Wind Buffeting (one more time)
 

There are several threads on this topic, but I am here to add my two cents because I have something specific for my car and my needs, and I thought I would share.

I have an "early" 2012.5 991 sunroof coupe. This is both the question and the answer. The last five of my VIN is 06385, and the Born On date is 03/12. If you have a 2012.5 991 there is no way of knowing in advance if your car has "early" or "late" doors. VIN numbers don't help, Born On dates don't help. You just have to remove the inside cover plate on the door window and look. Can't easily find or access the mounting screw? You have an "early".

1. Yes, opening one window while in motion will cause unpleasant wind buffeting.
2. Yes, opening the other window may help to some degree. But I have discovered that ever-so-slightly closing one or both of the windows reduces the buffeting, but not completely. and the faster you drive the lesser the results.
3. Yes, opening the sunroof a bit may relieve the buffeting but not completely.
4. No, wearing a helmet does not reduce the painful pounding at speeds over 100MPH.
5. Yes, every DE I have ever attended required both windows to be fully open, and the sunroof to be fully closed at all times.
6. No I don't consider "a piece of cardboard" to be an acceptable long term solution for an exterior body part.

After over two dozen track events in my 991 I have resorted to purchasing the nicely made fairings for the leading edge of the doors.

It wasn't until I ordered and received my very nicely packaged fairings from AWE via Suncoast Porsche (including a LOLLYPOP!), and then downloading and printing the instructions that I realized that there were "Early" 991 and "Later" 991 door configurations, and that there is no way to know which one you have until you look for the screw behind the inside panel. Later versions mean you have a 20 minute project. Early versions mean that you have a 4 hour and $500 project, plus a long list of special tools, disconnecting the battery, and removal of the complete door card plus shifting around various internals before attaching the fairings.

Not being one to like fiddling with airbags and disconnecting my battery, I stopped by the dealership to reconfirm. They removed the little cover plate on the inside of the door window plate, searched for the screw access, and declared my car of be one of the "early" versions and thus a full dismantling of the doors would be required in order to install the AWE fairings. I stood there and watched as they did it. No easy access to the backing screw. They estimated about 1.5 hours labor per door to remove and reinstall each side.
Do the math.

Still, they were very helpful and quickly directed me online to the Blackmill Performance website. I went home and spent some time reading the webpage, and re-reading through the posts on RL. I gave it my usual 48 hour waiting period for purchases of this nature, and then placed my order.

The new fairings arrived in days. Although there was no lollypop, I did get a nice glossy full color installation guide and two cleaning pads, plus the obligatory window sticker. The instructions were pretty simple: Clean the outside face of the door mount, peal the back off the 3M sticky, carefully place the fairing on the plate. Press and hold for a moment. Done. Voila!

I did all of those steps in about a 10 minutes per side. Despite my regular cleaning of the car, those two black plates put a LOT of black onto each of those little cleaning pads. Glad I used them.
I then tested the mirrors by folding them to see if there were any clearance problems. None. Not even close. Tried the car cover next to see if there were any issues there. None.

Happy camper! Thank you, Blackmill Performance!

From an aesthetic point of view, the AWE fairings are less visible, and may work just as well as the Blackmill pieces. However, the Blackmill fairings look right at home where they are and I like the track tech look, although you really have to specifically look for them and know what you are looking for, to even notice them.

Oh, and what about the AWE kit? I am keeping it. You never know what will be in my driveway a couple years from now.
But I did eat the LOLLYPOP.

After doing all the research previously myself I ended up with the same Blackmill piecces almost a year ago, and yes reason one was I did not want to dig into the door at all to remove parts but I actually like the thinner look of these. They work. Plenty happy. I peeled off the blackmill label on mine.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but they look like something very cheap and clearly don't belong on the car. There is no comparison to the look of the AWE diffuser compared to the Blackmill. I would not put them on my car. I don't know about cost differential or the installation challenge as my AWE took me all of 5 minutes to install per side (2016).

I've been very happy with my Blackmail pieces. Extremely effective and they're not all the obvious, especially with the branding removed. And, as noted, the installation is very non-invasive, as will be removal should it ever come to that.

As an aside, there is very little wind buffeting in a cabrio with the roof up and all 4windows down. If you put up the 2 small rear windows, then lots of wind buffeting.

i installed the AWE pieces a few months ago on my early 991. During the process i wished i had a later car, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. The instructions are good, i am pretty handy on mechanical things, and the deflectors work. Never ate the lollipop!

I probably would have stopped at the AWE and installed those if it did not take an additional $600 in labor costs and special tools to do so on my car. The whole point of this article was for the "early" 991.1 folks. To give them some insight.
2016's should not be an issue, which is I why I am keeping the AWE kit on my shelf.

Huh. I would describe the buffet up to about 130 with both windows open as "noticeable" and with only one open as "mildly annoying". I guess different people have different pet peeves.

I did a set of the homemade ones a Rennlister was selling on here a while back. Work like a charm. I was shocked at how well they work. Amazing that Porsche doesn't just put a little lip on that mirror plate to begin with.

I have the ones from Awe. I was skeptical at first but, they really work.

I'm sure it is posted somewhere, but how early is early? I have a june 2013... Thanks!

I would think you are in the clear as a "late" 991. But the way to confirm that to simply pop the covers off of the inside of the triangle window trim. It is very easy since the inside cover plate is only there on a couple of press-in clips. No tools necessary. Just your finger tips.
Look for the screw toward the upper leading edge of the triangle trim piece. Moving the rubber seal around a little bit may help. But it should just be there. You shouldn't have to dig too hard, if at all.

Again, there is no specific way to identify an "early" door, from a "late" without removing the little inside cover plate. That part of the process is free and easy.

If you have the "late" doors (where the screw is visible), then whatever you choose to do after that is up to you.

:cool:

911passion: I'm not sure if there is any rhyme or reason to which cars have the newer doors and which have the older. I have an October 2013 and have the older doors. I ended up having the dealer install my AWE pieces since they needed to replace the door panels under warranty, anyway. I got lucky with that since I was hesitant to take the doors apart myself.

The diffusers work great, though.

Thanks for taking the time to write this helpful information up. I have a 4/12 build date and the wind buffeting makes me feel like my ears are going to explode (and consequently reduces my focus on driving). You just saved me a lot of heartache.

I have the Blackmill's ; and I really like them.