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.
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 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)
Professional driver coaching includes:
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!
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.
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/
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.
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.
The easiest and most affordable way to get your Porsche on the track is to join a car club. Unsurprisingly, the obvious car club to join if you own a Porsche and live in Melbourne is Porsche Club of Victoria (PCV), but there are many car clubs registered with CAMS.
To enable you to get on the track for your first competition day PCV will require that you have completed a recognised high performance
driving course, and hold a minimum competition license level of CAMS L2S. Obtaining your CAMS license is a matter of filling in the form available from the CAMS website and submitting with an annual fee of $125.
Your car will need to have a fire extinguisher fitted within reach of the driver that is less than 3 years old (from the manufacturing date stamped on the extinguisher). Check the date before you buy as some in-store stock may not be brand new. The extinguisher must be securely mounted, no cable ties or Velcro.
A helmet that is not damaged, scratched, chipped or covered in stickers and carries an approved standards identification tag is
required, as is a blue triangle sticker on your car indicating the position of your battery. The car will be scrutineered before the event, the battery will be checked for secure mounting, seat mountings checked, wheel nuts checked for any looseness, metal valve caps are required and your tow hook must be fitted (either front or rear).
If you are an experienced campaigner with corrections or additional information please feel free to add a comment.
Headlights can become dull and yellow with age, and that can let down the overall appearance of your car. However if your Porsche’s headlights are still structurally sound, it’s difficult to justify spending thousands of dollars to get them replaced. A cheaper alternative that can really enhance your car’s appearance, is to machine and polish your headlights.
To highlight the visual impact this makeover can have, we polished just one of the headlights of our ‘well loved’ ’97 Boxster courtesy car. Check out the pics below…… now our Boxster clearly has a good side!
If you’re interested in having your car’s headlights polished please give us a call on 03 9090 7522.
JANUARY SPECIAL – This month your car’s makeover is even more affordable, as you can save $50 ($25 per headlight) on headlight polishing, if it’s undertaken in conjunction with your car being serviced by NINEAUTO in January 2016.
A New Year brings a New Track Season and we can’t wait……
We’re now back from the Christmas break and here to help you set up your car so it’s race ready for 2016.
At NINEAUTO we have experience preparing a wide range of Porsches for track work, from older classics cars to modern performance race cars. We also offer track support at many PCV events.
