Tom Gilmour

Just bought a very clean 2007 Boxster base with 38000 miles. Standard 5spd. I'm coming from a 1999 996 and before that a 1999 986.

I'm finding taking off from first gear almost feels like you're starting in 2nd. Sluggish unless the revs are high, like 2k. I have to feather the throttle up or its slow to rise. Feels fine in other gears. My imagination??

Car has newish plugs and filters. New water pump. Could it be a timing problem?

Thanks!

Julian_KCMO

electronic throttle. Get yourself one of the electronical gizmos to change the response time of the electronic throttle body, its the absolute MUST first "mod". There are brand name options as well as amazon ones with the comensurate difference in cost.

Cheers,
Julian

Arione

Turn ignition to on (not start) for 60 seconds then off for 5 seconds then back on for 15 seconds - if you have the engine lid open you can hear the throttle readjusting. I do this about every quarter. Do this if you feel your throttle is sluggish or not as responsive as it maybe once was.

Tom Gilmour

I'll start with this. Being new to me and having only throttle cable cars, I don't have anything to compare it to.

I read some cars get CEL with the throttle control modules. But, being totally reversible I think I'll order one.

Thanks!

Julian_KCMO

I have one of the $60 ish amazon ones and have never had a problem/CEL from it.

cavediver32043

Look into Sprint Booster. Its plug n play and adjustable. Makes a huge difference in throttle response. Installs (plugs in) between accelerator pedal and DME on that wire harness.

bluebonnet

Revs of 2k are very low for anything other than slow highway cruising or first gear, which I understand you are using. I have a 2011 base Boxster which is a similar character albeit a different engine. It is not going to have the torque of the 996, but will reward at higher revs. The 996 also has a 6 speed, so better ratios probably. I rev mine to 4-5k before up shifting in normal street, using redline as the normal shift point on track and for performance street. I start thinking about downshifting when the revs drop below 3k in normal street driving. The torque peak of my car is 5600rpm, so I never ask the car for hard acceleration in any gear other than first when I am below about 3500rpm.

It would be good if you could have someone who is used to driving the Boxster test drive and see if they think it is an issue. Mine is quick, but I have the 7 speed PDK, so I have lower ratios, i.e., shorter gears. If your redline is about 30-35mph in first gear, that ratio should give you good acceleration.

Chris
2011 Base Boxster PDK

Flyrod

Forgive my ignorance, but do you mean a OBD2 Scanner?

harveyf

I agree with @bluebonnet For revs below 2K, you need to lower your expectations. For spirited acceleration from a standing start, you need to be at higher revs and slipping the clutch.
The throttle on your Cayman is "electronic". You push it down. The engine management system takes all the current parameters into consideration and decides how far to open the throttle body. Porsche engineers have researched the hell out of this. For this reason, I am not a big fan of the various aftermarket products. I also agree with bluebonnet, find another owner with a similar car (Boxster or Cayman) and do some comparisons. There is a small chance there is something wrong with your car in this operating range, in which case you will probably need a real mechanic to give you an evaluation and repair plan.

Ric In RVA

I have one of these and the change is transformational.

The car as delivered has a very slow relaxed throttle opening. You can only open it as fast as the computer will allow it to open.

A throttle controller allows you to set it the way you like. Even to the point it opens MORE than you have pressed the pedal.

I prefer something that feels more like 1:1 ratio and usually run in the sport setting at a low amount like 2 or 3. But it feels MUCH laggier when I turn it off now!

https://www.sprintboosterusa.com/pro...ter-select-v3/

cavediver32043

level Sport 7 for me; No regrets on the purchase of this device!!

Tom Gilmour

So, I got a cheap throttle booster from amazon for about $70. Makes all the difference in the world. Makes the car seem much quicker from 1st to 2nd and second to 3rd. I still have some sputters, but they are reduced quite a bit because the rpm zoom by much quicker!

I cleaned the MAF sensor and reset the throttle calibration. Any thoughts on the small sputters I'm getting. PO changed the plugs and water pump before I purchased. Coil pack?

scootr

I would run some seafoam through it. See if that doesn't clean the injectors. It fix (smoothed out) one of my cars that forums mostly said needed injectors replaced.

MrMoose

Regular Seafoam in the white can isn't really effective for cleaning injectors, you want something with PEA. Maybe the Seafoam IC5 stuff has that, but I dunno. What I am certain is effective is Techron Complete Fuel System Cleaner: try a bottle of that and drive it through a full tank, see if that helps.

You didn't provide a lot of details on the sputters. It may be worth using an OBD code reader to check for anything suspicious.

svandamme

a Stock 987 should not be sluggish in First.
In 1st it should pull strong, even in lower revs, but obviously it peaks in higher revs because it is an NA car, and its not a 5 liter V8.

Don't go buying throttle boosters tuners or whatever to fix a problem with the car

Troubleshoot it properly instead of installing gizmos.
There should also be no need to Reset the DME's learned map as it shoujld automatically learn your driving style. And either way it should have a decent strong pull in any mode even if a lazy driver drove it before.

If its not pulling properly in 1st, there is something wrong with the engine and you don't want to reset the stored values since those might actually tell you something about the problem !

1
Start by getting an ODB2 reader and check if there are any codes left.
And make sure to check the Fuel trim variations and Lambda values for differences between left and right bank.

2
You could have bad coil packs, bad cat, bad O2 sensors ,MAF sensor
So pull the sparkplugs, read the plugs for sooth, rich or heat and while you are in: inspect the coil packs. Any of those swollen : replace

3
if the car has been standing for a long time, you may have gummed up fuel injectors.
Modern day fuel has additives in 4 months time it gums up the fuel system and injectors.
short of pulling injectors, you could try some fuel system cleaners..

4
Check the engine bay, make sure nothing is loose, AOS lines, jubilee clips etc etc.
Make sure air filter is good
If you can borrow a known good one, try another MAF sensor
Check for vacuum leaks running engine at steady, spray water on intake areas, if it suddenly surges: it probably sucked in water