xpensivewino

Question for the community. I absolutely love my generation 1 Spyder, but wish it had HP closer to my 997.1 GT3. Rather than sell the Spyder for a higher HP vairiant or GT car, can a 400hp engine be done on the current engine. I would be looking for bullet proof reliability and no CEL lights etc. The car resides in So Cal so it would need to remain smog legal. Do the guys up at SharkWerks do a build for this type of car? What would the cost be for such a build? Any info would be greatly appreciated. If this is an old subject maybe a link to a thread would help...Thanks

ekam

3.8 engine swap.

Schmidts Cat

diverdog

The short answer is no. Vision Motorsports probably has a 400hp 4.0L on the shelf that would be an easy swap.

Marine Blue

Pep!RRRR

ajw45

997 GTS 3.8l X51 Swap

GT3 Nut

BGB engine swap is the short answer. However, not sure what happens with smog...
another option, but more expensive, is to have Jake Raby do an engine build with your current 3.4. I believe they can get it to 4.2. I dont recall the HP numbers or price but...he also takes FOREVER from what I understand. But they know what they are doing from what I have heard.

I would highly recommend calling John Tecce at BGB Motorsports. Very knowledgeable and he is a good guy to work with. He did a 3.8 swap in a 2014 Cayman for me in the past.

I seriously have considered doing my gen 1 spyder also...but just cant justify the cost right now.

daylorb

I will be doing a BGB 3.8 into a 987.2 Cayman at some point. Can't see why they would not do that into a Spyder.

With headers, cat back exhaust, new air filter and a tune, you would be getting close to 400hp. Softronic swears their tune alone produces 350hp. You would likely get another 20+ out of the rest...

Flat6 Innovations

Correct, we easily break 400HP with the 3.4 engine, at our Stage 3 level, most make 375-385 at the wheels. The 4.2 is a real challenge to build efficiently, as the cylinder heads need a ton of welding.

Yes, nothing is on the shelf here. We have no generic offerings, and no instant gratification. Our backlog has remained at 1 year since 2006. We never try to speed up, as there's no clocks, or calendars here. No time constraints, BUT we are always done when the job is proposed.

We were the first to 4.0, and the first to 4.2, having built the 4.2 for Cayman X when the car had 11 miles on it, in February of 2010. Its been continual development, and evolution every since.

xpensivewino

Excellent information here. Thanks so much for the advice and quick responses. A later Spyder isn't an option as I only like the gen 1 tops, the later cars aren't special to me, great cars I know, but just another boxster in my eyes. I think a 3.8 swap would be cool, and maybe the 400 number is limiting my choices. I hear that headers can make a good bit of difference on the 3.4 and I'm already running a Tubi. Perhaps I'll look into a software flash and a set of high quality headers.

Schmidts Cat

guab

A 987 Spyder with a 4.2 would be blissful.

TheBucketOfTruth

Does the IPD plenum and 82mm GT3 throttle body make any real power with or without a tune + exhaust or is it snake oil? I do realize you'd likely have to custom tune to take advantage but even then curious if they are effective. I see a lot of conflicting reports but seems more on the negative side lately.

Kcobra

Great question. I am right there with you. I would like to generate a little more power out of this 3.4 in lieu of trading up for a 981. I am sensing that the Intake and throttle body doesn't add much power. For me it is headers (no cat) and a tune. Feed back is greatly welcomed. Thanks