Finally got it...!

[appletonn]

Picked it up on the 17th December 2007. Drove it 90 miles across the Pennines, in the dark, on damp roads close to freezing on Dunlop Direzza trackday tyres... Does wonders for the concentration levels and hand to eye coordination...!![]
It has some Lindsay Racing upgrades with supposedly around 320bhp - only driven it like my Nan so far, so hard to tell!
Got rock hard Bilstein suspension all round and seriously low - going to be a proper go-kart in the dry methinks!
Straight into Hartech for a full (Gold+) service inc belts etc.
Love it already!

 

[Black_JPN]

Congratulations! Take it easy in this weather - I know I'm finding it difficult resisting the boost when its cold, wet and slippy. Come spring though you'll have your go kart. Should be fun!

 

[Diver944]

Congratulations Nick, what a baptism of fire that drive home must have been.

Please, please, please take extra special care with those trackday tyres. They will not be getting any temperature into them on the roads at the moment and will have substantially less grip compared to a normal road tyre. Over the years we have seen dozens of new owners make that fateful post 'smashed up my new car' within a few months of getting it so please be careful.

Now that I've been all patronising like an old grandma [8|] I hope you have a heck of a lot of fun with it , and that Hartech give it a good going over and a clean bill of health

 

[edh]

Sounds great - looking forward to seeing you on the track in 2008

let's see some more pics (once you've washed it [])

(I see Goldtrack have released their schedule - maybe we should book up a 944 day?)

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: appletonn

....It has some Lindsay Racing upgrades with supposedly around 320bhp....

Some? A fair few for that power. Sounds like a trip to "The Rollers of Truth" is needed. []

Congrats on your new car. As Paul says, be very careful. Everybody, and their dog, will want to feel the power of boost but it can be a very fickle mistress. Actually "and their dog" is perhaps an overstatement as Mostyn our dog hates Beaky.

 

[RC18B 911 turbo]

Congrats on the new car sounds like it'll be good fun. Just be careful out there at the moment though very cold of late.

 

[peanut]

nice one ...pity about the colour though lol.
just kiddin.
lets see some pics sometime if you can leave off polishing and admiring it for 2 minutes []
another nick

 

[appletonn]

Thanks for the welcoming comments!

Got it back from Hartech on Friday and they have pronounced it a 'good car' - takes advert for left kidney off ebay......

Still spent a few quid on the service though - new belts & rollers, inc alternator & pwr steering ones, free up and new bush on gear linkage (transformed it!) and other bits like 2 new handbrake cables and new handbrake shoes.

Big sigh of relief when I read the compression test results too - all virtually identical and very healthy, not bad for 134,000 miles.

Only remaining thing to sort (fairly fundamental, i know!) are the brakes - too much dead travel. They removed and checked the calipers for plate lift, but all were good. There is a small amount of corrosion on the inner faces of the front disks (ring about 1cm wide immediately adjacent to the hub) which might be a factor, but to be honest it feels like they need bleeding as the travel disappears as soon as you pump the pedal a couple of times. Also, the car has not been used much in the last 6 months and has sat outside, so I'm hoping that a full bleed and some spirited [] use will clean them up!

Gingerly drove it from Bolton to Warrington on Friday morning on similarly slippery roads and didn't get it on boost, bar a tentative prod on the accelerator in 3rd in a straight line on the East Lancs road and... ...fantastic 'thrust' and great noise from the RPM tailpipe!

Hartech said that it felt quite a bit quicker than a standard 250 and the Lindsay kit that is on it, is advertised by them as giving up to 350bhp, but I suspect that might just be our transatlantic cousins inflating things somewhat! Even with the limited 'boosting' done so far, it feels quicker than the 964 C4 I had a few years back.

Just got to get the cosmetic bits and pieces sorted now - new trim clips to hold the side carpet pieces in the boot, etc etc!!

I am definitely up for some trackday action (once it's warmer and drier...[&:]!) especially as my insurance policy includes cover for 5 this/next year.... ...it'd be rude not to?!!

Look forward to meeting up at some point.

Will post some pics once I have washed it properly (wheels off etc!) this week.

Cheers
Nick

 

[Diver944]

Great news Nick, I am tending to agree with you that fresh fluid and a bleed will firm up the brakes, very easily done with one of these Speed bleeders too.

Good to hear your insurance will cover 5 trackdays, we shall have to organise a few days were a few of us can get along. It's always more fun in a group. As you're in Warrington, we'll have to try something central like Donington to get the largest numbers of us

 

[edh]

I'm going to book Oulton on Friday Feb 29th - £129 with Easytrack

(can't guarantee it will be either warmer or drier though [] )

 

[Robbo149]

Good to hear you got a good one. I'm hoping I end up with a 'good' S2 when the search continues after Crimbo! Buying an old car is such a minefield, not that that's ever stopped me before though []

Cheers & Merry Xmas to all,
Robbo

 

[Neil Haughey]

All sounds great.

I used to live not far from your haunts, in Culcheth (between Warrington and east lancs towards Wigan / Leigh). Drove along the east lancs every week into Salford. Back then I didn't have the Porsche but I do remember a fair few hairy moments when the roads were a bit to icy or greasy in the winter. I once went straight of a snow covered road outside Culcheth and into a hedge but luckily no ditch so just drove straight back onto the road.

I would say be careful of the RWD in winter with all that power etc. etc. but TBH down here in the deep south every one drives like a grandad at the first sight of snow or ice, I think up North ppl are just conditioned by experience of bad weather and just know how to handle a car in such situations.

 

[appletonn]

Diver, Donington sounds ideal - did a handful of novice laps there a couple of years ago and love the circuit. EDH, as Oulton is my local circuit, the 29th Feb could well be my first track in the car - £129 sounds cheap?

List of other jobs to sort, brakes excluded, include:

• Interior light not triggered by driver's door opening - works off passenger one!
• Boot lamp broken where it should clip into carpet trim - Porsch-apart here I come!
• Plastic end on 1 headlamp adjuster broken - snapped off when I pulled lamp out to fit new/better H4 bulbs.... Doh. Porsch-apart etc - good job they are fairly local..!
• Roof and s/roof need some T-cut/elbow grease action - rest of paintwork is pretty good
• Boot carpet bit grubby - washed/cleaned with good old Vax washer, now much better.
• New plastic clips ordered for side carpet trim pieces in boot - OPC Bolton parts guy very helpful!

This list is far from exhaustive!!

Cheers
Nick