Dock

I wouldn't own a GT3.

IMO the GT3 represents a different "kind" of 911 than the 991 Turbo. Porsche obviously thought the mesh was a good fit visually for the GT3. The 991 Turbo does not have mesh, so it seems Porsche still feels it's not something they want on that car.

uwrasta

I took my bumper cover off this evening. All you have to do is take it off once and look under the ac condensers to know that there's no way you'll get all the stuff out without removal. I loosened the condensers and the sh..t wedged in there is just nasty. Cigarette butts leaves probably some animal parts and god knows what else. Looks aside I think it would be something to seriously consider.

Take a peek.

uwrasta

Oops here's the pics

Carlo_Carrera

Yes, bumper cover removal is periodically necessary to fully clean the radiators and condensers. In some areas it should be done annually.

Dock

I have.

gophaster

Anyone have a pic of what the Rennline kit looks like on our cars? don't think I've ever seen the Rennline kit installed?? I know Speedtech also sells a kit that looks great.

996tnz

Removing the bumpers allows a more thorough job, but I normally just use a six foot length of soft and flexible aquarium filter tubing (about 1/2 or 3/4 inch clear) several times a year, to suck out any leaves, cigarette butts, receipts and other junk that gets in there . With a vacuum cleaner attached to the other end of course (I used a short section of pool noodle to make a simple press-fit adapter). Quite a fun 5 minute fishing expedition and the flexibility of the pipe lets you poke it right to the back corners. If our roads were salted I might be more keen to get in there directly more often I suppose.

IMO, for regular on road use, grilles shouldn't noticeably compromise cooling, unless perhaps in traffic jams or on autobahns. That's if Porsche opening their active shutters on some newer cars below 30 mph and above 100mph is any indication.

Considered fitting grilles a few times, but my car is modded and tracked so I'm not going to tempt fate on the heat management front. Yes, new GT3s and factory race cars have mesh grilles, but the inlets and radiators will have been sized to account for the reduced air flow behind the mesh. A typical half inch pitched mesh already reduces the free area by 10%, and that's before accounting for turbulence further reducing the flow.

As I don't know the cooling capacity headroom built into the Turbo, and she's run and raced on track at beyond GT2 power levels, I already run only 20% antifreeze rather than 50%. It doesn't often freeze here and water is a more efficient coolant than glycol antifreeze is (about 25% more effective), so that change wins me about 7% higher cooling capacity overall. Some info on that here if anyone is in the same boat, or perhaps looking for ways to partially offset the reduction in cooling flow from fitting a grille: http://rehermorrison.com/tech-talk-55-keeping-cool/

Now I'm not suggesting that our cars will die at their first track day if fitted with aftermarket or DIY grilles of course (many more would die on dynos if they were that sensitive) but in the absence of any good indication of how over-engineered the 996T cooling system may be (and having blown 3 or 4 coolant fittings before getting them all pinned) mine's staying grille-less for now. Maybe Pwderhound or someone else out there with full logging on their modded and tracked car might have some before and after data on added grilles versus tracked coolant temps?

Dock

I also use a homemade tool (two tools actually) to clean out the area.

F1CrazyDriver

I believe the reason Porsche installed the grills on the gt3's , was to avoid track debris in radiators. Also to avoid track rock smashing onto radiators that would make for replacement.

That said - i'm not a fan of the way they look however they have a functioning purpose.
I wouldn't install them on a turbo, me personally. Matter in fact, i wish the 996t did not have the plastic mesh as well. Looks cheap and not attractive.

IMO

Carlo_Carrera

I use a cardboard tube from wrapping paper with a taper cut at the business end. It keeps things clean in between bumper removal cleanings.

996tnz

Agreed Enrique on their protective functionality. And on the questionable aesthetics. The cleaning doesn't bother me, but my radiators have had their share of dings and dents over the years, so I'd still consider grilles if I knew that there was sufficient headroom on the cooling. But until someone with a similar car, or a more modded one (eg your beast) has data to prove radiator intake grilles don't harm a modded engine that's worked hard on track, I'll also keep picking a cooler engine over mildly banged up radiators.

Yes, there's a lot of plastic in our Turbos. It bothered me a bit that she didn't feel nearly as solid as my old 928, until I consoled myself with the fact that things like the crappy lightweight column stalks do save weight, so support performance. And that while she may not have felt as solid, she can can take a much harder pounding. A bit too much fun on a gravel road and the 928's instruments stopped working for instance. Was pretty impressed that Porsche still had stock of the copper and acetate instrument circuits though.

Dock

I personally don't care if an owner takes his front bumper off once a week (or more often), but just out of interest, how did you come up with a yearly bumper removal and cleaning up? Why not every six months? Why not every two years?

I personally think the answer to how often the front bumper should be removed to allow clear access for debris cleaning is "it depends".

Berra

Rocks can still get in there causing damage, so that's not a surprise. I would think that mesh grills will keep dirt and stuff out of there, so taking the bumper off once a year would be overkill. It all depends!

I personally don't drive my car early spring or fall so my Turbo won't get that much dirt in there. I will however put on mesh grills anyway, got them from speedtech but haven't had the time to put them on yet.

F1CrazyDriver

Haha Glad i'm still remembered around these neck of the woods !
Yes the 996t can take a beating. 98k miles on mine - countless track days + canyon drives + daily driver....still on original motor.

Pending on where and how much you drive -do a self assessment on how often to clean the front radiators. But i'm with you - until proven otherwise my radiators stay bare- no protection.

997.2 911

997.2

Spend 9 $