Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 150K miles MT

Yep.. I hit it. And celebrated with an oil change at 5.5K miles.

Thoughts: Besides the voices I hear and the girlsgirlsgirls! that I can't get out of my head, I have been very happy with this car. Despite odd ticks, noises and a goofy dropout I get at around 27K RPM all of which I have had since I took ownership at 26K miles, the engine runs really well. So, I am going to sound like a downer here, but the car is so good, raves do no one any value.... so..... following are a few... um... disappointments (well sort of, keep in mind my bar is very high and car is very good)....

1) My 2000 Boxster S was more fun and more of a sports car to me than this 2009 C2S.. better handling... lighter.... zippy.. loved it.
2) The car wags and hops in turns under hard acceleration and undulating road surface... per Wayne and others, it appears to be the sloppy engine mounts. Yes Wayne, in the spring.
3) Engine sound... it doesn't. I am pretty darn amazed at how quiet the darn this was... I put on the Sharkwerks X pipe and am very happy. But really, the thing sounded like my old Buick. But then it does have some sounds... ticks and whatever else... always been there.
4) Stupid manual transmission jam. Not smooth... ain't gonna write about it... but you all know about it. It is 30K since I put in new PTX and I am getting the 1st gear jam back.. not bad but there. Further, or worse, I am now getting a reverse gear jam just like the 1st gear jam. Look I got 197K miles on my Boxster's 911 transmission all on the original clutch and NEVER had an issue. Yes, the Boxster's transmission was balky in the winter until warmed up as I kept it outside most of its life but it always worked and was consistent in its temperament. This MT in my car is darn worrisome to me. I think I have a transmission-out job in its future. I am going to replace the PTX in the next week or so. If no real improvement..... well I am going to schedule some serious work... I really don't like all this jamming.
5) Creaky front struts.... no biggie... but they started creaking again as I had left the car outside a few nights in western PA where the temps got below 30. Gotta shoot some more lube up there when I have a chance.... but it stopped creaking with temps above 35. BTW my Boxster did the same throughout its life.
6) Good but not great sound system... hey I get it, it is a sports car but for a "premium" system... well it insults my ears for what they claim it to be.
7) Factory spec alignment too dull. I tweak the numbers to get the car a bit more twitchy.. just a little. If you push the alignment to very edge of the factory specs, the car will come more alive. Take the negative camber out of the rear and add a touch of negative camber to the fronts and car gets more fun. You don't have to go out of spec to get this fun factor if you are worried, just find a shop that understand our neurosis.. they are out there and will do a precision job.
8) Clunking moon roof.... I dicked with that darn thing forever until I finally figured out how to stop it.... I pushed up on the rear cross member with the roof retracted and well... bent it a bit thus changing the way the thing landed on its bounces... works.
9) Suspension tuning... my Boxster had a better tuned suspension. The DSC module made the car what it could have been from the factory.... get it if you have PASM. Seriously, I think this is a serious deficiency in this car as Porsche could have utilized their four channel system at a minimum. They just did not put the time or effort into it IMO.
10) Odd software gremlin.... memory seats don't react to the key.. sometimes they work... very rarely, when I turn the ignition off, the steering wheel will not lock.. odd that one. My Durametric shows some odd CAN communications error so maybe that is it.... but no lights or other performance issues.
11) Leaking power steering fluid reservoir... very slow drip from what appears to be a missing grommet where it connects to the pump... too much work to remove it.
12) Gearing is too long... this really is the main thing that disappoints me about the overall experience of this car. Gears 1, 2, and 3 are just too long... you can go what, 70+ MPH in 2nd? What is this a one-gear car? Put it in 2nd and just drive all day? Porsche sensitizing us to the coming electrics? You have to be flying like a mad man in the city just to row the gears. Not fun. Read more here: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...dislike-2.html

I am not going to list all the parts failures as they are pretty darn normal to me overall. For example, the rear shocks leaked... hey it happens. Ignition switch.. well ok, it happens.... etc etc. I don't find any failure I had makes me think badly about the car.... although the transmission worries me and that goofy 27K RPM dropout I get is not cool. I am now facing a big job as I have a rattle in the left rear suspension... my chassis ears identified it to be the bushing in the wheel carrier... this is a big job as I need to press in new bearings, dick with the emergency brake... blah blah blah. It is rattling like hell now.... I kinda dread the work but I know it will be fun in the end. But still, I expect control arms and suspension parts to go in a sports car.. they are tightly sprung and the bushing are harder than average so... well they go... you get clunks.

Anyone near Philly have a lift? It will be way easier to do the suspension work with one. I pay in quality beer.

For oil, I have always done 5 to 6K oil changes all on Mobil 1 0W-40 until my last change where I changed to Motul 8100 Xcess 5W-40 with a bottle of LiquiMolly MoS2 thrown in. Why? Honestly, it is just silliness. I always wanted a slightly thicker oil for reasons only known to my analyst... and the voices in my head got to me. Honestly, if you "believe" in alternative oils, you should do it from the start. I know Jake and Charles favor other oils now that the longer-term data is in.... I suspect they are right... but then I change my oil pretty frequently so what the heck, I am not worried... or maybe I should be... maybe...hmmm........ I burn about 1-1.5 quarts every 5K miles or so. Motul claims I would get less burning... did I? I dunno.... I burned just over 1 quart in 5.5K miles... less? ah maybe... So today, I put in another load of Motul and this time, whoa... wait for it... I put in a bottle of Ceratec! Whoohoo! Why? I dunno.

Advice: Change your PTX out every 30-40K miles. Avoid the jam.

I have no plans to sell the car and plan on 200K miles with no major problems... after all, I have Ceratec in there .. yea, that will do it.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

rtl5009

I have a press and a quick jack.

Wayne Smith

Congrats on the milestone!!! You've been adding miles in a hurry lately 8)

I've got a lift. Come out to the Bay Area. I promise we'll keep the temps above 35F so you won't creak.

Well done ... Now for the second 150K.

Sporty

I just had PTX filled and I still have slight jam in 1st , maybe 30% of the time ( 38K miles, OEM SSK) and still slight notch into second. Got the stuff online (Suncoast? - I forgot) in 3 unsealed bottles with PTX Mobilube labels - maybe it was "fake" PTX? FWIW

Upscale Audio

All hail to thee man who uses his ****. I have a friend that frets constantly about keeping the miles off his car. They aren't going to melt.

That's pretty amazing for a lightweight sportscar.

Steph1

You might kill 2 birds with 1 stone when you change the engine mounts.... Should also help a lot in the transmission shifting dept. I had the tranny and final drive oil change last year and noticed an improvement in shifting. Then I did the engine mounts and problem fixed. I can downshift in all gears without a fight.

dgjks6

150,000 miles in a 2WD manual trans car in a place that sees snow. That’s old school bad assery How the seats holding up?

Phrog Phlyer

Bruce, Congrats!!
Not sure if it is an apples to apples comparison but - have you ever re-adjusted/positioned your shift cables? After changing the fluid in my prior car (996) the shifting was slightly more smooth but after doing the cables it was night and day better, also the bushing in the shifter are probably shot. A replacement shifter is cheap (a little over 200 bucks) and very easy to install. BTW if I was going to adjust the cables I would just buy and replace the shifter at the same time, because all the time doing the job is getting to the cables and once you are in there it takes less than an extra 5 minutes (4 bolts) to change the shifter.

Also +1 on the motor mounts.

Good luck with the next 2 hundred

Khloesdad

My car has the 1st gear jam occasionally {53000 miles}. I gave it its 1st service a month back with PTX. Really no change. I hate how it feels through the gears when its cold. I did notice if I'm setting at a light in neutral and try to go to 1st, if its hard I just let out of the clutch then press it back down and it eases into 1st. That always works.

evo9

Congrats!

Your many helpful posts have contributed to giving me the 'warm & fuzzy' that my 2010 C2S 6MT will go the distance also. Mine is a keeper, and I plan on racking up the miles...

W

ADias

Congratulations! Continue enjoying your car!

Carreralicious

There’s a recent post in the thread in this forum titled “How often do you top up your oil”...which quotes an email coming back from Driven oils saying that added Moly can potentially cause oil consumption issues. Motul 8100 doesn’t add Moly in its additive package like other oils do (even M1 0W-40 has some Moly in it already), so by adding the MoS2 to the Motul, it may nullify the normal characteristic of Motul to lessen oil usage?

TopKatz

My first second transition was balky especially cold. Installed numeric shifter and cables as well as used redline fill. Things are greasy now, very happy with all of that it.

interested in how the Ceratec goes. I have a bottle that I’m planing on dropping in the spring. Did an oil change at the end of the season prior to tucking the car away. I did not want to put the additive in prior to not driving the car.

RacerWannabe

You're an inspiration @Bruce In Philly . I'm only at 64k on my 2010 but have put on nearly 9k since taking delivery in July, so I'm sure the miles will add up quickly. Seems all of your observations are common ones - glad to know I'm not alone in most of these, the worst being the reluctance of the tranny to engage 1st and 2nd. I just figured they were weak syncros.

Carreralicious

Your recent PTX fluid change didn’t resolve the balk into 1st issue? My car’s at 31K miles now, so I’m debating doing the fluid change, as mine balks occasionally too, but goes in easy if I blip the throttle slightly before going back in.