Upfixing or Piddling?

[rstoll]

Funny how we are always praising the perfect design of our cars, yet we are constantly trying to update and improve the design. For instance carburators on a CIS car. I too am guilty. The first thing I decided to improve were chain tensioners when I bought my '83. The old ones had only lasted 17 years and 129,000 miles. Had to be a poor design. Oh well, that's marketing.

[Don Wohlfarth]

Robert, I would prefer classic to perfect design but you raise a good point.
I think some of it would be the long model run and the ease of updating/backdating, good availability of parts, small number of well built cars, hold their value well, and pretty decent performance even is stock form.
The longer you own one the more you appreciate it. Then comes the slippery slope to personalizing it. Then it starts getting expensive when you try to improve it.
After a couple of years you realize there's very little reason to replace it. Besides, no one will pay you what the car is worth to you, much less for all your improvements.
To some it's a hobby, to other's it's therapy, and for a few of us chosen one's there is no difference.
My wife tries to explain to her friends that at least it keeps him off the streets and out of the bars.

[Jim T]

Hey, here is one area where I differ!

My SC is bone stock, with the exception of popoff valve (for obvious reasons) and Carrera tensioners. The tensioners probably weren't really necessary, but that seemed to be one factory improvement I bought into.

Stock steering wheel, stock seats, stock shift knob, stock exhaust, stock sport suspension, stock Fuchs in their stock configuration, etc. . .

I think the car is pretty darn perfect the way it came! Whenever I seen an aftermarket part, I ask myself: Is that better than the factory part? As you can see, my answer is pretty consistent!

[H20911]

I like upgrades.

If I were to design anything that would vastly improve power, braking, A/C, heat, reliability, shifting that 915 box....etc. for very little $$ people would line up around the block to get it.

funny..... a good portion of the posts on this board are about how to upgrade.

JMHO

steve

[speeder]

Interesting topic; I like upgrades as long as they are true upgrades. It's a lot easier to upgrade a Ford Mustang than a Porsche. I got into a "disagreement" w/ other members over Momo steering wheels on recent thread. It's my opinion that only a small percentage of aftermarket parts, (SSI's, PMO's), are better than factory parts. I particularly like factory "upgrades", ie. carrera tensioners, factory short-shift, turbo tie-rods, etc. Also applies to OEM suppliers such as Mahle sport-pistons, etc.

[RarlyL8]

An enthusiasts upgrade is a purists aftermarket junk.

Building a car in todays world requires so many compromises that you end up pleasing no one. Personalizing your car has become a huge business.

Is a 930 suspension in your SC an upgrade?
Eye of the beholder.

[Jim T]

I am an enthusiast, not a purist, but my SC is stock.

That's the same attitude you see on a lot of other lists (like BMW), the only way to be an "enthusiast" is to heavily modify your car. I disagree.

"Enthusiasts upgrade is a purists junk" I disagree with too.

I don't think most of the upgrades people do are junk at all. I look at a Momo or 930S wheel, for instance, and think they look cool and are high quality. But I like my stock 3 spoke wheel just as much. When I was 16 (20 something years ago), looking through brochures and cars at Vasek on PCH, that wheel is one of the things I lusted after!

Same with wheels. I like a lot of the aftermarket wheels. But none better than my Fuchs 7s/8s.

930 suspension? Probably would be an upgrade, I guess, but my stock Bilstein sport suspension does everything I ask of it. Got no complaints, so it stays the same.

[island911]

It's all about balance. Buying a 911 gets us all closer to the perfet balance of performance, styling, cost. . . (feature set)
It's just that every individuals perfectly balanced feature set may wander slightly from time to time. (even some people with world dominating SC's )
Every once in a while the need of a new feature becomes obvious. (Carrera Chain-tensioners, popoff valve, factory sport seats.) For the most part Porsche got it right. . at least for the SC anyway

For the marketing boys, it's all about making you second guess the balance you have. If they can catch you when you have free time to think "what if" . . .then they got you. Sure you have, say, a new set of wheels and tires, that look cool as hell, but they likely weigh more and perform worse than the fuchs taken off. You may have a huge hole in your wallet. . .but at least you did something with that free time.

It's all about balance. .

---

'81 SC COUPE

[Jim T]

ahh, factory sports. I'd actually go for a set of those. Too cheap to pay the price of admission for a mint set, though.

I'd also go for a set of SSIs and a factory early muffler, but can't justify the cost and the hassle of changing it out every 2 years for smog . . .

[rcwaldo]

Thats why the Porsche product always apealed to me. their philosophy in design is: form follows function. Nothing on these cars are for "looks.

For instance, on many years of the Mustang, there were gills in front of the rear wheels to simulate rear brake inlet ducts and decorative hood scoops. You never see "fake" things in the design of a Porsche product. Again: form follows function.

Thats just the way I look at it

Chris

[RarlyL8]

Yes, you can be an enthusiast and have a stock car,
but you cannot be a purist and have a modified one.

It's a delicate dance between "enhancement" and "butchery".

Funny thing is, the 911 may be the most modifiable car on the planet. Yet there are those that venomously argue the sacrilage of body kits, flairs, and wings.

I believe it is absolutely in the tradition of Porsche to constantly fiddle with, upgrade, or attempt to improve every 911! After all, the 911 is clearly a successful example of development over design. So why shouldn't we continue that tradition!!!

-CKrause