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NINEAUTO Anniversary Offer

May 30, 2016 by mr.

To celebrate an awesome first year, and to entice you to our workshop in the cold winter months….

Stuart is offering the first 12 customers that book in to have their Porsche serviced in June or July a free ‘On-Car Throttle Body & Intake Clean’. All you need to do is mention this offer when you book your car in for a service, and undertake the service by the 31st July 2016.

Prostream On Car Throttle Body and Intake Cleaner promotes optimum airflow efficiency inside the engines intake system. This ensures the engines fuel economy is maintained, engine idle is improved promoting smooth and efficient engine output. It achieves these results by removing carbon from the Throttle Body, Intake Manifold, Intake Valves, Combustion Chambers, Piston Crowns, Cylinder Head, EGR valves, Oxygen Sensors, Catalytic Converters & Exhaust System.

Our First Year

May 30, 2016 by mr.

It’s been a year since NINEAUTO opened for business, and the team at NINEAUTO would like to thank everyone who’s played a part in making our first year such a success.

During our first 12 months we have really enjoyed sharing our passion for everything Porsche, and connecting with so many like-minded Porsche enthusiasts. We’ve also had the pleasure to work on a vast array of models… the oldest, and one of my personal favourites (not that I’m supposed to have favourites) is this 1957 356.

At the other end of the scale is this head turning and very unique RWB 3.2 Carrera.

We also have to give a special mention to Andy’s GT3, the most tracked and NINEAUTO branded Porsche in our stable.

Once again thanks for everyone’s support in making our first year a great one.

Stuart & Max

One of our favourite pics of 2015/16… thanks DJ!

Tips for looking after your Porsche

April 29, 2016 by mr.

In no particular order here are some suggestions for taking car of your Porsche. Following these tips could help you keep your repair costs down, and may protect you from some avoidable major repairs. If you have any of your own tips we’d love you to share them in the comments box below.

Regularly check your tyre pressures (including the spare), especially before hard drives, long drives or track work. It’s also a great idea to visually inspect the tyres for uneven wear, nails or other sharp objects caught in the tread.

If you have to leave your Porsche exposed to the sun for long periods invest in a protective car cover. This will minimise damage to the paint work and interior, which is often expensive and time consuming to fix.

Keep up with required routine oil and fluid changes, falling behind can put serious wear and tear on key parts and can be a false economy. If you like to top up your own oils and fluids, always check your owner’s manual to ensure you’re using products with the correct specifications for your Porsche.

Get to know your Porsche…. Listen to the engine with the hood up, once you’ve done this a few times you’ll get to know what it normally sounds like. Then if you notice any change in noise you can get the issue diagnosed early.

If you do like tinkering on your Porsche at home, avoid using a rattle gun or other power tools. Using the old fashioned spanner technique will give you a much better feel for your car, and is less likely to damage precious parts.

Warming up your car prior to driving, and taking it easy on the brakes is likely to extend the life of parts. Once your Porsche is warmed up, accelerating quickly won’t harm your car, but don’t red line it and always drive safely within your limits and that of the road. However, ‘putting your foot down’ all the time does increase your chances of wearing parts down, and will significantly reduce your fuel economy.

When washing your car never leave the windscreen wipers up, they can unpredictable fall and badly scratch your paint work. Also try to avoid touching the wiper blades themselves as the oil on your fingers can cause them to deteriorate faster. Another good washing tip is to use a microfiber cloth and wash it out regularly to avoid unsightly gravel scratch swirls in the paint work.

Have your Porsche regularly serviced by a trusted and knowledgeable mechanic. (Added by Stuart a trusted, knowledgeable and very friendly mechanic.)

Upcoming Evolve Driver Training Events – Discounted rate for NINEAUTO customers

April 27, 2016 by mr.

If you missed the Evolve Driver Training on the 18th of April, there are two similar upcoming events, 8th June at Winton & 1st July at Sandown. At these two events Evolve Drivier Training is offering NINEAUTO customers a discounted rate of $500 rather than the advertised $550.

If you’re interested in attending an event simply click on the link www.evolvedriving.com.au, and when making your booking enter the code ‘NINE’ to receive the discounted rate.

Cracked dashboard repaired with vinyl welding

March 29, 2016 by mr.

It’s not uncommon to find an older model Porsche that has been left outside and exposed to the sun with a cracked dashboard. Even a small crack in a dashboard can really detract from the overall appearance and value of a vehicle.

If you’re restoring a Porsche and want to fix a cracked dash, you can go on the hunt for a genuine dashboard in perfect condition, but that’s likely to be hard to find and prove expensive. Another affordable alternative is to repair the crack using vinyl welding. This option if undertaken by an experienced welder can achieve a great result….. see below for before and after pics. (Note – you can go on line and purchase a DIY welding kit but we suggest you leave the vinyl welding to the experts!)

Cracked dash before pic

Cracked dash after vinyl weld

Once repaired the life of dashboard is dependent on its future exposure to the sun…… if your Porsche sit’s outside in the sun for long periods the vinyl dashboard is likely to become brittle and once again crack. To look after your dash it’s also important to always gently clean it and thus preserve the top coat of the dashboard. When cleaning a dashboard firstly rinse the surface with plain warm water, then clean the dash with a soft rag and mild soapy water and allow the surface to dry.

Vinyl welding can also be used for nicks in upholstery as can be seen in these before and after shots of a rear parcel shelf.

Before

After

If you have a Porsche that could benefit from some vinyl welding TLC please get in touch, we can assess the suitability and likely cost dependent on the size of the repair. To give you a rough guide of costs, the dashboard crack shown above cost $170 to repair, and the rear parcel nick repair also cost $170.

Evolve Driver Training – Discounted rate for NINEAUTO customers

March 24, 2016 by mr.

Evolve Driver Training has an event coming up on Monday 18th of April, and is offering NINEAUTO customers a discounted rate of $500 rather than the advertised $550. This driver training takes place at Sandown on the Monday before the Sandown Regularity, and could be a great way to sharpen up your driving skills.

Details of the training are as follows:
MONDAY 18th APRIL 2016
8:00am arrive & sign in, 8:45am event start
5:00pm event finish
Event Options
Full day DRIVER TRAINING = $550 per driver ($500 for NINEAUTO Customers)

1 x 30min on track each hour = 8 sessions (4hrs) total

Small group size = minimal on track traffic

Morning tea, full catering & refreshments

Professional driver coaching includes:

pre and post session briefings

on track ‘in car’ coaching (x3 sessions)

post session written driver evaluation report

If you’re interested in attending the event simply click on the link www.evolvedriving.com.au, and when making your booking enter the code ‘NINE’ to receive the discounted rate. If you can’t make April 18th there are two similar upcoming events, 9th May at Winton & 1st July at Sandown. The NINEAUTO discounted rate is also valid for these two events!

How accurate is the speedo of your Porsche?

February 26, 2016 by mr.

Your speedo accuracy may not be as good as you think……..

The Australian Industry Standard requires that a speedo must not indicate a speed less than the vehicle’s true speed or a speed greater than the vehicle’s true speed by an amount of more than 10 per cent plus 4km/h.

This standard results in a surprisingly large spread of legal speedo’s that display anywhere from 87.4km/h to 100km/h when a car is travelling at100km/h!

With overhead speedo display checks that could once be found on freeways seemingly almost extinct, we can now turn to new App technology to assess the accuracy of our speedo’s. There are a number of free Speedo Apps on the market place that can be downloaded if you’re interested in testing the accuracy of your speedo. If you click on this ‘Drive’ article it outlines some useful suggestions on the best way to test the accuracy of your cars speedo.

Interesting the articles tested a number of cars, and found luxury cars in general to have more accurate speedo readings. In the study two Porsches were tested, a Porsche Cayenne S Diesel showed a reading of 97km/h and a Porsche 911 Turbo showed a reading of 98km/h when travelling at 100km/h.

If you do decide to test your speedo and you’re happy to share your results, we’d love you to add your findings in the comments section.

73 911 Targa Update

February 26, 2016 by mr.

Here are the latest pics for the 73 Targa restoration. The engine and gearbox have been fitted……….the key next step is to get her running.

If you missed the original post with full details of the 73 911 Targa restoration journey simply click on this link https://nineauto.com.au/1973-911-targa-restoration/

Tyre pressures are important

February 24, 2016 by gj.

A flat tyre when you are toodling around the shops or out on a Sunday drive is a real pain, you probably haven’t got a full size spare wheel and not enough room to put the punctured wheel anywhere. RACV membership or Porsche roadside assistance will be really handy if this happens to you.

If your car doesn’t have tyre pressure warning sensors, regularly checking your tyre pressures is worthwhile. Unfortunately you often can’t easily pick a slow puncture just by looking at your tyres, especially if you have low profile tyres. It’s quite common for drivers not to notice that one tyre is a few PSI below specification because they’ve got a nail in the tread that can’t be seen.

Sunday morning give your pride and joy a good clean up, go to the servo and check the tyre pressures. If one wheel is out by 4 or 5 PSI don’t fill it up and forget it, get it checked to find out why it’s losing pressure. This is especially a big deal if you drive on the highway, an under inflated tyre will generate extra flex and heat in the tyre sidewall. It is likely that many single vehicle accidents due to tyre failure are caused by under inflated tyres that overheat and blow out after an hour or so of freeway driving.

A quick Google search will bring up many articles like this one that go into more detail on the importance of tyre pressures.

Tracking your Porsche – Driver training required

February 12, 2016 by gj.

Many Porsche owners want to experience their car in a high
performance environment like a racetrack. To get on the track, most car clubs will require that you have completed a recognised high performance driving course.

The way to do this is to enroll for a course with a company specialising in driver training. Typically these companies will have a requirement for you to participate in their advanced driving safety course prior to allowing you to enroll in a high performance course.

For these courses the company will advise you of their requirements
for you and your car, in most cases a roadworthy car and perhaps higher tyre pressures for the day are the vehicle requirements. While the driver will need non-flammable clothing covering neck to wrists to ankles, closed shoes and for the high performance day a crash helmet.

For a high performance day we would recommend using high temperature brake fluid to avoid overheating and consequent brake issues. Your brakes will be used far more intensely than in normal driving.

Driver training organisations that we are aware of include, Evolve Driver Training & Events and Porsche Sport Driving School.

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