It started with a model car.....986 Boxster S
Discussion
This story starts in 1993 when as a boy of 8 my dad bought me a model car to add to my growing collection of 'collectables' (not toys!). It was this:
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Porsche had released details they were going to make their Boxster Concept car a reality and being Porsche fans back then, dad bought me the model version but i said someday maybe i would own the real thing. Fast forward to 2005 and Dad had fulfilled a dream of owning a Porsche, in fact he got into buying/selling/sourcing Porsches for customers. He had a few Boxsters back then from 2.5 to 2.7 and then a 3.2 S Anniversary Edition which I drove and got hooked on.
Fast forward again to Jan 2018 and I fulfil the dream myself when i was offered a 2001 Boxster S by a friend who had it tucked away (I didn't even realise he had it!). Myself and my dad went to view the car last saturday even though knowing who owned it the car would be a good one, thankfully it was, a deal was done and I am now the proud owner of a Boxster S! Its a 2001 986 model with a few factory upgrades on it:
Lapiz Blue with Black Leather
18" Turbo Twist Alloys
Sports 'Wingback' Seats
6 speed Manual
Hard top
81,000 miles
I've only driven it home and out a couple of places, really hasn't been the weather for it. I plan a few changes to it so will post updates as and when they happen. Oh and yes I still have the model version!
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on FlickrPorsche had released details they were going to make their Boxster Concept car a reality and being Porsche fans back then, dad bought me the model version but i said someday maybe i would own the real thing. Fast forward to 2005 and Dad had fulfilled a dream of owning a Porsche, in fact he got into buying/selling/sourcing Porsches for customers. He had a few Boxsters back then from 2.5 to 2.7 and then a 3.2 S Anniversary Edition which I drove and got hooked on.
Fast forward again to Jan 2018 and I fulfil the dream myself when i was offered a 2001 Boxster S by a friend who had it tucked away (I didn't even realise he had it!). Myself and my dad went to view the car last saturday even though knowing who owned it the car would be a good one, thankfully it was, a deal was done and I am now the proud owner of a Boxster S! Its a 2001 986 model with a few factory upgrades on it:
Lapiz Blue with Black Leather
18" Turbo Twist Alloys
Sports 'Wingback' Seats
6 speed Manual
Hard top
81,000 miles
I've only driven it home and out a couple of places, really hasn't been the weather for it. I plan a few changes to it so will post updates as and when they happen. Oh and yes I still have the model version!
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on FlickrUntitled by Graham Thompson, on FlickrUntitled by Graham Thompson, on FlickrUntitled by Graham Thompson, on FlickrUntitled by Graham Thompson, on FlickrUntitled by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Jim1556 said:
Nice one! Looks like it's been looked after, enjoy! 
Exhaust off to one side?
Thanks, yes it seems to have been well cared for. Yep, exhaust is off to one side so i need to investigate that. Exhaust off to one side?
Also, to those checking the history of the car (you must have loads of spare time on your hands to run checks on random cars!!), bear in mind I live in Northern Ireland and we have a separate (more controlled and overall better!) system than you guys on the mainland for our MoT, the car was brought over here in 2007 and has had the more thorough Northern Irish MoT carried out every year since then. All MoT's present and correct
billzeebub said:
Always nice to see them looking original, avec ambers and Turbo twists too. Nice colour and decent spec. If you don't require the hardtop they fetch decent 'mod money'. Well done on realising a life goal. They are great little cars
Thanks! Yes its a decent spec, truth be told i want to do a few things to it so the ambers will be going first of all. I already have purchased a set of genuine smoked clear lights all round for it. I also want to lower it but am unsure if i should go all out on coilovers or just a set of lowering springs. I've found a set of TechArt springs at decent money which would lower it by 30mm, has anyone any experience of them? 
Fat Albert said:
Looks a nice colour combo, just bought myself a 986 S myself and Loving it!
I wanted a Blue one and was on the verge of buying a 2.7 when I spotted this facelift Seal grey 3.2 with loads of options that needed a little bit of TLC so went for it:
Looks great, and it will be worth spending the money on them. Hopefully values are heading upwards so well sorted ones will be the ones to have. What have you to do to it? I wanted a Blue one and was on the verge of buying a 2.7 when I spotted this facelift Seal grey 3.2 with loads of options that needed a little bit of TLC so went for it:
Not much work has been done to the Boxster so far by me, been out driving it a bit but i did manage to source a set of used genuine Porsche smoked clear headlights from a parts company on eBay who were breaking a 996 911 (same headlights fit both 996 and 986), great condition and very easy to swap over. Also got a set of smoked clear/red rear lights brand new from Porsche Centre Belfast as well as smoked clear side repeaters. I know a lot of people were saying they love the ambers but I don't get the amber look - growing up in the 90s, the base model cars had amber indicators and then you knew the higher spec models by their clear indicators so i guess that mentality has stuck with me. Anyways, lights fitted (my own reg fitted too) and quick wash:
Untitled by Graham Thompson, on FlickrNext up, exhaust which I now have sourced but not fitted yet, and suspension. Any suggestions? Looking it lower but not to upset the handling at all.
After a long time offline from car forums (its been a busy year!) i thought i would get back into it again etc. Still have the Boxster, so here is an update of its adventures over the last year.
The wheels were treated to a full refurb, the classic Turbo Twist wheels really set this car off well and are well suited to this shape and era of Porsche, whether it be in the 996 911 or here on the 986 Boxster - they can both thank the previous generation 993 911 for the design! At the same time I wanted to get the car lowered slightly, after much research and going between H&R's / Eibach's / TechArt I decided on TechArt springs from Design911.co.uk, they were slightly more expensive than the others and are made for TechArt by Eibach but apparently TechArt supply their own spec's, from what i can tell the spring rates are different to that of the Eibach ones. They drop the car 30mm all round, i was so pleased with the results:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Next up was the exhaust, the sound from the flat 6 is already awesome with quite a surprising amount of induction sound especially from 4k onwards but i felt it needed to be released more. I then realised how expensive Porsche parts can be and modified parts can be expensive as well, but during one of my Ebay hunts one night i came across a guy in england selling a Dansk backbox for a more affordable price, best thing was he had only driven a few hundred miles with it on his car and realised it wasn't for him. So got it, fitted it and was not disappointed - it really releases the engine note without too much droning. Only problem is it sits off centre which is annoying, I've yet to get this sorted but do plan on it.
At the same time, just before Dubshed last year, I had service work carried out along with discs and Textar brake pads all round, handbrake cable and full geometry set up done. Ready in time for Dubshed:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
The week after Dubshed was a Kirkistown Track Skills day, decided I really wanted to see how this car handled on the circuit given my last trackway was in my E36 M3 CLS - that car was fantastic on the track although i was mad taking it there due to its rarity and i felt i could never really push it to its limit just in case something happened it. Not so with the Boxster, I felt i was really able to push it on and get further up to its limits. Having not been on the track in a few years and with it being a bit greasy i did take it easy initially (which i think @soupz was pleased about being my passenger!) then got an instructor in with me - Debtors dip is always the test or benchmark so i managed to get myself up to 96/98mph then with the instructor in with me telling me to push and to have more confidence in the car i got it up to 114mph, which i thought was impressive although i have very few cars to benchmark it against, the E36 M3 CLS was 121mph, also took my Dad's 964 Supercharged 911 C4 round it and it managed 126mph so the wee Boxster with its seemingly only 252/260bhp did ok i reckon! I had a lot of fun though, managed to push so hard the brake pedal went to the floor at one point but otherwise the car held up really well. It was fun learning the on track characteristics of a mid-engined car as well.
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
https://youtu.be/sZGzCk1w0nQ
Next up was a little but in my eyes effective detail - changing the orange bulbs for silver ones:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
After this, it turned out the trackday did shorten the lifespan of a few components, thankfully nothing major but a few rattles developed from both axles so to sort the problem the car was treated to:
Rear Track Control Arm
Front track Control Arm
Front Top Mounts
Front Anti-Roll bar bushes
Rear Wheel Bearing and front wheel bearing
2x Front Michelin Pilot Sport tyres
My mechanic did all of the above and carried out another full geometry setup on the car, the car is by far one of the best handling cars I've driven - it has so much mechanical grip so its able to utilise all of its power.
After this, thankfully it hasn't needed much other work other than a set of rear tyres so a pair of Michelin Pilot Sports went on the car at the end of the autumn so haven't really got to see what they are like compared to the Bridgestones which were on it before. Other than that it was much enjoyed the rest of the summer and autumn months:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
The collie even got a spin!
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Meeting the previous owner out and about:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
And then road trips with mates:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
We moved house last year so it and the ZX got a new house too (still a work in progress):
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
And that's it all caught up to date. Next thing its getting is an o2 sensor which has gone on it and also I really need to get stuck into the paintwork so a few more updates on its way. If you've got this length thanks for reading, may not be everyone's cup of tea but i cannot recommend Boxster ownership highly enough, it really is a fantastic car for not a lot of money. Now just waiting on the better weather to come!
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
The wheels were treated to a full refurb, the classic Turbo Twist wheels really set this car off well and are well suited to this shape and era of Porsche, whether it be in the 996 911 or here on the 986 Boxster - they can both thank the previous generation 993 911 for the design! At the same time I wanted to get the car lowered slightly, after much research and going between H&R's / Eibach's / TechArt I decided on TechArt springs from Design911.co.uk, they were slightly more expensive than the others and are made for TechArt by Eibach but apparently TechArt supply their own spec's, from what i can tell the spring rates are different to that of the Eibach ones. They drop the car 30mm all round, i was so pleased with the results:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrNext up was the exhaust, the sound from the flat 6 is already awesome with quite a surprising amount of induction sound especially from 4k onwards but i felt it needed to be released more. I then realised how expensive Porsche parts can be and modified parts can be expensive as well, but during one of my Ebay hunts one night i came across a guy in england selling a Dansk backbox for a more affordable price, best thing was he had only driven a few hundred miles with it on his car and realised it wasn't for him. So got it, fitted it and was not disappointed - it really releases the engine note without too much droning. Only problem is it sits off centre which is annoying, I've yet to get this sorted but do plan on it.
At the same time, just before Dubshed last year, I had service work carried out along with discs and Textar brake pads all round, handbrake cable and full geometry set up done. Ready in time for Dubshed:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrThe week after Dubshed was a Kirkistown Track Skills day, decided I really wanted to see how this car handled on the circuit given my last trackway was in my E36 M3 CLS - that car was fantastic on the track although i was mad taking it there due to its rarity and i felt i could never really push it to its limit just in case something happened it. Not so with the Boxster, I felt i was really able to push it on and get further up to its limits. Having not been on the track in a few years and with it being a bit greasy i did take it easy initially (which i think @soupz was pleased about being my passenger!) then got an instructor in with me - Debtors dip is always the test or benchmark so i managed to get myself up to 96/98mph then with the instructor in with me telling me to push and to have more confidence in the car i got it up to 114mph, which i thought was impressive although i have very few cars to benchmark it against, the E36 M3 CLS was 121mph, also took my Dad's 964 Supercharged 911 C4 round it and it managed 126mph so the wee Boxster with its seemingly only 252/260bhp did ok i reckon! I had a lot of fun though, managed to push so hard the brake pedal went to the floor at one point but otherwise the car held up really well. It was fun learning the on track characteristics of a mid-engined car as well.
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on Flickrhttps://youtu.be/sZGzCk1w0nQ
Next up was a little but in my eyes effective detail - changing the orange bulbs for silver ones:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrAfter this, it turned out the trackday did shorten the lifespan of a few components, thankfully nothing major but a few rattles developed from both axles so to sort the problem the car was treated to:
Rear Track Control Arm
Front track Control Arm
Front Top Mounts
Front Anti-Roll bar bushes
Rear Wheel Bearing and front wheel bearing
2x Front Michelin Pilot Sport tyres
My mechanic did all of the above and carried out another full geometry setup on the car, the car is by far one of the best handling cars I've driven - it has so much mechanical grip so its able to utilise all of its power.
After this, thankfully it hasn't needed much other work other than a set of rear tyres so a pair of Michelin Pilot Sports went on the car at the end of the autumn so haven't really got to see what they are like compared to the Bridgestones which were on it before. Other than that it was much enjoyed the rest of the summer and autumn months:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrThe collie even got a spin!
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrMeeting the previous owner out and about:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrAnd then road trips with mates:
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrBoxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrWe moved house last year so it and the ZX got a new house too (still a work in progress):
Boxster 986 S by Graham Thompson, on FlickrAnd that's it all caught up to date. Next thing its getting is an o2 sensor which has gone on it and also I really need to get stuck into the paintwork so a few more updates on its way. If you've got this length thanks for reading, may not be everyone's cup of tea but i cannot recommend Boxster ownership highly enough, it really is a fantastic car for not a lot of money. Now just waiting on the better weather to come!
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