Forum members, can someone explain if you can tune the performance of a stock 992 Carrera S without physical add-ons (e.g. exhaust, cats, etc). I've never tuned a car at home before and saw a few articles/posts about M-Engineering and how you "flash the ecu" via a computer hooked up to the car. I can of course look more into that but just wanted to know the basics of doing a simple tune without changing car parts.

Thanks in advance

 

Everything is software based.

Most off-the-shelf tunes do not require additional hardware.

Just recoding some lines in the ECU.

 

interesting, why is that? So that means Porsche could have given the car like 500hp+ but decided not to as it would encroach on GTS/Turbo territory?

 

That is the case with all turbo cars, not just Porsche.

The manufacturer limits the output of the turbo for different reasons (mpg, to keep a safe power difference between the different models, to not stress the turbo over a certain limit).

Tuners can easily add more power and stay within the safe limits of stock components

 

That's all they did to give the GTS "more power."

 

>> interesting, why is that?
So tuners have a business... lol

 

The manufacture has EPA and fuel implications for its line up of models... think gas guzzler tax but for manufacturers, its likely why Hybrid is important to manufacturers in addition to the ICE mandate that is being pushed,
also you mentioned the marketing component, a Base 911 versus at GTS has the same engine components, but different Turbos, the manufacturer gets to charge more for each Horsepower but then we are lucky that this makes our engines very stout for tuning.

 

Probably more than 500 hp, easily.

OEM marques tune an engine to a specific output and rating for a variety of reasons - emissions, MPG, durability (vis-a-vis OEM warranty) and one that's often overlooked, overall drivability.

A car making 600 hp needs to be set up differently (shocks, dampers, overall chassis dynamics, and most importantly, the brakes) than a car with 400 hp.

You don't just add horsepower and leave everything else the same. At least not if you're a responsible manufacturer. A tuner might, but not a major automobile manufacturer.

 

There are so many reasons for why horsepower is being left on the table and can be "tuned" into a car with no other mods necessary. Think about it this way - besides the "they can charge more money for a GTS over an S" -- You could tune a Dodge Demon to get more horsepower, but the car they ship is the fastest version of that car that they will offer a warranty on.

Add more HP - it's more stress on the engine/turbos/everything. Some cars are artificially held back as to not encroach on other product offerings, but it's mostly a combo longevity/emissions/usability.

 

When using a stage 1 tune from a reputable tuner, how you drive the car and how you take care of the care will have a greater impact on reliability.

 

I wasn't intending to imply that the tune will wreck your car and its reliability, I'm just saying that it's the best balance of all of the above that the manufacturer is willing to offer a warranty on.

Sometimes, in companies like GM, they don't offer their most raucous engines in the Cadillac badging because those buyers expect more refinement. It's why there isn't a ZR1 equivalent to in a four-door Caddie or why the supercharged V8s don't have as much horsepower as the Corvette Z06 or Camaro ZL1s.

 

This is true. The manufacturer is taking into account the lowest common denominator of ownership. One of the biggest factors in the US is the inconsistent availability of 93 octane fuel.

 

The CT5-V Blackwing would like to have a quick word with you.

 

Except that's the interesting part that many people don't know.

The Turbo is a different size engine displacement and different size turbos resulting in great HP and Torque and a more powerful / faster car.

However, the GTS as said above is the SAME engine and SAME turbos as the S. Same displacement. But they did not 'tune' the GTS to bump the power by 30 HP.

The GTS engine is the engine Porsche development, then parked, then they detuned it as the S. Not the other way around.