jp996

I recently purchased a 2003 996. Needless to say I'm loving it, but now it's time to start doing some performance mods. Those of you who have been long time 996 owners - what do you recommend as the top 3 initial performance upgrades I should make? I'm mainly looking to boost the horsepower and torque.

Please make some recommendations. Thanks.

morganabowen

I purchased my 996 five years ago and since that time I have added the following mods:

After-market wheels 19" (GT955 black centers)
Bridgestone Potenza REO50A Tires
Painted calipers (speed yellow)
Sachs Stage I clutch kit
LuK dual mass flywheel
K & N Cold Air Intake
Fister D Titanium Sport mufflers
Speed Venture X Pipe with 200 cell high flow cats
Yellow DPS Coilover suspension
B&M Short Shifter installed
IPD Plenum

Pick and choose my friend, we all like different things. Enjoy your Porsche

5CHN3LL

There are not a ton of bolt-on mods that will net appreciable results. You may find that you'll spend a TON of money for minimal gains. So, that's the disclaimer.

1) Intake/Exhaust. There are tons of options, and most of them will make the car sound awesome but will not affect (or may negatively affect) power. This setup has several believers, and 26HP - about 10% - is significant: http://www.fabspeed.com/porsche-996-...mance-package/

2) Underdrive pulley - the best bang-for-the-buck mod IMO. This does not increase HP, but it does free up power that would otherwise be spent driving all of the accessories run by the serpentine belt. If you do opt for an underdrive pulley, buy one of the more stout/substantial versions. The very nicely designed ones with a lot of material removed have a tendency to shear, which is a big drag.

Joe Ricard

Our question to you is what ya gonna do with the car? street cruising daily driver, Autocross, HPDE, time trial. Dyno queen, or garage queen.

5CHN3LL

Note that you will get lots of comments saying that you need to spend your money on a performance driving class because the car is better than you are, blah blah blah. Good advice, but tiresome and a little smug.

Also keep in mind that some mods may have unintended consequences - for example, lightweight flywheels may contribute to crankshaft failure; deleting the cats may result in failed emissions tests; awesomely loud mufflers may cause you to exceed noise limits at some tracks. Do your research before you buy, and ask who is running the mod you're interested in and what their opinions are.

Have fun spending the dough and personalizing your 996...putting your own touches on a new car is always a blast.

joe-1972

Exterior:
GT3 style factory aerokit
Clear side markers
BBS 2-piece factory option wheels

Interior:
GMG Roll bar

Engine:
EVOMS Intake
Performance headers
Fabspeed Cat bypass pipes
B&B Mufflers
X51 oil pan with magnetic drain plug
Third radiator
RSS underdrive pulley

Transmission:
Shaft and main seals recently replaced
Shaft bearings recently replaced
2nd gear pop-out fix
OS Giken LSD
New Sachs Clutch
AASCO Light-weight flywheel

Brakes:
StopTech Steel-spun brake lines
Sebro slotted rotors
PFC 08/06 pads

Suspension:
GT3 shocks
Tarret front camber plate / monoball
GT3 sway bars with new bushings
Tarrett drop links
GT3 alignment and corner balance
RSS Rear Dog Bones
RSS Rear Toe Steer Kit

Other:
Escort 9500ci integrated radar detector / laser jammers


This car is crazy modded yet you would never blink an eye at it... till I turn the key!
Before you mod it drive it... then join a club and drive it at some events. I love my Autocross courses in the Chicago land area. Learn the car first then figure out what you need to do to it.

Jon Moeller

This. You might as well ask what kind of ice cream you should get.

mcbit

Vanilla! What else?

Dennis C

I had an Evolution Motorsports ECU flash done to my 2002 C4S. Overall, I don't think it was worth the money. I think it did improve low-end torque a little bit, but it wasn't significant. I think that a flash might be more effective when combined with an exhaust and intake modification.

If you don't mind spending the money, then a supercharger is a great way to get more power (and lots of it!).

John@Fabspeed

Agreed!!!

On a serious note, there are so many options out there for you to explore. The most important thing is to make sure that you are spending your money in areas where you will get the most personal enjoyment/$ spent.

Many will say to invest the $ in performance drivings schools, as stated above. While that's great, and it is certainly going to help you exploit the car to it's fullest extent, you have to ask if that is something that will give you the most amount of joy over the biggest time frame for your $.

For me, I spend 95% of the time on the road, so I did simple bolt on upgrades that would allow me to extract more enjoyment out of that environment. Intake and exhaust are things that you will notice every time you jump in the car whether it's on the track or on the street!

At the end of the day, you have plenty of options! Take a look at Fabspeed.com for the exhaust/intake/wheels/tuning portions of your journey and congratulations on the car.

rwiii

Agree with 5CHN3LL. More track time will make you a faster driver (on the track) but does not increase horsepower. Why is that always a component of the answer? You assume the OP doesn't spend time at the track, and maybe he doesn't, but it has nothing to do with the question at hand.
Also a bone of contention for me is all the recommendations without data. I wouldn't spend a dime on upgrades without something from the dyno.
Of course it's Vanilla. Not only is it the best but accommodates a wider variety of toppin's. I prefer the flavor "homemade" (even though it is not) to French Vanilla. It has a better vanilla taste and not so creamy.

chsu74

996s are fairly maxed directly out of the box from Porsche. You can upgrade to a 997 short shifter and improve sound with a muffler mod. Suspension upgrade would be a huge improvement in handling.

After the above, save your money for a turbo upgrade.

Jon Moeller

And this. It's a 3.6 liter engine producing 320 hp at under 7k rpm (just shy of 90 hp/liter). There isn't any magic part (short of a supercharger) that's going to give you significant gains in output.

Rubik

I think the answer to your original question of horsepower and torque is that there is a lot you can spend but little to achieve as 5CHN3LL pointed out. The rest of the mods are more aesthetic and driving enjoyment rather than power and torque. Driving lessons are also one of those things that you can do it but it may make little impact on your day-to-day driving; still won't increase horsepower or torque.

Rubik

FIFY

BTW, that's pretty damn good!