When I first started 993C4S.com one of my very first posts was about the “Worst Day of the Year” or the day I winterized my Porsche and put it away for the snow and salt season. Well, as many of you may have noticed, the countdown timer to when my car comes out of winter hibernation is gone! That’s right, my 993 is back on the road!

My car was in storage from December 2nd, 2007 until April 14th, 2008 or just about 4 ½ months. As I was preparing to take her out of storage I thought it would be a great idea for a post. Most people are familiar with the process for getting their Porsche ready for winter storage. However, in our excitement we might not remember that there are certain steps, for both safety and mechanical reasons, that we should follow when putting our Porsches back into service after any long-term storage.

So, try to control your excitement about getting out on the road and take a few extra minutes to consider the following:

1. Do a quick walk around: Visually inspect the car, the tires, the lights, the interior, etc. Make sure nothing went flat, no cracks developed in any visible gaskets or lights and make sure you had no unwanted visitors build a nest in your tailpipe or anywhere else for that matter. Look under the car for any signs of new leaks that may have developed during storage.

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2. Battery: Hopefully you had some sort of battery tender on you car during its storage. Not only will this ensure a smooth spring start-up, it will greatly extend the life of your battery (especially in a 993). Remove your batter tender and test it to make sure it has a full charge.

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3. Tires: Even though you did a quick walk-around, go back over your tires. Check the air-pressure. Chances are you over inflated them for winter storage. Now, while the tires are cold, is the best time to adjust inflation back to proper levels. Look for any cracks in the sidewall or treads. Check for flat spots.

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4. Lubrication: Remember, your Porsche has been sitting for a long time. This means the oil has mostly settled and those delicate moving parts might not have enough protection on them. Prior to starting the car simply remove the DME or fuse that controls the fuel pump, and turn the car over a few times. You want to do this long enough to bring the oil and fuel pressure up. Once the pressure is up, replace the DME or fuse and start the car.

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5. Fire it up: If your Porsche was properly stored for the winter and you follow the steps above, your car should start with no problems. Once running, turn on the lights and blinkers and do another quick check to make sure all the electric systems are running. Hop back out of the car for one-last walk around and make sure you don’t see any new leaks now that the car is running.

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6. Test Drive: Roll your Porsche forward, test the brakes and take it out for a 20 or 30 minute drive around your neighbor hood. Be sure to take it slow at the beginning and let your Porsche come up to full operating temperature. I try not to bring my Porsche over 4000 RPMs until it is at full operating temp. Be sure to take a cell-phone with you in the unlikely event of a problem.

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7. Final Check: Do one final walk around. Check again for any fluid leaks. Check all your fluid levels. If everything is good to go, you’re done. Take the car out and enjoy.

Does your spring start-up procedure differ from mine? Let me know what you do differently or what you would add to the list?

[Image Source: Author, p-car]

While none of the following line items should cause you to walk away from a prospective purchase all on their own, they are things to keep in mind when looking to purchase a “new to you” Porsche. Every car and seller has their own story and most of them are legitimate. These are just things to be aware of when considering the purchase of a used Porsche (or any car for that matter).

Remember, nothing can take the place of a well-performed PPI

1. Limited or no service history: While a good PPI can uncover most of the potential problems or fixes a car may need, they are not bullet proof. In addition, service history gives you a good idea as to how well the car was cared for over its life and if certain maintenance items were deferred (not done). Not to mention a full-service history and documentation will greatly add to the resale value of certain cars as they continue to age.
2. It’s too good to be true: You’ve done your research and you know that the used 993 C4S you are looking for should cost between $50,000 and $60,000 but you just found a one-owner car with low-miles and complete records for less than half of market price. I’m not saying this couldn’t be the deal of the century, just remember not everyone is honest.
3. Used car dealers: Not all dealers are created equal. There are many excellent private Porsche dealers. Companies that have been around for years and have an excellent reputation (i.e. Richard Sloan, TruSpeed, Willhoit, Premier, Weissach Autohaus, Holt, etc.) are always good sources for used, well cared for Porsches. However, it seems there are just as many other dealers with bad, if not horrible reputations, when it comes to selling Porsches. Remember, there are lots of resources available to check other people’s experience with a certain dealer. Use them! Do a search on Rennlist or Pelican Parts on any dealer you are thinking of working with. You may be very surprised at what you find.
4. Private sellers: Are they forthcoming with information? Do they seem to know the history of the vehicle well? Do they seem trustworthy on the phone? Are they happy to go through details? With a private seller it is much more difficult to vet them out and sometimes you just have to trust you instincts. If you don’t get a warm fuzzy feeling from the person you are dealing with I suggest you walk away. Finding the right seller is one of the most important steps in finding the right Porsche.
5. You found it on craigslist: I say this mostly as a joke. Craigslist is a great resource and you can find some nice cars and accessories. However, craigslist is also home to some of the worst scams known to car buyers. Buyer beware!

Porsche Buyers’ Guides Available on the Internet

Another great option is to look at one of the many Porsche Buyer’s Guides available on the internet. In my opinion, one of the best and most frequently recommended is Adrian Crawford’s Porsche Secrets Revealed series. Available on-line in an e-book format, it is comprehensive with great details and photos and very inexpensive given the amount of knowledge that Adrian shares.

If you have other items that you think should be on this list, please let me know!

Related Porsche Posts
What’s the True Cost of Deferring Maintenance on Your Porsche

I’ve written a few posts lately on products developed or designed by “Porsche Design”, “Design by F.A. Porsche”, “Porsche Design Studio”, etc. Lately, a few people have written to me asking for some additional information on this subject. Specifically, what are all these companies? How do they relate to Porsche? Why are there so many different names? It is something I’ve wanted to explore for quite some time so I decided to dig in over the weekend and do a little research. Here’s what I found out.

“Originally, there were five independently operated companies with three different brands: Porsche Design, Design by F.A. Porsche and Porsche Selection.”

Porsche Design / Design by F.A. Porsche

Professor Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche (pictured on the left), designer of the Porsche 911 and grandson of the Porsche founder, opened the Porsche Design Studio in Stuttgart in 1972, which was moved to Zell am See, Austria, two years later. The 911 quickly became the quintessential sports car and a design classic, along with many other products that Professor F. A. Porsche designed. Over the following decades, numerous classic men’s accessories such as watches, glasses and writing utensils were created and marketed worldwide under the “Porsche Design” brand. At the same time, many industrial products and household- and consumer goods for internationally recognized clients, including streetcars for the city of Vienna, were developed under the “Design by F.A. Porsche” brand. All of the studio’s works are distinguished by a clear and functional design language, careful selection of materials and high-quality workmanship, which combines artisan tradition with state-of-the-art technology. Since 2005 all products have been developed and marketed under the brand Porsche Design.

Porsche Selection

This was the accessories brand for the sports car manufacturer Porsche. Porsche has been offering vehicle accessories for over 50 years. Even in the 1950s, the “Porsche Boutique” offered luggage collections, wallets, T-shirts, calendars, model cars, buttons, tiepins and cufflinks developed specially for the 911. The products were sold in Porsche centers around the world and at events like the Carrera Cup. In 1994, Porsche AG’s merchandising division was given the new name “Porsche Selection”, which was changed in 2004 to “Porsche Design Driver’s Selection”. It has also been possible to purchase Porsche products from the Porsche online shops since 2000.”

Porsche Design Group Today

In November of 2003 Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG was founded to combine Porsche AG’s and Porsche Design Group’s accessories and licensing business into one single company, the Porsche Design Group. Today, the Porsche Design Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of Porsche AG with three divisions:

• Porsche Design
• Porsche Design Driver’s Selection
• Porsche Design Studio

Over the next week or two I’ll look at each of the companies division a little more in-depth and showcase some of the various products and design work they are responsible for. Do any of you own any Porsche Designed products? If so, what? Let me know.

Related Porsche Design Posts
Porsche Design Driver’s Selection for Your Mom
mPower Emergency Illuminator designed by Porsche
Porsche Design Boat

[Source: Porsche AG, Porsche Design Group]

Are you a Porsche owner or do you aspire to own a Porsche? Are you a Porsche enthusiast or fan? If you answered yes to either of those questions and you enjoy writing then please read on. 993C4S.com needs a few guest posts and I’m hoping that some of you, as readers, might have something Porsche related you want to write about and share with others.

So, here’s the deal. I have some personal business that I need to attend to over the next few weeks and as a result I’m not going to be able to post as frequently as I would like. In order to keep the post schedule the same as it is now (Monday through Friday) I would like to recruit a few aspiring (or already accomplished) writers to fill in the gaps.

Here is what I can offer for your efforts

1. A by-line with a link back to your own web-page or business. Basically, this is a free plug for anything you might be interested in. Your Porsche related business, your own personal web-page, your favorite charity, etc. The value of this is you get a permanent link (your post is permanently archived) on a highly ranked, Porsche centric web-site. Very SEO friendly for you on-line marketers in the group.
2. An outlet to reach over 5000 visitors a month (and currently growing at about 30% month over month) with your Porsche related topic or post.
3. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude.

There are a few model areas where I would love some more content and expertise (356, 912, early 911, anything Turbo related, etc.). Besides those topics I’m very wide open as long as it is Porsche related. If any of you out there are interested, please use the contact page to get in touch with me and I can give you more specifics.

When you think of Porsche and racing you probably jump right to thoughts of extreme horse power, the timeless and iconic design of the Porsche 911, Porsche’s recent win at the 12 hours of Sebring, or maybe even the Cayenne S in the Transsyberia Rally. I can almost guarantee however, that you most likely don’t think of Porsche when it comes to gravity racing or zero-emission race cars, at least I didn’t.

What is Gravity Racing?

Take the concept of your old fashioned soapbox derby competitions and combine that with the speed and technology of Formula 1 and that should give you some idea. Okay, maybe not quite the speed of F1, but today these gravity powered, zero emission racers are extremely hi-tech and can reach speeds in excess of 50+ mph.

According to Michael Jordan of Automobile magazine,

“The Extreme Gravity Racing Series (XGR) first came together in Southern California in 2000, when Don MacAllister staged a low-key charitable event with soapbox derby cars in order to promote America Works for Kids, a jobs program for foster kids. It grew from there.”

Porsche entered the fray in 2003 as a competitor with their “Soapboard” design (pictured to the left) and again in 2004 (but this time only as an exhibition entry as they did not meet the 2004 rule requirement of four wheels). Porsche’s entry proved competitive enough to win the event in 2003 and to place second in 2004 (Porsche lost only by inches and was racing with a blown tire).

Today, eight years later, the original concept behind Extreme Gravity Racing has morphed into a new company.

Enter Zero Emission Racing (ZER)

According to their web-site,

“ZER provides an environmental marketing platform by conducting exciting, 100% emissions-free racing events for the purposes of furthering environmental awareness and technology, creating value for sponsors through eco-branding, raising funds for local charities, providing family-friendly events for local communities, and growing the company into an international racing phenomenon.”

In addition, the ZER blog, in a post dated March 2nd, 2008, announced that the 2008 event will incorporate electric-powered racers.

At this point it is unknown if Porsche or a Porsche Designed car will be competing in the 2008 race currently scheduled for August 16, 2008 in Monterey California. I spoke to Don MacCallister (CEO of ZER) but he declined to comment for this post.

Porsche and gravity racing

As discussed previously, Porsche is much more than just an automobile manufacturer. In fact, the Porsche Design Group (a majority-owned subsidiary of Porsche AG) consists of three organizations (Porsche Design, Porsche Design Driver’s Selection and Porsche Design Studio). Each of the organization is tasked with their own unique purpose (more on this in a future post) but all share one thing in common; the unique, iconic and superb design skills synonymous with Porsche.

The catalyst for this post can be found at 3dyn.com’s company blog. 3dyn is the manufacturer responsible for the current Porsche gravity racer. I spoke with Mark Deadrick (President and Chief Engineer of 3dyn) late last week. According to Mark, his company was commission last fall, by Zero Emissions Racing, to build the Porsche Design P’0001 (pictured below). The original design was developed by Mark Clarke (at the time a senior designer for Porsche) with the purpose of competing in an event held by Zero Emissions Racing. In addition to the Porsche designed car, 3dyn was responsible for the manufacture of other “racers” straight from the design pens of such well known automotive marques as Bentley and Aston Martin.

While Mark couldn’t disclose the build cost for the Porsche designed car, he did mention that similar cars have sold for as much as $60,000 in charity auctions. Asked about how fast these cars were capable of (remember these particular designs rely on gravity alone) Mark said, “70 mph was certainly achievable.” He further thought that speed was limited only to the bravado of the driver and the course chosen for the race.

I don’t know about you, but I for one would love the opportunity to drive (and even own) one of these racers. Let’s hope that Porsche continues with its participation. In the event there is another charitable auction at the end of this year’s race, I may just try bidding on one of these. Talk about a great P-car addition to the garage.

[Source: 3dyn, ZER, Automobile Magazine, Popular Science, Tuvi, Gizmag]

Experienced cabriolet owners will probably laugh after reading this post. Once you pick yourself up off the floor please take a minute to let me know what else can be added to the list. I’m sure there are many more items that would be quite useful.

The set-up

Northern New England experienced its first taste of spring yesterday. With temperatures reaching into the low 70s it is just possible to believe that our long winter is finally behind us.

Spring represents a lot of things to a lot of people. To me it represents my Porsche coming out of winter hibernation (watch for next week’s post on preparing your car for the road after a long winter nap.) As a result, I’m always paying extra close attention to the weather forecasts trying to pick the perfect day to put my 993 back on the road.

This year, my anticipation, for the arrival of spring, was heightened by the addition of a cabriolet to the garage. When I noticed the temperatures rising today it was with great excitement that I realized I was going to get to go for a ride and even better I was going to be able to do so with the top down.

No big deal you say. It was to me. Having never owned a cabriolet before, this was the culmination of years of desire. So it was with no small amount of eagerness that I started up the car, unlatched the roof and pushed the magic button that quickly exposed the sun and sky. Car running? Top Down? Windows Down? Wife strapped into the passenger seat? Check, Check, Check and Check. Time to roll out….

The ride

We were quickly off and running and enjoying ourselves immensely. However, we weren’t more than 10 minutes into the ride when we realized there were a few things we could have used with us in the car (some sun block for starters). While cruising on the back roads, the wind was very minor and easy to deal with but, once we decided to make a run for the beach and jumped on the interstate we soon realized that we were in need of a baseball cap (for me) and some type of hair elastic (for my wife). Once at the beach we were so thrilled with the nice weather we ended up staying out later than planned. As we made the decision to turn-around and head home we both realized that the temperature was now closer to 50 than it was to 70 and the mercury was still dropping. It would have been a really great idea if we had thought to bring along a parka or jacket of some type. I know, we could have just put the top up, but remember I’m a guy and dammit we were out for a ride with the top down (see yesterday’s post as a reminder of what I’m talking about).

Have a convertible? Keep these items in the car

So, where does this leave us? Easy, with a list of must have items every Cabriolet owner should keep in their car at all times (and I’m sure the experienced ones already do).

1. Sun-block
2. Baseball cap(s)/scarf
3. Sunglasses
4. Hair Elastic(s)
5. Windbreaker(s)/jacket(s)
6. Lip balm
7. Comb/brush
8. small fleece blanket (my wife would have liked it for her lap)
9. Extras of everything

Let me know your thoughts. What do you keep in your cabriolet and why?

Okay, so today’s post is a little off-center from the norm. However, I decided it was time for a little humor. I found this particular joke in the Off-Topic thread on Rennlist. The author of the post couldn’t remember where he had heard it but was fine with me reposting it here on 993C4S.com.

Oil Change instructions for Women:

1. Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 7500 miles since the last oil change.
2. Drink a cup of coffee
3. 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Money spent:
Oil Change: $125.00
Coffee: $FREE
Total: $125.00

Oil Change instructions for Men:

1. Wait until Saturday, drive to auto parts store and buy a case of oil, filter(s), crush washers, kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree, write a check for $100.00.
2. Stop by 7/11 and buy a case of beer, write a check for $20, drive home.
3. Open a beer and drink it.
4. Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.
5. Find jack stands under kid’s pedal car.
6. In frustration, open another beer and drink it.
7. Place drain pan under engine.
8. Look for 9/16 box end wrench.
9. Give up and use crescent wrench.
10. Unscrew drain plug.
11. Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: splash hot oil on you in process. Cuss.
12. Crawl out from under car to wipe hot oil off of face and arms. Throw kitty litter on spilled oil.
13. Have another beer while watching oil drain.
14. Spend 30 minutes looking for oil filter wrench.
15. Give up; crawl under car and hammer a screwdriver through oil filter and twist off.
16. Crawl out from under car with dripping oil filter splashing oil everywhere from holes. Cleverly hide old oil filter among trash in trash can to avoid environmental penalties. Drink a beer.
17. Install new oil filter(s) making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface.
18. Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine.
19. Remember drain plug from step 11.
20. Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan.
21. Drink beer.
22. Discover that first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor. Throw kitty litter on oil spill.
23. Get drain plug back in with only a minor spill. Drink beer.
24. Crawl under car getting kitty litter into eyes. Wipe eyes with oily rag used to clean drain plug. Slip with stupid crescent wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame removing any excess skin between knuckles and frame.
25. Begin cussing fit.
26. Throw stupid crescent wrench.
27. Cuss for additional 10 minutes because wrench bounced off the floor and chipped paint on the fender.
28. Beer.
29. Clean up hands and bandage as required to stop blood flow.
30. Dump in nine to ten fresh quarts of oil.
31. Beer.
32. Lower car from jack stands.
33. Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during any missed steps.
34. Beer.
35. Test drive car.
36. Get pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence.
37. Car gets impounded.
38. Call loving wife, make bail.
39. 12 hours later, get car from impound yard.

Money spent:
Parts: $100.00
DUI: $2500.00
Impound fee: $75.00
Bail: $1500.00
Beer: $20.00
Total: $4,195.00

But dammit, you know the job was done right!

*I was getting ready to write some disclaimer about how this is a joke and it’s never a good idea to work on your car while drinking, etc. etc. However, if you really don’t know this is not a good idea, you’re too far gone for me to help you.

[Source: Rennlist]