997 car has a sun sensor. Essentially all you need to do is to wire sun sensor input from ECU to relay and connect it to wire in light switch in the dashboard. I got stuck with wring part as I did not find for some reason that panel where sun sensor signal gets routed - it has to be on right side from PCM but somehow it was hidden and I lost interest to it in last couple of months. But it should be relatively easy thing to do.

I am not sure if ECU has dedicated output with logical 'true' false' signals from sun sensor or if is it an analog one. If anyone has interest I guess it all can be done. I do not know why they did not do it on 997 as it was done for cayenne.

 

This might be an interesting third party mod for someone to manufacture. I'd buy one.

 

To those who are brave enough to cut wires and have enough free time to solve this - here is a diagram, i hope i will be able to attach file to this message.

PS. and a page where sun sensor is shown. Good luck cutting.

 

"might be an interesting third party mod"

+++++++++++++1

 

For those who wants to have daylight feature - front fog lights a on wire on A5 contact of light switch and it seems when activated it uses a 64K Ohms resistor to contact A4.

I do not have stock of resistors anymore so cannot check it. if anyone is brave enough - try it and write up here if it will work or not - if you want your fog lights to be on all the time. But use your multitool first to double check what I saw prior to messing with wires!

 

So here is my standard argument against the auto-headlight feature on any car.... they don't work well enough and can reinforce bad habits.

First, they don't turn on or off quick enough.. so folks are driving well into a tunnel before their lights come one (whey they rely on the auto feature) rather than being on as they enter, which requires the driver or some predictive mechanism to know, 50 yards from now I'll need my headlights on. Same goes for off, though that isn't really a problem (going down the road a bit further with the lights on).

The bad habit is that of drivers not being aware of their headlight setting. If you start leaving it on auto - as many drivers do, and are contentious, its ok, but what happens if you forget that the last time you had the headlights on, you were in high-beam mode, and now your driving down the road irritating the crap out of everyone with your friggen high beams? (If the systems take care of this, then nevermind... I've never in my 24 years of driving, owned a car with the auto feature, so I'm not versed in the nuances of what it may do.... I'm just really unhappy with folks driving around with high-beams, oblivious to the world)

 

These arguments are a little weak. On the 997 the daytime running lights offer sufficient light to illuminate a tunnel but given the fact that most tunnels have lights in them you really don't need your lights. Fact is in a modern Porsche there isn't much difference between the daytime lights and the full on headlights, only difference is the instrument lighting won't come on unless you turn on the headlight switch.

As for the high beams, Auto On doesn't have any impact on them at all. You could leave them on in any car regardless of how they lights turn on.

 

Well, I use that position because the kerflunkte power company has upped the local line voltages to permit use of wind generators. As a result, we're going through four or five light bulbs a week and those in the garage door opener failed early. We need the lingering running lights to get into the house. (Can't fix them myself and too cheap to call a repairman to fix a light bulb until they drop the voltages again in Summer.)

Otherwise I agree completely. Most of these 'missing' features are things I don't use on rental cars that have them, if they can be suppressed. It drives me nuts to have a car doing things automatically instead of at my command, whether it be shifting gears or anything else.

What do you do in such cars if they turn on the lights when you don't want them on?

Gary

 

Gary: I commented in general. Knowing you, I know you have good reason to use that feature.

But in general, we know that modern cars, and this one in particular, consume a lot Amps even when the car is shut off. An extra couple of minutes of high current further compounds the issue.

I do not use the LED DRLs either in general, as I can turn them off through the OBD. No need in the bright West daylight to have 2 LED bars on. I use them when driving in deep shadow canyon roads for safety though. Incidentally, the car is easily spotted and it does not need 2 bright LED bars to be singled out.

 

I've never been impressed with the value of that feature in any case. Unless visibility is poor enough that good drivers are having trouble seeing other cars, I suspect the value of daytime lighting is nil. A certain number of preventable accidents avoided at the cost of a new set of accidents offered by mistaken action by marginal drivers pushed that extra little bit into confusion. Overall nil.

Sounds good on the face of it (or the tail as the case may be) but ask any fireman how much good it does to have very bright lights, flashing to boot, and a siren thrown in for good measure. I greatly suspect that something more than 90% of the "I never saw him" accidents are caused by drivers so distracted by extraneous matters that a mere light here or there means nothing.

The only useful way to avoid those accidents is the fixture behind your own steering wheel. Every thing else is as valuable as one of those stickers: "Baby on Board!" Or so it seems to my intuition. Would be interesting to acquire hard data some time, but no one is likely to offer grants examining questions when the answer might well go against the zeitgeist that way.

Gary

 

I despise the keyless GO system, I can't tell you how many times I have lost my keys when I am actually in my car, I was thrilled to see the 997.2 doesn't have it...

I think that system is more for women because if your a guy the car key will be in your pocket in which case it will slip out of the pocket and between the seat and center console or fall into the seat versus if your a women it stays in your purse....

 

I agree, never use the home option.

I Want my one touch sunroof closure back!!!!!!

 

Folks if DRL's and the auto headlight option help eliminate just one accident then I don't understand how you can find fault with them. It still cracks me up that auto dimming mirrors are an option on the 997.

 

An option I did not pick on my ordered car. The flip prismatic mirror is a far better, simpler, solution. I have seen my share of failed photo-chromic mirrors and the ensued mess...

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with self dimming mirrors. I can only speak from my 40 years of driving and have never had such bad luck with this option. One less thing to distract me while driving.