Ed Newman

Just me .02 cents... my car has 345 HP and while it is modified in many other ways, I have no problem passing GT3's and even some cups on the straights. 1 mph faster on entry is worth about 2-3 car lengths at the end if cars accelerate at the same rate.

mdrums

mglobe, I agree with the seats not being supportive especially on the track. Since I have a full left leg as a prosthetic and lack the muscels to push back on the dead pedal I bought a CG-LOCK. Now the seat belt firmly holds me in place. The GT3 seats or a racing seat would be better for the track but my wife still drives the car around town too.

mglobe

That's the second recommendation I've had on the CG-Lock. May have to pick one up. The other thing I've done that seems to help, is to cinch the lap belt tight, recline the seat a bit, tug on the shoulder belt until it locks, and then return the seat -back to your normal track position. This locks the entire belt system into place, and helps to hold you in.

mdrums

I do that too but with the CG Lock. the CG Lock allows you to pull the lap belt very tight.

PAULSPEED

Hi,
I have the sport seats and they are pretty good on
the track. You still move around but not much.
If you are buying new seats, get the track seats. If you
are going to install used seats, then go with the sport seats.
Paul

TT Surgeon

Don't waste/pour money into a m96/7 motor or ruin your car with an SC, if power is what you want upgrade to a turbo and be done with it.

10 GT3

I agree with some of the previous comments. I think you need to trade it for a Turbo. The SL55 is a torque monster. You are only discussing power and no other aspects to the car, so I don't think handling is a requirement. Your existing Carrera S easily outruns an SL55 (with comparable drivers) due the SL's fairly cushy suspenion and tremendous heft. A GT3 is a good step up in handling, but I don't think you will like the heavy clutch, stiffer ride and low torque/high-rev motor coming form the SL. The new Turbo has extremely fast spool with great low end torque that should cure your issues.

seattle_sun

Funny, my buddy has a C4S and told me that he doesn't think its very fast. In the past, I have tried to get him out on the track, but he has always declined.

Most of us have not even gone beneath the surface of what this car can do. Go to the track and play around. The carrera S is a fantastic car and it will not feel underpowered on the track. If anything, it will scare you the first time.


Any idiot can design a car to go fast in a straight line.

MichaelL

Quite a few of the posts to this thread, although they may have some truth to them, are less than helpful and non-responsive to the question posed. Trading in the car, taking driving lessons, pressing harder on the throttle, changing the seats and the like aren't very useful advice to someone wishing to modify his car for more power.

This question of increasing power has been thoroughly beaten to death on the 997 forum in the last couple years. In addition to some really useful information and insightful opinion, there has been an astonishing amount of incorrect facts, ill-advised advice, attacks by naysayers, overinflated claims, half-assed attempts at humor and so on.

How is a new member to the forum, or any other reader for that matter, supposed to make any sense of all this? He did ask a very general question, but deserves better answers from some of us.

mglobe

Actually, I think he got some good and remarkably consistent answers. I don't believe people are being smart-asses by suggesting a turbo or GT3 or X51. I think most of them believe that the incremental improvements that may be possible from bolt-on solutions (other than X51) are really not significant, and will not give the OP what he is looking for. Also, I think many feel that when they have taken their car to the track they have realized that there is abundant power, and that without considerable track time, they could not do much more with any additional power. Hence the comments about "attend a DE".

mooty

if you plan to throw money away, here are some real suggestions.
take the motor out, bore/stroke it. flow it.
have a custom chip made for it and custom tuned on engine dyno with specific type of fuel you will run.

try a combination of header, exhaust with and without cat/mufflers.

play with fuel injectors, air/fuel mixture.
add supercharger or turbo.
custom intake, custom individual butterflies.
i can go on for another hours or so. but ALL these add up to be more than tradking for a turbo and will be less reliable and most likely slower. so the counter-question is do you REALLY want power, or you want to be fast or you just want to mod.

if you want real power, upgrade and trade to TT.
if you want to be fast, go take driving lessons at various tracks
if you want to mod, then open your wallet and just mod to your hearts content.

4thporsche

You are criticizing the other posts/responses (which BTW, have some very good suggestions) but you are not adding anything constructive or offering ideas/suggestions that could help the OP?? Go figure.....

mdrums

Ok so you do not like our responces but you have not offered any ideas yourself. I see in you signature you have done a lot of mods to your car. Truthfully what difference in power did you see on a dyno...if any how much did you spend?

dstrimbu

Did anyone mention Ruf? Their workshop in Dallas can solve the 997S "lack of power" pretty simply, with a warranty to top it off.

About $25k for the Ruf compressor complete last time I looked... wheels and aerokit extra.

See page 67 in Excellence #149 (September 2006). Great write up.

And there's always the X51 powerkit install at $20k or so - with a full Porsche warranty.

I agree that I need to be a better driver before I need any more power, but others have different needs. I'd definitely go Ruf if I needed power with my C4S; or a 997 GT3 if money was no object.

Just MHO,

-don

RonCT

I thought malammik was right on the money myself -- making the point that the 997S is blistering fast out of the box... Is it a drag strip racer? No. Is it one of the fastest cars around for the track / autobahn / ring but that you can comfortably drive on the street? Yes.

There have been dozens and dozens of threads just like this one over the past few years and the responses are all the same... You can replace the headers / cats / mufflers for a nice sound and bump in performance. Some change the airbox, though I don't like the current options (X51 intake is the way I'd go, but it's $2500 installed). Some flash the ECU, but I don't like that option either. Beyond that, Porsche gave the 3.8 as much as they could...