Dell you are right..after I bought both..I was thinking: WHY?? Now I don't use the smart top and only the remote top....go figure.....

 

I use both regularly. Just tonight my wife and I were coming back from dinner and the top was down. Got a little chilly so as we were crusing to a red light I used the smart top. Light turned green before we got to it, so never had to stop. If I didn't have the smart top I would have had to pull over, complete stop, engage the e-brake, hold the button, etc. What a pain.

 

Totally agree. I would probably use the remote top more but I got one of the first smart tops before the remote top was even on the radar so I will just stick with it. I still love it!

 

Is the Smart/Remote top only a 996 option, or can it fit a 997 as well? I think I would love to have something like that.

 

I think it fits on a 997 as well...just email them and ask...they are very helpful....I think that you don't need the smart top on uout 997, because you can open and close the top while moving...the remote top however is a great option to have.

 

Deven - a month or two ago, Wilhelmy posted a threay on the 997 Forum about the smart or remote top for the 997. I believe it is a different unit than the 996 because if the differences in the base OEM functionality of the 997 versus the 996. A quick search on "Wilhelmy" in the 997 Forum shuld get you the results very quickly.

 

Just go straight to the horse's mouth. Their website gives a full description of their new 997 Cab product, just being introduced and quite pricey. It appears to have a good many programmable options.

997 SmartTop

 

Thanks for the replys and the link (I did not know who was making the unit). The 997 unit does seem to do many things, but is a little pricier than the units for the 996. The thing that I will like as well is the audible chirp when locking/unlocking the car, which along with the many other features may be worth the $650 or so.

 

It is about the same price as the 996...because the one unit does the same as the 2 units for the 996...smart top and smart remote in one!~!!

Maybe you should try to setup a group buy on the 997 forum and get a discount!!

 

Troy: The short beep when locking the 996 with the remotetop only appears on models 1998 - 2001. Beginning with 2002 Porsche changed the central locking and alarm control unit (the one under the driver's seat) along with some wiring changes. They do not monitor the top status anymore, that is the reason some of you may have a short beep (pre 2002 models) because the top is not in one of the end-positions. The remotetop will however still arm the full alarm system by "re-arming" it once top and windows are fully closed.

Nicolaasdb: You got it completely right, the smarttop for 997 is basically smarttop+remotetop in one, plus a few more features. It's much more complicated (can-bus) and took considerably more time and cost to develop. We would of course be happy to offer you guys a great rennlist group discount on top of the already reduced introductory price.

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Stefan Wilhelmy

 

Thanks Stefan. Appreciate your response. Great products!

 

Stefan,

First, thanks for the great products. I was an early adopter of both for my 2000 Cab. I believe they are a significant addition to my enjoyment of the car.

Secondly, I guess I have some sort of hybrid year model .... or something is wrong in my car .... for my 2000 has never given the short beep when closing top / locking car with the Remote Top.

 

Kim,
You may have one of our first remotetops, which have a special circuit to take care of the issue. Unfortunately we found out later that this design was not compatible with the 2004 model (almost everything changed) so we had to change the design and ended up with one that is compatible to all 996's, but gives a short beep (top not in end-position warning) on the pre-2002 models (to be more precise, all models with mechanical trunk-release levers).
On models 2002 and later, Porsche omitted the signal to the alarm unit completely, so on these models the alarm system does not know anything about the top's position.

Thanks all for the positive feedback!

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Stefan Wilhelmy