I'm searching for a 996tt and I've been reading everything I can get my hands on to learn about the 996tt. I came across this article in the June 2012 issue of Excellence magazine.
"Smart Buy 996 Turbo --- 415 HP For $40,000......

On page 103---"Finally, be very careful when buying a modified Turbo. It's easy to raise the engine's output by 100 horsepower or more, but that will put the piston rings and connecting rods, as well as the Tiptronic transmission, in jeopardy."

Do the X50 cars and the regular turbo cars share the same rings and con rods?

Thx

 

The engine is the same including it's internals. The upgrade includes different turbos and ECU remap.
You can search on here, but the stock motor handles 650 hp before needing the internal upgrades.

 

yeah, that cautionary quote is balderdash. car's good up to 600 easy and mid 550 is a sweet spot. remember, the car came de-tuned for mass consumption.

 

Any mod to any motor that increases the torque and horsepower will stress all internal components to a greater degree. That's just physics period, you can't get away from it. Fat people stress their joints, feet, bones, and everything more as well.

I guess the question here really is how far can you go before noticeable issues start to surface or accelerated wear becomes a problem. Really no way to predict this as there are too many variables involved. A lot may have to do with how the car is driven. A highly tuned, say 700 RWHP rated car that very seldom sees any boost will develop much less wear than a stock car the sees high boost on a regular basis.

Purchasing a tuned car may be risky, maybe not. Personally, I'd much rather buy a 100% unadulterated car and mod it as I see fit, if at all. I tend to keep my cars a long time.

 

I wouldn't say jeopardy but raising the HP stresses the motor over stock. How you drive the car will be more important= nothing will stand up to being flogged on a regular basis without continuous repairs and headaches.

 

The 996tt optioned with the X50 power package was delivered from the factory with a Mezger engine, K24 turbos, GT2 intercoolers, and a 0.8 bar tune.

The 996 GT2 was delivered from the factory with a Mezger engine, K24 turbos, GT2 intercoolers, and a 1.2 bar tune.

Therefore, a 996tt optioned with the X50 power package that has a (quality...aka UMW) tune that brings the boost to 1.2 bar is running a nearly identical tune on a nearly identical engine/power configuration as the Porsche factory tuned 996 GT2.

 

+1. And the general consensus is that the Tiptronic S gearbox is good to about 550 awhp before you need to look at beefing it up. I imagine the factory service intervals for the GT2 are probably shorter than for the 420/450hpTurbos. I know my tuner recommends doubling the frequency of spark plug and oil changes for any tuned car. I was already doubling the oil intervals anyway, so no great hardship doing the plugs more frequently. Whether you upgrade your tune or not, be sensible and follow Porsche's advice to warm your engine up before driving it hard, and to cool the turbos at idle for a few minutes when you've run them hot. I normally give mine about 30 secs after a commute even if I haven't hit much boost.

 

Ok, supposed you only wanted to increase the hp/tq a bit....lets say over 450 and under 500 and use a tune to get there. What exactly is the tune doing?

 

One can look at the power output of the 997GT2RS.. Same basic engine configuration.

The K16 vs GT2 X50 use the same crankshaft/rods and all the same bottom end components. The X50 engine have the GT3 twin pickup oil pump.

 

But, if you're going to tune a stock 996 turbo do you need the gt2 turbos and inter coolers to complete the package?

 

a "tune" in porsche turbo parlance, is a remap. nothing more or less. the car is equipped from the factory to handle it, since it ( again ) is DE-tuned from the factory. hence the differences ( or perhaps we should say similarities ) in power output btw the gt2 and the stock turbo in de-tuned 414 hp form. as thdude has mentioned. so, in the example you cite, the "tune" is telling the car to do what it naturally wants to do so i say let it do what it do.

 

IIRC... >2004 GT2's run a 1bar tune, 2004- had a 1.1bar

 

properly yes. but there are many options available to you in bolt on's. i favor the 16/24 turbos ( that kevin here has successfully furnished to many, and he is among other suppliers..) with the gt2 ic's and 5bar fpr etc. that is a good middle of the capability setup and will never cause the undue stress that others have mentioned, excepted only ( possibly ) by keeping it garaged lol. it will last longer that way.

 

thinkin that is right. x50 was .8 iirc and i don't recall ever hearing of a factory 1.2 tune. cargraphic/fvd probably some of the first to get it there for mass aftermarket availability?

 

Thanks for the correction, Rob.