Silberwolfen

That is correct, Dock. I'll message you privately with details.

JG 996T

That was a quick turn-around. U did a lot of work on the turbo too

Silberwolfen

JG...that is correct and I'm not happy about it.

Here is the situation: I should have had my 996T inspected a bit more before I purchased it and then began adding modifications. There were things that I did not foresee that did not mix well with the aftermarket work I was having done. One thing kept leading to another thing and the spiral continued. I was having some issues with the PSS10 suspension (front), then the clutch, and then some annoying THUD in the transmission...etc, etc, etc.

At the end of the day, I was looking at having to drop another $7K+ on parts and labor to remedy all of these things. I had to face the reality that it was an 11 year old car, things were going to break, and this wasn't the last time I was going to have to go through this with that particular 996. My pocketbook said enough.

When you start modding an 11 year old car---new parts improve the performance in one area and place extra stress in other areas that weren't designed to handle it. Lesson learned

I'll still be around and can pass along my wisdom to others like me who say, "Hello I just bought a 996 Turbo...what mods should I do?" The answer will be firmly based on what kind of shape the vehicle is in PRIOR to adding any mods. A car that was abused by a prior owner or neglected might not handle upgrades so well. Better have a deep pocketbook and an understanding wife.

Dock

John - It sounds like you had a car with underlying issues. My '02 Turbo's engine has been modified for over 9 years (EVOMS Stage 2) and I haven't had a single issue with the transmission or engine. I've had Kevin's clutch package, including the LWFW, for over 5 1/2 years without a single issue with it or the transmission.

Silberwolfen

I would say that is the case, Dock. You have owned your car since new and took care of it. Mine was not in that good of shape to have been adding the amount of mods that I did. It just wasn't up to the task (as I began to figure out). I want to spend the Summer driving and having fun...not escorting the car back and forth to mechanics. I just put the money in on a new car and called it a day. It was a gut-wrenching decision. Kevin will tell ya---he heard me on the phone in a frenzy. The whole scenario was becoming too heavy for a car.

I already promised myself NO MODS with this new car.

Misplacedyankee

Wow things happen in a flash here!!! I have been reading all your posts since you got it since I got mine same time. Sorry to hear. The Boxster is fun. Enjoyed mine. Totally different animal. Man wish you would have sold back some of those mods!!! I would have been in. The only mod I spent on that was a quasi regret was the Denision unit for ipod. Crap I would have just gotten that pioneer head unit u got. Would have loved those shocks too. Did you install the GT3 shifter prior to sale?

Again sorry for the quick sale. You should really post the whole story.

Cheers.

Dock

Have fun with the Spyder (that's not a hard thing to do). I owned two Boxsters (one was an S) prior to buying my Turbo, and they were lots of fun.

nick49

Sorry it turned out like that.

You will love the Spyder! My wife has a '99 White Boxster that she bought with <8K miles in '01. I still drive it occasionally, it's mint with 25K miles now, still looks and smells brand new. It's as fun as my Turbo, just not as quick and a little snug in the cabin.

I, for the reasons you mention have decided to leave my car stock. I have done the aluminum pedals and removed the Turbo script badge and replaced it with a black 911 logo. I told my wife at lunch today I may put on the lowering H&R springs I have in the garage and she came back with, "why do you want to ruin your car and lower it's value?". There may be some truth to that. She's been with me over 37 years and has seen me mod nearly every thing I have ever had.

Keep in the fold.

Silberwolfen

I ended up in a better place. Yes, I took a hit on all of the parts that I put on the 996T and I did mope about it for a couple days, but putting another $7K to $8K was indeed not the answer. Every car responds to mods differently and a big part of that is the condition of the car before hand. Some little things that you would never notice while stock become BIG THINGS when you start fiddling with stuff.

My choice in cars was between a Mustang Boss 302 and the Spyder. I liked both, but chose the P-Car. I was itching for a convertible of some sort.

neanicu

John,I remember when you bought the Turbo not too long ago and how anxious you were to start modding it...
I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you wanted...
Although my opinion is not popular at all on this forum,I've kept at it over the years and advised people to keep the car stock... I do understand how fun it is to modify and I can also see folks excitement doing it...really nothing wrong with that.
I also believe that if you modify the right way you should be fine...which I'm sure you did...it was just bad luck,that clutch was probably on its way out anyway...
Glad to see you've remained in the Porsche family!
Enjoy your new car!
Best.

JG 996T

An older turbo is not cheap to maintain, much less modify. And as they say, mods are a slippery slope. Suspension, engine, brakes, audio, wheels.... Before you know it, you've spent more than you paid for the car!

Enjoy the new ride!

Silberwolfen

I do often reflect back on what you said and can now agree whole-heartedly. Yes, the clutch was probably on the way out. But, I did go down the slippery slope as JG996T points out. It's easy to think that you are improving things by adding new parts. It was a hard lesson learned with these cars. Everyone has different experiences with mods, but you need to have a thick pocketbook before you start up the process. Adding power in one place causes something to break in another---then the cycle begins. Chasing the dragon becomes very exhausting after a couple months.

Lesson learned---I spent more time in shops than I did driving the car.

nick49

I feel really lucky now. I've been fighting the urge to mod since I bought my car over 2 years ago. It has never been in a shop period since I bought it. It always runs perfect and does everything very well. I guess that should be enough.

Yesterday I changed the oil, filter and air filter. I cut the filter open and found nothing between the pleats, not even any sparkly flecks. Changing at <3K miles, the oil on my hands was still transparent. I also cleaned the exterior, vacuumed the inside and it looks brand new again with 24K miles on the clock.

jumper5836

I've been happy with mine. Previous owner modded it (PSS10's, GIAC chip), replaced the clutch, did the spark plugs, rebuilt the alternator and replaced the battery.

For me I've only had to adjust the height and do an alignment. It runs perfect and trouble free. I didn't even bother with a PPI but the car did come with receipts from the PO from what had been done and I knew the shop where it was taken for the mods and the maintenance.

There is no way would I ever keep the car stock, maybe the GIAC chip is not as much power and hard on the car as the tune you installed.

Dock

If the car has good underlying fundamentals (the car not having been abused previously) then reasonable mods are not going to cause any problems as long as the mods don't cause you to personally to abuse the car.

Running around at relatively high RPM all the time, drop clutch launches on high RPM, and banging the gears hard will wear/break things. Things wearing/breaking isn't a big deal as long as you know it''s going to happen and you have the money to fix the problem(s).