Nobbie

I fitted one mainly to stop overworking the ancillaries as in my 2.5 I tend to use the upper end of the rev range. Never noticed any difference once fitted which is hardly suprising as my backside isn’t calibrated to within 1%😀. Sadly it didn’t stop my newly fitted oe water pump failing after 20k mikes, but maybe it would only have lasted 10k without.

34 minutes ago, Davey P said:

Not sure how much my view counts around here, given that mine is a Cayman, but I'd say don't get too bogged down with a massive list of options. Upgrading to a 981 will feel like a massive jump, regardless of the options list. Mine is pretty basic, not even got reversing camera or sensors, and just a bog standard head unit (which never gets switched on, because I'd rather listen to the glorious engine than the radio), so I guess it could be classed as a "base model". However, it's a fantastic car to own and drive, with a beautiful slick manual gearchange, and the 2.7 engine is more than fast enough for normal road use.

Best advice - Go for one with fully documented history from a main dealer or independent Porsche specialist.

Good luck in your search mate 👍

You’re right, your views count for nothing now you’ve gone to the dark side😛

I’m lucky in that all the cars I drive have been fairly basic, so most options are a nice to have, but this has been useful to see what other people value and why. One useful point is the Sport design steering wheel. That would be a must have with a PDK for me as the paddles made such a difference on my 986. I’m sure the PDK doesn’t need my input, but it’s going to get it anyway.

My 986 has only been driven by me as it frightens the wife, especially with the dronemaster exhaust. I can see the 981 being used for a few long trips, maybe even a tour of the continent, so this will also be a consideration.

TBH, I suspect one of the biggest factors will be colour as I love a nice bright car. Last three cars have been red, yellow and blue, but there are always wraps such as the lovely one on @ATM’s car.

Had a look on Copart, but not sure if they really provide great value anymore with all the charges compared to the risk you’re taking on. I’ll keep an eye out though.

Would be worth checking the Mass Airflow Sensor. If you disconnect it the car reverts to a default map. If the car runs fine on the default map then the MAF is faulty.

9 minutes ago, BenM said:

Anyone fitted an new alternator ?

Absolute bastard, or ok to do at home, with mediocre mechanical skills ?

It looks awkward rather than an absolute bastard due to having to go through the engine panel behind the seats. There’s also a bushing that needs to be knocked out. YouTube has a few videos to give you an idea. Not a job I’d relish.

As above. Who fitted the battery? I’d have expected them to check the alternator before fitting a new one. It’s likely your new battery is gradually discharging, so don’t make any long journeys and try to charge it each day. I had similar on an old fiesta and kept driving until it gave up the ghost on the M25😬

20 hours ago, bally4563 said:

Picked car up from paint shop, bonnet back to bare metal, front bumper and wings, extremely pleased!!

Very nice. When are we out for a peaks blast? I’ll lead…🤣

3 hours ago, Patt said:

Gearbox made no difference to my decision.  With time I have found I would now prefer PDK over a manual, although I daily mine.

If found the standard stereo too poor to live with and the base seats were not supportive at all.

Heated seats are a must unless you have buckets.

I find the auto dim mirrors a must to reduce the glare of all the soft-roader headlights.

The PDSL lights are a significant improvement, and would also be my must have list, with the PDSL+ as a nice to have.

Cruise is good for those stupidly long motorway 50 limits, but not used as much as I thought.

The 2.7 has a noticeable drop in torque but not enough to put you off, and even on track I didn't notice the smaller brakes.

PSE is AWESOME, but will fail eventually. So either buy with  or budget to fit a switchable aftermarket.

Sports Chrono is a complete waste and the hands are very prone to melting off anyhow.

Paddles on the wheel are more a must for me with the PDK.

19's or 20's run just as well for wheel options.

It's such an improvement on power and economy after a 986

This is all great stuff, looks like PDK should be fine with the sport design steering wheel, the standard one looks a bit like my old tip one which I had to add paddles too. Interesting re the PSE eventually failing and replacing with aftermarket. If bought without, how easy is it to integrate with the remap for pops and bangs. Do you need the OE PSE switch?

4 minutes ago, mneil said:

You've followed me in my 981s on some of the bridgnorth runsa few years back most notable was when Mick had to head home when his car ejected it's water.

The X73 package on mine was a great improvement on nice smooth surfaces but could get a bit fidgety when pushing on over bumpy B roads. Decent headers with sports cats and a good remap make a huge difference to low down torque and has been mentioned, heated seats on early morning runs is a must! I changed to a 718 steering wheel and the short GT4 gear shifter but that's personal and easy.

Upgrade the lights.

Mine was a manual but the ratios are way tooooo long for our little roads, of course you could factor in the RPMtechnique diff and fit it yourself, if I bought another i would go that way but I'm way too over the moon with my Alpine.

Good luck.

I should have bought your car when you got rid of it, interesting re the X73 on B roads as I had considered this option.

Last run I went on with @bally4563 he was ejecting more than water🤣

Hope to see you on a future run.

15 minutes ago, Nesva said:

Hi thanks for this Nobbie, my car has 68k miles. What oil manufacturers are best to use? 

Have a search on here and you’ll find lots of opinions. I use Fuchs Titan Supersyn 5W 40 as it is A40 approved and a decent price.

I think Mobil 1 0W 40 is the OE spec, but 5W 40 is fine as we don’t have very cold winters in the U.K. where the low temp viscosity is important. If the engine has done a lot of miles then maybe 5W 50. Mines done 164k and is running fine on Fuchs Supersyn 5W 40. Just make sure the oil has the Porsche A40 approval. What mileage is your on?

2 hours ago, CMA said:

Welcome to have a drive of mine and see for yourself

I’ll be there in 30 mins, make sure the tank is full😀

Thanks Rob, lots of useful tips there. I’m in no rush to change unless mine explodes, so would be great to get an idea of how a well sorted one handles. £20k cash waiting #OldOutYerAnd🤞

I think I’m going to be upgrading to a 981 from my current 2.5 tip 986 which has been a great car, but is getting a bit rusty. I’m interested in people’s opinions on which 981 options are worth looking out for and any common issues to check for.

I did find a similar thread, but that seemed to get derailed into a fight about tyres.

I’ll probably keep the car a long time, so resale isn’t an issue. Hence I’ll probably go for a high miles, more recent car such as a 2015 with 100k rather than a 2012 with 60k. It’s mostly a weekend car so the aim is driving involvement. I like the tip on the 986, but feel I need to go manual on the 981 just to keep a similar level of involvement, although given the preponderance of PDK I won’t rule one out, interested to hear views on the manual gearbox. 

PSE is a must or I’d have to add myself or similar. I enjoy having to wring the neck of the 2.5, so I think I might regret upgrading to a 3.4, although I suspect most 3.4 are better specced, so won’t rule it out and am open to opinions. I love the look of the GTS, but not paying an extra £15k, so may just upgrade the front bumper as per @daz05

Are the standard seats ok? I have the sports seats in the 986 which work well.

I’m aware of the heater fan issue and the unreliable engine mounts, any other things that might be suspect on a higher miles car?

Interested to hear your views.

11 hours ago, Boxer Barry said:

Hi everyone 

I've been lurking on this forum ever since I got my 2004 986 S just over a year ago. Just clocked up 38k today. Recently had a full set of Michelin Pilot Sport 2s fitted to replace the Chinese budget tyres that were on there. Took her out for a decent blast in the sunshine today. I can really notice the difference in handling. She feels more sure footed and stable. I also had a new red hood fitted by Car Hood Warehouse in the summer and loving the results. 

Looking forward to having more of a presence on this forum.

Be good to see a pic of the new hood on the car. I do think red looks good with silver or white.

I’ve watched a few of his engine tear downs and he’s quite entertaining. Here he is tearing down the flat six which he seems to treat as something quite special. Interesting to see where all the bits go on these engines.

Connector info in this thread

details of brake line lengths on page 8 of my running report

I think it is a din flare, I just bought a cheap kit off eBay, the flare was fine, but the pipe bender was useless and I just used my fingers on the cunifer. I don’t remember the plastic clips breaking, but I think I was very careful when removing the old brake pipes and used lots of Plus Gas. There is a 1 to 2 junction half way down the passenger side which I reused after a bit of a clean up. You can feed the pipe over the engine from one wheelarch and then down to the other wheel arch and then fix in place. Front is tricky and my pipe didn’t follow the original routing entirely faithfully.

I’ve not done the GT3 master cylinder upgrade, but those who have seem to rate the improvement in pedal feel.

good luck, hope you’ve got a warm garage.

22 minutes ago, EXY said:

Doesn't explain the marque difference.

My Pop was a British Leyland man, one uncle was a Hillman aficionado, another uncle swore by and sometimes at his Toyota's but my favourite uncle was a Porsche man.

My point is none of them would tank you for a FORD let alone pay a premium for one. There is a lot of time dedicated on FB as to why the price differential but I'm unconvinced. 

I bet they start getting cheaper though with current events.

Could it be that proper ‘car’ people back in the day obsessed over cars and chose favourites, but the bulk of ordinary folk just bought bread and butter fords in large numbers thanks in part to the halo models giving them a bit of glamour, Rally Fords, Cosworths, XR models etc.

Roll forward 30 years and lots of the ordinary folk have lots of money thanks to house prices etc and don’t really remember the other makes so much, but do remember admiring the halo models that they can now afford (until recently) and that just generates a bubble of valuation as there’s far more of these people than born and bred car enthusiasts.

Longer intervals between servicing?

4 hours ago, ATM said:

Clearly something broken then because it does it when first started and it is deffo not hot.

Dodgy engine temperature sensor on the inlet manifold? I think this is for a 987, but expect the 981 is similar. Looks a fairly easy swap.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/26-FUEL-Engine_Sensors/26-FUEL-Engine_Sensors.htm#:~:text=This sensor is simply held,car near the cylinder head.

2 hours ago, ATM said:

Passenger side air scoop has some form of fan inside.  The other day this was running constantly.  What's it for?  Anyone else had theirs running in this colder weather?

I’d assume it’s an engine cooling fan for when the car’s stationary to keep air flow over the engine when it’s not being pushed into the air scoops.

11 hours ago, ½cwt said:

It was cheapened the day it was put on the MGB

CFA,

MGAs rule👍

This might give some pointers, it’s on a 2003 911 Turbo, but window circuit should be similar. Fuse C3 seems to be an issue on that one.
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-turbo-forum/1032221-short-in-window-and-door-circuit-help.html

There may not be any issue with the roof mechanism as you say the windows are inoperable. I assume there are microswitches to confirm window drop before roof operation commences? I’d try and fault find the window operation before doing any dismantling of the roof mechanism. Do the windows drop when opening the doors?

I have similar occasionally, it’s like something fails to disengage when you remove the key, but I’m not sure which part is responsible. I now recognise it’s happened as the car won’t lock, so I just put the key in and remove it again which has always sorted it.

25 minutes ago, Geordie40 said:

If anyone is after a black edition there’s one on autotrader , I nearly looked at it but only part service history. No 724

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311143945616

 

Something iffy about that advert. Virtually no description and dash clearly shows mileage is 49k, not 43k

Lamda readings fail are often due to leaks on the exhaust joints letting in extra oxygen. Had this once on mine and was fine after I replaced the joints.

2 hours ago, Boxsum said:

BTW any top tips on changing them ie get engine warm first or not etc etc to help bolts come out? 
 

Thanks once again to everyone👍
 

Probably do it with a cold engine, but spray plenty of plus gas on the bolts and leave a while. You need to be very careful not to round off the Allen bolts or it will be a world of pain getting them out. Make sure the Allen key is fully home before attempting to turn by tapping in with a small hammer. Good luck.