UMW Turbo Upgrade is Done!
12-30-2011, 07:37 PM
#1
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UMW Turbo Upgrade is Done!
It started almost 3 years ago with a few chats with Kevin at UMW regarding what I should do with my 2003 996 Turbo to improve performance and handling. Following Kevin’s advice I had a Europipe Stage 2 Exhaust, Bilstein PSS10s, and an UMW ECU flash installed. The car ran great and the upgraded suspension made it a totally different (and much better) handling car. I drove with these mods for 2 years and could have stopped right there and been perfectly happy.
However, I continued to read Rennlist posts about UMW Stage 2A turbo upgrades and asking Kevin more questions. Finally decided to pull the trigger and get his Stage 2A kit. Kevin lives very close to me so he did all the work himself. When it was all said and done I ended up with his Stage 2B kit and some other turbo ****:
UMW Turbos (Billet Compressor Wheel)
UMW ECU
UMW 75 mm Intake Kit
UMW Upgraded Fuel System and Injectors
Lightweight Flywheel
Lightweight Clutch Kit w/ Sachs Heavy duty Pressure Plate and GT3 clutch disk
997 GT3 Shifter (not yet installed)
A laptop with UMW Datalogger Software
While the engine was down Kevin also recommended some preventative maintenance…..new water pump, O2 sensors, coolant expansion tank, and slave cylinder. When I got the car back Kevin put me on the Break In for Dummies Plan…..aka the 40/400 plan….aka the 40 cycles and 400 miles with the ECU flashed back to semi-stock JIC plan. A “cycle” in this case being one heat up /cool down cycle on the turbos. The break in period is a painful experience, careful gear selection and staying off of boost until the turbos and clutch were broken in. This was exceeding hard to do, just driving up a slight incline and having the car in the wrong gear would generate boost. The turbos wanted to go on boost all the time! I was very careful during this break in period……it actually took me ~700-800 miles to get 40 legitimate cycles. Kevin knew my commute to work and the exact route I took so cheating was not possible
All I can say is WOW!!!! Lag is imperceptible, power is very linear with boost coming on at 2,200 rpm (yes I saw it on the datalogger!) and just keeps pulling hard all the way to redline. The torque is intoxicating, throws you back in the seat and just keeps coming. There is no comparison to stock or just a flash. Throttle response is almost immediate, literally scared the crap out me the first time I went WOT. What is really cool is that under load you can hear the turbos whining, even over the Europipe. The best feature of all is that the car drives beautifully in town….rock solid idle at 900 RPM with no hint of the car’s true performance. I can’t say enough on this point, the car just runs fantastic in stop and go traffic and around town, which is 98% of my driving anyway. I frequently call Kevin on the way home from work and tell him how great the car runs.
Another unexpected feature of this upgrade…..my car does not smoke on startup or when I hit the throttle. At the risk of another oil thread, on Kevin’s advice, I have been running Mobil 15-50 and more recently Mobil Turbo Diesel 10-40 since I bought the car with 7K miles on it. I now have 50K on the engine and it continues to be very quiet and my oil filters have always been clean enough to strain the wife’s spaghetti. Here are some pics of the turbos and car....another very happy UMW customer!
However, I continued to read Rennlist posts about UMW Stage 2A turbo upgrades and asking Kevin more questions. Finally decided to pull the trigger and get his Stage 2A kit. Kevin lives very close to me so he did all the work himself. When it was all said and done I ended up with his Stage 2B kit and some other turbo ****:
UMW Turbos (Billet Compressor Wheel)
UMW ECU
UMW 75 mm Intake Kit
UMW Upgraded Fuel System and Injectors
Lightweight Flywheel
Lightweight Clutch Kit w/ Sachs Heavy duty Pressure Plate and GT3 clutch disk
997 GT3 Shifter (not yet installed)
A laptop with UMW Datalogger Software
While the engine was down Kevin also recommended some preventative maintenance…..new water pump, O2 sensors, coolant expansion tank, and slave cylinder. When I got the car back Kevin put me on the Break In for Dummies Plan…..aka the 40/400 plan….aka the 40 cycles and 400 miles with the ECU flashed back to semi-stock JIC plan. A “cycle” in this case being one heat up /cool down cycle on the turbos. The break in period is a painful experience, careful gear selection and staying off of boost until the turbos and clutch were broken in. This was exceeding hard to do, just driving up a slight incline and having the car in the wrong gear would generate boost. The turbos wanted to go on boost all the time! I was very careful during this break in period……it actually took me ~700-800 miles to get 40 legitimate cycles. Kevin knew my commute to work and the exact route I took so cheating was not possible
All I can say is WOW!!!! Lag is imperceptible, power is very linear with boost coming on at 2,200 rpm (yes I saw it on the datalogger!) and just keeps pulling hard all the way to redline. The torque is intoxicating, throws you back in the seat and just keeps coming. There is no comparison to stock or just a flash. Throttle response is almost immediate, literally scared the crap out me the first time I went WOT. What is really cool is that under load you can hear the turbos whining, even over the Europipe. The best feature of all is that the car drives beautifully in town….rock solid idle at 900 RPM with no hint of the car’s true performance. I can’t say enough on this point, the car just runs fantastic in stop and go traffic and around town, which is 98% of my driving anyway. I frequently call Kevin on the way home from work and tell him how great the car runs.
Another unexpected feature of this upgrade…..my car does not smoke on startup or when I hit the throttle. At the risk of another oil thread, on Kevin’s advice, I have been running Mobil 15-50 and more recently Mobil Turbo Diesel 10-40 since I bought the car with 7K miles on it. I now have 50K on the engine and it continues to be very quiet and my oil filters have always been clean enough to strain the wife’s spaghetti. Here are some pics of the turbos and car....another very happy UMW customer!
12-31-2011, 11:07 AM
#4
Impressive upgrades and beautiful car. What 's the 0 - 60 time now?
12-31-2011, 12:49 PM
#6
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I can stop any time I want
I would like to point out a sad sign that our brother AeroTurbo is in deep trouble"
"I drove with these mods for 2 years and could have stopped right there and been perfectly happy."
Really? The first sign of addiction-denial. Sounds to close to "And I can stop drinking right now if I want to. "
Seriously, Aero, I can only imagine how awesome your car drives with the stage 2b. Way to go! I just completed the stage 2 install, it rocks. I agree with your statements. The power and drivabilty is so improved, very linear. When tooling around, it is a mild mannered Clark Kent, but when you pour the coals to it- Superman.
Aero, I am now a member of your group; "my name is Lance, and I am a modaholic"
By the way, where is the mountain background photo location? I am from Yakima.
Have fun and enjoy. Kevin's stuff is awesome!
"I drove with these mods for 2 years and could have stopped right there and been perfectly happy."
Really? The first sign of addiction-denial. Sounds to close to "And I can stop drinking right now if I want to. "
Seriously, Aero, I can only imagine how awesome your car drives with the stage 2b. Way to go! I just completed the stage 2 install, it rocks. I agree with your statements. The power and drivabilty is so improved, very linear. When tooling around, it is a mild mannered Clark Kent, but when you pour the coals to it- Superman.
Aero, I am now a member of your group; "my name is Lance, and I am a modaholic"
By the way, where is the mountain background photo location? I am from Yakima.
Have fun and enjoy. Kevin's stuff is awesome!
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01-07-2012, 03:55 PM
#8
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Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
03-17-2015, 04:05 AM
#9
Rennlist Member
Not sure if you guys are still in the WA/Sea area with the cars, I recently picked up an 03 and just sent Kevin a copy of my current tune so I can get his flash. Looking forward to starting the mods. I too have a problem in this area!
See you around?
Mark
See you around?
Mark
03-20-2015, 12:30 AM
#10
Advanced
Thread Starter
Welcome Mark! Yes I am still around. I am having some further work done on my car at the moment, the mod bug sure did get me....should be ready by early summer. See you at one of the Porsche Club events this year hopefully.
Charlie
Charlie
