DonaldLL

I have an '06 Boxster 2.7L. What mods will increase my HP at what cost? Does replacing the stock exhaust truely make a perceptible difference or do you have to change the headers also? Or do you have to do headers, exhaust AND the intake side? How much does this cost?

Thanks

hacker-pschorr

Don't dick around with petty upgrades - go straight for the supercharger & make some real power.

DonaldLL

Too extreeme.... but thanks. Can someone comment on the mods I mentioned?

Jim Michaels

Yes, the breathing improvements you mentioned usually yield modest power gains, but maybe enough to satisfy the modest tuner. I'm not very familiar with the 2.7, but saw a report of a 22 hp gain with the Milltek headers and cat-back exhaust on the 3.4 (Cayman S) engine. Those two parts run about $5000, so that's about $227 per hp for the parts alone. The cat-back was about $2000 of that, and yielded a little more than half the 22 hp gain. In that tuning test an evo intake and a reflash each yielded about 5 hp more after the exhaust system. All these power gain estimates are at the crank, not at the rear wheels. Your results may vary.

Niels Jørgensen

Sell your 2.7 and get an S?

That's 40hp (or 55 if you go 07), 6spd gearbox, 18" wheels + a couple of other niceties, they come with a warranty AND you may actually get some of it back once you sell it, unlike any mod you may apply to the 2.7.

Jim Michaels

Niels suggestion is probably the easiest (maybe even the cheapest) way to get more reliable power; just buy a car with more power. I've seen 997 TT owners also ask how to get more power, so maybe the need for 20% more is a constant.

DonaldLL

Yeah, in hindsight I'd just get an S. The problem with going that route now is that I'd take a serious beating on the trade/sale of my '06 with 10k miles. I've owner it for 7 months. It has alot of factory options so the price was relatively high for a 987.

I was looking for a more "affordable" upgrade.

Given the mods to the headers and the exhaust, is the exhaust much louder? I would not want much, increase in the volume. Tone change would be OK but not much of a volume increase

Jim Michaels

There are sound clips posted somewhere on www.caymanclub.net, but they are on Caymans. Some exhaust builders' websites also offer sound clips of their exhausts. It seems that the Milltek exhaust system is one of the quietest ones for the Cayman. Although it lowers the pitch at idle (a lower rumble), it makes a good sound at full throttle. Some of the other makes provide significantly more sound (or noise), and some people buy them strictly for their sound. Some exhausts also have resonance (a louder drone) at certain rpms. I've said so many good things about Milltek recently that I'm beginning to sound like one of their sales reps, which I'm not. I still have the OE exhaust system with no plans to switch.

Niels Jørgensen

Never mind what you paid for the car originally, it's the difference between your 2.7 and an S of similar statue and mileage/age that matters. I'm unfamiliar with the US market, but if e-bay is anything to go by, that difference is around $10K.

Compare this to a $5K upgrade that will get you less than 20hp (Remember, 22hp was for a 3.4) and bring you absolutely nothing on resale, the $10K spend on the S seems like a good deal to me - and at least part of that will come back when you decide to sell it.

Jim is probably right, the craving never ends. Though I have a hard time seeing how a 997TT owner could possibly have owned his car long enough to want more. I mean, the TT is supposedly faster than a CGT in a straight line - that'd scare the living p*ss out of me .

Another idea, if you haven't already done this, would be to test drive an S. See if it makes a real difference to you, if it doesn't, then the $5K exhaust would surely be a waste of money.

And why would a 928 guy care?

Well, I hope to replace my trusty S4 with a 987S in the not too distant future, and have been through the 986 vs 986S vs 987 vs 987S mind game, and finally concluded, that getting anything short of the best will land me in your exact situation.

Currently, my thinking is to wait a year for the 07 to come down a bit, but then, that's also a never ending game

Sorry for the rambling

Bullet

Start taking your car to the track. If you don't already, you'll notice that small gains in power don't add that much. What makes the difference is the skills with which you use what you've got. Braking is in fact the major determinant of shorter lap times. While its' true that launching and accelerating from a stop has a thrill, the real pleasure in driving comes from integrating all of your skills with all of the capabilities of the car, employing discipline and judgement, and trying to drive a "perfect lap" time after time. I'm not kidding - that is MUCH more satisfting than being squeezed into the back of your seat 5% more.

For example, during hotlaps at the Porsche Driving Experience in Alabama, a C2 went out with the C2S's. Instructors were driving all the cars. The C2S could not pull away from the C2. They were neck and neck all the way.

Last year at my local track, I followed my '03 996 Targa with my current '06 997C2S and the same thing happened. The Targa has a weight and power disadvantage (of 35hp in fact)!

If you haven't already done it, you'd be better to spend your money on learning to drive really really well. Put the cash into tires and brake pads and track days. You'll end up having a lot more fun.

-B

jrok

I would tend to agree with Bullet on this. If you took that $5,000 you would spend to get 20 more horsepower and spent it going to the track over the next few years you would probably be a much happier person and a much better driver. Click the video link in my signature to see what driving pleasure really is... like sticking to a 997TT that can't shake you with 200 more horesepower. When you've mastered the Boxster in a couple of years and the depreciation is leveling out, go buy a car with more horse power and start all over again. Any Boxster is a fine a fine track weapon.

DonaldLL

Hmmmmm.... you guys are making sense. I think you're right. I have some questions about taking the Boxster to the track... I'll post later when I have a minute

Thanks

wambo

Donald-
You'll post questions about taking a 987 to the track?!? The car was (with a reasonable budget/bottom line) MADE for the track! The mid-engine layout gives a great balance for handling, and the brakes are outstanding! If you don't drive the car into a wall, you won't hurt it by tracking it. Yeah, you'll wear out the tires and the brake pads quicker than on the street, but the car will take all the track driving you want to throw at it on a $5,000 budget. I could not agree more completely with the guys who advocate track experience over (pointless) "upgrades." Learn to drive the car you've got to its max, THEN worry about getting more car. I have a 987S (2006). I've had guys in cup cars and turbos (a few years old, mind you, but still faster according to the books) come up to me after a session and compliment my driving (what else could they do once I passed them?). It's not that my car is faster, but it's that I drive it faster than they drive their "faster" cars.

The point is, don't worry about the car. Porsche did their homework. The car will be great at the track, and it will still ferry you to work when you get home. Get excited about learning the concepts of weight transfer, apex identification, smooth use of brakes/throttle, and so on. Practice heel-toe downshifting. Then, when you're getting the hang of all this (it takes years, trust me), worry about more power.

Of course, no matter how much power you have, a Honda Accord driven by someone who doesn't care if they get arrested will still be able to pass you on the highway. I'm assuming you worked hard enough to afford your Porsche that you want to stay out of jail. Forget HP unless you're being PAID to race. Then, in that case, let your crew chief worry about it.

Join the local PCA and sign up for every DE you can afford. You'll see what we mean.

Have fun!

-W

paralizer

Gotta echo what Wambo said. In fact my suggestion is to get a set of wheels and tires just for track events. Then go out and learn how to change brake pads. Because if you start doing track events this will become a handy, and money saving, skill. Just remember don't try and go to fast. Just concentrate on the basics like the driving line, vehicle dynamics, and vehicle control. Have fun.

DonaldLL

My questions really boil down to just one, that is, how do I get started? I think wambo answered that for me