I just recently picked up a 2001 boxster s 6 speed with 13K on the odometer. She is silver with black interior and has chrome ::shakes:: 18" wheels.

I've always been a big fan of the various 911's but never really thought of buying a boxster. Then about three weeks ago I was out of town and talking cars with a buddy, in toronto, he had a boxster S and was going to show me what it was all about. I didn't really think much of it, but when the hammer dropped I was sold. Two weeks later my stage II + Audi S4 was sold and I had a purchase offer in on the Boxster S. Here I am two days in and I already have an Evo intake and a B&M short shifter that I'm going to insatll this weekend, the mod bug has set in. Well Sorry to be soo long winded but I thought I would introduce myself and stop the lurking.

-garth

 

Congrats! These cars are expensive to mod, but they are super fun. Drive it often and enjoy!

 

I might hold off on teh EVO intake. actually return it. SOme have reported problems. and You might lose that cool intake sound that Porsche engineers spent thousands of hours trying to perfect.

I did a ton of non-appearance mods on my old Miata, lots of money spent and it made a big difference because the car is cheap to begin with. But the BoxsterS out of the box is superb.
The only non-apperance mod I would consider is the Bilstein colivovers. But that would bump me up one class in Autocross and I'd have to contend with GT3's and those Corvette things.
When it comes to mods and the BoxsterS you'll spend allot of money and it won't make a big difference. ITS A PORSCHE! (not a Honda).

p.s. I have spent about $8,000(mostly used stuff) for GT3 Seats,GT3 Bumper, Carrera 5 spokes-Toyo RA-1's, clear tail lights, Sirius, sikdesirts...done!

 

I disagree. I have had the EVO intake in my car for 4 years with no issues. IMHO, it is one of the best mods I have done to my car and the sound is absolutely fantastic (way better than stock). Additionally, multiple people on PPBB have reported small hp gains with this system (dyno proven).

The only problems that I have heard of were fouled MAF's (from over oiled filters). It is my understanding that Evo addressed this problem with their filter supplier. As I stated before my system has performed flawlessly and you are the first person I have ever heard state that the sound is not an huge improvement (both volume and quality).

You obviously have negative feeling about the system. My reason for responding is to offer a different opinion.

 

I have desnorked and added a K&N without any problems, but no comparison... my buddy's EVO intake is absolutely intoxicating. I think there are a lot of ways these cars can be improved. They're great out of the box, but they aren't so perfect that they cannot be improved upon. Of course that all depends on what you expect out of the car. For many, they may be too much, but for me, I'm more hard-core than most.

 

The sound is nice but I prefer the stock sound. Aftermarket isn't always better. IMHO Porsche got it right. One of the coolest sounds I've heard in a roadster. I heard many cases of ruined MAF from not using the precise amount of oil.
How many ponies are we talking? I don't think anything less than 6 would be noticeable in an S.
Im weary of upseting the Zen between the intake and Engine. I know that cheap cars like my old Miata were built with restrictive intakes but Porsche don't pinch pennies like this. or do they?
INtake is a big consideration in sportscar engineering I doubt Porsche would have dumped something into the S that wasn't optimal.

 

It has been dyno'd at 3-5 hp if that is all you do (not a lot, but also not very expensive). You can get about 20 hp if you do intake, headers and chip. The earlier cars '97-'01 seem to respond better than the later cars as Porsche found some of the gains on their own.

As far as sound goes, remember that any manufacturer like Porsche must make sacrifices. They want it to sound good, but they have noise restrictions to comply with as well as some customers that don't want it too loud. The Evo does a nice job of letting out more of the glorious intake noise that Porsche built into the car (IMHO).

In the end it comes down to personal preference. Some like the stock shifter, others like B&M. Some like the Evo others like stock. Some like PSE, or GHL others find them too loud or too much resonance (GHL).

The beauty of "mods" is that when Porsche builds the car they need to try to satisfy "everyman". However, when I do a "mod" I only need to satisfy "me".

 

The only other S that I rode in had an evo intake and the sound was one of the selling points. As for the price of mods with little gain, that is something i've gotten used to. My Audi, after the chip(60hp), gains were a little here a little there. It makes me think how you save weight effectively, everything counts, even the registration and insurance cards!

Would you guys sugggest I get headers and then chip or the other way around? Would it be custom tuning or has someone tuned the boxster S with headers with any success? I problably wont do this until spring just wondering how to plan. TIA.

-G

 

I heard the most effective route is to change the air intake, headers, exhaust, and software. These mods in concert are said to produce 30-40 horsepower.

With regard to weight, note that some aftermarket exhausts are a lot lighter than the factory one. Also, you might consider lightweight wheels to reduce unsprung weight.

If you look at the factory headers, they are very restrictive. This is part of Porsche's design to "detune" the 3.2L engine.

I'm not sure that any one mod, by itself, will produce much difference.

 

I have had the EVO intake on my Boxster S for the last 3 years and 2 years on my base Boxster. No problems. The sound is pure joy. It really is a great mod and fairly cheap compared to most mods for the Boxster.

 

Just finished putting in the evo intake and ohh boy the sound is magical. It's like stock on steroids, yea! I got my first look at ther headers and they look tiny. I can see where that would be a good place to make the 3.2l air pump more efficient. Somewhere I heard someone mention that installing headers was a bear, to me it looked like a pretty straight forward bolt on procedure. Am I missing something? Also, do you guys bounce of the rev limitter alot? I've noticed it cutting fuel quite often. I figure that is something tunning would solve.

 

Congrats on your Boxster! We just bought one, a non S tip for wifey to drive. Every little excuse I can find to drive it, I do. I am really liking it the more I drive it. Even being a non-S, I feel it may give my 993 a run for its money.. It does pull pretty hard

 

Thanks man, lovin' every minute of it! Congrats to you as well!

 

30-40 HP with headers, EVo intake and exhaust??!

has anyone confirmed that with a Dyno? Seems like a big stretch without mod'ing the internals of the 3.2L
I know Porsche was able to squeeze 30HP out of the 987S but that's after spending many many hours vs. a few bolt ons. Just a guess but I'm thinking the bolt ons would add around 15-18 HP.
Now how much are all three of those bolts ons going to run with labor?

 

Don't forget the software (chip) also.

There are several people on PPBB who've done this.

I think you're looking at roughly $3k in upfront costs, plus labor.