mpiatrou

Please, share it once they tell you about the hardware!
I see that there is no such option in the Tequipment catalogue for 992, but maybe it is still possible to add it if you just order the hardware separately...

I’m asking since I’m planning to get a 992 C4S Cabrio with some miles and it does not have it, although maybe it’s not that needed for Cabrios

coastal

Ionizer not helpful with top down, only up, based on my understanding of air filtration. It should be a nice feature to have when top is up.

mpiatrou

Yep, that’s why I’m thinking of adding it if that is possible

magandbrook

Hi, sorry don't want this to sound like astroturf(I work for a clean air tech manufacturer, and we also develop this tech in the automotive space, to say the least..) so I will try my best to just answer the OP. Just spotted this thread in a google search and decided I'd register and reply. I dont wanna get get called out by any molecular scientists or epidemiologists, so please keep in mind I work in operations, sales, and marketing for a manufacturer -- I am not a scientist or engineer, but I have been working with this tech since 2012 when awareness was nearly non existent(still is, mostly.) My answers are the same in 2021 as they were in 2012.

The simple answer is Yes , 100%, you will notice the difference, whether or not it is perceptible to YOU is a totally different story and should not be part of the confirmation bias of any car consumer considering this option. Here's why: Ionization technology is essentially active sterilization - it is an answer to a void - the lack of any sort of air purification/sterilization in vehicles. It is designed to eliminate contaminants from the air that would otherwise not be filtered through a simple cabin air filter(which should either be activate carbon or ideally HEPA, not a pleated paper coffee filter equivalent which costs mere pennies less to manufacture.) The module/ionizer installed on this "optional" package generates millions of reactive ions that rely on air flow to spread throughout the cabin and the HVAC system. These reactive ions are formed from hydrogen(in the air) and charged oxygen(at the modules electrode), forming hydroperoxy radicals(HOO-) that destroy biological contaminants. WTH does that mean? It means that mold, mildew, PM2.5, UFP, viral pathogens, industrial fallout, and numerous other air contaminants that WILL find their way into your cabin are eliminated. Do you notice these things while driving? Probably in one form or another. Have you ever entered a car that smelled like stinky feet? We all have, and doubtful the hygiene of the driver was to blame -- what you smell is an infestation of mold/mildew/bacteria at the evaporator core making its way through the cabin any time the blower motor is activated. Do you feel UFP entering your bloodstream? Yes, of course, its unavoidable along with the millions of mold spores you breathe in every year -- but its death by papercuts -- you wont "notice" till many years later, but that is a different discussion altogether and I am neither Bill Nye nor Doogie Howser, so I won't ramble on and instead will just suggest that the best thing you can do is just say Yes to ordering your new car with this feature. Perfume atomizer? Nice feature. Ionization? No brainer must-have if you value cleanliness, and above all -- your health.

I'm not here to sell devices to consumers(we don't do direct retail), but if anyone lives in San Diego and wants to learn more I would be happy to supply one for your car, but cannot perform installation for you(install is about 10-20 minutes, hidden behind the driver/center vent, and does require 12v power source.) I don't do a ton of business with Porsche dealers, but I do feel that until they make this feature standard, it is part of my job to make it optional at point of sale. Part of my job is also consumer awareness. I'm not very good at that part, but I try when I can when I see the questions being asked. Hope you found the right answers one way or the other.


^^But before you do that -- here is the Porsche part number for ionizer: Note on Retrofit: most of these OE equipped devices have canbus integration and plugin directly to a wiring harness, so I don't think it's tooo easy to retrofit without recoding the PCM, at the minimum? You most likely will not have much success asking a dealer about it -- 98% of them are clueless(understandably.) But its worth a shot to ask your service advisor. Actually, I think its reasonable to demand something like this given the environment we are all forced to live in. Let me know if you run into any issues with dealers and I'll see if I can help. Either way, it is quite insulting to consumers that this is optional and not standard. That will change.. it actually already is with certain marks. Porsche will soon follow. I would bet my life on it -- no manufacturer can afford to avoid this forever in good conscious nor good business practice -- but, hey, I'm open to debate this -- I could seriously use the practice..

Part#
Ionizer - Porsche (PAD-963-459)

Pictured Below is NOT the Porsche version, but nearly identical concept(haven't dug around to see who their supplier is or if it is private labeled), as the chemistry/concept is this tech is somewhat standardized between the 3 or 4 major manufacturers, though through entirely different global patents.






Hope this helped? Wish I had a forum full of 1.5 million people -- the amount of new cars sold in the month of October in the US. Would love to have a better understanding of the car buying consumer market beyond my obvious presumptions of perceived needs.


-Christian

ChalkThe911

I have it, I don't notice a difference when it's on or not. Sometimes I push the button and It doesn't go on lol

magandbrook

^Push it on and leave it on. It shouldn't ever be a time where it needs to be defeated -- some new integrations have built in Particulate Matter monitoring that will turn it ON for you without your consent. Sounds dirty, doesn't it?

What's next? Navigation systems that plot your route to LAX and offer you a smarter, safer route, away from the deadly crispy-fungi-death fallout from the wildfires breezing thru your projected journey, using triangulating real-time data from multi-source air quality readings around the world(not just nasty ole LAX area)!? Sounds EXTRA, huh? Well, we're already there. Thank you, Volvo --knew someone was actually looking out for car consumers. Not a fan of their cars, personally, but damn they actually put some heart and brains into their safety and environmental innovations. You can thank an Israeli company called BreezoMeter for aggregating and powering that API -- the same guys that provide your "Air Quality" feed in your Iphone's Weather app.

CodyBigdog

wow, thanks for the detailed info.

Keadog

How are they maintained? I have a few days before our build freeze and never considered this before. There’s one in my Sclass that I never use but my wife is interested to know more.
Thanks.

dhirm5

i ticked the box on my cab build. better air, bring it on.

magandbrook

No moving parts and no filters = no maintenance requirements. There is an electrode on the device -- and although not entirely necessary, the only maintenance you could perform is to clean off any dust from the electrode with compressed air. For your S Class, you should be changing the carbon activated cabin air filter once a year. Expected lifespan is 8-10 years and the module on the S Class has been in service since 2013 -- that same module has been the basis for all of our applications my company has manufactured since 2011 and I can vouch for the life expectancy as I just replaced my desktop portable unit(blower fan was gunked up, module was still probably good) 6 months ago after ~8 years of use.

Fun fact: Mercedes didn't decide to put these in their S Class because they thought it was such an innovative must-have safety and comfort feature to offer its consumers. They did it to kill microbial growth that was causing service complaints of "stinky cars" from new S Class owners. You can thank BEHR not Mercedes for finding the right supplier to fix the issue. BMW has the same problem in their 5 and 7 series model cars in the mid 2000s, which is also why they followed suit a year later. I think its quite sad that this tech has been commercialized since the 2000s, yet it took smelly-car complaints and then a pandemic for manufacturers to adopt this in new cars, albeit in very small numbers. But, hey, good news for the only guy in the aftermarket space...

Efficacy fun fact: No car manufacturer will put this in words, but these devices have been laboratory tested around the globe to eliminate some serious airborne threats: SARS, MRSA, H1N1, Influenza, and several more, including semi-innocuous allergens. I mean, to be fair -- lysol wipes kill germs too, so it is less about efficacy or effectiveness and more about the efficiency/continuity in how it does its job --- and that is why you want this in your car. Please keep your seatbelts fastened an the Ionizer button On at all times. It is quite literally medical-grade technology in your car, just without the FDA approval -- I'm slowly working on that one for the US market as I feel it might be necessary to boost consumer confidence and awareness.


Christian

icanthelpit

Here's the solution for you all with cabs and targas:

Keadog

Very informative; thanks. My Mercedes has never smelled bad (even with me in it, as far as I know). I am getting a cab, which would limit its effectiveness, but I may add it for the minor price increase.
"Barely more than Porsche crest on headrests"!

magandbrook

^If you've go cab or if you're a weirdo like me and keep the windows down 363 days a year(thank you, San Diego), the ions wont be circulating throughout the Entire cabin, so efficiency is not maximized. However, ions have a shelf-life measured in seconds and these modules are usually factory-installed between the Blower and the Evaporator core. So in essence, at its core, clean air is always being distributed through the ventilation ducts into the cabin and directly into your beautiful face and lungs where they belong. Mission accomplished. Treat yourself, and I say add the Pcrest headrests too -- flexsohard ::flexing arm emoji thingy file not found::

Prop 65(California law) There are many byproducts from new car manufacturing that your ionizer can help neutralize. I've spoken with someone(a dealership GM that changed demos frequently) that had an allergic reaction/rash from the steering wheels of every new car and an ionizer was the only fix. One of about 172 random case studies of why ya never know ya need that thingy ya never knew existed nor never knew how it worked until its too late. You don't want to know about the ones that involve mold spores propagating and proliferating in the evaporator core, which can put you in the hospital...

Fake news: Don't read any reports from The WHO about PM2.5 and Ultra Fine Particles being one of the world's biggest health threats. Scientist's try to pull that same sob story with the state of our oceans -- the fishes and corals are doing just fine and aren't going anywhere; they'll adapt to acidification just as topside we can do the same with the air we breathe.



sorry, I'm being a trytoohard.. just here practicing in case Ted ever sends me an invite to one of his Talks.

InTheClouds

Thanks for the insightful info thus far, Christian. The only “ionizer” I have had experience with are the household ones from over a decade go that pushed air through metal plates — and those metal plates needed cleaning weekly. Do the ionizers used in automobiles run off a very different ionizing method so that the unit can actually go as long as you’re saying without any real cleaning? As others have stated, that was one of the primary reasons I was on the fence about checking that option (I ultimately kept it on the build), was the risk of frequent and undocumented maintenance required for optimal performance.

magandbrook

^These devices are very simple and robust. No moving parts, with only two parts exposed -- a ceramic chip(generates hydrogen atoms from moisture in the air) and the electrode(charges oxygen atoms in the air). And because it is a modular piece of equipment that lies downstream of some of the gunkier parts, it stays pretty well insulated from dust and debris. The older "Sharper Image" style home ionizers are different as they have to be all-in-one; fan, circuitry, ionizer, etc, all crammed in into one case, and some of them may engineered differently -- not super familiar with the consumer goods side them as I am on the module/solutions side of the market. They all basically draw in air through an inlet that passes by the electrode and up through the fan to disperse ions into the room. Our desktop portable unit has a fan and mesh intake screen at the inlet that gets gunked up with dust and does require routine cleaning. This reminded me that is has been 6 months since I cleaned the filter in mine(it was pretty caked up per the pic.) But in a car, no need -- maybe once a year blast it with compressed air. Its far enough away from the evaporator that it wont get sweat on and become grimy.

On a vehicle, the cabin air filter would take responsibility for trapping similar dust and debris. I buy used Mercedes Benz ionizer units on ebay to use as sales props and they are always squeak clean and show no signs of wear.




Circa 2028: you may see fleets of drones in your city fighting small localized pockets of air pollution(or wild fires, maybe, though it does Not function to eliminate carbon monoxide) with similar ionization tech. John Titor told me so. That, or I may have seen our concepts.