wdb

Oh -- almost forgot to mention -- I am officially on the list for a Flat Six engine refresh in 2023!

De Jeeper

On the cables do u have their silicon hose wrap? I have the cables zip tied together tight under the car and make sure they dont touch the sheet metal. My cables dont make any noticable noise.

wdb

I reinstalled the foam piece from the stock cables, in pretty nearly the same location it was on the stockers. No silicone hose wrap although I did see in their parts list. My cables are not touching the car anywhere either.

Did you wrap them in silicone individually and then zip tie them? is the silicone wrapped end-to-end, under car only, or under car and in car separately? I can't really picture getting the cables through the stock body grommet with anything wrapped around them...

keviha

The most recent review under 'keviha' is mine...and what I noted back in 2016 stands today. If you live in a hot climate swapping out the sunshade for tighter woven version is a must. Cuts way down on the green house effect.

I'm enjoying your updates...and congrats making the 2023 Flax Six list!

wdb

Awesome news, thank you! I'm in SE PA so not exactly "hot climate" all the time, in fact there was 4" of snow today in parts of my yard. But August is another beast entirely. I am putting together a list for Suncoast and will include the sunshade. Did you do your own installation?

Thanks and thanks. I still can't quite explain it, I've been a front engine guy my entire life. But this little car speaks my language. Certainly part of it is the absence of most of the modern nannies. It's got ABS, that's it. But there's something else too.

Type65

I have never so much as seen a 996 Targa in person, let alone owned one, but my Benz had a glass sunroof and I always left the shade open even in summer, and I had Saratoga tops for my '77 Vette and my 944, and I never once had an issue with too much heat or light coming in through the top. The common link with all of these cars is that the top glass was heavily tinted (nearly black or bronze from the outside), so if the 996 Targa glass isn't already tinted like this maybe a tint could solve your problem. Although, thinking as I type this, that may make it literally impossible to see out the rear window with the top back and maybe that is why Porsche did not do it.

The shifters and seats are looking good! And congrats on getting an engine slot! From what Jake has said in other threads the 2023 slots might be the last for a while!

keviha

I didn't do the installation but my indy said it was a straight forward / OEM job. Now that I think of it there may be a thread on the forum from someone who did as a DIY.

keviha

These are really panorama roofs...large in relation to the size of the car. So they really do heat up when the temperatures rise. The glass is lightly tinted which is awesome to get the light into the cabin. I enjoy opening sun shade on cloudy / overcast days to brighten everything up. Also great on sunny days...just not when it's 100+. Lol. I know some have added dark tint instead of going with different sunshade. To each their own, I suppose.

158Sierra

You will love the flat six engine when you get the car back. In have 2 996 with flat six engines, mine is a 02 C4n cab within a 3.8 Stage I and my wife’s is a 03 C2 with a 4.0 Stage II.
Both are outstanding and were well worth the wait.

De Jeeper

u need one length, cut in half is enough for both cables. U just do the length under the car. Spiral cut the tube open and wrap both cables individually. Then zip tie together. They dampen the vibration, at least it did for me.

wdb

Thanks! Leatherique really is amazing stuff. And given Jake's recent comments I definitely feel fortunate. I'm hoping his situation eases as he distances himself further from his COVID episode. I know another guy who had long COVID and it isn't fun but in his case it did come to an end.

I chopped off your sunshade comments, see below for my reply on that topic. I have a MB S212 with a gargantuan glass panel in the roof and I keep that sunshade in place all summer. Some like it hot?

In fact they are pretty much simply a giant sliding glass panel where the roof goes. Plus there is the glass hatch behind it. As I mentioned, I have an S212 with a panoramic sunroof, and in terms of how much glass is on the top surfaces the targa puts it to shame. Granted, the Merc has tan MB-Tex upholstery and the targa has Metropol Blue leather, so that makes a difference. (Never let anyone tell you that the exterior color is what makes a car interior hot or not hot in summer.) I think the glass on the targa roof is pretty heavily tinted as well. In addition my car has had the rear and side windows film tinted. It is still a sauna on an August day.

EDIT: As for seeing through the back when the targa top is open -- fuggedabodit. It's a cave of blackness back there. Car headlights make it through at night, barely, but daytime becomes side mirrors only for rear views. I'm used to it though. My Z4MC has virtually no rear visibility through the central mirror, even without an extra layer of tinted glass.

ltusler

I have a 2003 Seal Grey Metallic Targa with a 4.0 FSI in it. You will enjoy it!

barbancourt

I only did the length inside the car when I did mine and it was intolerable. I don't think that it specified how to use the insulation in the instructions. That might have been nice to know.

Well, they are sitting in my garage. Maybe one day I'll try again to reinstall them.

wdb

Thanks for the details. I'm on the fence about trying it, but at $30 for the tubing versus $330 for new stock shift cables it might be worth a try.
I have the cable sections in the cabin wrapped with a dynamat type of product. It helped but it's still not great. I also dynamatted the cover that snaps over the cable ends at the shifter. It made some difference but not enough for my goals.

wdb

On to suspension. I am going to do a thorough refresh front and rear, that is not in question. Several vendors sell kits and I am going to take advantage of that plus add hardware as appropriate.

Here's the rub. I'm on stock US 2002 Porsche 996 suspension. In my limited experience with the car it felt in need of freshening, but then there was The Other Thing. The front end. At lower speeds it is okay if, once again, in need of a refresh; At higher speeds, well, that nose just starts lifting up and sniffing like a bloodhound. Things get light out there. Not acceptable. So, what to do.

My first thought was RoW M030. I'm still leaning heavily in that direction. In researching the topic however it appears as though there is a fair argument for proper coilovers instead; given the costs involved one can do something like PSS9's and break even, if not come out ahead, of a RoW M030 kit. Especially when one tosses in all the other bits that need replacing on a 21 year old car. So, what to do.

I want to reiterate my ultimate goals for this car. It will be a road car first and foremost. It will be a daily driver in a state with winter (read: potholes). It will also be a GT car, and will carry myself and my spouse hither and yon on adventures of varying lengths. It will also be expected to comport itself well over Deals Gap, and every now and then see a racetrack. Are coilovers, with their complexity and setup needs and adjustments and all the rest of it, really the way to go? Or do I trust Porsche engineering expertise, go with M030 (plus all the other worn out bits), and live with their decision?

I am a fussy -- no that's not it -- I am a focused person when it comes to ride and handling. I want those qualities to match the way I use the vehicle. In this case my preference would be for a drop-dead capable road car, one that might give away a bit at the track in return for decent ride quality on long days behind the wheel over regular roads.

So. What to do.