I am back! Well, sort of.

Last May I sold my 2012 991 Carrera S. 60k miles, 30+ track days, 2 ice races and two kids car seats. Multi-function wheel with Champion paddles to replace the “buttons”, Gyrodisk rotors and AWE crosspath exhaust. Brilliant car. It is missed.

I just picked up a 2014 Cayenne GTS. Last year for the big naturally aspirated V8. I debated the turbo with much more room for horsepower mods but went with naturally aspirated. I will try to get some pictures up soon. Black with SportEdition wheels and sport exhaust. I jumped right into the mods.

1. Tinted windows to match the darth vader look.
2. I decided to try the TechArt paddles to replace the “second worse decision Porsche ever made” shift buttons. I will compare these paddles to the Champion soon.
3. GhostMotorsport Ghost links installed. These are adjustable replacement ride height sensors for air suspension. We lengthened the sensor link by 5mm. Effectively lowering each ride height setting by 1”. Opinion to come
4. Fabspeed secondary catbypass pipes
5. Vivid Racing ECU tune

Fabspeed pipes are awesome. Startup is significantly louder. Super awesome when I left my house this morning at 4:45am 😊 With Sport exhaust Off, it is not much louder than normal. You can easily cruise around the neighborhood without issue. Turn on Sport, push the pedal and it gets loud. A terrific big V8 noise. Off throttle also gives you some popping and burble.

Ghost links dropped the truck about an inch. Below is a (crappy) picture with it at the second to lowest (lowest is for loading only) setting. In this setting there is some decrease in ride quality. The truck has less travel to absorb the bumps. Rebound feels like it has been affected as well. Put it in the middle and the ride quality is pretty close to stock. Go up one and it is just like stock. I really like the look with it down. It looks terrific. I will consider some wheel spacers soon. An alignment is recommended and I had it done with new lower settings.

TechArt paddle replacement. These replace the buttons to allow you to upshift (right) and downshift (left) like the factory paddles while keeping the multifunction wheel. In theory, pretty good idea. The paddles are plastic and have a nice tactile feel. They look similar to factory paddles which are made from aluminum. The upside to the plastic is that they do not get hot in the summer and cold in the winter. As silly as this sounds, the Champion paddles where aluminum and got outrageously hot in the summer and were freezing in the winter. I like the look of the TechArt paddles but the Champion paddles functioned better. The Champion paddles where hinged, similar to the factory. So when you pulled on the paddle, it pivoted and had a nice click. The TechArt paddles slide in like the buttons. Not as smooth and no “click”. I may actually have to go back because they keep getting stuck.

Vivid ECU tune is here but I have not had time to get it installed. Soon…

Enjoy

Marc

Excuse my crappy garage picture. I just moved and have not had time to get better pictures.

 

Outstanding. Nice mods as well. Those wheels on black pig is sexy. What other mods coming?

 

Thank you. Funny, the picture doesn't show how really low the truck it. Friend came over last night and said it almost looks like a shooting brake.

I still have to install the Vivid ECU tune. I may black out the taillights. Suncoast has a film that I will try first before permanently painting them.

I am not liking the TechArt paddles. They may get switched out for the Champion.

I am also not digging the tires. I may go to a specific summer tire and winter set up.

Didn't come with a trailer hitch. Need to put one on before racing season starts. Looking at Curt Manufacturing.


Marc

 

I just installed Curt. Looks great, but I have not hooked up electronics.

 

Nice. The video sure made it look easy. Did you do it or have it done? I have not investigated the wiring. Does Curt have a kit?

M

 

I had a Curt dealer put it in. They charged me around 250. You could probably shop this around as it only took em about hour and half. He said he heard Curt say there is an electric connector sold separately, but its only for brake light.

Porsche electric connector costs a bunch more as supposedly in order to tow, your tranny and engine need to be told you're towing in order for you to get optimum performance.

I don't tow, so I don't much care. I put mine in for luggage carrier only....

 

How dark are you gonna go on the light films? I think I am gonna go as dark as they make them.

 

I ordered the darkest. Since they are film, I can always remove. Depending how they look (ie how well I put them on), I will either leave or removed them and have a body shop spray them.

Marc

 

So you are correct about the factory hitch. Here is what my service advisory stated. "The factory hitch would tie in to the transmission controls and stability control where the aftermarket ones wouldn't."

I guess the questions is Do you really need it to be connected? Especially since they quoted me $2,250 for install.

M

 

We're almost twins. Here's my krappy cell phone pic lol

What color are your wheels? I have them in black but yours almost look a dark silver....I like it!

Curious to hear your thoughts on the tune.

While you're at it, tint the side lights up front. I was back and forth about doing mine but think they're awesome. I need to do the rears, especially the lower reflectors.

 

Looks good. Yes, I have the front reflector tint film as well. Just need to find time to get it done.

M

 

VividRacing tune is loaded. Will drive for a couple of days to see if I can tell a difference.

Marc

 

I know this post is very old but heres my new to me 14 gts. I've blacked out the side markers with window tint (not in pic) and added ambient lighting. I'm looking to do a secondary cat bypass, i'm leaning towards the soul perfomance one as they've given me a 10% discount so the total after tax and shipping is $715. Do you think theres a difference between fabspeed and soul?

 

Vivid tune any good?

 

Also interested in the Vivid Tune. 958 GTS owner here.

I know this is an older thread but hopefully someone has had experience.