ekam

Generally speaking, doing a software tune on a stock NA car will provide little difference. The whole point of a tune is to adjust for the extra airflow going into/out of the engine with aftermarket headers, exhaust, intake, etc.

That being said, 987.2 throttle plate is known to open only at 45 deg on WOT, so a software tune will fix that.

JPMD

My first 987 Spyder (PDK with PSE) was modded in this order. FYI only butt dyno reporting.

1. Tune (FVD) + Catless FVD headers Result to loud and smelled real back. No real difference in power in fact felt it may have robbed some lower end torque.
2. Tune + high flow FVD valved exhaust Cats returned to stock Sounded better than stock Maybe faster.
3. Tune + high flow exhaust with addition of high flow air filter, plenum & larger throttle body. This did result in real difference.

My new to me 3rd LOL Spyder is being shipped. It has standard exhaust. Will need to decide on Exhaust vs Headers as I will want better sound. Leaning toward Tubi to keep OEM tips stock. Not sure which set up produces better power/sound as a single mod Exhaust cs Sport Cat.
Ill most likely add tune at same time.

When vehicle is do for service will consider other mods at that time.

Marine Blue

Interesting, so it seems the intake plenum and high flow cats/headers combined with a tune give the best results.

And don't think I didn't notice your comment about a third Spyder , are you and Donavan competing . Spill the beans!

JPMD

LOL I'll try to keep it at 3 Spyders and not break any records.

Just to clarify My Spyder's best set up was with the Tune, muffler, plenum & intake as I had returned the catless manifolds back to stock. I think the difference maker was the plenum & Intake.

daylorb

Yes, I have done it. Softronics. It is noticeable, Softronics has pretty compelling evidence it is the tune.

I took my car to COTA for an HPDE, my instructor had an R. On the first lap she asked if it had the same engine, or did I modify it a lot, because she felt it pulled much more than her R. One data point...

GoCards67

I did the Softronics ECU update on my 981 Boxster Base and the difference is quite noticeable even without any other mods having been done. I have since had Fister do the exhaust mod and open the breathing up a bit and also change out stock exhaust tip to a Soul X pipe. The Fister MOD along with the Softronics "POP AND BANG" mod makes my car sound mean coming off the gas above 4000 rpm.

Soul Performance

Like many in this thread, I would also recommend Softronic. Scott is an A player, been specializing on the Porsche platform for about 30 years and is the sole software sponsor of PCA Club Racing. They even use him to check the ECUs to ensure noone is cheating. He's also just a great guy to work with right from the getgo haha. We are an authorized dealer for Softronics and have his tunes available on our website here. I also personally have a Cayman R, nice to meet another owner

Thanks for the biz on the headers! You should add our Valvetronic Exhaust System to our competition headers, it is Fantastic. I'm running it with our competition headers as well, here's some video below of it in action at WOT. Drove 16hrs from FL to PA with this setup just the other week and it is super comfortable in cabin at cruising speeds.



It is quite noticeable, the powercurve is more responsive and smoother and pulls harder especially up top. The factory software limits the power output by limiting the amount throttle body plate opens.

We'd love to have you consider out exhaust suite for your THIRD Spyder...jealous haha. Does your incoming Spyder have PSE already? If so I would recommend our street headers to pair with that. If not, the best ROI is going to be the catback, and our valved exhaust system is quite the improvement.

For your reference and everyone else's...the factory plenum/TB combination flows efficiently up to about 400hp, which these cars will never make without serious internal modifications. For cars running in Spec classes in racing that cannot modify their ECU software, adding this setup leans out the top of the powercurve and gains a smidge of power up top. However if you plan on tuning the car, you will find a much better return on investment on power with header/exhaust/software upgrades. Scott over at Softronics can give you a more in depth explanation of this if you are so inclined.

bminingham

What about the 981 throttle plate?

Soul Performance

They all use the same 72mm throttle body, software tuning limits the percentage the throttle body opens. Scott/Softronics I believe knows the exact percentages each model is programmed to open.

kaaayelll

Do you have any sound/video clips?