Porsche 996 Carrera 4S
Discussion
I've been meaning to do a thread on this for ages and given I have just passed one year's ownership I thought I'd better get on with it.
My Pride and Joy is a 2004 Porsche 996 Carrera 4S in Seal Grey with factory fitted Aerokit. It wasnt a car I specifically went out to buy. I had just returned from a year living in Canada (with no car) where I had been very good and saving my pennies. I arrived back in the UK on Jan 31st and on Feb 1st was enroute to a showroom to look at a Boxster S. Unfortunately the C4S was nearer the door and the Boxster was never really looked at. The C4S looked great in that dark grey, full black leather interior - extended leather dash, alcantara headlining, sports seats, full sat nav, Bose, etc.. The only thing that was missing was the Sports exhaust. A quick test drive, followed by a little haggling and I was headed home with a new toy - less than 24 hours after landing at Heathrow.
Here are some pics taken shortly after I bought it with the only alteration being my private plate.
The car only had a month's MOT when I bought it so off I went to Paragon for them to give the car a look over and furnish me with the required MOT. Halfway there the car lost power, a warning light came up saying something along the lines of "get to a porsche garage now". Oh crap... The chaps at Paragon were great and eased my concerns immediately, offering me a seat in their comfy waiting area, a cup of strong tea and the reassurance that they would look into it and there was likely nothing major to worry about.
Luckily that was the case. Turns out that two of the coil packs were badly cracked and a third (on the same bank) was about to go. All three were replaced along with a rusted out cover and the problem was fixed. As for the MOT - passed with only a few advisories related to tyre tread depth and corrosion on brake lines. All in all, the consensus was I hadn't bought a lemon - much relief.
Within the first couple of months ownership I wanted to see what the car could do and try and stretch her legs - so I was lucky enough to get onto a Vmax event - where I also met a fellow Seal Grey C4S, giving a great opportunity to see the contrast that the Aerokit makes. I also managed to get up to 163mph through the traps - not too shabby.
Shortly thereafter I decided to make a few changes to the car - to make it more user friendly, address some of the advisories from the MOT and personalise it as my car. First thing I needed was some way of transporting bikes and skis more easily. Job jobbed...
After that I took the plunge and contacted Gert at Carnewal over in Belgium. Having heard so much about the sports exhaust I knew that the standard exhaust I had was not going to cut it. Rather than fork out silly money on a genuine Porsche Sports Exhaust, I started to investigate the options open to me. I could go with the Gundo Hack (welding in a bypass pipe that bypasses the rear silencer) as well as other after market options. But I really liked the idea of the Carnewal solution. He takes standard rear silencers and splits them open, works his magic on the insides and hey presto - you have a standard rear box that flows more freely and sounds like the official PSE. Ferry was booked, schlep across France/Belgium was made and I was in Gert's workshop. Turns out that silencers on the car were pretty shot to bits, so he couldnt modify mine. Instead I was able to get a set he had already modified that were in near perfect condition. A couple of hours later I was heading back to Calais relishing the deeper tones.
I then really started to make a list and work out what I wanted to do.
Stereo - the standard PCM is pretty crappy, so after getting the latest sat nav maps I researched the best way of getting ipod/iphone integration. I ended up going with the Dension option and am very happy. A clean and easy to use install. Highly recommended.
Tyres - with the rear treads approaching illegal levels I got a great deal on some fresh bridgestones. Couldnt quite believe the size when the arrived, but can confirm that you can just about fit two 295 width rear tyres in the Porsche if you need to pick them up.
Front Spoiler - I was never really keen on that front spoiler - it jutted out too much and just reminded me of the English bloke on family guy.So that had to go - I opted to replace it with the standard turbo front spoiler in black plastic - thinking that the contrast of black and grey would work well. Porsche also state that the Aerokit needs to be kept whole so as not to upset the aero balance of the car. By replacing the front spoiler with the slightly shallower turbo option as opposed to the very short standard C4S spoiler, I think I have mitigated any risk of upsetting the balance too much.
Wheels - Taking it a bit further I also wanted to carry on the black/grey contrast and took the plunge and had the wheels refurbed in satin black too.
Brake Lines - needed addressing from the MOT advisory.
Allignment - I wanted to make sure everything was pointing in the right direction.
So - with my list in hand I contacted 9Excellence and booked the car in for the work. Given their proximity to Gatwick I scheduled the work to be done while I was away on holiday and upon returning, I headed straight to the workshop and there she was, as pretty as a picture.
Since then the car has been great. A slight tweak to the geo was needed due to a faulty machine setting (9 Excellence were great about this and had the car back in straight away to adjust on their brand new (and improved) machine - first class service). The exhaust has really bedded in now and has a great tone - not obtrusive on long journeys - but more of an occasion than the standard set up.
In January I put the car in to OPC Cambridge for it's major service and spark plug change. More great customer service with them collecting and returning the car to my house. Only issues were more cracked coil packs (the other bank) which were replaced without labour charges as they were already changing the spark plugs.
On Feb 1st, the one year anniversary of buying the car I took it over to Bedford Autodrome and had a great day taking it around the SEN circuit. A slippy start to the day enabled me to really get a feel for how the car behaves nearer it's limits. Thankfully it dried out and by midday the track was pretty much dry and I could really start to push the car. Overall I was delighted with what it could do. In previous months I was starting to fall out of love with the car. While I could appreciate it was very capable, on the road it felt that you had to be really going fast to get a sense of excitement - something I didnt want to do based on wanting to keep my licence! But after the Bedford outing I was back in love. Such a great car and a great way to round off a year of ownership.
Here is a final picture from the track day showing the car in all it's current glory.
My Pride and Joy is a 2004 Porsche 996 Carrera 4S in Seal Grey with factory fitted Aerokit. It wasnt a car I specifically went out to buy. I had just returned from a year living in Canada (with no car) where I had been very good and saving my pennies. I arrived back in the UK on Jan 31st and on Feb 1st was enroute to a showroom to look at a Boxster S. Unfortunately the C4S was nearer the door and the Boxster was never really looked at. The C4S looked great in that dark grey, full black leather interior - extended leather dash, alcantara headlining, sports seats, full sat nav, Bose, etc.. The only thing that was missing was the Sports exhaust. A quick test drive, followed by a little haggling and I was headed home with a new toy - less than 24 hours after landing at Heathrow.
Here are some pics taken shortly after I bought it with the only alteration being my private plate.
The car only had a month's MOT when I bought it so off I went to Paragon for them to give the car a look over and furnish me with the required MOT. Halfway there the car lost power, a warning light came up saying something along the lines of "get to a porsche garage now". Oh crap... The chaps at Paragon were great and eased my concerns immediately, offering me a seat in their comfy waiting area, a cup of strong tea and the reassurance that they would look into it and there was likely nothing major to worry about.
Luckily that was the case. Turns out that two of the coil packs were badly cracked and a third (on the same bank) was about to go. All three were replaced along with a rusted out cover and the problem was fixed. As for the MOT - passed with only a few advisories related to tyre tread depth and corrosion on brake lines. All in all, the consensus was I hadn't bought a lemon - much relief.
Within the first couple of months ownership I wanted to see what the car could do and try and stretch her legs - so I was lucky enough to get onto a Vmax event - where I also met a fellow Seal Grey C4S, giving a great opportunity to see the contrast that the Aerokit makes. I also managed to get up to 163mph through the traps - not too shabby.
Shortly thereafter I decided to make a few changes to the car - to make it more user friendly, address some of the advisories from the MOT and personalise it as my car. First thing I needed was some way of transporting bikes and skis more easily. Job jobbed...
After that I took the plunge and contacted Gert at Carnewal over in Belgium. Having heard so much about the sports exhaust I knew that the standard exhaust I had was not going to cut it. Rather than fork out silly money on a genuine Porsche Sports Exhaust, I started to investigate the options open to me. I could go with the Gundo Hack (welding in a bypass pipe that bypasses the rear silencer) as well as other after market options. But I really liked the idea of the Carnewal solution. He takes standard rear silencers and splits them open, works his magic on the insides and hey presto - you have a standard rear box that flows more freely and sounds like the official PSE. Ferry was booked, schlep across France/Belgium was made and I was in Gert's workshop. Turns out that silencers on the car were pretty shot to bits, so he couldnt modify mine. Instead I was able to get a set he had already modified that were in near perfect condition. A couple of hours later I was heading back to Calais relishing the deeper tones.
I then really started to make a list and work out what I wanted to do.
Stereo - the standard PCM is pretty crappy, so after getting the latest sat nav maps I researched the best way of getting ipod/iphone integration. I ended up going with the Dension option and am very happy. A clean and easy to use install. Highly recommended.
Tyres - with the rear treads approaching illegal levels I got a great deal on some fresh bridgestones. Couldnt quite believe the size when the arrived, but can confirm that you can just about fit two 295 width rear tyres in the Porsche if you need to pick them up.
Front Spoiler - I was never really keen on that front spoiler - it jutted out too much and just reminded me of the English bloke on family guy.So that had to go - I opted to replace it with the standard turbo front spoiler in black plastic - thinking that the contrast of black and grey would work well. Porsche also state that the Aerokit needs to be kept whole so as not to upset the aero balance of the car. By replacing the front spoiler with the slightly shallower turbo option as opposed to the very short standard C4S spoiler, I think I have mitigated any risk of upsetting the balance too much.
Wheels - Taking it a bit further I also wanted to carry on the black/grey contrast and took the plunge and had the wheels refurbed in satin black too.
Brake Lines - needed addressing from the MOT advisory.
Allignment - I wanted to make sure everything was pointing in the right direction.
So - with my list in hand I contacted 9Excellence and booked the car in for the work. Given their proximity to Gatwick I scheduled the work to be done while I was away on holiday and upon returning, I headed straight to the workshop and there she was, as pretty as a picture.
Since then the car has been great. A slight tweak to the geo was needed due to a faulty machine setting (9 Excellence were great about this and had the car back in straight away to adjust on their brand new (and improved) machine - first class service). The exhaust has really bedded in now and has a great tone - not obtrusive on long journeys - but more of an occasion than the standard set up.
In January I put the car in to OPC Cambridge for it's major service and spark plug change. More great customer service with them collecting and returning the car to my house. Only issues were more cracked coil packs (the other bank) which were replaced without labour charges as they were already changing the spark plugs.
On Feb 1st, the one year anniversary of buying the car I took it over to Bedford Autodrome and had a great day taking it around the SEN circuit. A slippy start to the day enabled me to really get a feel for how the car behaves nearer it's limits. Thankfully it dried out and by midday the track was pretty much dry and I could really start to push the car. Overall I was delighted with what it could do. In previous months I was starting to fall out of love with the car. While I could appreciate it was very capable, on the road it felt that you had to be really going fast to get a sense of excitement - something I didnt want to do based on wanting to keep my licence! But after the Bedford outing I was back in love. Such a great car and a great way to round off a year of ownership.
Here is a final picture from the track day showing the car in all it's current glory.
Cheers for the positive comments guys - especially regarding the jutting splitter.
Re: the wheels, I was torn. Always wanted to try it with the black look and glad I did as I think it works well. However, it is an easy fix back to standard if the fancy takes me.
Zippee - nope, I'm a Kent lad born and raised, although living in St Neots now.
Re: the wheels, I was torn. Always wanted to try it with the black look and glad I did as I think it works well. However, it is an easy fix back to standard if the fancy takes me.
Zippee - nope, I'm a Kent lad born and raised, although living in St Neots now.
skibum said:
Zippee - nope, I'm a Kent lad born and raised, although living in St Neots now.
No worries 
My wife runs a hair salon in Bedford and a new client of hers had just moved round this way, her hubby is in HR for Sainsburys I think and they'd recently come back from a year living in Canada so thought I'd see if 2+2 equalled 4....If you fancy a run out when the weather gets a bit better then let me know!
Hi skibum!
Was googling other porsche 911 c4s with the aerokit and saw this post!
Turns out, I recently acquired your car and agree it is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for carrying out the exhaust upgrade, it sounds brilliant!
The iPhone integration is great, although did you ever manage to get it to synchronise with your phonebook?
What do you drive these days? I've only had the car for 3 weeks. - Unfortunately it broke down on the m11 roundabout (worst place in the world to stop!!) yesterday, loss of (electrical) power and the alarms started going off and everything, got her recovered and back to the garage and now she's being fixed so fingers crossed it isn't too much of an issue.
Quick question on the clutch as I couldn't see any history of replacement, do you know whether it was ever replaced? Also do you know whether the IMS bearing ever got replaced as well?
I'm only in Cambridge so not far from St Neots if you still live there!
Cheers
Charlie
Was googling other porsche 911 c4s with the aerokit and saw this post!
Turns out, I recently acquired your car and agree it is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for carrying out the exhaust upgrade, it sounds brilliant!
The iPhone integration is great, although did you ever manage to get it to synchronise with your phonebook?
What do you drive these days? I've only had the car for 3 weeks. - Unfortunately it broke down on the m11 roundabout (worst place in the world to stop!!) yesterday, loss of (electrical) power and the alarms started going off and everything, got her recovered and back to the garage and now she's being fixed so fingers crossed it isn't too much of an issue.
Quick question on the clutch as I couldn't see any history of replacement, do you know whether it was ever replaced? Also do you know whether the IMS bearing ever got replaced as well?
I'm only in Cambridge so not far from St Neots if you still live there!
Cheers
Charlie
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