996 turbo tuning

[Tim J F]

Just doing some reading up at the moment. Interesting stuff so far! A have an X50 on the way...

So I see an exhaust and remap are the best bet. This then calls for better actuators to handle the boost pressure. Next there seems to be some talk of new intercoolers I suspect if you track the car. 1) What are the other must have \ should have parts fitted while these are replaced?
2) Are there any other parts that corrode that are worth replacing with the exhaust off?
3) What are the cheaper suspension options I.e. one way adjustable?
4) most advice suggests just a new panel filter and not a new system up to 600bhp is this generally an agreed statement?
5) Any point in all the extra hoses with less than 550bhp?
6) Any point in throttle body replacement it seems expensive on the Porsche
7) I believe after all this you need a new clutch too!

Thanks all Tim

Edited by Tim J F on Sunday 4th August 23:41

[Rockster]

Tim J F said:

Just doing some reading up at the moment. Interesting stuff so far! A have an X50 on the way...

So I see an exhaust and remap are the best bet. This then calls for better actuators to handle the boost pressure. Next there seems to be some talk of new intercoolers I suspect if you track the car. 1) What are the other must have \ should have parts fitted while these are replaced?
2) Are there any other parts that corrode that are worth replacing with the exhaust off?
3) What are the cheaper suspension options I.e. one way adjustable?
4) most advice suggests just a new panel filter and not a new system up to 600bhp is this generally an agreed statement?
5) Any point in all the extra hoses with less than 550bhp?
6) Any point in throttle body replacement it seems expensive on the Porsche
7) I believe after all this you need a new clutch too!

Thanks all Tim

Edited by Tim J F on Sunday 4th August 23:41

Your best bet is mod the engine with some kit or proven setup in mind not just throw parts at the engine.

If you manage to get another 10% hp increase a heavier duty clutch will almost certainly be called for. You can try to live with the stock clutch but the word (second hand) I get is the stock clutch starts to wilt with a 10% increase in power.

Higher boost pressures require stronger hoses and ones secured to avoid popping off under high boost conditions.

With the engine mods you have in mind and with the tracking you (I take) have in mind you should probably consider having the engine out and the coolant fittings welded in.

The fittings are held in place with epoxy and while this seems to work well with stock engines that are not tracked mods and tracking cause these to fail. Bad enough to lose coolant at any time but there have been cases where the coolant wets the rear tires and the car can have a hairy off. Or the coolant can send the car behind your's off.

While the GT1 engine the Turbo engine is derived from makes more HP it does so with titanium rods and rod bolts. If you get too crazy with the HP mods you might want to think about stronger rods/bolts...

And last but not least unless you are an exceptional track talent I would suspect you are building a car that is faster than you can fully utilize. In fact the stock Turbo X50 is probably faster than you can fully utilize.

You might consider foregoing the Turbo and pick up a GT2 or even a GT3.

[Tim J F]

Thanks Rockster. I guess what I was getting at was the true cost of an engine remap and exhaust was potentially a lot more! You could do it without actuators, clutch and intercoolers but it won't work as well or even properly.

I guess if you added in any more mods like air intake and throttle body you'd make things even worse. I won't be tracking at least if I did it'd be rarely so as long as nothing blew that'd be fine.

Edited by Tim J F on Monday 5th August 02:28

[Spy]

Tim,

If you are looking at going down this route, you should take a look at the 9E packages which are proven...

http://www.nineexcellence.com/performance/9ETuning...

Click on each package for more details

[FarQue]

Spy said:

Tim,

If you are looking at going down this route, you should take a look at the 9E packages which are proven...

http://www.nineexcellence.com/performance/9ETuning...

Click on each package for more details

You beat me to it. Rumour has it that Nine Excellence know a little about 996 Turbos.

[Redarress]

Matt at Fearnsport has lots of experience too

[Tim J F]

How are they cost wise? Odd there's no prices it makes me nervous!

[acf69]

Give Ken a call and discuss your needs as they will listen to what you want including understanding your budget, from memory you can start at say £3k and then go all the way up to probably the current value of your car if you want the top spec (and above this for the insane packages)

[ZeroH]

Tim J F said:

Just doing some reading up at the moment. Interesting stuff so far! A have an X50 on the way...

So I see an exhaust and remap are the best bet. This then calls for better actuators to handle the boost pressure. Next there seems to be some talk of new intercoolers I suspect if you track the car. 1) What are the other must have \ should have parts fitted while these are replaced?
2) Are there any other parts that corrode that are worth replacing with the exhaust off?
3) What are the cheaper suspension options I.e. one way adjustable?
4) most advice suggests just a new panel filter and not a new system up to 600bhp is this generally an agreed statement?
5) Any point in all the extra hoses with less than 550bhp?
6) Any point in throttle body replacement it seems expensive on the Porsche
7) I believe after all this you need a new clutch too!

Thanks all Tim

Edited by Tim J F on Sunday 4th August 23:41

In order
Actuators... only worthwhile if you want to extract the last ounce of performance from your remap... not worthwhile for K16 turbos tho, only K24’s... but be sure your tuner is really able to dial the cracking pressures in properly.... else you’ll wish you’d never bothered. Mine were set up by Fearnsport and have added a quantifiable performance gain.

Intercoolers... if you are a serious track dayer then yes do it (gt2 rs should run under £1k + fitting)... for very occasional track use and some “enthusiastic” road use, I don’t personally see much benefit (based on my X50 experience anyway)... certainly my own ignition logs haven’t indicated my car pulls timing even up to 180mph, but of course on a hot day that could change.... again, unless you are chasing the last ounce of performance, its something that you can leave for another day in my opinion

1) What are the other must have \ should have parts fitted while these are replaced?

Any tuner worth their salt should be checking the car properly before tuning as existing problems will only be heightened otherwise... that means checking for anything that is close to end of life.... actuators and oil return lines always prime candidates for corrosion given their location, related nuts and bolts... checking function of n75 valve, any cracked coils, sparks in working order etc... you may want to consider upgrading diverter valves (can recommend Forge) for better boost recovery, reliability

2) Are there any other parts that corrode that are worth replacing with the exhaust off?

See above + check heat shields

3) What are the cheaper suspension options I.e. one way adjustable?

Not aware of 1 way adjustable... if you want quality suspension, KW or Bilstein PSS is your best way forwards without breaking the bank... X73 if you want fixed coilovers from Porsche, but they are pointless imo given cost and adjustability of the above.

4) most advice suggests just a new panel filter and not a new system up to 600bhp is this generally an agreed statement?

Yes... avoid cold air intake type products that certain vendors sell... BMC (lightly oiled) or similar, or even stick with stock paper filter.

5) Any point in all the extra hoses with less than 550bhp?

Stock hoses degrade and the f-pipe especially susceptible to splitting regardless of being tuned or not... I run Samco hoses which I believe are as good as you’ll find.

6) Any point in throttle body replacement it seems expensive on the Porsche

No point at all given cost if on stock turbos.

7) I believe after all this you need a new clutch too!

Yes, and budget for a new flywheel also... sachs state it should be changed every two clutch changes anyway... sachs 890 is what you’ll need.

Hope that helps.

[Tim J F]

Very helpful, much appreciated. Is it possible to fit the F pipe yourself i.e. v basic, or is this a garage job?

Cheers, Tim

[EvoSlayer]

Some good advice from ZeroH above,

As for F-pipe, it's a bit of a tight squeeze but not as bad as it looks, just a case of moving various hoses and vacuum lines out of the way. Biggest ballache is removing the stupid spring clips that Porsche insist on using - replace these with stainless hose clips. If you're thinking of replacing DVs then do this at the same time.



Also, to confirm that you WILL need to budget for a new Sachs clutch, mine lasted around 500 miles with approx 600hp

Edited by EvoSlayer on Tuesday 6th August 12:45