TURBO SPOILERS

[fireblade]

Hi

My so called "automatic" spoiler deployment at 75mph has never worked and as I live in Jersey where the top speed limit is 40mph I have never been too bothered. On the track I engage "Sport Plus" which does the trick.

My local OPC cannot test the system because they cannot exceed 40 mph but state that there are all sorts of conditions that need to be satisfied for automatic deployment.

Well I found one!

On a particularly boring long hot run on a French motorway I decided to open the sunroof at 130kph (just above 80mph totally legal) and the rear spoiler popped into view! The noise was horrific so I closed the sunroof again and the spoiler disappeared.
I tried this a couple of times with the same result.

As the sunroof is an "extra" (and a pretty pathetic one too compared with my previous 997) I wonder if this has been wired incorrectly and is causing the problem.

Questions
1. Does everyone else's spoiler deploy at 75 mph in normal drive or Sport.
2. Has anyone else with a sunroof found that it affects spoiler operation?

Cheers

 

[Lancerlot]

Mike, Looks like it's raised in your avatar! Invest in an aerokit and forget about it. Would look great in your colour too! [] Regards, Clive.

 

[fireblade]

Sure is up on the track although once I forgot to press the Sport plus button! Being a bit of a pessimist I am just a bit concerned that if one thing doesn't work perhaps something else perhaps more important is wrong. Anyway I never alter or upgrade my cars, just use them straiht out of the box on the basis that the manufacturer has done the best he can for GP. Cheers Michael

 

[Damo1]

Hi Michael, you're not going mad. mine does the same... the spoiler has 3 settings... 1 is it's down, 2 is goes up a few inches when you press the spoiler button, or the in sp+. and 3 if in sport + mode and the spoiler is raised to it second setting (or perhaps even in just sport mode..?) and you have the sun roof open or tilted and you go over 80 mph, the spoiler will go up even higher (to position 3) than the usually raised sp+ position. once you drop below 50mph or shut the sunroof, it will go down to the stage 2 raised position again. it's bazaar and took me a good few months to figure it out and that was by accident, like you. but it's obviously to help the rear down force once airflow is disturbed at higher speeds. do all coupe TTS have sunroofs? i'm guessing they must do...?

 

[Damo1]

this is from the Porsche website in the info section about what's included in the turbo s... Porsche Active Aerodynamics (PAA) with automatically retractable 3-level front spoiler and wing element in the positions "Basic", "Speed" and "Performance" I notice that a sunroof is optional too, so I have no idea what would make the "performance" spoiler go up to level 3 if you have no sunroof to open..?

 

[fireblade]

Thanks Damien Well at least that is cleared up but I cannot see the reason behind the sun roof activation! Even at 60 mph the buffering is unpleasant so I cannot understand why anyone would have it open anyway. I did not realised that the highest position was only for when the sun roof was open! Perhaps it has to open because the sun roof is so cheap and nasty and does not slide away but just raises out of the car and goes backwards over the roof, that the stability of the car is adversely affected. Not sure what happens at the front spoiler but I assume that it stays retracted unless I use the Sport Plus button as I only get dead flies etc. on mine after a track session with Sport plus on. When I bough my S the sun roof was an option at over £1,000.00 which I would not have paid had I known that it was not the same as on my 997 Turbo which gracefully lowered into the car then slid back out of the way between the roof and the lining

 

[fireblade]

Yup, I read all that too but it is rather light on details as to the how and why. Somewhere it states that the spoiler comes up at 75mph automatically but mine doesn't do anything unless it is in Sport Plus mode. Cheers Michael

 

[stokey]

No ,sunroof is one of the few options on the turbo S, and yes the spoiler does extend to its highest position when sunroof is open automatically. Summary as I understand the system [8|]and how it works on my car, Automatic mode ,above 75mph rear spoiler to 1st position, front splitter outer edges down. Manual deployment stationary, press and hold, rear spoiler fully extended front splitter fully deployed, if moving above , I think 10mph? One press to achieve above effect , pressing sports plus has same effect. There is a warning system in the software I believe in the event of a spoiler failure in mode one above 75mph.

 

[fireblade]

ORIGINAL: stokey No ,sunroof is one of the few options on the turbo S, and yes the spoiler does extend to its highest position when sunroof is open automatically. Summary as I understand the system [8|]and how it works on my car, Automatic mode ,above 75mph rear spoiler to 1st position, front splitter outer edges down. Manual deployment stationary, press and hold, rear spoiler fully extended front splitter fully deployed, if moving above , I think 10mph? One press to achieve above effect , pressing sports plus has same effect. There is a warning system in the software I believe in the event of a spoiler failure in mode one above 75mph.

Agree with all above John except that mine does not deploy automatically at all except when sun roof open.] Cheers Michael

 

[stokey]

Michael, sounds like a trip to the opc[8|] that cannot be right roof open or not , a non deployment at 75mph should flag up a warning on the display for spoiler failure as its a safety issue ! I guess the opc will find the error on the system memory.

 

[fireblade]

ORIGINAL: stokey Michael, sounds like a trip to the opc[8|] that cannot be right roof open or not , a non deployment at 75mph should flag up a warning on the display for spoiler failure as its a safety issue ! I guess the opc will find the error on the system memory.

Hi John I have mentioned it before at the OPC and again when I had the so called "software upgrade" (had to be done twice, messed up other informational items that were working correctly) but was told that there was nothing wrong and that there were many criteria that had to be satisfied for the auto deployment! Interestingly having an open sunroof was not mentioned! As we have a 40mph max speed limit here I am unable to demonstrate what is not happening. Several of my friends have checked this out for me both on the French motorways and on track days and it is certainly not deploying automatically at any time except when the sun roof is open which I discovered by accident in France a couple of weeks ago. I am not really willing to let the local OPC have free run on the computer because I do not believe that they have any experience in this area. I have learned to live with it since Feb 2014 and I only brought it up again due to the unexpected deployment which occurred when I opened the sunroof. Makes you wonder about cars without a sunroof. Thanks all for your feedback, at least I know now that the sun roof opening deployment is normal even if it is a useless feature! If I have the time I might see if I can get precise details of how and when the spoiler operates from a knowledge source. Cheers Michael

 

[Tommy]

Mines the same ! Once the s+ button is pressed the spoilers deploy, When the sun roof is open in sport the spoilers deploy, if I'm really flying the rear spoiler moves to a higher level, I'm view was it help the aero set up due to the sun roof being open. I actually like the glass roof on mine and like to have it open all the time, the only issue I have it can squeak after rain, think it's the rubber seals, but normally have music on so not a deal breaker!

 

[fireblade]

ORIGINAL: Tommy Mines the same ! Once the s+ button is pressed the spoilers deploy, When the sun roof is open in sport the spoilers deploy, if I'm really flying the rear spoiler moves to a higher level, I'm view was it help the aero set up due to the sun roof being open. I actually like the glass roof on mine and like to have it open all the time, the only issue I have it can squeak after rain, think it's the rubber seals, but normally have music on so not a deal breaker!

Thanks Tommy, I was beginning to think that I was alone with this "undocumented feature" I wonder what happens on a Turbo S without a sunroof. btw certainly as far as the rear spoiler is concerned I only seem to have two positions, up or down. No idea what the front one does, I cannot see it! My friends say that they can hardly see the front spoiler while on the road. It would be nice if it was a contrasting colour or even if the Turbo S was outlined in yellow or something. I never modify my cars at all otherwise I might be tempted to have it sprayed with tyre paint. Cheers Michael

 

[Damo1]

mine is the same. it defo does NOT deploy automatically when I go over 75mph, unless roof open and in sport. nor do I get a warning on the dash I have found that as soon as exactly 80mph is shown on the dash, and the sunny is open, the spoiler will go up to it's highest point and then goes back down when you hit 50mph. my dealer had no idea at all about this function and still insists the spoilers are automatic at 75mph... clearly we know more than they do! I like the idea of modding the front rubber to show off the turbo S logo []

 

[fireblade]

ORIGINAL: Damo1 mine is the same. it defo does NOT deploy automatically when I go over 75mph, unless roof open and in sport. nor do I get a warning on the dash I have found that as soon as exactly 80mph is shown on the dash, and the sunny is open, the spoiler will go up to it's highest point and then goes back down when you hit 50mph. my dealer had no idea at all about this function and still insists the spoilers are automatic at 75mph... clearly we know more than they do! I like the idea of modding the front rubber to show off the turbo S logo []

Well that settles it as far as I am concerned, the spoiler on my car is not as specified by the manufacturer and I am not the only one! I had pretty well that same response from my OPC but we have no chance of replicating spoiler behaviour here in Jersey and I am certainly not going to take one of their technicians to France to prove a point! Still would like to hear what happens on non sunroof cars!

 

[911roadtrip]

Thanks Damien Well at least that is cleared up but I cannot see the reason behind the sun roof activation! Even at 60 mph the buffering is unpleasant so I cannot understand why anyone would have it open anyway. I did not realised that the highest position was only for when the sun roof was open! Perhaps it has to open because the sun roof is so cheap and nasty and does not slide away but just raises out of the car and goes backwards over the roof, that the stability of the car is adversely affected. Not sure what happens at the front spoiler but I assume that it stays retracted unless I use the Sport Plus button as I only get dead flies etc. on mine after a track session with Sport plus on. When I bough my S the sun roof was an option at over £1,000.00 which I would not have paid had I known that it was not the same as on my 997 Turbo which gracefully lowered into the car then slid back out of the way between the roof and the lining

I agree with you- I don't like the way the sunroof slides back over the roof.

It looks messy and ruins the lines of the 911 when open - but I understand other

car manufacturers such Mercedes also use this design now because it means there is

no loss of headroom in the car - which is not the case with sunroofs that slide away

internally above the headlining.

 

[stokey]

Just a update on the spoiler deployment ,my car underwent its 2 year service this week and i

asked my OPC to contact Porsche GB for a explaination how the system should work and if my car had any

issues.

It should deploy at 75mph to stage one, spoiler raised front splitter outer edges lowered upon pressing

sports plus or spoiler switch, full extension and front splitter fully extended.

This is where my car had a problem[8|], it should raise to its limit and tilt before leveling to mirror the lower

spoiler angle,it is a known fault that the spoiler looses its calibration 'end point'and needs to be reset.

The 2nd stage deployment is not linked to sunroof fitment they say,the 2nd stage spoiler error does not show up

on the pcm/dash system only a 1st stage fault.

The onboard system has to comanded to run a full spoiler check to find any faults.