Porsche Boxster 986.2 2.7

Porsche Boxster 986.2 2.7

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squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
Following on from

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I appear to be the new owner of a porsche.

Background:

I was very happy with the m3, all was well. Having come back from the NBR I had an idea of a few things I'd like to do, refresh the brakes/vanos/suspension & possibly go a little bit more track orientated with the interior. None of that is cheap. No danger though, had a while to go through it. Then a good friend and I were chatting over a beer and the subject of me potentially selling the m3 came up and he seemed interested. A long story short - without having to advertise the M it was bought by one of my best friends as his toy for next years 'ring trip (that I may or may not be going on)

To clarify, I'm still not entirely sure I did the right thing laugh I adored the M and still do, it was my dream car in many ways and I'd invested quite a bit already in the new clutch and the new head unit etc.

My rationale for the porsche is

running costs
maintenance costs
you know me - I'm going through cars faster than underwear changes of late

The M had the opportunity to cost quite a bit of money over the next few months, I don't like to compromise on maintenance etc so I'd rather let the car go to someone who will appreciate it and pilot it very well whilst having the pockets to maintain it to the highest level rather it falling in to a state of 'less repair' in my custody. An example of this

front discs for the M £350-£500 pair
986 £60 each

The theme continues like that with most perishables so (somewhat ironically) the 986 should cost a fair bit less to maintain. It's a sight better on fuel too, 170 miles home yesterday from Hertfordshire on less than half a tank.

So why the budget 2.7 rather than the S? Mainly (and there's about 100 small reasons I'll prob forget/gloss over) I didn't want to swap one expensive badge for another, the S was in budget but I completely ignored them. I actually like the fact that 2.7 is the lesser of the two, it appeals to my new found 'thrifty' side. It can't be compared to the likes of the 330ci to the M as the porsche is a different animal completely of course. I just didn't want M levels of cost, consumables/Insurance costs/higher fuel bills etc. All unnecessary when (as it turns out) the 2.7 is an absolute gem

This particular 2.7 was found on Boxa.net and was pretty much perfect spec for me. Taken from the ad:

Manual 2.7
2004 (53 Plate) Facelift model with glass rear screen and glove box.
77k Miles
3 owners from new
Atlas Grey
17" Boxster S Alloys
Black Full Extended Leather interior
Heated Sports seats
Litronic Xenon headlights
Computer
Climate Control
Wind deflector
Previously had BOSE, but replaced with a Pioneer System, which sounds much better.
Rear BOSE speakers replaced with storage compartment
Owned for 6 years
4 New Michelin PS2 tyres
Lots of service history, most recently in my ownership at Cambridge OPC, last year replaced plugs, coil packs and front springs
both keys & valet key present

It's rare (in my experience of looking at loads of them) to find such a highly specced 2.7, It's much better specced than 3/4 of the S's I glanced over, I love the sports seats and the 2.7 in face lift guise utilizes the 02' S suspension. Its asking price was ... optimistic but a chat with the seller got us down to a more reasonable figure and a ball park was agreed before travelling the 3 hours to view the car.

Upon inspection, apart from the condition of the paintwork (not the paint itself actually more just how dirty it was) it was as described, incredibly well maintained and free from hardly any interior wear. It looks almost new bar a few wear marks on 1 or 2 interior plastic items. The test drive revealed a healthy engine and a competent chassis along with strong brakes so a deal was done, my first flat 6.

So how does the 986 and m3 compare? Well hard to say as they're so different but initial thoughts while they're still fresh are:

The m3 would annihilate the 2.7 in a straight line. I learned from my return trip that the 986 has exactly the same out and out pace as a 2008 Honda S2000GT (my friends car who graciously offered to take me to see it) but, I just don't care. Speed is relative and although the S54 is an unmatched masterpiece in my experience the M96 is a bloody good engine too; they deliver their power very differently however. The M would wake up at 5k and absolutely scream to 8k, not lacking in power below that by any means but a real jackal/hyde nature. The 986 though has such a huge available torque range, any revs, any gear and it just goes well. Things do escalate as you rev on and it pulls harder and harder but the delivery is more linear and dare I say more usable and exploitable as a result. Redline comes up quickly and into the next cog it just keeps pulling. It feels much quicker than its 228hp number. I've just come back from a drive after a clean (yes pics of a porsche on axle stands covered in foam in-bound) and it reached thirteen miles an hour at the top of fourth very easily, relentless grunt.

I love the interior, you really do feel like you're sat in something special. I must admit I've become a bit of a fanboi over the last 2 days, falling in love with the marque a little bit more every time I sit in it/start it up, go for a drive.

The m3 is definitely the more lively of the two cars, always wanting to move around on roundabouts etc which is superb. I took the same roundabout earlier at the same speed and the same inputs I would have with the BM with the PSM off and where the M would be 'playful' the porsche was completely un-phased, it gripped and took off, not even unsettled by the pace I was travelling it, I'll have to re calibrate my limits to match the cars in time.

The grip is probably in no short measure helped by the brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tyres fitted just before I picked it up. fantastic and a very good indicator of a car that's been loved rather than scrimped upon.

Anyway, the car is amazing, I love it. I'm looking forward to an already planned trip the 'ring next June and France in the same month. Nothing needs doing to it before either of those trips. At least; not at the moment.

pictures, I took 88 today boxedin I'm hoping the 1200D picked up both the before and after well as it's a pretty stark contrast

We'll go from dirty to clean















































I've zoomed in here to try and capture the state of the surface of the car, plenty of bugs on the front bumper and dried water runs/grime all over the rest of the car





















drivers door cubby





Not brilliantly captured but yea - it was dirty.

I employed some new snow foam by Valetpro, seems to work extremely well and an excellent price too. Also some soft brushes, 1 for interior work to remove dust from the cabin etc & one for exterior panels; in between the Boxster decal and door shuts etc



So onto the actual cleaning, and preparation for cleaning. Wheels first











I took some arch shots to show them in their raw state and to do a before/after. I simply ran out of daylight toward to the end of the process but I'll get the arches as clean as possible and document soon









They're cleaner than they were, just not as clean as I'd like them. But we'll survive.

Ooo under body



surface rust but all solid with no loose or rattling heat shields etc



Onto the actual wheels then, these took me bloody ages:

Rinse
AD Very Cherry wheel cleaner diluted 4:1 applied with a brush to agitate and foam
rinse
AG PH neutral shampoo wash with micro fiber mitt
rinse
KKD FErrum iron contaminant remover
rinse
another and final stage of AG PH neutral shampoo wash with micro fiber mitt

They're not in good enough condition to warrant a clay/seal so all good for now







new tyres as discussed clap



Now in my wisdom it doesn't actually look like I took any 'after' shots with them off the car rolleyes but they were silver when I finished honest.

onto the body work then. I tackled the badges, vents and filler cap area first with aforementioned brush and a good APC, came up well, also raised the spoiler so as not to miss the hidden portion when retracted





1st snow foam application and left to dwell for about 20 mins









You'll notice the foam is 'clinging' very well to the car. I'll put this down the quality of the product but also (and I think predominantly) to the fact that the paint has not seen much wax in the recent past, if the bodywork had any product applied with hydrophobic properties the foam would have a harder time clinging.

After the following:

a second SF application
a thorough interference wash with a new MF mitt
rinse
KKD FErrum iron contaminent reomver applied to lower body arch areas
rinse
clay mitt & quick detailer of the glass/paintwork
rinse

it looked something like this









you'll notice that even though the car has been thoroughly washed and even clayed the water still has some sheeting properties to it, some beading, but no where near the level we need it at to ensure good protection and glass

so onto the polish stage, applied by hand with MF pad applicator

AD Euphoria for the first coat





and then to seal, Infinity Wax Light (should have used dark but it's all I had, wax is wax boys hehe)



At this point I really started to lose the light so whipped the camera out and took some nudes before it went totally dark. After the Euphoria stage







& After the Infinity Wax stage







Paintwork is now pretty perfect, hardly a swirl it turns out, it must have been well cared for in the past



and down again, the camera really has done the job here, it was almost completely dark by this point







I really wish I'd had the time before losing the light to take some good 'after' photos of the dirty areas I'd highlighted (& remembered to capture the clean wheels before refitting but time was against me)

I ran out of time to do:

complete interior irked
both boots
exhaust tip
treat the exterior rubbers etc

But will save for another weekend. So all in all very happy. Oh, also as an added bonus a chap called Chris Denning who is seemingly regarded as one of the foremost Porsche specialists in the country is about 4 miles away from me with his own Indy worskhop, so no doubt I'll be visiting him soon! I've already spoken with him and it turns out we even have some mutual acquaintances in the road rally world so that's cool.

Oh two things as footnotes,

1. I was brought around to the idea of porsche ownership by the two boys on the Cammed & Tubbed podcast, great listen and I'd imagine of interest to you if you've made it this far, so it's their fault I've bought this thing in the first place laugh

2. I'll never call it a porschuh, I feel like I'm bragging enough just saying I own a prosche, let alone pronouncing it correctly. I'm referring to it as the 986 currently, sounds less overtly-ostentatious

So that's my first two days of boxster ownership. More updates to follow smile

Edited by squareflops on Saturday 21st January 11:49

thecremeegg

1,964 posts

203 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
First person to actually like a Porsche Interior possibly? rofl
Seriously though, looks great!
Didn't fancy something like a Z4M Coupe? The running costs on one of these would worry me but I bet it's a joy to drive!

squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
thecremeegg said:
First person to actually like a Porsche Interior possibly? rofl
Didn't fancy something like a Z4M Coupe? The running costs on one of these would worry me but I bet it's a joy to drive!
people don't rate the interiors on these? Well that's a first world problem huh.. I'm keen on it.

No, if I was thinking of staying with BMW I would have stuck with the M3, it wasn't the failing of the M, it was the ability to buy porsche.

thecremeegg said:
Seriously though, looks great!
Cheers! thumbup

Craikeybaby

10,412 posts

225 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
Nice car! My Dad had a 986 and a 987S and actually prefers the 2.7, real world performance is more than enough, but is much cheaper to run.

squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
Craikeybaby said:
Nice car! My Dad had a 986 and a 987S and actually prefers the 2.7, real world performance is more than enough, but is much cheaper to run.
yea pretty much this exactly. I'm sure the S is lovely but the 2.7 is pretty perfect in terms of pace offset against running costs. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with this train of thought smile

alec.e

2,149 posts

124 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
Very nice!

Very tempted by one of these as a toy, hard to find one with black leather, most seem to be grey.

squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
I saw an S with light green interior a few days ago eek they really did offer some odd colour combinations.

If you can do it dude I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. It seems that the IMS issue has been over stated too, plenty of smoke about the problem but not much fire. Chris Denning had some interesting feedback on the question that put my mind at ease. Regular oil changes (every year) with genuine filter is highly recommended by him.

Sorry went off on a bit of a tangent there smile

Synchromesh

2,428 posts

166 months

Sunday 27th November 2016
quotequote all
squareflops said:
Craikeybaby said:
Nice car! My Dad had a 986 and a 987S and actually prefers the 2.7, real world performance is more than enough, but is much cheaper to run.
yea pretty much this exactly. I'm sure the S is lovely but the 2.7 is pretty perfect in terms of pace offset against running costs. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with this train of thought smile
How do the running costs differ between the 2.7 and the S? I assumed there'd be nothing in it, but obviously I stand to be corrected!

_Nathan_

505 posts

248 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Synchromesh said:
How do the running costs differ between the 2.7 and the S? I assumed there'd be nothing in it, but obviously I stand to be corrected!
Indeed not much in it, but the 2.7 has a more reliable track record regarding.

OP - very impressive spec on a 2.7. When new it must have eclipsed the 3.2 base price quite easily !

Medic-one

3,105 posts

203 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all

Lovely.

I still have a weak spot for these and can see myself getting one within the next couple of years.

james_gt3rs

4,816 posts

191 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Interested in how the Boxster compares to the VX220... I keep thinking that the two would go together well for me biggrin

JakeT

5,430 posts

120 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
I reckon this one has three months before it's gone... wink

abarber

1,686 posts

241 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Nice car, lovely things. A good dose of man maths re: Beemer comparisons too.

Get some guards for the rads up front as they are vulnerable. Hows the hood? Are you going to stick to the yearly servicing you now have on the Porker?


mikey P 500

1,239 posts

187 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
Loved my old boxster, preferred to all the other sports cars I have owned including, mx5, s2000, mr2, s1 elise. Mine was a early 2.5 but yours looks a really nice example. Very good fun on track too.

squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
Cheers for the words guys

I'll attempt to answer the main points/quesitons

james_gt3rs said:
Interested in how the Boxster compares to the VX220... I keep thinking that the two would go together well for me biggrin
hmm, interesting hypothetical garage James. For me the two cars aren't dissimilar enough to warrant owning both. True the porsche offers exponentially more comfort and practicality (a roller skate is more practical than the 220) and the VX far more raw enjoyment but they are both fundamentally impractical (subjective) 2 seater convertibles with an emphasis on driver enjoyment. I'd see the boxster as a 2nd car, the VX more of a 3rd or 4th if that makes sense. The VX was a delight to drive fast on a country road when the sun was shining and the traffic was minimal. All other times - I found it pretty miserable tbh hehe

The porsche however offers 90% of the enjoyment of the VX on a hoon but also offers enjoyment in all other realms other than trying to get a double bed home from DFS. Would I perosnally own the 986 and the VX, no. Unless I was doing dedicated track work with the VX, then - for sure I would (based on very deep pockets that I do not have of course laugh)

Your situation may be very different to mine James but for me alone, I wouldn't own the two at the same time.

JakeT said:
I reckon this one has three months before it's gone... wink
You know me so well Jake hehe I'd like to think not with this one, but I've said that before

abarber said:
Get some guards for the rads up front as they are vulnerable. Hows the hood? Are you going to stick to the yearly servicing you now have on the Porker?
rad guards, hmm hadn't considered those I'll look into it. Hood is OK, not amazing, not terrible. Some signs of wear but seems to be watertight and there's no whistles or leaks at speeds of thirteen mph so I'm pleased enough with it. Yes, if funds allow I definitely will be.

That last question leads me into tomorrows meeting with Chris Denning. I'm popping over to his to familiarize myself with his business and ask a few questions to get a feel for what the maintenance schedule will look like with mine. Lets just hope I can afford him ha, although I'm sure from speaking to him and reading reviews that he is the only man to take mine to from now on. Will update when I've spoken to him.

random iphone pic for no reasons


squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
quotequote all
Well saw Chris Denning on Wednesday. Very helpful guy with a huge amount of knowledge about these cars. He was very happy to talk over some common issues and give some advice etc. It's almost a shame the 2.7 doesn't really need anything doing to it for about a year! Service wise that is. I'll get him to look over it in the new year before any real mileage is done and for sure before we do NBR/France in June.

Tangentially when I was letting it down last weekend my jack from Halfords wasn't able to move/roll with the articulation of the car and the jack head actually started to shift on the jacking point. A slight moment as I did not want the jack head (which is quite small) slipping off the jack point all together and going through the floor of the car. So a quick google search and picked up an SGS item with a much bigger jack head with rubber pad included. 34kgs!

Weirdly my mate come over today and gave me an actual hockey puck that apparently doubles up as a perfect cushion between jack/axle stand and body. I may pick up 3/4 more @ £3 each








Craikeybaby

10,412 posts

225 months

Saturday 3rd December 2016
quotequote all
I bought one of those SGS jacks the other week - it was a bugger to get it from the front of the house to my garage at the end of the garden! Good bit of kit though.

squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
certainly is very heavy. But if we've learnt anything from Boris "Heavy is good, heavy is reliable"

Found a handy options decoder @

http://www.kindel.com/porsche/options/options.asp

and ran mine through

Porsche Option Decoder



The following matches were found in the database. Note that you may see duplicates depending on your car's type and year.

Code Option Description

197 Higher amperage battery
288 Headlight washer
288 996: Light washers
375 996: Color coded seat backs
375 Clutch lining without asbestos
411 Licence braket, front
441 Fader, antenna booster, 4 speakers
441 Radio speakers and antenna amplifier
476 Brake pad with abrasive pad
476 996: Traction control
551 Air Deflector (Cabriolet)
567 Windshield green graduated tint
571 Fog tail lamp
573 Air conditioner
601 Litronic Headlights
659 Onboard computer
680 Digital Sound
692 Remote CD changer (6-disc)
981 All leather lining
983 Leather seats front and rear
983 Leather seats front (NOT REAR)
C16 UK LUX spec: tinted windows, metallic paint, and a few other goodies.

Some 'nice to haves' in there

edc

9,235 posts

251 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
476 brake pad with abrasive pad is always nice to have biggrin

squareflops

Original Poster:

1,820 posts

183 months

Sunday 4th December 2016
quotequote all
certainly is, although I'm assuming it was only an up-rated friction pad material, probably not the original pads on it today! An interesting option though