Hrvip Hrvip

Depending on what you are after, your performance will vary.

To be quite honest, the reason the performance parts available for Porsche that are available are so expensive, is because there's not only not as many Porsches made as your standard econobox, but even less people that buy them that are going to go all out.

Depending on what you want, "just a bit more" or "I want a serious upgrade" you're going to get what you pay for.

The best way I can explain is to think of the quality of the systems as they come, stock. With most standard cars comes standard parts. For instance the exhaust system on a ford escort, stock, really isn't going to be that great. There is plenty of room for improvement. Why? Because ford didn't put a ton of money into the dynamics of designing something that was superb, stock, just efficient and "okay".

However, on all Porsches. Whether it's an entry level Porsche, midrange, or a high end Porsche, the parts made on them have gone through extensive testing over and over. Your intake and exhaust system on the 996 is already GREAT, so the research that will go into a BETTER system on it will be even more difficult to attain because the research gone into it, fabrication, reproduction, and cost of doing so will be expensive. How many people will purchase them? Relatively safe to say less than half of 996 owners as many leave them stock.

So it's hard to go out to a regular muffler shop, get a "custom setup" for the exhaust and have it just flat out be better than the one that's already on it simply because there's no way to know if the flow will be better, know if the diameter will help, and get advancement without throwing it on a dyno and checking. Porsche already went to all that trouble for you, stock.

Then with the turbo setup. Sure, you can go with an aftermarket setup, change the turbo, change the intercooler, move things around, put more into it but if you don't check into it and go with something that is already tested and researched how well is the reliability going to be?

A lot of the intake, turbo setups, exhaust setups and suspension setups that you are seeing for your 996 are things that people run on the track and have gone through a lot of testing. Of course the car operates on the same principle of any other engine, the quality that comes out of the factory is higher, so the performance is already great stock as is. So unlike a lot of aftermarket companies that just make performance parts because what usually comes on cars has "plenty of room for improvement" it takes more research to already improve upon the basics that are already "good" because they are tested a lot more.


If you want upgrades on a budget, check with some other 996 owners, places like 6speedonline.com are a huge community and when some people upgrade to bigger better things, they sell the old used systems. So that would be your best bet at going with a "bargain" bang for the buck on upgrades. Also check with your local Porsche dealer, sometimes they'll have customer orders that come in that people will order, never pay for, and leave the dealer with footing the bill and they'll go on clearance and get rid of them (it's rare, but worth a check!) and some dealers also run track clubs (I know several of the dealers around here do) who have plenty of hookups on the track nuts who might also be able to get you some deals on performance parts for your 996 if you're running on a budget. Having hookups with people at the track is sometimes the easiest way to get parts as people try new parts and swap them out and trade them and upgrade, etc.

Have fun and good luck with your upgrades! The 996 is a cool car. I personally dig the 996 more than the 997, very nice bodylines and one hell of a sexy car.


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DA-Dongle J2534 Jaguar & Land Rover

Porsche Piwis

DA

-VINA 2534

LordVicious

I couldn't agree with you more, Porsche provides an amazing stock setup and yet people throw huge money at aftermarket monkey parts. I've been checking out turbos for the last year or so and they seem to come in two flavors: bone stock and lovingly cared for or track-ratted nonsense dripping oil and blowing smoke. As a factory engineer myself (not cars) I really see the factory perspective. They got it right, your after market guys? I doubt it.

That said, the turbo motor does seem to respond well to ECU mods. Just sayin

wross996tt

Hmmm....just for the sake of argument....for the X50 option from Porsche to get you ~30hp gain (and added lag BTW) was ~$17,500...for less than a third of that you can get 5 times the hp gain and better drivability ...LOL

Tuxiemama

This

SSST

and for only $1,000 (tune only) you can 3x the HP gain. That's an even better deal.

That's the only non-Porsche performance upgrade I've done. X73 and 997 GT3 shifter are the other two. The car is almost perfect now. Speaking of which, its a beautiful Fall day. I think I will drop the top and go for a spin.

"02996ttx50

isn't that something? whenever i would sit and wait for boost to kick in i would shake my head in wonder at that 17,800 on its build sheet lol

espanolie

i've recently been referred to 996 turbos - a bargain for their performance. thanks for sharing - interesting read

Tuxiemama

LOL, yeah, I still have the stock K24s with the Mafless and E85 etc and it spools very quickly now, a good 600 rpm before stock

"02996ttx50

^ your car has been messed with thankfully. therein lies the fun. its funny how "staid" these cars actually are stock, compared to tuned/modded ones. i can't even imagine the 800/100hp versions lol.

but i sure couldn't ever go back to 444 either

Turbo Jonny

Maybe Porsche engineered the lag in for us old school 911 turbo
Owners who like a bit of the 'boost bong'

Seriously , glad i didnt foot the bill for an X50 option

"02996ttx50

me too, but i rarely get big ticket items new any longer, sadly. all my cars and gf's are highly optioned, reasonably sought after yet with fair number of miles on them, and i've fairly resigned myself at this stage of my life to take what i can get

there is also one less x50 on the planet largely as a result of me and my driving, though i'm assuming the majority of my gf's are still largely intact lol