Hi all,

The GF is interested in a 981 boxster S 6MT. It seems to be a decent deal at $35k with 36k miles, but the only caveat is that it's basically a stripper car with the only option being the 20" wheels. To make up for the lack of options the current owner has done the following:
1. Bilstein B16 coilovers
2. GT3 front/rear sways
3. armytrix exhaust
4. IPD plenum/GT3 throttle bodies
5. Gyrodisk rotors/pagid pads

This will be an autocross/HPDE/canyon car for her, so not too worried about features like nav, fancy audio, climate control, backup cam being missing. From a performance standpoint, do you think the mods make up for the lack of performance options? Ie. PASM, X73, PSE, PTV, etc?

Feel free to chime in if there are any options in your cars that you can't live without. Particularly interested if anyone has compared base seats to the fancy seats

 

Assuming no accident history and up to date maintenance, that's a very good deal.

 

What's wrong with a stripper? That's how a car should be if you're looking for the purist experience, IMO. If it's clean I would jump on it.

 

Yes, the options completely make up for the OEM parts.
AND the top comes down, that's a good deal.

 

Good price and well modded. I’d only ask and/or try to ascertain (PPI) how many of those 36k miles were track miles.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. The car was tracked by its current owner and a PPI is in order.

 

I track my car, I would also get a borescope and compression test.

 

Well first of all it's either PASM or X73. X73 soybean preferred for track car and B16 + GT3 sways set to X73 ride height is equal to or greater than X73

Assuming you like the sound of the Armytrix exhaust then that is a good sub for PSE

The real question is does it have Sport Chrono. The autoblip on downshift is the one option you should not do without IMHO. SO MUCH FUN.

 

Thanks for the heads up. The car went through PPI, but the shop didn't do DME report or what you suggested. Will go back and ask for those.


I test drove the car over the weekend and pleasantly surprised at how easy rev matching and overall shifting is, especially compared to my 997. I've never been able to hop in a new car and rev match so easily. The shifter and clutch are so good in the 981 there's basically zero learning curve in shifting, and imo autoblip will not be missed since rev matching is so fun to do!

 

So I test drove the car over the weekend, and it went through PPI today. Driving impressions are good overall: power felt great, brakes are stopping, shifter felt incredible and exhuast sounds good too. No weird noises or vibrations.

Downsides are the cosmetics: the frunk has numerous rock chips along with the rear fenders. There are also random chips and dings on the front fenders too. Being a CA car that is tracked, I guess this is expected and we won't feel bad when we add more during hpde

The PPI came back mostly clean except for code p0456. Initial googling reveals that this can be an EVAP leak due to gas cap or vent line, but not 100% sure. Does anyone have experience with this code? It seems minor but I would get in a ton of trouble with the gf if this is big problem and costs $$$ to fix

 

I assume that was a stored code and not triggering a CEL?

Not the 981, but I had the same issue/code on my 997TT.. turned out to be an evap solenoid/vent line. Started out as a slow leak and eventually turned into a P0455 (large leak).. Part was less than $200 and I did it myself. That code could also be triggered by a bad gas cap and a few other things as you mentioned.

 

all those mods and no tune on the car? I think it would benefit greatly from a Cobb tune to dial all those mods in.

 

Yes it was stored code and didn't show up as a CEL. The shop that did the PPI mentioned a similar diagnosis as you, not too worried about this and should be DIY-able

Yes I forgot to mention, it does come with a Cobb tune. Stage 1 tune is already flashed on the car.

The gf likes the car and we'll be picking it up this weekend!

 

Sounds like an awesome deal for the car. A nice set of coilovers will really transform these cars.

Id double check how many track hours were put on the coilovers, they might be due for a rebuild.