Harry's Garage - YouTube

[otolith]

soxboy said:

Wheel Turned Out said:

thegreenhell said:

I was amused when Harry mentioned you could option magnesium wheels to save an extra 10kg, but didn't mention they cost £11.5k!

I had to do a double take at that too. I know Porsche are known for costly options, but goodness me.

Maybe the "it's all so bloody expensive it's ridiculous" is just taken as implied these days.

It is pretty bonkers. I’ll easily save 10kg and £11.5k on my Porsche by:
1. Going to the toilet before I leave the house
2. Be a bit less of a fat knacker
3. Put a bit less petrol in it.

I wonder what sort of battery it has? If it's lead acid, you could save more than that by spending a few hundred quid on a lithium ion one. Obviously not unsprung rotating mass, but still.

[Forester1965]

DonkeyApple said:

Forester1965 said:

Gives 'em something to do in between handing their firstborn over to Rolex dealers.

Could just ask the salesman for his man bangle to be thrown in as a twofer but it would be rude to speak with a mouthful.

I can imagine the whiteboard in the dealer principle's office with laminated mugshots of the clients forming a league table of how many milk-float monstrosities they managed to flog off to punters desperate to get on the list.

"You've bludgeoned 2 Macans and a Taycan into Elliott and he's still begging for a 3RS? Tell him a couple of 4 banger Boxsters and an annual membership to Shady Hills 18 holes peak times included and we'll think about it".

[greenarrow]

pneumothorax said:

world's gone barmy for sure.

If I had £130 k hanging around I know where I would be getting my NA 9000 rpm fix (F355) and I'd get a 986 3.2s for £7k and thrash the nuts of it.

I hear what you're saying but your F355, which cost £83K in 1994, would be £206K in today's money and revs to 8500, not 9000. Inflation sucks for sure! Personally I think the Boxster RS isn't so bad compared with other collectable limited edition stuff.

[Speed 3]

I agree with Harry thinking it's like a baby Carrera GT. That engine on full chat is pure motorsport.

[pneumothorax]

greenarrow said:

I hear what you're saying but your F355, which cost £83K in 1994, would be £206K in today's money and revs to 8500, not 9000. Inflation sucks for sure! Personally I think the Boxster RS isn't so bad compared with other collectable limited edition stuff.

a 355 will rev to 9k, not for long and you wouldn't do it in your own one but it will do it. I was once in one that was driven by a disreputable dealer who wanted to show me it was possible. It wasn't even his car (allegedly)

Whilst that £130k Boxster sounded good, a 355 with a fruity pipe on it sounds better north of 8k rpm, they are exquisite.

Then get a 986 and you get the Boxster experience and you don't have to bring lubrication to your local AFN

win win.

[RichardHMorris]

greenarrow said:

Its odd because I am sure I remember an older HG episode where he weighed a 718 version of a Boxster and it came in just under 1,300 KG. Still no lightweight, but when you consider the original 986 Boxster 2.5 weighed 1242KG in 1996, actually pretty decent considering the weight rises that have generally taken place since the mid 90s...

Alpine of course make a car that is around the 1100KG mark but it seems to not appeal to Porsche owners.

I just checked and the kerb weight for my Abarth 124 Spider from 2016 is listed as 1,060kg. We've just ordered a Focus ST Estate as a second car and that lists at 1,673kg...

[Forester1965]

My old Citroen C1 was about 800kg!

[Dashnine]

Hilarious how the microphones couldn’t handle the shriek of the engine (or was it my speakers)!

[Crudeoink]

soxboy said:

It is pretty bonkers. I’ll easily save 10kg and £11.5k on my Porsche by:
1. Going to the toilet before I leave the house
2. Be a bit less of a fat knacker
3. Put a bit less petrol in it.

10kg saved on the wheels will make a massive difference to the car, especially if the mass is saved a towards the outside of the wheel. From my vehicle dynamics studies I remember learninf unsprung to sprung mass saving was about 1:7 (in reality there's loads of variables but it's between 1:4 - 1:10) I.e saving 1kg of wheel mass would yield the same gain in performance as a 7kg saving on the chassis or battery for example.

[ChocolateFrog]

Dashnine said:

Hilarious how the microphones couldn’t handle the shriek of the engine (or was it my speakers)!

I noticed that too.

[otolith]

Crudeoink said:

10kg saved on the wheels will make a massive difference to the car, especially if the mass is saved a towards the outside of the wheel. From my vehicle dynamics studies I remember learninf unsprung to sprung mass saving was about 1:7 (in reality there's loads of variables but it's between 1:4 - 1:10) I.e saving 1kg of wheel mass would yield the same gain in performance as a 7kg saving on the chassis or battery for example.

All very true. One thing I find interesting is that lots of people are willing to spend significant money on lighter weight alloys (I have a set of forged ones I need to get round to putting on my Elise) but hardly anyone cares what their tyres weigh, despite having the mass on the very outer edge of the rotating radius where it has most effect.

[Forester1965]

Saving unsprung mass is all the easier if the thing being suspended is lighter in the first place!

[greygoose]

Forester1965 said:

My old Citroen C1 was about 800kg!

That was lardy compared to my first car, a flimsy but fun AX!

I thought the Porsche looked a bit naff with the black bonnet on white, perhaps I am underwhelmed by carbon fibre nowadays?

[Smollet]

Forester1965 said:

Saving unsprung mass is all the easier if the thing being suspended is lighter in the first place!

Tbh I doubt very few could tell the difference especially at £11500 a pop. Utter madness

[Crudeoink]

otolith said:

All very true. One thing I find interesting is that lots of people are willing to spend significant money on lighter weight alloys (I have a set of forged ones I need to get round to putting on my Elise) but hardly anyone cares what their tyres weigh, despite having the mass on the very outer edge of the rotating radius where it has most effect.

It's quite hard information to come by I've found, at least from reliable sources and covering all the different sizes etc. agreed though, I've weighed tyres of the same sizes before and found up to a 1.5kg difference on 18" tyres which is crazy really !

[sisu]

Smollet said:

Forester1965 said:

Saving unsprung mass is all the easier if the thing being suspended is lighter in the first place!

Tbh I doubt very few could tell the difference especially at £11500 a pop. Utter madness

Most Brits would struggle as you don't have summer/winter tires and so you only use one set of wheels, and tend to be quite tribal with their tires too.

Given that each HRE wheel starts at $2500 and they are forged alloy, not magnesium. £11500 incl tires fitted and balanced is not bad.
I am quite happy spending money on a set of decent wheels and tires, maybe a second set with a smaller diameter, width wheel and wetter tire and keep the original wheels in the bags. I am also nice to have a friend as I will bring a set of wheels to you should you get a flat or toast them drifting as my mates did. My overnight exprsss service in Europe is always fun as the RS6 can fit 12 wheels

[Bas Jaski]

Really enjoyed the GT4 RS review.

Not sure if I could fork over that money though knowing that I could get an F430 with manual conversion and some other go faster bits if I wanted to for less (or simply a 458 if I wanted flappy paddles).

Yup, moot point if you want a new car with warranty of course.

[greenarrow]

pneumothorax said:

greenarrow said:

I hear what you're saying but your F355, which cost £83K in 1994, would be £206K in today's money and revs to 8500, not 9000. Inflation sucks for sure! Personally I think the Boxster RS isn't so bad compared with other collectable limited edition stuff.

a 355 will rev to 9k, not for long and you wouldn't do it in your own one but it will do it. I was once in one that was driven by a disreputable dealer who wanted to show me it was possible. It wasn't even his car (allegedly)

Whilst that £130k Boxster sounded good, a 355 with a fruity pipe on it sounds better north of 8k rpm, they are exquisite.

Then get a 986 and you get the Boxster experience and you don't have to bring lubrication to your local AFN

win win.

Funny you mention Boxster, I was chatting to a guy who uses the same Costa shop as me and is a sales manager at the Dorset Porsche Centre. He was telling me how a number of the workshop lads have old Boxsters and Cayman models and do the drive out on a Sunday to Compton Abbas Airfield (Owned by Guy Ritchie and in Dorset). He said they sound absolutely amazing and for the money you pay to buy one really are fantastic and I agree. If you want a sub £10K modern classic car which will give you that feel good factor for noise and handling, hard to think of many better options really at the moment. Mind you, he did also point out the obvious, that the workshop lads can do all their own fixing when something breaks/wears out.

That said, its always unfair on new models to compare with much older stuff when it comes to value for money. I still think that in 2024 for the money asked you would struggle to beat the Boxster Spyder if you are looking for a better sounding/higher revving N/A, brand new ICE car....

[heebeegeetee]

Smollet said:

Forester1965 said:

Saving unsprung mass is all the easier if the thing being suspended is lighter in the first place!

Tbh I doubt very few could tell the difference especially at £11500 a pop. Utter madness

I think it's all odd.

If you're able to not worry about £11.5k for a set of wheels, surely you wouldn't be buying a Boxster in the first place?

I dunno, I just struggle a bit with these kind of cars. I think they're far too fast for the road, and too heavy for the track, but what do I know, I own a 986.

[Wheelspinning]

pneumothorax said:

greenarrow said:

I hear what you're saying but your F355, which cost £83K in 1994, would be £206K in today's money and revs to 8500, not 9000. Inflation sucks for sure! Personally I think the Boxster RS isn't so bad compared with other collectable limited edition stuff.

a 355 will rev to 9k, not for long and you wouldn't do it in your own one but it will do it. I was once in one that was driven by a disreputable dealer who wanted to show me it was possible. It wasn't even his car (allegedly)

Whilst that £130k Boxster sounded good, a 355 with a fruity pipe on it sounds better north of 8k rpm, they are exquisite.

Then get a 986 and you get the Boxster experience and you don't have to bring lubrication to your local AFN

win win.

Trust me...leave the F355 in the 'never meet your heroes' category.

I had 2, and every journey you had one hand with your fingers crossed that no strange noise arose.

The 650 spider does the job of both cars you listed there with zero drama or concerns, and when I moved to a 650, farrr cheaper to run than the 355.