LidLiner.com claims owners refer to its hood (funk) liner as the  “missing part.” Honestly, I’d agree with that. The liner claims to prevent items in the trunk from hitting the inside of the hood and causing damage. While I’m not too worried about this personally, I know this has happened to people. However what sold me on the liner was how much better the car looks with it!. Taking it from the top…

Delivery was spectacular. I ordered from LidLiner on Monday and they sent it 2-day USPS. It arrived at my house on Wednesday. The packaging was good- nice box (mine came a little crushed but I knew that was a non-issue) and the liner inside was wrapped with paper & plastic.

The quality of the liner appears to be excellent. It’s well formed and feels quite sturdy. The front finish is well matched to the plastic that Porsche uses. The back of the liner has foam so that it rests snugly and safely against the hood’s painted interior. Installation is a breeze- you simply press the plastic clips into the designated locations and you’re set. Two minutes if you take your time.

As far as I’m concerned the visual payoff alone is worth it. The hood’s underside really did look unfinished and that’s what led me to see if there was a liner in the first place. Sure enough! Some forum member was kind enough to provide a discount code offering 15% off the retail price (I think discount codes like this are almost always floating around). For anyone considering one of these liners,  the current 15% discount code is RF14. If you have a 991 I would highly recommend ordering this part.

So… there is one potentially tiny downside to this liner. And that is simply that the hood hydraulics weren’t designed to accommodate much extra weight. I have XPEL covering my hood (good for me!) and that coupled with the weight of the Lid Liner (nearly two pounds) slightly alters the behavior of my trunk lid. I’ll just say that while you can get the lid up (and it does stay up) it all functions more like a senior citizen than a teenager now.

But again- a great, classy product. Maybe someone should send one to Nick Murray. When a guy gets leather on his steering column you know he cares about the little stuff. I care about the little stuff too and I love the lid liner!

Other than sticking your phone into the glovebox or center console the 991 series cars have no place (and certainly no good place) to put one. I suppose this is common problem on many vehicles but I’d had enough. After trying other solutions (i.e. a phone holder on my windshield) I was excited when Rennline released a 991 phone mount and decided to give it a whirl.

The Rennline system uses a ball joint that’s secured into place by piggy-backing on two screws holding in the PCM. You simply remove a trim piece on the center console and install the bracket. A magnetic mount secures onto the ball joint and a magnet is placed on your phone or inside your phone case.

I put some BHQ-blue vinyl over the magnet on the back of my phone.

The unit is well constructed and holds the phone securely. I recently got a new smaller phone and even with my far-left magnet placement the PCM screen is still badly obstructed by the phone. I think Rennline could have engineered the bracket to position the phone further to the left. Even with this limitation the system works well and is far superior to anything else I’ve found. Running my lightning cable from the glove box to the phone is fairly simple and unobstructive as well. Until something better comes along or Porsche addresses the issue I would recommend the Rennline magnetic mount to anyone looking for a place to put their phone.

The video below shows portions of the unboxing, installation and positioning of the various magnetic components:

5/20/2017 Update: After a few days of using the phone mount I can definitively say it works well. The location, aside from cutting off a slice of the PCM screen, is great. It’s easy to plug in, select music, use the maps, and even activate the voice control for music or to send a text (only when I’m stopped). Because my magnet is located at he bottom of the phone it’s quite stable when I’m pressing the home button which is helpful too.

These days a lot of cars have a push button start- you leave your keys in your pocket and press a button somewhere to start your car. The Porsche “entry and drive system” is the same thing but instead of pressing a button you start your car by turning the “dummy fob” which is kept in the ignition. [As a side note, I find it very satisfying to turn a key, as opposed to pushing a button. Additionally there is some interesting history regarding why Porsche opted to place their ignition location on the left of the steering wheel]

Since there is dummy key that makes it something that can be customized. And since I am a compulsive customizer I ordered a new dummy key in the same color as my car’s exterior (carrara white metallic). I really like the contrast and the white key actually makes it easier to find.

Oh hey, a new fob. Looking good in there! Much easier to locate too!

Below is a video of my dummy fob and a demonstration of how to remove the old fob and install the new one.

I finally dug out the aluminum pedals that came with my car last year. I looked them over thinking, perhaps, that I would list them on eBay for a few bucks. But then the urge began to build. Slowly at first… then then it snowballed. Why would I sell my pedals when, instead, I could spend hours cursing and ripping out my hair while I installed them? The siren song was too much for me… it was time to mod.

The Pedal install was fairly easy. I broke a few clips here and there but it was par for the course. The new aluminum pedals have a good solid feel and as much grip as the original rubber versions. I think they look great:

Almost immediately after finishing I was overpowered by the urge to mod again. This time I installed an upgraded center console lid. Compared to the original it’s taller / thicker, features an embossed Porsche crest and has decorative stitching. I think the new console compliments my interior better given that my car has the extended leather interior package (which is comprised of leather trim and stitching around stuff that no normal person would care about like vents, fuse boxes and hinges). The new lid is actually a great reason not to have deviated stitching (which I still think about longingly sometimes…); The new lid simply wouldn’t have matched. The installation was fairly involved, although mostly straightforward:

These are sort of down and dirty videos- I really rushed through the editing (I’m getting faster). I shot most of them on my iPhone (a mistake in retrospect- it is horrible for low light filming situations). Mike held the camera for me (his first time filming anything with me) which was mostly helpful. In case anyone is curious: I do these videos for three reasons: 1) It helps me remember what I did to my car & how I did it, in case I need to remove a mod down the line. 2) It might help someone else with a similar project. 3) I like filming and editing stuff and certainly need the practice. You have to justify hobbies- I’m pretty sure it’s a rule.

Inspired by my two previous projects, I unbagged a set of floormats that had come with my car (again, from over a year ago). They are a little fancier than my current mats.
“Hey, are these new mats? Whoa! Is that double stitching on those real leather edges?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Wow, you have really taken this car to the next level.”
I’m sure I’ll be hearing that all the time (not). In addition to the leather piping and stitching the new mats have a thicker carpet texture. A step up in the looks department for sure (center pic is a comparison old vs new).

Thus ends another mundane round of cosmetic tweaks. If you haven’t gotten your fill yet, don’t worry! I have some big plans for later this month. If anyone needs a set of OEM 991 floormats let me know- free, but you pay shipping.

BONUS: I picked up a cargo rug for the little shelf under the rear window. The area always seemed a bit unfinished with the stock carpet and baby seat locks. It’s a plush mat from Lloyd’s featuring blue “PORSCHE” stitching. I can’t see it when I’m driving. I also can’t see if from outside the car either (look close- you can barely make it out). That’s the kind of weird crap I love to buy. The stuff that only makes any difference in your mind.

I felt like one of the major obstacles on my quest for speed would be the low quality gas here in Utah. After substantial testing I can definitively say that it makes a huge (negative) difference. For the uninitiated here is a great article about octane: How Stuff Works.

While I’m pretty happy with my 91 octane tune I’ve been experimenting with some OTC octane boosters. You have to be careful with these products as the listed benefits are often misleading. Take for example this bottle from Lucas. It has a label that warns you not to be fooled by “misleading advertising”. However, the bottle itself claims “3X the Boost” but provides zero information about potential octane level increases one could expect.

That being said, the Lucas bottle does provide this useful tidbit: “It takes 10 octane points to equal 1 octane number.” Some boosters will boast that they raise your octane level by 7 octane points (or something like that). If you used 91 octane gas and put in that booster you would have 91.7 octane. Hardly an improvement. Buyer beware.

Personally I like the two octane boosters below. They both clearly explain how much your actual octane level will go up. The NOS booster claims up to 6 octane numbers while the Royal Purple provides a boost of 3 octane numbers. Actual octane increases would be difficult to pinpoint but I have used the NOS and Royal purple octane boosters, logged my car’s data and they both seem to provide a definite benefit. Looking at engine data there is virtually no knock when these products are used in conjunction with my 91 octane tune. In contrast, without the boosters small amounts of ignition timing retard are common. So, I’m a believer!

Note: If you log your car’s data and see any ignition timing being pulled it’s very possible an octane booster could help your car run more smoothly. However, without aftermarket tuning it’s unlikely the car will be any faster. To illustrate this point: While my car has certainly benefited from these products I haven’t necessarily really seen any speed gains. I would have to create a 94-ish octane tune to take advantage of the modified fuel.

After playing around with octane boosters it was time for the big leagues. It took awhile but I found a location in Provo (Christensen Oil) that sells 100 octane unleaded at the pump. It’s not cheap but I decided science demanded that I try it. I filled up my nearly empty car with the 100…

…and after putting on a new 100 octane tune I could tell right away there was some magic happening. The top end power really filled in and came alive. I was so excited that I decided to drive out to my private racetrack that night and do a couple of runs. I did some 3rd gear pulls for data analysis. They looked good so I decided to go for the whole quarter mile.

The launch was perfect- the wheels just hooked up and then the car exploded forward. The acceleration was finally intoxicating and the car just keep pulling.  I could tell I got to 130 pretty quickly and the results were as good as I could have hoped for:

That’s a huge amount of time shaved off with the race gas and tune. No tricks, no gimmicks, no games (i.e ice on the intercoolers, driving down a huge hill, etc). This run comes right on the heels of several 3rd gear pulls to 100 mph. I’ve even got catalytic converters on my car which makes the number even more impressive (I think I could shave off another 2/10ths with them off- more on that later). With this set up I feel like I’ve got a good shot at running my first “official” 10 second quarter when I hit RMR on the 9th. We’ll see.

So, in conclusion- octane boosters can be beneficial. Although to achieve next level performance it’s necessary to run much higher octane fuel and have a tune that can take advantage of it.