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The recent thread about Boxster reshelling had me looking at various web sites about them. Seems the engine can fail quite easily and the costs , compared to the value of the vehicle, make many of them unviable to repair hence the number of undamaged cars that are getting broken. Already body kits are starting to be produced and I reckon they could be as popular as the MX5 as a base for adapting in the future. Back to the engine. Subaru engines are fitted and supposed to be a good choice. The Audi V8 is reported to be a straight fit onto the Boxster gearbox according to one site. I suppose it won't be long before all kinds of US V6 & V8 are shoehorned into place. Of course over here it'll probably be Zetec and Red Tops but whilst sacrilege to a die hard Porsche fan if it stops an other wise sound car being broken then why not ? Wonder if the Lexus V8 would fit  Personally I recently bought a perfect roll bar off one for peanuts (to adapt for a quad) as seller on eBay had no body else interested. Paul H |
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The Lexus V8 would have less power than the Boxster engine! That would hardly make it a beast. If the Audi V8 fits then the twin-turbo version from the RS6 would be good! Not sure whether that's cost effective or not.
Edit: I just looked it up, and apparently the standard Lexus V8 1UZFE has the same power as a 2003 Boxster S 3.2 litre at 191kW.
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VIP
South East
Posts: 8,293
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Lexus would also be auto only, unless you fancy forking out £4k for a maual conversion...
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Lexus would also be auto only, unless you fancy forking out £4k for a maual conversion... The Boxster is mid-engined dude, he's talking about attaching the Lexus engine to the Boxster transaxle. If you wanted to mount the engine in the front and use the Lexus trans that would be a whole other kettle of fish! Seriously though, clearly the best engine for a Boxster is a modern 911 engine, the problem is just the cost of doing it. |
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Edit: I just looked it up, and apparently the standard Lexus V8 1UZFE has the same power as a 2003 Boxster S 3.2 litre at 191kW. True but the non 'S' Boxsters have less power and the earlier cars have a lot less. Some of them are not very fast at all. |
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"Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire cat is perhaps the 1.9-litre 205's closest parallel, for like Carroll's fiendish cat, when the Peugeot is gone only the grin remains." -What Car? March 1987
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MK2VR6
Posted a lot
Mk2 Golf GTi 90 Spec
Posts: 3,328
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Funnily enough was looking at Boxsters on evilBay the others day. All I knew was that they're starting to become affordable and that Clarkson doesn't like them. Never mind. Didn't know engines were a weak point though?
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Most cost effective swap is the WRX engine  www.build-threads.com/build-threads/subaru-powered-porsche-boxster/As said above, the 2.5's arent what you would call Porsche fast, Parkers lists 0-60 as 6.7 for the manual & 7.4 for the Auto. Both are 204Bhp, a tweaked WRX lump with 300-350bhp would be interesting! The most powerful version had 260bhp & 0-60 in 5.5. |
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Last Edit: Aug 7, 2013 14:02:20 GMT by joem83
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,840
Club RR Member Number: 174
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The Boxster S are properly quick cars. I did a lot of miles in one when I was 17/18 and I still think if lots corners are involved they're the quickest Porsche you can buy. They're just very easy to go very very fast in, whereas the others I've driven (928 and 70s/90s 9**) always give you the feeling that you're constantly going to be making a trip into the scenery.
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VIP
South East
Posts: 8,293
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Funnily enough was looking at Boxsters on evilBay the others day. All I knew was that they're starting to become affordable and that Clarkson doesn't like them. Never mind. Didn't know engines were a weak point though? Clarkson changes his mind more often than he changes his undies. He loved them when him and Hammond drove one in the "What can we buy for the same price as a Nissan Pixo" feature. |
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,155
Club RR Member Number: 46
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I suppose it won't be long before all kinds of US V6 & V8 are shoehorned into place. Paul H Yup, you can get a kit to fit an LS3 into a 911 or Boxster. I'm an engine whore I'll take the one with the biggest bang no matter the brand With regard to the engines, independents like Autofarm and Hartech have ways of re-lining the engines if they fail. Not cheap but the only option official Porsche dealers offer is a new £8000 replacement engine with the same design fault still in place. If you paid £5000 for a Boxster, an £8000 bill is probably a bit of a nasty surprise. Prevention is replacing a bearing and seal (Intermediate mainshaft seal) with an upgraded item. Again, not a Porsche solution but an independent solution that hasn't failed yet. www.renegadehybrids.com/ |
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Last Edit: Aug 7, 2013 16:00:36 GMT by madmog
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,161
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Funny how an LS makes almost any car better!
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Copey
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,845
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Boxster with a Boxer engine? hehe
the problem is, it still looks like a Boxster
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1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire GLSi with 2.0 Zetec
1985 Ford Capri 3.0 (was a 2.0 Laser originally)
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,514
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Look like they're getting cheap enough to drop on an aircooled VW floorpan that's one inch from the ground....
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable. |
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I've been looking at Boxsters and 996 911s for the best part of 18 months now, and hopefully by the end of the year I will have one. Both the 911s and Boxsters are supposed to fail with Intermediate Main Shaft (IMS) bearing failure, which from what I can gather eats into the inside of the engine when they do go. Looking into it, you can get a replacement IMS kit for around £500. Plus apparently specialist tools are needed to replace. It involves the removal of the gearbox and the one supplier I found the other day said they don't really know how long the replacements last. They also say they have seen as young as 2008 model vehicles fail.
My plan is to buy a Boxster/911 and replace this a.s.a.p.
Someone on another forum is fitting a VR6 lump into one if I recall.
Although a conversion would solve the problem altogether I would prefer to have the heritage/thorough bred of the Porsche
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,155
Club RR Member Number: 46
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I don't think any LN bearing kit has failed yet worldwide. In essence ceramic bearing instead of steel. Doesn't mean one won't one day. The heart of the problem is that the bearing gives no warning it's going to fail as per this vid. See if you can anticipate something going wrong. When you hear the tinkling, it's too late, you need a new engine. The 996 turbo, GT3, and GT2 have a completely different engine which doesn't have this problem but then they are more expensive. The 996 Carreras and 986 Boxsters do, The 997 & 987 (latest but one 911 and Boxster) engines up to a certain year have also been known to fail. If you get it wrong it'll really bite your wallet, not just on the engine. But the good news is the Porsche paranoia brings the prices down. The first of the water cooled 911s are way cheaper than the last of the air-cooleds. If you're thinking of getting one, have a look around www.911uk.com. All the info is there. I got one about 6 months' ago, had the IMS upgraded as insurance and learned that Porsches can be expensive on parts. Wonder if a 1999 Porsche is too new to bring to RR Gathering. Thing is, it's better on fuel than my T/C Minor which was an eye-opener. |
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yea a 1999 Porsche is retro enough I'd say, what is it? 911 or Boxster? Yea it is frightening to know that your engine can potentially 'internally explode', especially when said engine costs a few grand to replace, not like you can nip down the scrap yard and pick one up for £200. My plan is to buy one, drive it home (which I am very sceptical about) and pull the gearbox out ready for a replacement IMS. I found a replacement IMS kit on ebay the other day and they had listed a detailed write up of symptoms, preventions etc. Found it quite intriguing..... but guess theres no prevention other than replacement.
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,155
Club RR Member Number: 46
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911 Carrera 2. 1999. So that's pre-facelift, same front as the first Boxster, 2WD 3.4 litre, I must take some pictures, I've just realized I still haven't. The soft tops and or 4wd are not much more expensive to buy but give you more to go wrong. Look for service history. A lot of 996s sell cheap just below 96,000 miles when an expensive service is due. Under the bonnet there will be a sticker with a load of option codes. If you look at a car, photograph this and you can look on the Internet to see what the original options were. You can get experts to do a thorough check for you which can be good insurance. On 911uk.com, the people are great but it's different to here. There's no rat look element, it's much more 'detailing world' and 'if you meddle you'll devalue the work of art'. The philisophy is that if you want more power, don't tinker with a Carrera, get a Turbo since the factory got it right. I looked at a supercharger kit but by the time you added up the costs it would be cheaper to upgrade to a Turbo. Other hot topics are Tiptronic or manual, and what interior finishes won't be so good when you want to sell on. Main thing though is to go through the service history and the car with a fine tooth comb looking for any previous neglectful owners. Also try lots of cars, you'll start to get a feel. These are reliable supercars that you can use to pop to the shops but if someone has neglected them they get expensive. I've heard that you should budget about £2000 per year. I've already exceeded that but it's the chance you take. Service wise, some things are a bit fiddly to get at. If you look in the engine bay you will not see the engine. You change the sparkplugs & coilplugs through the wheelarches. But if you are skilled enough to get the engine out you'll save a lot of money doing work yourself. I deliberately went for the 2WD as there's less to go wrong and it gives a bit more boot space. All soft tops came with a removable hard top for winter. There was a glass roofed Targa too which is interesting as it has a openable rear window. Anyhow, the two top Porsche places for having work done are Hartech and Autofarm. No doubt there are other great places but these names come up again and again. www.hartech.org/porsche_996_997_Boxster_free_car_buyers_guide.htmlwww.autofarm.co.uk/And if you haven't already, look at 911uk.com and rennlist.org. There must be a Boxter website or two out there that will have all the Boxster specific tips and tricks too. Hmm (surfs Autofarm a bit..) Autofarm can make your 3.4 engine up to 3.7 or 3.9 litres... There's another problem called bore scoring as well but I think you have enough to fill you head for now. If you see a black 911 at RRG come over and have a chat. I'm 50:50 whether I can come at the moment. Or I'm in Southend if you're from that neck of the woods. |
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