Options

[paul111s]

I’ve been browsing the 986 classifieds , a lot of cars for sale where the owner lists the options the car has. Made me realise my 986 doesn’t have many options, it’s a weekend drivers car and options didn’t bother me (  my Discovery is my daily)  
So my question is…were options important to you what you bought your 986? And would you have bought the same car if it didn’t have options fitted? 

[½cwt]

The only option I really wanted was cruise control but couldn't find it on a decent car.  I found out it could be fairly easily retro fitted so that's what I did and ended up buying effectively a base S pec car, which to be fair isn't badly equipped, except for factory Litronic headlights (Xenon).  This applies to a number of options in that they can be retrofitted if the desire to do it is there, some factory (like sports seats), some after market like adding heating to standard seats).  Other things that were desirable in about 2000 like BOSE or CD changers are all now obsolete in terms of what you can get as an upgrade for much less cost than retro fitting those.

[Topbox]

 I think my take on this is perhaps slightly different. My main concern buying my 986 and 987 were first and foremost, colour, interior colour and wheel style. I have a theory that people who love their options tend to be conservative on colour combinations and those who pick the most interesting colours don't bother so much with the more driving focused options.  Wheels being the exception here. Its a hard search if want the good options in colours other than black,  grey, silver with black interiors.  My 986 did not have a/c. or heated seats, or much in the way of options apart from Xenon lights. It was an interesting colour, Meridian silver, had 17" sport classic wheels and a grey interior with white dials. I loved it. So I purchased on looks not options to answer your question, and I would not have bought it had it been, say black or grey. A chance to shamelessly post a pic of my old 986.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Topbox

[Stuart21UK]

@Topbox picture of the week right there

[Pordave]

Nice Sunset !

[Ol' Shatterhand]

For me it was important to find a car that was equipped with PSM. My previous (and first) car was a Y-reg VW Polo, so without any previous driving experience of performance cars, I felt it was essential. Some macho drivers will tell you you don't need it or even that it neuters the car, but I think that's BS. To be fair, I've only ever really seen it kick in on a sharp bend covered in black ice, at low speed. The back stepped out unexpectedly, maybe my own correction would have been sufficient, but I was happy PSM was there.

Mine's a daily so it also had to have climate control, and the six speaker (non-BOSE, therefore easily upgradable) stereo.

Litronics are a good thing to have as the standard halogens are very poor and tend to melt their Fresnel lenses. You can retrofit litronics at considerable cost, but you won't have the full self-levelling functionality and software integration of factory fitted units. All that said, I have recently had a good experience with 220% brighter H7 bulbs from Halfords. 

I wouldn't have minded having heated and/or sports seats, or M030 suspension, but you can have fun making potentially superior non-OEM upgrades yourself. Not cheap though... 

PCM is obsolete now, as is the very 90s in-car phone, the CD changer in the boot, and CDR units with cassette players and sticky plastic buttons. Throw that junk out. If you must have double DIN, you can get PCCM these days. 

Cruise control is worthwhile on motorways and seamlessly retrofittable on any e-gas car, ie anything other than early 2.5l cars with cable throttles.

The OEM parking sensors look hideous. A discrete aftermarket installation should be relatively cheap to install, and useful. 

In terms of cosmetics, look for a car with the extended leather option (look at the door cards for obvious clues). Cars without it have a cheap feeling cabin. Combine that with no aircon and dashboard-only speakers and you have a recipe for dreariness.

The chromeline trim gearknob and handbrake options are very expensive and look good, IF they're in good condition, but personally these days I find a rounder knob feels better in the palm of my hand. No sniggering at the back...

What else? Oh, if you get a Tiptronic car, you can upgrade to paddle-shift and pre-2002 car hoods can be replaced with heated glass rear window aftermarket ones.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Ol' Shatterhand
Typos

[jonogt6]

I had no idea about options when I bought mine. Fortunately I struck lucky and the original owner had opted for full leather, sport seats, hifi package, Mo30 suspension and techuipment interior silver trim niceties 🙂

[dave Morgan]

To be honest as a boxster newb I did not have extensive knowledge of all the available options.

The ones that appealed to me were the 3.2 S engine preferably with manual 6 speed , sports seats, heated glass rear window and heated seats.

After a bit of a search I found a year 2000 car with all of these ( aftermarket hood and rear glass ), ended up with the car I wanted and very pleased with it in evert way.

[letsmile]

When I was doing my search all those many years ago, my priorities were cruise control, heated seats, onboard computer and the sound package. I did finally get the car with all of these, then later upgraded the stereo head unit for a Becker indianapolis as wanted to be able to play mp3, have satnav and still retain the look of the original with the orange lighting and head unit finish. The satnav's now a bit basic compared to today's standards, but still looks great. After all the current priority works are done, what I would love to get are some colour coded parking sensors - has anyone got any reco's by any chance??????

[edc]

With the benefit of 2 X 986 and several years ownership I've come to realise that spec is not so important for the ownership experience but perhaps more so for the buying and selling. M030 for example is old now if original to car of minor value. I bought an M030 550 at 10 years old and replaced the whole suspension within about 2-3 years anyway. My cars have been 3.2 S models and 550 aside I didn't seek a specific colour or spec but just what came along at the time. I've never been one to look at dozens of cars in the flesh more look at lots of ads and look at a handful or less cars and often only just one. 

I've only had full leather interior and hardback sports seats. For me condition over spec. Increasingly these are weekend rather than daily cars now so cruise, heated seats are less important. 

[Menoporsche]

4 hours ago, letsmile said:

After all the current priority works are done, what I would love to get are some colour coded parking sensors - has anyone got any reco's by any chance??????

I got these, or a previous iteration

https://cobracartech.co.uk/parking-sensors-aids/rear-parking-sensors/cobra-flush-fit-rear-sensors.html 

They were supposed to be brilliant, great brand and flush fit, but I ordered from UK, gave them to my indie to paint and fit which he did, and there's a problem, as they have like a 1-2 second delay in sensing - so reversing is now safe as long as I'm slooow. I would expect the usual "not our fault - it's their fault" between supply and fitting, so never took it further.

[letsmile]

41 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

I got these, or a previous iteration

https://cobracartech.co.uk/parking-sensors-aids/rear-parking-sensors/cobra-flush-fit-rear-sensors.html 

They were supposed to be brilliant, great brand and flush fit, but I ordered from UK, gave them to my indie to paint and fit which he did, and there's a problem, as they have like a 1-2 second delay in sensing - so reversing is now safe as long as I'm slooow. I would expect the usual "not our fault - it's their fault" between supply and fitting, so never took it further.

Thanks for sharing - I didn't have a particularly good experience with cobratech some time ago so vowed to never buy anything from them again - appalling customer service! But you highlight a very good watchout if there isn't one company supplying and installing - will certainly bear that in mind 👍

[Topbox]

8 hours ago, Pordave said:

Nice Sunset !

Or sunrise 🤔

[Pordave]

Interesting rave from the grave for me in that I used to work for a small company in Chesterfield Derbyshire (25 people)and we manufactured the 30 degree version for Cobra.

[Castaway]

For me spec is second to condition.Bells and whistles are just more things to go wrong on an old car. I was relieved they have a powerful heater.

[DaveyP]

I was dead set on a silver car with black interior. Call me old fashioned, but Ferraris are red, Porsches silver, Jaguars green...

Options wise, I've ended up with what I looked for - nowt!

Well, I do have A/C, but it doesn't work!

[Little Silver]

I was looking for a silver 986 with red interior, I wasn’t bothered too much about what other options it had, luckily I found a one owner car with full leather interior. As it is a weekend car options were not something I was too bothered about. If it had been a daily it would have been different.

[Daboy3000]

I like the rawness of nothing.  I even took out the stereo.  It's a car to be driven when the sun is out and will rarely do a long distance.  All I need is the sun and some open road!

Save the luxuries for my daily.