Breathe Baby. BREATHE!
10-11-2012, 08:31 PM
#16
Pro
Thread Starter
Wow that is a beautiful set-up.. I too am envious! But in a good way.. I love to see folks like you making upgrades AND doing the work yourself!
Can't wait to hear your impressions when it's complete. I totally agree that 650 of reliable HP is better than trying to push it for more.. 650 is a nice number!
Great job!
BTW ... What was your total cost for parts?
Can't wait to hear your impressions when it's complete. I totally agree that 650 of reliable HP is better than trying to push it for more.. 650 is a nice number!
Great job!
BTW ... What was your total cost for parts?
Louis
07-10-2013, 02:06 PM
#17
Pro
Thread Starter
Update
Hi All,
Sorry for the long absence--busy year. See my new thread about my dealer experience for some of the details getting things to work.
It was late Nov/early Dec when I got the car back together. Due to my busy schedule, a simple electronic fix that took a while to diagnose, and some replacement O2 sensors going bad, it was late April before I got everything perfect. Since then, my right front tire has been flat while I finished up some big work projects--no such thing as a weekend. I'm now able to fix the tire and drive!
The result of the hardware and tune:
As I explained before, my primary goal in tuning the car was to accomplish a quicker, more linear handoff from natural aspiration to boost. Goal accomplished.
When I mash the throttle now, the car takes off more quickly immediately. Boost comes on more quickly, and while the kick in the pants from the turbos is still noticeable, the whole acceleration experience is stronger, more linear, faster, and more dramatic. The tach is at redline before you can blink, and the car just feels like it wants to accelerate endlessly.
These changes are not subtle. If you are like me, you've read hype all of your life regarding how fast the 911 Turbo is. Honestly, while impressed upon getting my first Turbo last Spring, the car didn't quite meet my expectations--primarily due to the boost delay (and probably 30 years of writer hyperbole). It now feels like I thought it should from the beginning. It no longer feels faster than my previous M3. It feels like it is in a completely different arena--the way it should.
The OE clutch is doing fine so far. I don't jump from a dead stop, but a good mash of the go pedal from a roll hasn't caused slippage. Keep in mind, I only have 15K miles on the car.
I'm very happy with the outcome.
Downsides:
- I'm still trying to seal exhaust leaks at the exhaust joints--clamps make things easier, but they just don't seal very well. I'm considering having the whole thing welded together. It's half the weight of the one-piece OE exhaust after all. (I still can't believe Porsche installed that beast of an exhaust back there--the weight of a T-Rex with the roar of a mouse. My car-guy neighbor laughs every time he sees that OE exhaust.)
- The Denso wideband O2 sensors that were recommended to me as "upgrades" over the OE Bosches both failed the FIRST time I opened the throttle up. They passed an emissions test when I was still babying the car, but the night I mashed the throttle for the first time, they gave up--both of them. I've had no problems with the reinstalled OE Bosches.
- My neighbors' reactions (all 5 families on the same cul-de-sac) and my sense of modesty caused me to switch from the "Sound" version to the "TUV" version of the exhaust. My wife was laughing the first time I fired it up in the garage. She was in the kitchen, and she said the whole house felt like it was shaking. That thing has personality though, with all the crackling and popping with even small throttle changes. I'm keeping the "Sound" muffler for now, in case I feel the need to be noticed some day. The TUV version is louder than stock for sure, and generally has the same personality, but much muffled compared to the "Sound" version--more age-appropriate for me at the ripe old age of 42.
I'll have some pics once I get the tire fixed (right front is flat from something picked up in Hendrick service area).
Louis
Sorry for the long absence--busy year. See my new thread about my dealer experience for some of the details getting things to work.
It was late Nov/early Dec when I got the car back together. Due to my busy schedule, a simple electronic fix that took a while to diagnose, and some replacement O2 sensors going bad, it was late April before I got everything perfect. Since then, my right front tire has been flat while I finished up some big work projects--no such thing as a weekend. I'm now able to fix the tire and drive!
The result of the hardware and tune:
As I explained before, my primary goal in tuning the car was to accomplish a quicker, more linear handoff from natural aspiration to boost. Goal accomplished.
When I mash the throttle now, the car takes off more quickly immediately. Boost comes on more quickly, and while the kick in the pants from the turbos is still noticeable, the whole acceleration experience is stronger, more linear, faster, and more dramatic. The tach is at redline before you can blink, and the car just feels like it wants to accelerate endlessly.
These changes are not subtle. If you are like me, you've read hype all of your life regarding how fast the 911 Turbo is. Honestly, while impressed upon getting my first Turbo last Spring, the car didn't quite meet my expectations--primarily due to the boost delay (and probably 30 years of writer hyperbole). It now feels like I thought it should from the beginning. It no longer feels faster than my previous M3. It feels like it is in a completely different arena--the way it should.
The OE clutch is doing fine so far. I don't jump from a dead stop, but a good mash of the go pedal from a roll hasn't caused slippage. Keep in mind, I only have 15K miles on the car.
I'm very happy with the outcome.
Downsides:
- I'm still trying to seal exhaust leaks at the exhaust joints--clamps make things easier, but they just don't seal very well. I'm considering having the whole thing welded together. It's half the weight of the one-piece OE exhaust after all. (I still can't believe Porsche installed that beast of an exhaust back there--the weight of a T-Rex with the roar of a mouse. My car-guy neighbor laughs every time he sees that OE exhaust.)
- The Denso wideband O2 sensors that were recommended to me as "upgrades" over the OE Bosches both failed the FIRST time I opened the throttle up. They passed an emissions test when I was still babying the car, but the night I mashed the throttle for the first time, they gave up--both of them. I've had no problems with the reinstalled OE Bosches.
- My neighbors' reactions (all 5 families on the same cul-de-sac) and my sense of modesty caused me to switch from the "Sound" version to the "TUV" version of the exhaust. My wife was laughing the first time I fired it up in the garage. She was in the kitchen, and she said the whole house felt like it was shaking. That thing has personality though, with all the crackling and popping with even small throttle changes. I'm keeping the "Sound" muffler for now, in case I feel the need to be noticed some day. The TUV version is louder than stock for sure, and generally has the same personality, but much muffled compared to the "Sound" version--more age-appropriate for me at the ripe old age of 42.
I'll have some pics once I get the tire fixed (right front is flat from something picked up in Hendrick service area).
Louis
07-10-2013, 06:10 PM
#20
Pro
Thread Starter
You're welcome. It will be even awesomer now that I've got some time to drive it!
Thanks. I kinda was MIA. The whole mod process got stretched out way further than I expected because I couldn't get any decent chunks of time to work on it. I'm not going to complain about being too busy with my day job to work on my Porsche though. Many of our so-called "first-world" problems are a bit ridiculous, aren't they?
Thanks. I kinda was MIA. The whole mod process got stretched out way further than I expected because I couldn't get any decent chunks of time to work on it. I'm not going to complain about being too busy with my day job to work on my Porsche though. Many of our so-called "first-world" problems are a bit ridiculous, aren't they?
07-10-2013, 07:26 PM
#22
Pro
Thread Starter
FVD refers to them as "GT2 Motorsport." They are made by AKG and are a racing design--not the ICs that come stock on the GT2. I discussed these with Rhonda about a year ago and confirmed that they are not the GT2 OE ICs, but I don't have any technical specs to give you. They appear to be well made. The are all metal, and the fins come all the way to the top edges of the sides. They come with reinforced hoses and clamps for both ends that reportedly stretch less and create a more laminar air flow. (They are quite a bit stiffer than the OE rubber hoses.)
The FVD description says they are plug and play, but you have to modify your plastic IC housings to accommodate them. It took me a couple of hours with some tin snips and a Dremel. I'm slow.
Give Rhonda a call, and I'm sure she'll be happy to discuss them, as always.
Sorry I don't know more.
Louis
