When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Wondering the same does anyone in the Seattle area install this?
If you want to make a 3 hour drive to Portland, I heavily recommend @12v Nick @ Musicar Northwest; they make the drop-in audio upgrades for the 981s that are pretty popular around here.
I want to make a few small subtle changes when I get the car, but, as I mentioned my experience is with VW not Porsche so not too familiar with the platform.
With VW I had VCDS which I could read/clear codes and enable features on the car say not programmes for the NA market. Like opening/closing windows with the fob, convenience turn signal etc. What is the preferred method to make these changes with Porsche, is it even possible?
I want to enable the amber turn signal on the tail lights like in the EU, stuff like that. I'm not even sure if I would need to get new tail lights to do so.
Welcome, congrats, and to answer this question, unfortunately there are no good solutions. There are a limited number of features that can be coded on these cars and IIRC they can only be done with a Porsche PIWIS. Porsche either has the ECU much more locked down or there is just less of a market for it with these cars. I have a Durametric which is essentially the Porsche world equivalent of VCDS and all it does is reset service intervals and read codes (maybe it clears some). It is supposed to provide a DME report but that is not even working correctly. So I would recommend not to put to much effort into coding and just search here to see if it can be done by a dealer. If you ever do find any better solutions please report back...
My Autel MS906TS can do a number of the codings. Not everything requires a PIWIS. You do have to be pretty good with a German translator though as a lot of what is there is only in German.
My GT4 arrived in Halifax 6 weeks ago. It has not reached the dealership in western Canada. SA says it on a truck between Toronto and western Canada. ETA at the dealership changed for the 3rd time today. Very frustrating that it takes this long. SA says there isn’t much they can do since Porsche Canada subs out the delivery of GT vehicles. Any suggestions on how to deal with them. I’ve expressed by frustration with the rescheduling/delays and their lack of ability to know where the car is other than it left Toronto.
Congrats on your new ride! I consider myself from Vancouver as well even though I no longer live there.
The GT4 really is a great car. Definitely highly ranked on on smiles per mile. I have thoroughly enjoyed driving mine (albeit still relatively low mileage) in the last 6 years. i am just as excited about driving it today as I was when I drove it out of the dealer back then.
With manufactures in need of satisfying the increasing noise/emissions standards and some of them going fully EV … I do feel these GT4s are really the tail end of the fun days of combustion engine cars. I like the 981 GT4 so much that I will probably try to work my way around when it comes to time to move back to Vancouver. Caveat is I have a RHD car, but that should be alright as I should be able to move the car back in another 9 years to hit the 15year exemption!
In any case, sharing some pics of my car with steering wheel on the wrong side …
As others mentioned, the equivalent to VCDS is PIWIS for Porsche vehicles. Not easy to get (there are knockoffs you can buy, apparently) and expensive as well.
Durametric is an option, as are a few other tools. The one I got for my 987 was the Foxwell NT530, which can do various codings. As also mentioned, though, there aren't a ton of options to be activated anyway, so it may not be worth it. For example, because I don't have electric/memory seats on my car, I cannot activate the mirror-down capability when in reverse. The Foxwell will let me set it, but it won't work, because the memory module isn't present. So there are some interdependencies to be aware of.
From what I hear, there are even fewer coding capabilities on the 981 via the Foxwell... so if you do want to try that, be sure to get it from a returnable source in case it doesn't meet your needs (eg, Amazon sells it).
Mods4cars has a module called SmartTop that provides some neat tricks for the top. Unfortunately, their more-capable RemoteKey module is not available for the 981 either... but maybe some other maker has something you could consider? The RemoteKey offers some things like lock-chirping, mirror down (even without the memory module), etc...
For parts sources, Pelican Parts, FCPEuro, and Suncoast are favorites. FCP has lifetime warranty on everything they sell - nice for things that wear out like brakes, etc... so keep that in mind as well.
03-19-2019, 05:46 PM
