Hey, that's my car! Well, without the red nipples, Sport Chrono and painted center console trim.

I guess you get a wart, even if you don't spec Sound Package Plus.

As a matter of interest, just what does it cost to air freight a car across the big pond?

 

It's simply a way for PAG to save money by just having one bumper for all markets - the US/Canada, Europe and ROW.

In the gt3 & other 991s, we have two sets of bumpers depending on the market it's going to. The 981 'one-size-fits-all' saves costs. The painted frame allows the US size plates to fit correctly & centered (as mandated by DOT) and...voila!

Thanks to Rennlister 'Arena-RTR' for posting!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

 

What!? I can put an EU long plate on the back of the US GT4!? That's great news for me!

 

Let us know how to remove that painted frame without damage to the bumper when you pick up your US spec GT4.

 

I don't know what Porsche charges but I do know what Ferrari charges. My brother has owned 70 + Ferraris in his life time. Every once in a while he would have one flown into Los Angeles. The usual cost was around $7K + or - minus a couple of thousand. But here is something interesting. Sometimes Ferrari and the local dealer would help pay for the cost. This usually happened when Ferrari wanted to get a lot of Ferraris off the books so they could invoice the dealer. Cost to fly one in was around $1500 to the customer. Almost every customer took advantage of the opportunity. One time my brother's car left Italy on a Friday and was in the dealership on Monday.

 

Ok, but that doesn't answer the question of why US cars get that obnoxious frame within the bumper "alcove". I'm skeptical about the centering claim. If Porsche can spell "Porsche" in individual letters across the rear bumper and keep everything centered and evenly spaced, I have to believe that they could have centered a license plate bracket, or the holes for one if cars don't arrive at dealers with some sort of bracket. If they don't even drill holes for a bracket at the factory, I suppose this could be to ensure that dealers don't screw up bracket centering and leveling during the delivery phase, which would of course be a sticky situation for everyone involved, but that white ROW GT4 photo you posted is mounted just fine even though it doesn't have any leveling/centering mechanism since the plate isn't right up against the top edge of that area, nor does it touch either side -- so what gives on US-spec cars? My money is still on somebody thinking that this design looks better than putting a US license plate into an overly sized alcove.

I suspect the surround is indeed removable, but unless it's on there with adhesive (doubtful IMHO), then you'll have drill holes in your bumper that won't be covered up by the plate bracket.

Interesting info about the 991 GT3 rear bumpers though, I hadn't noticed that, but a cursory glance through Google Images indeed shows two different bumper styles based on license plate dimensions. However, that appears to be new, since this 997 has similar, and IMHO even uglier, treatment:

 

Turns out this discussion has been running at Planet-9 for a while now, and on Boxsters the surround isn't even painted! I guess we should consider ourselves lucky then....

Also, this post suggests that removing it won't be feasible: http://www.planet-9.com/981-cayman-b...tml#post912022

 

Found the answer to my question. Thanx for the search jphughan.

 

Believe it or not, Porsche hasn't printed the manuals yet... they fedex'd us about 200 sheets.

The break in is exactly the same as every other Porsche. It is labeled "Break in hints" in the table of contents, and is the first 2000 miles. Limit cold starts, engine revs over 4500 rpm and use of cruise control.

 

This is a question that I have had for so long - what's the purpose of the U.S. rear PLATE surroundings?

 

I don't' know for sure, as it is not my customer, but I overheard a similar figure... only with an additional zero at the end of it.

 

Engine note is miles better in person. It makes the Carrera GTS sound subdued.

and you're welcome, but flattering me will ... definitely help your chances of getting your GT4 sooner

 

Hmm, 2000 miles isn't quite as bad I guess. But wow, they FedExed you 200 pages? Couldn't they just have emailed a PDF to make life easier for everyone? I always keep PDFs of my car manuals on my phone so that I can search them and also don't have to be in the car if I want to check something.

 

^^^ Agree! Same!

Re: License plate surrounds - All my 981 Caymans (S/GTS) have had the license plate surrounds so it doesn't look odd to me - its the way they come.

Re: Sport Seats Plus - they are incredibly good standard seats with great shoulder support - drove 7 hours with wife to Daytona. Loved 'em. And, had my fastest time in them (wearing a $20 GForce lap belt) at the track. No complaints. LWBs are great, but the alternative is pretty darn good too.

 

But if they did that, it would get leaked to Rennlist