New (to me) 981 GTS

[Angelus666]

Hi all, after years and years of M car ownership (M3CSL and Z4MC) I've bought a lovely 981 Boxster GTS PDK. First two weeks of ownership has been mostly good.....cracking anti social noise is good, needing 2 radiators as the air con has asthma isn't so good. Luckily the dealer is covering the £1100 spend, and I get two new parts...so actually quite a good thing I guess as these look like terribly designed things being so open to stones at 80 mph.

Looking forward to owning the car over the next couple of years. 

[Menoporsche]

Zunsport or other protective mesh. 
 

Welcome  

[MannyLon]

13 minutes ago, Angelus666 said:

Hi all, after years and years of M car ownership (M3CSL and Z4MC) I've bought a lovely 981 Boxster GTS PDK. First two weeks of ownership has been mostly good.....cracking anti social noise is good, needing 2 radiators as the air con has asthma isn't so good. Luckily the dealer is covering the £1100 spend, and I get two new parts...so actually quite a good thing I guess as these look like terribly designed things being so open to stones at 80 mph.

Looking forward to owning the car over the next couple of years. 

Post some pics up..

[GTSMarky]

Congratulations on your purchase.

The lack of grills from new is madness, as is the Porsche opinion on warranty if you subsequently then fit a grill despite the fact their GT cars have them... Go figure..

I have Zunnsport on my BGTS as I simply was not comfortable with the open apertures feeding debris into the radiators and would recommend you do the same.

I found Zunnsport rather nonchalant to deal with, however their grills do work!

[mneil]

Welcome and there are lots of thread on here regarding grills, from ready made to DIY.

Don't forget to give them a good dose with ACF50😃.

[daz05]

7 hours ago, Angelus666 said:

Hi all, after years and years of M car ownership (M3CSL and Z4MC) I've bought a lovely 981 Boxster GTS PDK. First two weeks of ownership has been mostly good.....cracking anti social noise is good, needing 2 radiators as the air con has asthma isn't so good. Luckily the dealer is covering the £1100 spend, and I get two new parts...so actually quite a good thing I guess as these look like terribly designed things being so open to stones at 80 mph.

Looking forward to owning the car over the next couple of years. 

Welcome, also an ex z4mc owner.

One of my vids may help you with the grills and some other preventative tips.

 

[Angelus666]

Thanks Daz, yep I've seen (subbed and liked) your videos....excellent work on those, really good insight! I definitely need the black zunsport grills as just the dirt and leaf build up on the radiators is enough to drive me crackers. Also, do you have any tips on fixing squeaks and rattles with the roof (apart from drive with it down all the time...lol)? 

I've still got my MC, not 100% sure whether I'll sell it or not, it has an appeal that the Porsche doesn't quite have for me right now. The GTS is by far the better car in every respect, but the MC has an old school feel to it that you have to drive around that is part of the charm. 

[Angelus666]

7 hours ago, GTSMarky said:

Congratulations on your purchase.

The lack of grills from new is madness, as is the Porsche opinion on warranty if you subsequently then fit a grill despite the fact their GT cars have them... Go figure..

I have Zunnsport on my BGTS as I simply was not comfortable with the open apertures feeding debris into the radiators and would recommend you do the same.

I found Zunnsport rather nonchalant to deal with, however their grills do work!

Do Porsche really feel an aftermarket grill effects airflow to the radiators? I'll need to get some of those...are they an easy fit, clip on type of job? 

[daz05]

1 hour ago, Angelus666 said:

Thanks Daz, yep I've seen (subbed and liked) your videos....excellent work on those, really good insight! I definitely need the black zunsport grills as just the dirt and leaf build up on the radiators is enough to drive me crackers. Also, do you have any tips on fixing squeaks and rattles with the roof (apart from drive with it down all the time...lol)? 

I've still got my MC, not 100% sure whether I'll sell it or not, it has an appeal that the Porsche doesn't quite have for me right now. The GTS is by far the better car in every respect, but the MC has an old school feel to it that you have to drive around that is part of the charm. 

Glad they helped you I thought that one would help a new owner avoid some pain. My roof is rattle free so not sure I can help you there, are you sure it's the roof and not the roll over bars they like a rattle or two and a strip down with some felt tape in-between the joints works wonders.

Yes, agree the Z4MC has some character, the 981 is top of the class but the top end of the s54 is just lovely and it would have been a great chassis with some decent suspension from factory. I always felt mine would bite but strangely that made it all the more appealing.

[Jonttt]

Congrats on the purchase..........I'll be honest though I struggle with the appeal of a Z4M over a 981GTS lol........I confess to being an ex Z3m S54 owner though who could just never get on with the extra mass and size of the Z4 in comparison......they seem far to civilised compared to the Z3..........the combo of the auto manual box and mid engine compared to the front engine beemers does take some getting used to .........get used to driving it in manual mode and different loading around the twisties though and you will soon realise just how much more fun a mid engine car is compared to one with all the weight loaded over the front wheel......it can be disconcerting at first so you have to get over that confidence in the different feel......PDK makes it slightly harder as you ultimately have less control re engine braking etc.....but its still great fun in manual mode ;-)........you'll find yourself using the Z4m less and less until you don't use it at all.......my Z3m ended up unmoved in storage for 5 years !

[MannyLon]

1 hour ago, Jonttt said:

Congrats on the purchase..........I'll be honest though I struggle with the appeal of a Z4M over a 981GTS lol........I confess to being an ex Z3m S54 owner though who could just never get on with the extra mass and size of the Z4 in comparison......they seem far to civilised compared to the Z3..........the combo of the auto manual box and mid engine compared to the front engine beemers does take some getting used to .........get used to driving it in manual mode and different loading around the twisties though and you will soon realise just how much more fun a mid engine car is compared to one with all the weight loaded over the front wheel......it can be disconcerting at first so you have to get over that confidence in the different feel......PDK makes it slightly harder as you ultimately have less control re engine braking etc.....but its still great fun in manual mode ;-)........you'll find yourself using the Z4m less and less until you don't use it at all.......my Z3m ended up unmoved in storage for 5 years !

Have to disagree here. I have a M Coupe and it has to be one of the most fun and quirky cars ever produced. Not really comparing the same cars. 

 

 

 

[Jonttt]

3 hours ago, MannyLon said:

Have to disagree here. I have a M Coupe and it has to be one of the most fun and quirky cars ever produced. Not really comparing the same cars. 

 

 

 

Now that depends if your talking the actual M Coupe ie the original M Coupe and then I would agree totally, especially the S54 engined (although the S50's where pretty good, I've had both).......the later Z4m's I never got on with, offloaded after 6 months.....lost the character of the original......that engine, as great as it was just lost something in the Z4 platform IMHO 😉

[daz05]

The BMWs have there place and their M engines are generally up there (pre turbo) but Porsche takes it up a notch everywhere else.

Both the Z3 and 4Ms were pretty flawed but fun, BMW seems to make the front too soft and the rear way to stiff and they struggle on our roads, the M3s of both eras were much better cars, albeit a bit less interesting.

[MannyLon]

12 minutes ago, Jonttt said:

Now that depends if your talking the actual M Coupe ie the original M Coupe and then I would agree totally, especially the S54 engined (although the S50's where pretty good, I've had both).......the later Z4m's I never got on with, offloaded after 6 months.....lost the character of the original......that engine, as great as it was just lost something in the Z4 platform IMHO 😉

Indeed, sir, the original //M Coupe.

[MannyLon]

13 minutes ago, daz05 said:

The BMWs have there place and their M engines are generally up there (pre turbo) but Porsche takes it up a notch everywhere else.

Both the Z3 and 4Ms were pretty flawed but fun, BMW seems to make the front too soft and the rear way to stiff and they struggle on our roads, the M3s of both eras were much better cars, albeit a bit less interesting.

Some suspension upgrades really brought out the best from the M Coupe. Shnitzer suspension, front and rear ARBs and you have an almost perfect track car. I even chose to chop my CSL in and keep the M Coupe😇

[JohnSyn]

17 hours ago, Angelus666 said:

Do Porsche really feel an aftermarket grill effects airflow to the radiators

They don't seem to,  as they fit them themselves to GT cars and my 981 Spyder had them. Its odd that don't even offer them as an option. Whether fitting them affects the warranty is a much discussed topic on most forums. At a recent Zoom meeting the Service Manager of an OPC told us they are required to take pics and send them off for the extended warranty. He also said they had one customer who had recieived correspondence form Porsche UK saying it was ok to fit grills. Lastly, he said if he owned a Porsche he would fit them!

[Angelus666]

Forgot to add some pics, so here are a few I have on the machine. Will take some proper ones, once I've had the chance to do a full details and correction.  

[Angelus666]

Love the interior design, it's a perfect blend of materials. 

[Withy]

lovely.  Congrats

[Jonttt]

It has the interior GTS pack which was a must have for me ;-).........I’ve had a few cars from Redline.......they always source great spec stock 😎

[GTSMarky]

18 hours ago, Angelus666 said:

Love the interior design, it's a perfect blend of materials. 

Same as my BGTS apart from I have leather wheel and PDK knob rather than Alcantatra..

 

It's a nice tactile cabin & a pleasant place to sit.

[GTSMarky]

On 7/3/2020 at 10:49 PM, Angelus666 said:

Do Porsche really feel an aftermarket grill effects airflow to the radiators? I'll need to get some of those...are they an easy fit, clip on type of job? 

If it ain't Porsche they don't like it irrespective of whether it's good or not...

Yes, easy to fit.

[GTSMarky]

There may be a discount code available if you search.

[Gorsh]

Lovely car @Angelus666, I also bought my BGTS from Redline, they have some (mostly unaffordable for me!) fantastic cars in stock and a pleasant hassle free buying experience.

[Davidbf1.com]

Exact same interior as mine - as @GTSMarky and  @Jonttt have mentioned, it’s a must-have for the GTS and makes it a very special place to sit - very tactile.

718GTS I had as courtesy car last year, didn’t feel as special a place to be sitting in (even WITHOUT the engine on!). It felt like the material quality was lower - I doubt it was, but it didn’t feel as high quality - in fact I was convinced the dash was NOT leather, despite the contrast/deviated stitching.

 

enjoy your 981 BGTS !!