Caughtacab911

OK, so I've put 25K on my 997S including a few track days. Except for an RMS warranty replacement last year, it's been an essentially trouble-free ride - literally. I'm nothing but thrilled by the everyday driving experience (even though these winter days it's more of an every-so-often one).

With springtime not far off, I'd like to see about improving performance in a reasonably cost-effective way (as in, no X51 retrofit!). I'm quite satisfied with the suspension, esp. with Sport Chrono and PASM, so I'm more interested in engine upgrades. I visited my local Euro speed shop and got quotes for the following (with estimated HP/TQ bumps in parens):

- REVO performance software upgrade +15-25 hp/+17-23 tq)
- IPD power intake plenum (+27 hp/+25 tq "at the wheels")
- Fabspeed performance package - headers, mufflers, sport cats, tips, cold air kit (+27 hp)

Total with labor and tax is just under $8K, of which the Fabspeed stuff is two-thirds. What I'm thinking is to do the "easy" upgrades first (ECU and intake) and see what the difference is. Adding those HP/TQ amounts should make a difference, right? Or would you do it all at once, $ permitting? Thoughts?

Gene
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05 911 C2S cabriolet - daily driver 'cept in winter
01 MB E320 4Matic wagon - the other days

cole328

"gundo" muffler hack $300 or so, depending on whether you need new OEM cans sounds incredible, feels faster, spend the remaining $7.7K on your wife.

Edgy01

From the experience of others, I would caution against a (relatively) inexpensive "upgrade." A friend of mine bought a supercharger for his and after a couple of years wound up paying good money to remove it. It wasn't reliable. Seriously give some thought to simply learning to drive what you have. Another buddy of mine has been racing since the 1960s. (He's still racing at 70). He's one of the smoothest drivers I know, winning his class and others time after time. He usually races a second generation RX-7 Mazda and beats Carreras all the time. The power differences are substantial. It's all in the skill of using what you have. Take some classes in improving your driving skills. You will ultimately find that you have actually too much power, and will find yourself discovering that you have no need to change a thing on that car. The reality in these cars is that there is no low-hanging fruit that Porsche did not consider in the first place. For real gains you would have to spend a considerable amount of money, and then you will truly trade away reliability. If you want to go from a trouble-free ride to a nightmare, start hacking.

utkinpol

It is usually considered for C2S power wise to put X51 headers ($650 or so), I think Fabspeed x-pipe is a good add-on as well (or AWE 200 cell cats). As of changing mufflers - you will get only noise add-on, not power. Plus I had x-pipe and maxflos - my wife told me to take them off as she did not like car to make loud noises.
If you need maxflos - I still have them, it will cost you less than brand new ones. I think x-pipe with maxflos sounds just perfect.
Now, 'cold air kit' from fabspeed is just a pipe from red silicon. Effeciently - useless. Better get BMC oiled air filter panel into stock air box instead of original filter.

IPD Plenum - it is a nice part, I have it, but how much power does it add if any - is not quite clear. If you are on budget - I would skip that thing. BTW to claim almost 30 horses on plenum alone is ridiculous. In your best case scenario you`ll get 30-35 horses boost as a total result of all those efforts, in complex. What you will also get is an engine that breaths better - for that BMC panel, x51 headers plus any 200 cell sport cats are the key. Then on top of that - ECU flash.

For ECU flash I use Softronic and I think it is very nice product. Completely DIY thing and you can flash back and forth tuned and original files.

What you did not look at and I think is actually one of first things to do - is to install 996 GT3 lower control arms to get car`s front camber into -2.5 degrees territory. That is some real mod that transforms your car.

So - softronic is $1K, x-pipe is $1.5K or so, 996 LCAs you can do at $1.3K somewhat I guess at framingham shop - PM me for details, if you want mufflers PM me also for price. Only item you need mechanic for is LCA install, really.

points

The above is a biblical verse. Can be found near the section of the ten commandments....in fact it could be the eleventh.

utkinpol

Right. On my C2 I went from 268 to 289 horses according to dyno at ESP - shop in Sterling, MA. No need for biblical verses so far.

alexb76

ABSOLUTELY AGREED with eveyrthing Edgy said!

I actually think modifying Porsches may have a negative impact on the overall performance as the car comes desgined with performance in mind, and they do countless hours of testing and tracking to provide you with a complete road/track package. This is not necessarily the case with some other cars which makes their modifying more beneficial (for instance I had to do a lot to Brakes/Suspension on my S4 to make it track worthy).

I also question the claims of those HP gains you posted. X51 header and maybe an exhaust is the most I would do, and THEN, spend $8000 in track sessions... you will definitely be A LOT FASTER after $8K of track driving, than if you spend $8K in your car engine!!!

Caughtacab911

All good feedback, I like the differing perspectives. I completely agree that Porsche has gone to great lengths to design and build the ultimate driving machine (sorry Munich); I'm only looking for top-shelf (i.e. Porsche-level quality) improvements, if they can be had. Is there much disagreement that the stock header-cat-muffler system can be made better/more efficient/cooler sounding? I realize the latter is entirely subjective, but there are improvements that can be made there for sure, depending on one's personal tastes.

As for the performance bumps, I take those with a grain of salt. We know it'll be better, but 996 Turbo level (+70 hp)? Seems dubious.

Utkinpol, I know about EPE in Framingham but was hoping to work with the local guys (Autobahn) as I live on the N. Shore. Maybe I will give them a call, considering all this new input. In any case, I will keep exploring options, definitely sign up for more track time, and continue to listen to reasoned opinions.

RonCT

I've done all sorts of things to my 997.1 in order to cost-effectively improve performance on the track (couldn't care less about mods for the street - the car is silly fast already). What I ended up concluding was: X51 headers, AWE Cats, stock mufflers, Softronic. That's it for the type of performance you were seeking. I'd not do the plenum - do a search for info on them here at the forums.

For about $3300 you'll get better response / performance and sound.

Also, read some older threads (via search) regarding mods and HP / TQ claims vs. realities. They don't add up in a linear way, nor has anyone I've heard of achieved some of the high claims made. Changing headers and cats to better flowing ones and using some good software to manage everything might get you up 25. I always (on my 997.1 C2S, GT3, and now 997.2 C2S) stay away from intake mods - stock is pretty good. If you have money to burn, the X51 intake for 997.1 is a beautiful piece and probably will give you a little more. That's where I'd stop though and one good thing is the airbox is "stock" and the other items are under, so if you sell the car you might get it back (or just revert to stock and sell off the parts).