So this has always been a long time coming for me and the misses, I was actually shopping for 997 turbos a year or so ago but just couldn't swing a 997.2, and didn't want to "settle" for a mark 1. This all started with me test driving a 987.1 cayman S years back, and thinking, waow, this is how a car should handle. Spry is the word I'd use, razor sharp turn-in and steering feel, poise, balance, and just overall feel of quality throughout. I remember doing "emergency" lane changes on an open road to see if I could upset the car and it was just shocking how stable it was in transition. It was however, quite anemic in the straight line department (I grew up drag racing, and still love to hit the drag strip often). Since then, I have been Porsche enthusiast, and knew one day I'd have one as either a daily, or track rat.

So fast forward to 2 months ago; I had been looking at a 6spd Aqua blue 987.2 BS with tan interior at a local dealer which had been sitting in their showroom for more than a month. I kept opening the car up online and day dreaming when I'd get a moment at the office, thinking about how I'd always wanted a mid engine car, and how it'd be fun to have a convertible. My current daily driver has been getting old in the tooth, and one rainy Saturday morning I decided, aw hell, I'll go take a "look". We arrive at the dealer, and to our surprise there are 2 Aqua blue BS's sitting in the showroom, one with black interior and PDK, and the tan interior variant (which is what I had come to see). I looked over the tan interior vert and It was just a little rougher than what I wanted. Pealing switches, a few dents here and there, some deep scratches, curb rash, etc. Then, the gf, who is sitting in the black interior BS, exclaims, "this is nice!". "Yeah, its a porsche", was my reply. So seeing as I was no longer interested in the other one, we decided to take the PDK variant out for a spin. The rest, as they, was history. The car definitely was down some torque on our Z but made up for it with a glorious flat 6 wail and lightning quick shifts from the PDK box. She also loved the way it handled and how heavy and linear the steering feel was. Said she couldn't wait to get it out on to the the track. So we ended up trading her 370Z for it on spot.

Our trade-in, bolt-on 370Z;





Looking over the mechanicals at the dealer



On the drive home;



First wash;



Took it the office the following day and enjoyed some open sky;




Us the following day on a little car cruise (one of my buddies shot a nice rolling shot).




One of the first things I noticed on the test drive was a vibration at freeway speeds from the steering wheel and some very noisy brakes in the last few mph before a stop. I knew there had to be a wheel balance issue, so I had all 4 wheel/tire assemblies removed and rebalanced. I also took the opportunity to inspect the brakes, under-body, and suspension components, for any irregular wear or abuse. All the bushings in the tie rods, control arms, ball joints, etc, seemed fine, and there seemed to be plenty of rotor and pad life. From what I've read on here, it seems that the noisy pads are here to stay. Shame, as I really don't want to move to a ceramic pad.






I also had the mounting pad on the wheel and hub surface wire wheeled to remove any surface rust and ensure flush mating between the components.



I left the shop and realized fairly quickly that the vibration was still present. I watched the tech balance the assemblies like a hawk, and even provided (what i thought be ) very valuable instruction. When I was younger, I worked at discount tire balancing and mounting assemblies for 12hrs/day. I can still do this stuff in my sleep. So, seeing as I had checked the suspension, I was perplexed. This issue had all the tell tale signs of an unbalanced rotational mass (a nasty resonance appearing at certain velocities). So i decided that maybe the balancer the tech used was out of calibration and I took the car to a local discount tire to have the front two assemblies re-balanced again. They were spun up, shown to be off balance by an oz or so (per their machine), and re-balanced yet again. Whew, finally got it. I was on my way yet again. Soon as i get on the freeway, I notice that although reduced, the vibration is still prevalent. At this point, 3 additional grey hairs appear. I turn around, head back to discount, and have the techs break the beads of both front tires, spin them 180* degrees relative to their position on the wheel, and balance them again. Sometimes tires are out of round, and need to be moved relative to the wheel to reduce needed balance weight. As they were balancing these assemblies this time, I finally noticed (something that I really should have noticed before) that the front right wheel had a very slight woble to it on the balancer. I really didn't think that such a slight bend would case any vibration but I guess I was wrong. I thanked the techs for their time yet again, and left the facility only to feel the vibes return on the freeway. Oh well, at least we know its a bent wheel (i hope!). Anyone got a spare Carrera S II front wheel laying around?



Next I moved to an issue with the top. I had noticed after washing the car for the first time, the top sometimes did not slide underneath that plastic guide upon closing. I have noticed that if i stop the operation mid-way for a split second, and kind of let the material settle, instead of it closing all in one motion, that it helps to ensure it seals properly. I havent had time to tear into the mechanism, but does anyone know if there is a simple adjustment for this issue?






Another thing I noticed when finally getting the car out into the sun, is the abysmal care that the previous owner took of the paint. Now certainly, not everyone is a nut-job like me and takes 3hrs to wash a car with 2 bucket method and then blow dry it, but still. RIDS everywhere, holograming, swirls, scuffs, you name it. The only good thing was that there was a clear bra covering the front bumper, 1/4 fenders, and hood. While it was also trash (swirled to pieces), it was good to know that the paint underneath was probably well protected. There was also no deep scratches, and this gave me confidence that the car would be properly sorted with a little bit of TLC.

I turned to my friends over at Clarity Auto Detail to help sort me out. They have done many cars for me in the past, and I have always received great work for reasonable money.

I decided on the following treatment;

-Decontamination wash with iron-x
-Clay bar
-PDR repair a few small dents on the hood, fenders, door
-2 Stage color correction
-Cquartz UK ceramic sealant
-Hydro2 Sealant for the wheels
-XPEL Ultimate clear bra to replace the worn 3M version
--Hood
--Bumper
--Fenders
--Headlights
--LED DRLs
--Mirrors
--Rear Fenders

Basically, I wanted the car to come out better than new, and reverse the previous owners neglect.

Starting condition, look at those swirls on the hood and clear bra! Makes me sick.






Removing the old factory bra behind the vents. The new XPEL was custom cut to cover a much larger area there, and stretches all the way from the vent to the fender-well.



Color correction complete, starting on PDR (paintless dent repair). You can see the dents illuminated by the tape markers.



Completed product in the clean room

 

And these are my pics from when I picked her up. I was beyond happy, she looked gorgeous, like a wet mirror. The Aqua Blue is just such a stunning color, and now I can admire it in the sun without wanting to gouge my eyes out. The new XPEL clear bra is completely invisible from the front as well (you can see the cut-out in the macro shot of the porsche badge), i was very pleased.

 

Since the paint was sorted, I moved to the inside. The previous owner had put some hideous rubber weathertech mats on the floor, so those were promptly replaced with a set of OEM mats from Suncoast.



I also hated the way the yellow incandescent license plate lights looked against the pretty LED tails so ordered and installed some ZIZA LED bulbs. Looks much more modern in my opinion.

Ziza on left, OEM on right.





Both installed.



A little darker

 

Car got dirty last week and I didnt have time to wash it myself before the weekend (and good weather had come finally!). So I snuck into Clarity on my lunch break and got a quick maintenance wash. With the CQuartz sealant its just a pleasure to wash the car, everything pretty much just comes off in the rinse.







A quick blow-dry and I was on my way!

 

Great thread. The car looks great after the detail.

 

Nice write up! Also Congrats with good trade!

 

Nice!! love the color. best of luck with her.

 

Thanks guys.

 

So the boss lady, the little engine that could, and myself, made a trip out to drag strip on Friday. We've been tossing around the idea of a tune + headers/cats and so we "needed" a baseline. Actually, we didn't need any excuses, we just like to goof off and hit the loud pedal.

We stop off for a splash of fuel, get to the track, and proceed to tech in. Can you believe the guy doing the tech inspection had the gall to ask us for a tip? I told him sir, you must have this confused with a 911.

Whats really peculiar about the boxster (and not completely unexpected given the engines position in the car) is the rate at which the engine cools to ambient temps is, lets just say, extended. I'm used to getting to the track, popping the hood, and working on a few cold ones while the car cools. You get there in the box... and pop the, uh, well, you kinda half *** retract the roof to get the panel covering the top, and subsequently the engine cover, up. Then, you get into it after the car has sat for an hr in 50 degree weather, and the coolant temps have dropped 20 degrees from operating temp. First time I noticed this I was like Hopefully this wont prove to be detrimental on hot road course days during the summer, we shall see.









While I feel home at the strip, the Porsche is definitely out of its element and stands out like a sore thumb. We got many a passerby look from people as we sat in the lanes. Combined with the fact that I push all of my cars through the staging lanes (old habits die hard) to avoid heat soaking them and glazing the clutch, people probably thought I was a complete tool bag. "Is this guy in the Porsche serious?" Very. We push on...






A passerby, presumingly asking me wtf I'm doing here in a Boxster.




Game time.

PSE Open
Sport Plus
PSM OFF






I try to avoid the waterbox, do a quick spin through of the tires to clean the rocks, and stage up. Me and the CTSV in the lane over are fully staged, I'm fully on the brake, quick stab of the gas, and I'm in launch control.... Waiting... and waiting... "Drop the tree damnit!!". Nothing. This is where I was educated that the ECU wont let you sit in LC for longer than 3-4 seconds, and am brought back to idle right as they drop the tree CTSV quickly wheel hops away, and I'm left sitting at the tree like an idiot. Everyone who thought I was a tool in the stands before, is now definitely feeling justified in their assessment. I re-engage LC, and with a bit of wheel-spin, I'm passenger to a drama free pass with clockwork PDK shifts.

We decide to let the car cool completely after that pass, and go nurture a cold one in the stands.

Returning, more relaxed Me and the misses switch off to make 2 more passes. Car was very consistent, with the misses (being 55lbs lighter than me), getting a mph or 2 on me on the back end on her pass. She was too nervous to engage LC on her pass, and I think if she cut a 1.9 60' time like I had, the car would of went 12.7x with her behind the wheel. I also noticed that depending on drive mode, the PDK varies how aggressively it slips the clutch from WOT start (without LC). In regular mode, it barely slips the clutch to save the material, but in sport it will slip it from 2000-3000rpm. Sport plus will see a 4500rpm flash, and full on launch control hammers down from 6400rpm.














The results;

 

I also had a chance to weigh the car at the track.

3170lbs with an 1/8th of a tank of gas. I am 175lbs, so my race-weight is 3345lbs.

 

Awesome write up slowhatch and congratulations on the purchase! Thank you for the support and keep this thread alive.

 

Much appreciated. Ordered many parts from you guys over the years. Was actually looking at the spacer options you offered for the 987s.

 

I also dug out the trusty excel 0-60 calculator (made by another engineer on the corvette forums, link here; http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...Forum&txt=here) to establish an acceleration curve from my data, and interpolate my 0-60 time. Most 0-60 calculators try to estimate 0-60 from only 1/8th mile trap and et, while this spreadsheet takes 3 data points and inputs them into a more accurate polynomial function.

Your sanity check is the "calculated" 1/8th mile mph. If your time slip is a close match with the analytical model, you know you can have confidence in the results.

So for my 12.9 @ 107 run, my 0-60 was 4.4 seconds. Not bad for some 19in 35-profile street tires!

 

Beautiful color! I just purchased a black 987.2 Boxster S as well. Does yours have sport chrono? I was a bit reluctant on mine as I dont have one, but I primarily will use it as a daily and some track days.

 

I do have the sport-chrono package (it is a prerequisite option to have launch control). You can always have the dealer add it after the fact if you wish. Its nothing but adding a button on the console and re-flashing the ecu.