cobalt

I am going through the same thing. I have used 19" wheels on my 04 turbo second set of wheels. First I used Blizzacks in a 255 width vs standard 275's and then the scorpions. I found the scorpions offered a better ride but I was never happy with driving it as I was with the summer tires on it.

As the years went on I found I rarely drove the car in heavy snow so I eventually switched to the Conti ExtremeContact DWS. I found it to be a great all around tire, lasted longer than the summer tires and gave me adequate traction although not quite as much as the summer tires. I plan on buying another set today for that car.

I am also running the 21 inch on my GTS. The summer tires and 21" wheels are a bad idea for the car around here and once it gets below 40 degrees the car is all over the place. So I have a set of spare 19" and a set of 20" wheels the 19's don't have the TPMS so I am thinking of using the 20's which do. I again will not be using this car in extreme snow so I am thinking of the Conti's as well this way I have all around tires for the cooler months and the summer tires will be used as they should car is just too nice with them. Interestingly the 19's are more expensive than the 20".

I am currently working on the 80k mile service on my 04CTT. All new brakes, serpentine belt which is a royal PITA, plugs filters etc. About to attack the transfer case etc but was concerned about the tranny. Was it easier than it sounds??

Lastly call me crazy. My CTT is a spare vehicle and it is now going into its 12th year of service. I have never changed the battery. Yes it is original.

I find it most interesting is occasionally I put a trickle charger on it and the green light comes on in just a few hours as with any other car I own it takes 24 hours min. I am almost afraid to change it.

Also what fluids did you use Porsche or Porsche approved?

BlackTurboS

Nice to meet you Cobalt!

Thanks for the info the Scorpions! I agree with you on how it handles with the summer tire - the thing is so smooth on the road with the 21's on and I can take turns at crazy speed.

What kind of mileage are you anticipating on the Conti DWS's? I had debated switching to the all-season Conti's but on another thread someone said don't do it in Philly because they are crap in snow. While I respect that opinion, I am like you and don't think I will ever be in deep snow. Maybe 2-3 times this winter if I had to guess? I'm having trouble deciding because I would love the simplicity of an all-season tire, but I know simplicity does not go in the same category as the Porsche Cayenne.

Regarding the 80k service, I put NGK Iridium Plugs instead of the OEM - didn't notice a difference other than the old plugs I pulled out looked like they went to h*ll and back. Just an FYI not saying you should use one or the other.

I'm planning to do the serpentine belt when I do my boost diverter valves. The Pelican Parts tutorial on the serpentine belt looks somewhat easy so I figure I'll try it. Bought the belt for $130 off Suncoast and a 30mm wrench from amazon for $10. My indy quoted me $410 for the serpentine belt - even if it takes me 3-4 hours it's worth it to me. I like to get to know my vehicle so I am planning on brakes, diverter valves, serpentine, all in one shot at the end of this month.

For the diffs and transfer case, I used Mobile 1 synthetics. ATF on the transfer case and M1 75W-90 on the diffs as recommended by many on this forum.

For the tranny I used OEM Porsche tranny fluid from Suncoast parts. I looked at other fluids but I personally didn't feel like saving $100-$150 at the risk of something happening to my tranny.

The procedure was, in my opinion, as easy as it sounds, with a few caveats. I followed the pelican parts tutorial and it was easy. It helped that the kit from Suncoast had every part together so I knew what went where. Here are a few tips if you do the tranny - I literally just did it 48 hours ago. I find removing the undercarriage protective plastics easy with my drill and Torx bit. I can remove them all in about 4 minutes. Anyway, here is what I did

1) Remove plastic underbody sheets
2) Remove little screws on the heat shield, this would have been a PITA except I had a very tiny 10mm wrench that was perfect. no room for a ratchet on these.
3) Remove drain plug and drain into large catch (I left mine sit for 20 mins and I would say about 7 quarts came out)
4) Once the fluid stops draining (takes a while), I removed all of the bolts on the sump gasket - this takes time because there are quite a few of them. I used my ratchet for this and on a few of them YOU WILL NEED AN EXTENSION to reach up into the small areas. This made it very easy to remove.
5) Pull the sump cover off - it will take some force. Just be careful and pry it off once all the screws are removed from the black gasket that goes around the sump.
6) There will be fluid in the sump obviously. Pour it out and you will see your magnets on the bottom covered in black gunk as others have reported on the forum. It was nasty. I cleaned the sump cover and magnets with Dawn - cut through the grease and it was literally spotless like new. Rinsed it very well with water and dried it with a lint free towel. Let it dry for a few to make sure there is no water left in the sump.
7) Remove the filter (the silver pan looking thing) with 3 screws. Put the new filter back on, don't forget the O-ring that goes on the tube on the filter facing up towards the vehicle. I installed the filter, then realized I forgot the O-ring so I popped it back off and put the O-ring on and re-attached.
8) Put the new gasket/seal on the sump (black thing that goes around the outside of the sump) and re-install the sump. Tighten all of the screws to the sump well because at this point you are about to take off the fill port plug and it takes force.
9) pull the fill port cover as mentioned. Now you are ready to fill with new fluid
10) I used a cheapo fluid pump from AutoZone (I think it was like $8). Put one end in the new fluid bottle, the other end up the fill port. Now here is where it can get tricky. You either need to attach an improvised angle tube to shoot the new fluid over the ledge of the fill port or do what I did. I bent about 1/2" of the end of the fill tube over itself (just folded it in half at the end) and put the tube up the fill port while folded over itself. When it reached the top, the 1/2" that was folder over unfolded into the sump and I could tell the fluid would not go into the sump instead of come straight back down the fill port LOL.
11) Fill it up. I got about 3-4 quarts in before it started to come back out the fill port.
12) Have your hot wife or girlfriend start the car (level of hotness may vary by user). Let it idle for 10-20 seconds.
13) Pump some more fluid in there until it runs out. Then have your friend/wife put it in Drive. Wait 5-10 seconds... pump more fluid.. Reverse... wait 5-10.. pump more fluid... Drive... pump more etc. etc. Keep doing this until you go through all the gears and fluid still comes back out. It took about 8-10 minutes to make sure it was full. Make sure you tell the drive to keep their foot on the brake and the emergency brake down so they don't hurt you.
14) NOTE: the above step was messy. Fluid coming back out the fill port, then pumping more in, more fluid coming back out, etc. Just keep a towel there and keep pumping while they switch gears.
15) Put the fill port plug back in... DONE
Check the temp of the sump with either Durametric or laser thermometer. I used durametric and it gave me actual tranny temp after 10-15 minutes of 40C so I knew I was good.

Take it for a spin... my transmission was day and night in comparison of the before and after. Went to dinner that night and even my wife said "wow it sounds a lot more quiet and smooth".

Here is the Pelican tutorial I followed. Just be patient with it... Total time was about 2 hours, definitely not the 4 hours quoted by Pelican. But, I studied that tutorial multiple times before I did it so I basically memorized it. Personally, I thought it was easy.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ter_Change.htm

Sorry I don't have any feedback yet about the battery, I am looking into that now as well. I haven't checked it yet, but that's on my to-do list as well.

cobalt

Thanks,

heading out now to buy the M1 75W-90. I think I will hold off for the transmission since everything i read says use factory fluid and I need to order the parts. I have backup of everything else.

The serpentine belt was a royal PITA. The pelican write up misses a bunch of things at least for an 04 turbo. there are series of vacuum lines that are very hard to get to that are not mentioned and need to be split to get the belt in and out. The only way I was able to get to them was to pull the wheel liner on the drivers side and remove the filter so I can access them through the wheel well. I wasted more time trying to get the belts to line up properly since there is little to no room to get your hands down in there.

Just plan on taking your time and have a martini waiting for you when your done. LOL

I do admit working on 911's is easy and the 928 is not all that bad except for a couple of items but the cayenne can be a PITA compared to them.

PS: I have had the Contis for 30k miles I went through two sets of Pirelli P Zero Rossos, one set of blizzaks and one of the scorpions but they were cut short in life when i had a blown air shock. acr has around 80k miles now.