Rod's 2002 996

I (Rod/owner) was finally ready for my next Porsche, (after owning a 78 911SC Targa back in the early 90's), and couldn't resist one I found on ebay. The timing worked out perfectly-the auction ended around the time of Thanksgiving 2007-so this worked out for a nice "road trip" with a flight out to South Dakota with my daughter, driving back to California.

Here it is back at "home", or the shop, anyway. A 2002 Porsche 911 (996). 2002 was a nice "upgrade" over 99-01 911's with the larger 3.6 liter engine, Variocam Plus and 320 HP. The headlights for this year were changed along with front fenders from the Turbo of the previous year, and I dig this style of 18" wheels which also debuted this year. Overall the car was a great deal and only needed a new catalytic converter-which was covered under warranty. Maintenance isn't too difficult either, I already did my first oil change and swapped in new spark plugs.

It didn't take too long to start tearing things apart, hehe. I removed the front bumper cover so I could install the front K40 radar detector and a few antennas for things like GPS navigation, Sirius satellite radio, and XM radio with the NavTraffic feature. Since I had all of this apart, I was able to sweep and blow out accumulated dirt and leaves in the front radiators and associated shrouds.

In this picture you can see the 3 antennas and even the K40 forward radar/laser sensor under the bumper toward the driver side.

As of the end of August 2008 the "system" was still in process. Since this involved a couple of large heavy amps and motorization, I need to find the time and initiative each week to put in an evening or Sunday working on the car to keep the momentum going. When the shop is really busy my car doesn't get touched-customers' vehicles first! This photo shows the Audison Thesis HV Venti amplifiers, retail $12,500 each, which mount upright on a drawer assembly that is now motorized with a linear actuator. Here they're attached to the drawer and rear panel while I also work on wiring in the car and the mount to secure it but still allow spare tire access. These amps aren't crazy power, but are ultra clean Italian made masterpieces which each weigh 40 pounds. Don't worry, most of the 996's we work on use a much lighter, much less expensive single amplifier to run the entire system-and it takes up far less space on a Carrera 2 like this!

Here is a picture showing some of the Focal Utopia Beryllium 3 way component speakers mounted to the factory dash grills. The midwoofer from this set mounts in each factory door location. This took some work with CA glue, custom cut ABS adapters, and a bit of magic. The end result is a grill assembly which appears completely stock once mounted in the car-but of course has the sound of these speakers which are $5400/set. Again, we use much less expensive and elaborate speakers in most of the 996 systems we sell and install at the shop.

Here's a picture showing the layout of some of the components in the trunk. The ABS panel over the spare is actually the bracket that screws to the amp assembly and allows it to be simply lifted and tilted forward for spare tire access. The Focal crossovers are tucked in the passenger rear corner, and a 15 Farad hybrid capacitor fits in the spot behind the spare. The last 100 or so 996 systems we've done involved just a single amplifier in that same space occupied by the crossovers and capacitor-replacing the factory amplifier on the Carrera. (Carrera 4 and Turbo have a different trunk layout which dictates different options for amplifier locations) You can see the 2 gauge power wire routed down to the area for the motorized amp rack.

One more shot for now of the rear of the car proudly displaying the CAI logo. I am so in love with this car, it absolutely roars with power, the handling is unbelievable, incredible brakes, comfortable to drive-even 2500 miles from South Dakota. I feel like this car was made for me!

I'll update this page as I make more progress. For now, I've got the Kenwood DNX8120 headunit in the dash and sound, backup camera, handsfree Bluetooth, Ipod interface, and HD radio. Yowza!

This just in (get it?) I (Rod) finally finished the custom subwoofer enclosure for my own car. This custom fabricated subwoofer enclosure is sturdy and has two divided chambers, yielding a net air volume of 1 cubic foot per side, which is what the Focal Beryllium 8" subwoofers require. The finish is automotive paint and urethane clearcoat by PPG in the correct Porsche silver.

Here's how the subwoofer enclosure looks without the grills in place. The rear seats are still fully functional, and there are no permanent modifications to the car. This entire system is still fully reversible.

Here's a link to the You Tube video showing the motorized amp rack in action-though not yet finished:

If that link doesn't work, then just go to www.Youtube.com and search for audison amps Porsche 996 or such.

Here, now, finally (March 2010) and the amps have been in and fully motorized for probably a year now. It came together quickly after the update I posted in August 2008. The amps are not only fully operational since then, but motorized amp rack works perfectly. I used a power window module to allow one touch operation of the amp rack, using the window module to regulate 'end of travel' for the rack.

This is a picture of the trunk, dimly lit, showing the Stinger 15 Farad capacitor, some wiring that is awaiting a trim panel, but the amps are lit, 'just concealed in the above photo.

This is an action shot, sorry, I couldn't resist. The amps don't move nearly as fast as this picture might imply.

And here are the sweetest looking amps I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of amps. One of these runs the Focal Beryllium 3-way components, the other powers a pair of Be 8" subs. This, with a clean Excelon 24 bit headunit? I find it "stirring". For a fraction of the money such a system would cost, we can deliver 80% of the sound quality of this system. For 1/8th of the cost.