - keep up the great work

 

Gave the car a bath and put on the OEM clear corners. Looks way cleaner than the oem ambers, imo.

 

Would appreciate someones input on 3 questions;

1. Can anyone tell me if a stock 987.2 Boxster has provisions to adjust camber? The guy that did my alignment said there was only adjust-ability for toe? Is this true or false?

2. Can I bleed the brakes with a power bleeder like any normal car or is there some Porsche "witchcraft" involved with the electronics? A Pelican article said something about needing a "Porsche System Tester 2" for cars equipped with a stability/traction control (PSMicon)? What does this entail?

3. Why are the cars are so sensitive to slight over-filling of the oil during an oil change? I'm trying to picture this from a mechanical standpoint. What happens when you're a quart or half over?

 

Got a response to Q2 through the dealer;

Basically unless you are wanting to flush ALL the fluid (which is where you'd use the PST2 to open the hydraulic valves in the ABS block) you can get away with just a power bleeder like any other car (which is also how they perform the bleed at the dealer).

Still looking for input on Q1&Q2.

 

Took the car auto-xing recently with the Houston SCCA bunch. Lia and I had a blast in the car, its just so hard to find a fault in it. I feel like you could drive the entire car around the track devoid of a steering wheel, just on throttle alone. I'm a hooligan so I was doing a lot more playing around than one should out there, but I was definitely having a blast. The skidpad also cost me a set of rear tires, I just couldn't stay away from it!

The car is very very different to drive than my viper (obviously). I really had to get used to the fact that you HAVE to stay on the power at all times to maintain rear end grip. It seems if you ever lift the rear becomes a boomerang real quick. It also has a lot less grip than I'm used to (smaller footprint and tires make a huge difference), but at the same time, if feels more communicative in steering feel and seems to shed weight in motion more so than the Viper. If i were to put it in a way, the porsche always feels lighter than it really is, while the Viper feels heavier (I've had both on scales and the Porsche is only 150lbs lighter than the snake). In the Viper I'm always left feeling that I could of came in twice as fast as I thought, and in the Porsche, I always seem to be over-cooking it. This may have a lot to do with me "respecting" the viper more, wheres I feel I can thrash the Porsche at will and take care of anything it throws back at me. Another thing I've come to really adore about the little Box is the view over the hood. The MR layout results in the stubby steeply raked nose, which in turn provides an absolutely unimpeded view outwards. It really allows you to place the car where you want it on the track. I really can't imagine how much of a gem this thing would be on a set of a R888s or hoosiers, but alas, being a daily, its not going to happen.

 

After the shenanigans, I feasted, while Lia fell asleep sitting up (apparently), and some little girl was creepin :laugh:

 

To replace the trashed Toyo T1s on the rear of the Porsche, we threw on some Michelin Pilot Super Sports. SUCH a better tire all around, both quieter and stickier.

 

Then we took the little guy on a 1000 mile roadtrip across Texas to visit some friends.

Upon our return the front of the car needed a bit of TLC.




Thank god for XPEL and Cquartz, a little bit of elbow grease and she is back to new!

 

Last weekend we joined a few buddies for a charity track rental at Royal Purple Speedway. You know I can't stay away from the drag strip so we set off in good haste. The Viper stayed at home as there was rain in the forecast.

David showed up in his 918 and I literally couldn't believe my eyes at the times this car put up that day.

Let me paint you a picture. Hot houston day, 90F+, 90% humidity, density altitude at the time of our passes was +2500ft, the 918 pulls up, stages, and clicks off a 9.8 @ 145mph. I literally had pick my jaw up off of the ground. Good christ. He then proceeds to back it up with a 9.7 @ 145mph and continues to run 10.0s @ 143-144 the whole day while taking people on ride-alongs. What a machine.













Being that we're not ones to be showed up :laugh: Lia proceeds to let loose in our little engine that could and clicks off her quickest ET ever, with a LC assisted 12.88 @ 106mph. Far from our fastest trap, but given the heat it is expected. Not bad for a stock boxster, and it was enough to take down a C63 and a pair of Shelbys that day (sleeping at the tree and spinnin aint winnin!). I was proud of her!

 

A quick snap of us coming home from the track.