the_vetman

New sheriff in town!

Picked up a new mistress last Friday night but didn't get a chance to post pics until now. Sorry, but I didn't even have time to title-transfer and register it until Thursday... She's been sitting in the garage until today. Behold!!

The license plate will be switched out in the future (I have a specialty plate on my S). 2008 Boxster S for sale!!

the_vetman

Sorry about the sun and crappy photography skills... Aaron, I am not. Tried to get a better pic of the exhaust tips but couldn't pull it off with the sun. It's black chrome (I think) and says FVD on each tip.

First impressions so far:

1) Coming from Fabspeed Race exhaust on a 987.1, FVD Brombacher exhaust is too quiet!! No drone though...

2) Sport bucket seats have you sitting much more upright than I expected! Yes, I tried them out more than once in the past, but the 'new'-ness at the time may have clouded my judgment. Will take some getting used to! Guess I have a gangsta-lean style when driving on the street...

3) I can confirm that the bi-xenons indeed have DC. I was confused pre-purchase because the original window "sticker"/paper said "Bi-xenons" only and did not say "with dynamic cornering" as I've seen on other newer Porsches.

4) Entry and exit... will take getting used to. Already looking into bolster and headrest protectors.

5) Door pockets and center console (reduced space due to ipod connection) will be missed, as will auto-dim mirrors and rain-sensing wipers... Eh, who am I kidding - I plan to have the top off all the time in the garage and will avoid rainy days as a DD!

6) Coolant was way low... but not low enough to flash on the dash. Added Porsche coolant and distilled water - will keep a close eye on it and get it fixed at the dealer if it continues to leak or evaporate somewhere.

7) It has stock Spyder suspension and seems to bob up and down too much on highway bumps. Will drive as-is for now but lowering springs and sway bars may be in my future. Well, sway bars will definitely be changed. My S is lowered (with sways) and it seems to bob much less on similar bumps. No PASM on either car.

8) Debating switching out to colored center caps from my S. Only thing stopping me is that the black and silver caps look surprisingly good on the Spyder and the colored ones on the S are a bit worn.

That's all I can think of at this time. Will update as I think of/find more. Let the modding begin!! Debating about the 3rd radiator...

mrd_spy

Sus is perfect IMO, and sway bars are not going to make/cure. Bob.

One of the best bits about the Spyder was the bespoke suspension.

the_vetman

Yeah, I know that many people feel that way.. Any "weakness" will be seen at the track.. the bob has more to do with speed (75+) and the crappy roads.

BTW, sway bars were just mentioned as a part of the suspension change(s) - I know they won't fix the bobbing up & down.

n4v4nod

Looks great! Congrats!
Now register that baby!

the_vetman

Thanks, bud! And I will... soon.

Just realized that my pics are absolutely terrible. Need to take better ones soon!

f4 plt

Congratulations on the Spyder. I have had my 2012 for a little over 9 months and my only complaint is that I can't get this grin off my face.

My opinion only, but as to the seats, I think the sport buckets are the most supportive Porsche makes and that is coming from a guy with up to 5 discs missing, yes missing in my back. My wife and I drove our Cayman to Parade several years ago and spent over twelve hours on two days each way in the sport buckets and found them very comfortable. Now watching two 70 year olds get out is another issue, but we managed .

As to the suspension, I modified my Cayman suspension and while great on the track it was a little harsh on the street and by being lowered more prone to bottoming on entering driveways. I think the Spyder suspension , while firm, is great on the road and equally at home on the track.

Mine has the Porsche Sport exhaust on it ( came that way) and I rarely turn in on and would not have ordered it. I've been around noise enough.

As to the top, I would like to find a cockpit car cover so I could leave the top off when running errands, flip a cockpit cover on to keep the interior slightly cooler and out of sight.

Bottom line is its a great car out of the box, Porsche got it right and with so few those of us that have them are lucky and should just enjoy a great product. did I mention the free grin you get every time you drive it.

orthojoe

Awesome. It's about time! Congrats and post a clip of the exhaust when you get a chance!

khooni

what a beau. congrats.


what did i say about modding the stock suspension.... don't do it........

it is so balanced. so balanced... so balanced

and you can use all the prowess on the track.. just don't do it.

wait for the Michelin pilot super sports to be N -rated and then slap them on (well, at least in the UK). We have to use N-rated tyres or the warranty is void... boo

stevecolletti

Congratulations, she's gorgeous!

I don't know if it's the same with the GT2 seats, but when I put 996 GT3 seats in my Boxster S, there is a small, but certain amount of adjustment that can be done by loosening the bolts where the seat attaches to the the metal bracketry. With them loosened I was able to tilt the seat (just a few degrees) to a completely acceptable (for me) angle. If it's the same and it works, it's just a small amount of time/effort that requires no anti-tamper tools.

Regarding the suspension 'bob', what tires does it have on it? On the CaymanR, a lot of the bob/float was in the PS2 sidewalls. Unless those are the tires you plan on running on the car, I'd wait until you put what you want on the car... oh, and you should still have the alignment checked. I've never seen any car (new or used, Porsches included) delivered with a good alignment.

I miss the door pockets, too!

Congratulations!

the_vetman

Thanks, guys.

And Steve, great suggestions! My Spyder is shod with Goodyear Eagle F1's. RE: PS2's, now I know why you don't like them very much! I can't really say that I've noticed the same, but my S' suspension is changed so it may not be a direct comparison - i.e. the stiffer suspension may be dialing out the bob.

Also, we may have had different N-specs. Mine are N3 and N4. BTW, I plan on switching to Super Sports when GY's are burned up.

As far as the bobbing and potential lowering, I take them back (good thing I classified them as "first impressions"!)... Spyder suspension is indeed PERFECT for the streets!! I must've been hypersensitive and driving on really crappy NJ roads on the night I picked it up. I had a chance to take it out for long drives tonight and it's just perfect. Not very-stiff like my S (some may say "harsh", though I certainly wouldn't) and soaks up bumps very well without feeling like a minivan on turns. Great!

Still most likely doing sway bars since I want to dial out some of the understeer that Porsche (and every other manufacturer) has put in for safety reasons. Understeer is not noticeable on the streets but I'm sure will become evident when pushed to the limits on the track. And a confession: I already have aftermarket sway bars in my possession...

Next up will be R compound tires (Nitto NT-01's) but not doing that until I get a trailer and a truck... probably next year. My POS Subaru isn't towing anything more than a motorcycle!

the_vetman

Oh, yeah... couple of other things. I found the bucket seats to be much more pleasing tonight. Excellent... though still getting used to the ingress and egress. My family members and nephews took turns getting in & out of the car tonight... much to my horror! Where are those bolster protectors?

Joe, I got my lil' sis to agree to record me revving the engine (for FVD) and doing drive-by's. Couldn't do it tonight though because it was getting late and I have to get up early for work... which brings me to my final point. What the heck am I doing - I need to go to bed!!!

orthojoe

The factory alignment settings contribute to the understeer. Increasing the camber with the adjustable LCAs helped with the understeer on street tires. This is my experience.

From my understanding, understeer will still be an issue with R comps even with the LCAs and then the RSB is supposedly the solution. I have yet to track with my new NT01s, but Ben reports understeer still.

Looking forward to the video clip!

mrd_spy

F1 cars are set to under steer ;-)

The issue with going all out track is cambers need to be More than -3 and that on the road will kill tyres.

I have spent £ trying to make road cars track cars and it's money down the drain.
And mostly ruins the car.
Set the car up best for road and enjoy track days for what they are m a fun day out with mates.
You cannot race or even time on track days they are just fun.

If you want to go a second faster on track for some reason, buy a race car ;-)

khooni

+1 that I fully agree.