The first mod I'll do to my car will be the
ROW M030 suspension--seems to be a no brainer
from all the acolades it gets here.

But, I'm curious about this x51 power package...
Can you easily purchase it and install it
on a car you've already taken delivery of?
Also, does anyone besides Porsche make an
equivalent package? If so, how much?

Thanks guys.

 

You can get the factory "X51" retrofit power kit for P96 '02 and '03 3.6L cars with manual transmission. It's about $7600.00 U.S. from <a href="http://www.carnewal-europe.com/main.htm" target="_blank">Gert at Carnewal</a> Power increase from 320HP to 345 HP, but you lose some mid-range torque. There are of course a lot of other ways to increase horsepower for less money, but not from the Porsche factory.

 

Just a clarification -- the $7,600 does not include installation (which is a partial engine tear down).

 

You lose mid range torque with this option? How is that possible/desirable? With the x51 is this also the case?

 

The peak torque in the x-51 package is available at about 4000 rpm versus the stock motor which hits peak at 3300 3500 rpm the power curve on the x-51 maintains peak torque longer than the stock motor.One might assume that off the line performance might not be as intense but where you drive the car in high performance situations you would have more power over a wider range of speeds.The dealer can install the kit however factory install includes balancing and blueprinting

 

Like the X74 and many others, the kits is not techinically retrofittable. That does not mean that you cannot get the bulk of the parts and install them, but it is only 95%. The factor powerkit motors use weight matched pistons and connecting rods and supposedly get more attention to detail.
As for the kit in general, most of us that have it believe it to be underated. I hope to get the car dyno'd soon so we have a better idea on numbers but there does not appear to be a loss of low end performance and once the revs are up it is significantly faster than a std 3.6l car.
If you track the car or are into spirited driving when the revs are at 5k+, the kit is well worth it. Do keep in mind that you can still do the 'normal' add HP upgrades such as intake and mufflers to the X51 and they will likely benefit the X51 more than a regular car.

 

<img src="http://members.rennlist.com/robinwa/X-51.gif" alt=" - " />

 

Balanced and blueprinted? I would certainly hope that wouldn't be necessary.

All Porsche engines get weight balanced pistons and rods. The vendor weighs the pistons and the there is a station on the engine line where a guy weighs all the rods.

I think you will find that the X51 engines go down the Carrera engine line just like every other engine. If Porsche's quality control is what it should be (some may debate this) additional attention to detail in not needed. From a manufacturing standpoint, you should not have a product on an assembly line that requires some sort of additional quality control. With all the systems Porsche has in place to build these things now, you are probably more likely to introduce quality issues by deviating from the standard build process, than reduce them.

 

This is different that what I heard. The powerkit motors are assembled on a different line than the normal motors. I will try and track down the info on it.

 

From Excellence Magazine...

The X51 is more than a DME change. Your car is quite special as it has higher compression (different pistons) and a much different enrichment profile and advance curve. The Porsche technicians lso have a different fitting and assembly procedure so as to optimize the components. Essentially, all components are weighed and fitted per spec and the lowest weight rods and pistons are matched and balanced. WHile it may seem that your engine is still ordinary, it is not.

 

I went on the factory tour a couple of months ago. There is now 4 engine lines; Boxster, Carrera, Cayenne, and "High Performance". The "High Performance" line is for the engines that still use the dry sump crankcase. The turbo and GT3. The X51 engines would be built on the Carrera line. The beauty of this assembly process is that they can build engines of various spec on the same line by just delivering different parts. There is no question that the X51 is a special engine, but regardless of the marketing hype, all Porsche engines get the extraordinary attention to detail and "balancing and blueprinting" is not necessary.