[vhs]

I never noticed the sound when I had the windows closed, and it doesn't seem to occur in Normal mode (there isn't much turbo kick in). In Sport and Sport Plus, I hear a "wsshhhhh" type of noise when accelerating and noticed that the turbo is kicking in when I hear it.

Is this normal? If so, is there anything I can do about it? Does the Soundaktor make it worse?

I'm starting to suspect my car may have been a car used on Porsche track day event. Today I noticed some residue from a Mobil 1 decal on the rear of the car. I was told that my car was a company car, probably used by senior execs and management. However, the sticker residue with the options on the car seem a little strange. Is there anything else that could indicate it was tracked? Unofficially, it seems faster than it should be with my self-hacked and unofficial 0-100mph time.

So I'm a little concerned about all of the little things that are new to me as a Porsche owner and just wondering if all is good. I bought it from a Audi/Porsche dealer (but it came through the Audi end. I don't know if it was because it was used (4800 miles, 2018) or something else.


Thanks

 

[718S]

Wait. So you see decal residue and because of that you think it was tracked? How do you know the decal residue was Mobile oil? Paranoid?

 

[jimmuller]

Turbo whoosh? I pull into my driveway this afternoon and my neighbor who was washing his BMW motorcycle said "Your cars always sound better than my motorcycles!"


How does a decal indicate it had been tracked? Am I missing something?

 

[vhs]

I can see that it was a Mobil 1 sticker. Doesn't that seem a little weird? I can understand a Cobb sticker, I see lots of those, but never an oil brand unless it was a sponsorship. My car's options seem a little strange for a corporate buggy (description in my signature).

As for the sound, again I only notice it with the window down and coincides with the turbo kicking (as seen by the gauge). That's why I suspected it was the turbo. I don't drive the car often with the windows down because I haven't gotten the wind buffeting diffusers installed yet.

 

[rsmith]

Car options look great for a dealer demo, manager, owner or otheerwise corporate clients car. They would help sell other cars and options. I wouldn't worrying about it. You have a warranty. I did a Porsche experience last July with brand new cars on track. They were supposedly to be sold at the end of the events with full warranty despite being driven hard with no breakin drives. Those caymans were red so not yours.

I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[johan]

In my BGTS i can hear the turbo wind up when i press the pedal, but no "waste gate" sound.
Mine has not had any sticker on it


I did not hear the same thing on my 718 BS or 718CS.

 

[JakiChan]

It could have been a PEC car. The ones I drove had Mobile 1 stickers.

 

[982CS]

Is the noise not simply the turbo spooling up? You can definitely hear it outside of the car; at least on the 'S' anyway.

It could have been a PEC car. The ones I drove had Mobile 1 stickers.

Might well be on to something there: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/porsche-experience-center-los-angeles-carson-2?select=lBAZYhJLUYDqU3hWZAj69A. But perhaps not.

Did the car have brand new tyres (all-round) on when you bought it? Not sure how US Porsche Centres operate, but in the UK they would usually only put new tyres on a used approved car if the tread depth was below 3mm. And if driven 'normally' I would expect a car that had only covered 4,800 miles to still have 4-5mm of tread.

 

[alf_17]

My 718 is a Boxster and of course I drive it with the roof down as much as possible.
This also makes it easier to hear the engine, and mine also makes the turbo spooling noise when accelerating, so that is totally normal.

 

[Porsche2018]

Wait. So you see decal residue and because of that you think it was tracked? How do you know the decal residue was Mobile oil? Paranoid?

I think @vhs is thoughtful and asking important questions.......due diligence. After I dropped off my 3RS which had been properly broken in and never tracked the general manager put another 500 miles on the car before listing it for sale; was the 3RS tracked/abused? DK.........concerning.

 

[718S]

I think @vhs is thoughtful and asking important questions.......due diligence. After I dropped off my 3RS which had been properly broken in and never tracked the general manager put another 500 miles on the car before listing it for sale; was the 3RS tracked/abused? DK.........concerning.

Sorry.... IMO seeing residue from a decal to the execs of the dealer taking it to track day seems like a stretch. Furthermore just because the car has certain options doesn't make it more or less likely to be a track car. Can the dealer beat on the car? Sure... but you will never know.

But even though most would say it's not wise to buy new... there is a reason I prefer to buy knew. Track days aside- I talked with one sales guy at a dealer about test drives- he says some 'prospects' beat on the them... or at least bring them close to redline. I did. I wasn't aware of breaking periods at that time.

 

[vhs]

It could have been a PEC car. The ones I drove had Mobile 1 stickers.

I think @vhs is thoughtful and asking important questions.......due diligence. After I dropped off my 3RS which had been properly broken in and never tracked the general manager put another 500 miles on the car before listing it for sale; was the 3RS tracked/abused? DK.........concerning.

Perhaps "tracked" wasn't the right term, I was thinking PEC or some other company/corporate type event. I've been to a number of these types of events over the years, and have seen this the of "general" corporate advertising on cars that are co-sponsors of the events. Goodyear, Mobil, etc... I can't recall seeing this type of advertising on the road, so that lead to my question. The sticker residue only appeared after I had the car in the rain. I've tried to photograph it, but it's faint on the white and it gets lost on the exposure, I'll work it if I can (it's on the lower read driver;'s side bumper)

As I stated, I'm pretty new to Porsche, my only real Porsche experience previously was my father's 930, which is a completely different thing. I'm trying to learn as much as possible about 718s, mine in particular. I don't know anything about error codes are listed, if they show the date, mileage or whatever. However, if I have a problem down the road, having an idea of the car's prior usage might be helpful. If I'm wrong about that, then please let me know why. Being labelled as "paranoid" isn't very productive.

Ideally, I would've bought a new car, but it was out of my budget for the performance options I prioritized (SC, PASM and PTV). I needed a car as my old car was up on miles and years. I have a 150 mile commute to work and a good part of that is in the mountains with spots void of cellular coverage. I do this late at night during the week, and being a woman with a lot of expensive photography equipment, I was in need of something more reliable.

As for the noise, I'm going to bring it to my indie shop and then the dealer the week after next. If I could've ascertained if it was normal, I'd feel better. I learned on hear that the transmission noise I hear once in a while while the car shifts from 2-1, seems to be "normal", which was a relief and I really appreciate the wealth of information on here.

 

[982CS]

Sorry.... IMO seeing residue from a decal to the execs of the dealer taking it to track day seems like a stretch. Furthermore just because the car has certain options doesn't make it more or less likely to be a track car.

Perhaps I'm misreading things, and apologies if I am, but I don't think the concern is that the dealer may have tracked it the odd time, but more that it may have been a Porsche Driving Excellence Centre car...i.e. a full-time 'track' car. Which is a different kettle of fish altogether. I obviously don't know where the decal residue was or what it looked like, but if it looked anything like and was in a similar position to that on the link I post earlier (which is of a Porsche Excellence Centre Los Angeles Car), I think I would be a bit suspicious too. But I do agree some of us maybe jumping the gun a little here.

A few years back, a very good friend of mine bought a nearly new 987 Cayman R from an Official Porsche Centre and he was mislead about the provenance of the car. Despite specially asking about it's history before he purchasing it, he later discovered, after coming across videos and images online of it being trashed around tracks by numerous motoring hacks, that it had in fact been Porsche UK's Press Car! In the end Porsche exchanged it for a brand new car.

 

[vhs]

Wait. So you see decal residue and because of that you think it was tracked? How do you know the decal residue was Mobile oil? Paranoid?

It's on both sides, but easier to see the cut out of the letters here.

 

[718S]

It's on both sides, but easier to see the cut out of the letters here.

Ok- I see it in this pic. I'd be having a discussion with the dealer for sure! That's very odd in the least.. and I don't think you are paranoid any more.

And.. wrt the buying cars new- I totally get why you/people do that. And 99% of the time it's probably wiser to buy used. I'm not trying to be a snob by saying I buy new- please don't take my comments that way. But maybe I'M paranoid as I don't trust what happened to it prior either. Heck- I bought mine new with '18' miles on it... I saw it in the lot when the dealer had it delivered just before I bought it- no idea who drove it that much.

And learning about your new car is great... I'm in the same boat!

 

[SonicSid]

@vhs - Have you been able to find out anything interesting online with VIN searches? Did you run carfax and experian reports (google search how to get those for free) on the VIN? If so, any maintenance records in unexpected places? See if it was sold via auction at Manheim in Atlanta, GA where I know from personal experience used cars owned by Porsche (PCNA) get sold off. (not sure about used Porsche Experience Center LA cars though...) VIN searches for my car yielded quite a bit of interesting history...
Are you the first registered owner of the car (would be the case if PCNA was the previous owner)?

Here's a counterpoint for you to consider and I mention it hoping desperately to _not_ take this thread into a rat hole debating engine breakin techniques (about as boring and time wasting as debating religion or politics). One camp believes that an engine, especially a precision one built for high performance applications, should be broken in how it will be ultimately used. This camp would prefer a used Porsche with a PEC style break-in as the cylinder walls would certainly be properly honed in and the motor would make more power. It's up to you if you wish to drink from that camp's Kool-Aide or not.

From my time test driving 981 BS, BGTS and 991.2 CS Cabrios, the 718s are quite boisterous in comparison. From what I'm reading, the interior sound of the 718 Cayman is different than inside the Boxster, so I can't advise about the wssshhhh sound other than my inner 8 year old is giggling hysterically every time I press the loud pedal in my BS. You have 4-5 years on your CPO warranty with unlimited mileage, plus you've said it will be a daily driver AND you've got amazing fun roads to traverse between SC <--> SF. With the miles you'll enjoy driving, you'll know soon enough if you've got a dud, and you have a warranty to protect yourself. My $.02, embrace that inner 8 year old and keep jabbing the loud pedal. Sure, this is just a glass is half full perspective, take it for as much as you paid for it.

 

[MCCaiman]

PEC Atlanta - note each car has a Mobile 1 sticker behind the rear wheel.

 

[CaymanMatt]

It's on both sides, but easier to see the cut out of the letters here.

Ok- I see it in this pic. I'd be having a discussion with the dealer for sure! That's very odd in the least.. and I don't think you are paranoid any more. /forum/images/718forum/smilies/tango_face_wink.png

And.. wrt the buying cars new- I totally get why you/people do that. And 99% of the time it's probably wiser to buy used. I'm not trying to be a snob by saying I buy new- please don't take my comments that way. But maybe I'M paranoid as I don't trust what happened to it prior either. Heck- I bought mine new with '18' miles on it... I saw it in the lot when the dealer had it delivered just before I bought it- no idea who drove it that much.

And learning about your new car is great... I'm in the same boat!

This is why I bought new also. I plan to keep our GTS for a long time so the extra cost is amortized over the long term. I know the history and am happy about that.

 

[718S]

PEC Atlanta - note each car has a Mobile 1 sticker behind the rear wheel.

Interesting. Why would people want to put stickers on their car just for a day at the PEC? Or... are these cars ones that Porsche lets drivers use? I know nothing of the PEC Atlanta.

 

[MCCaiman]

Interesting. Why would people want to put stickers on their car just for a day at the PEC? Or... are these cars ones that Porsche lets drivers use? I know nothing of the PEC Atlanta.

The cars are supplied by PEC - not individually owned.