996 C2 Performance Upgrades

[marktol]

Hi All,

My first post of the forum. I am collecting a 2003 996 C2 later this week and am trying to do some reasurch on performance upgrades.

Ive currently got a Boxster which was chipped by superchips before I got it and was told by the dealer at the time that he gets all Porsche's chipped when he gets them in.

Having done some looking about I can see there are many different companies around that offer remaps. My first question is it actually worth doing on this car, and secondly if so which company would you recommend?

I am also interested in air filters/induction kits as these seem like a very cheap upgrade - not so fussed about performance here more an improvement to the sound - any thoughts?

Finally reading some of the posts on here I can see that an exhaust upgrade may be a good move - what are the options here in terms of aproximate cost and benefit performance/sound wise?

Any advice in general about upgrades to the car would be great. Where possible I would also like to keep the mods insurance friendly..

Many thanks,
Mark

[Gibbo205]

Hi there

Extra performnace is not easy and can be costly.

Your best bang for bucks mods are:-

1. BMC/K&N Filter - 1-3BHP at best, but improved soundtrack.
2. Fabspeed airbox mod, so silicone hose and stopper to block of the hermontz resonator, at best 1-3BHP increase but a superb sountrack modification.

The above mods can be done for sub £150ish, check design911 and the difference in soundtrack is well worth it, you get sharper throttle response and will unleash around 5 ponies.


For horsepower the best modification you can make is some 200 cel CATS, worth circa 15-20BHP, expect to pay around £1200, you could also add manifolds and some free-er flowing mufflers but they are going to set you back in the region of £1500-£2000 and only give around an additional 5-10BHP but again help the soundtrack hugely.

All in all with induction mods, exhaust mods you *might* see 30BHP with the 200cel CATS giving the majority of those gains.


If you want big power, then its supercharger time, big money but a good 100+ horsepower more.

[Magic919]

If you need more power then look at a GT3. Apart from X51, no really worthwhile performance mods for these.

[Callughan]

You can improve handling and noise but for performance best way to buy a turbo

[sportsandclassic]

Hi,

K&N induction kit always sharpens up the throttle response and also creates an awesome induction noise on the 996 engine. K&N claim 23BHP increase.

Mike

[marktol]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies. Is that the stock replacement k&n filter or the full induction kit?

I see design911 have a cool air intake kit designed to go with the k&n replacement filter as well. I presume the full induction kit would be better?

Has anyone had any experience of getting the ecu remapped on these?

[s_mcneil]

Biggest upgrade for a 996 C2 is suspension, forget all the engine stuff. If you want a tangible performance increase go with a performance suspension package and decent geo. Not cheap but worth a hell of a lot more than filters and remaps. Next best thing is instruction.

[Gibbo205]

marktol said:

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies. Is that the stock replacement k&n filter or the full induction kit?

I see design911 have a cool air intake kit designed to go with the k&n replacement filter as well. I presume the full induction kit would be better?

Has anyone had any experience of getting the ecu remapped on these?

I am talking panel filter only, that way you retain the stock airbox which Porsche did a very good job of designing. The airbox mod I referre to is this:-
http://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod765/Cold-Air-Ind...

Doing the above along with a BMC or K&N panel filter will give you a great soundtrack in the cabin and will unleash realistically a few ponies and sharpen up throttle response.


The actual K&N induction kits, well they claim 23BHP, which I call bks, if 23BHP could be had so easily then Porsche would of done it. Porsche's X51 kit which cost £8000 only see's around the same kind of boost, so anyone thinking a K&N induction kit for £300 will give the same gain are very mistaken.

Infact I'd even question if the K&N keeps stock power, I'd suspect it looses power especially as the engine gets hot because the induction kits don't seal well meaning warm air from the engine will get to the filter, as such I highly recommend sticking with the stock air filter box and doing the airbox mod as available from design911 along with a panel filter. The one and only advantage the induction kit offers is even more noise.

[dom9]

May be a few ideas here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Induction kit and exhaust for the noise... Cats and remap for the power/ driveability... Suspension for the handling!

[blueg33]

Driver instruction makes a huge difference. Here is my example

Last year driving from Spain to Le Mans in the following convoy:

993 c2S
Cayman S
Focus RS mk2
Ginetta G33
Audi TT 225 bhp

Which car was the fastest?

The TT on every road except the motorway - why? - Ex Professional racing driver! On paper all of the other cars had oodles more power and better power to weight ratio's, all arguably have better suspension set up. But the TT was still the quickest.

Spend the cash on some decent training, there are plenty of courses available and it has the advantage of giving the same mods to every other car you drive!

[Ian_UK1]

marktol said:

Hi All,

My first post of the forum. I am collecting a 2003 996 C2 later this week and am trying to do some reasurch on performance upgrades.

Ive currently got a Boxster which was chipped by superchips before I got it and was told by the dealer at the time that he gets all Porsche's chipped when he gets them in.

Having done some looking about I can see there are many different companies around that offer remaps. My first question is it actually worth doing on this car, and secondly if so which company would you recommend?

I am also interested in air filters/induction kits as these seem like a very cheap upgrade - not so fussed about performance here more an improvement to the sound - any thoughts?

Finally reading some of the posts on here I can see that an exhaust upgrade may be a good move - what are the options here in terms of aproximate cost and benefit performance/sound wise?

Any advice in general about upgrades to the car would be great. Where possible I would also like to keep the mods insurance friendly..

Many thanks,
Mark

Firstly - for God's sake don't let Superchips (or Detonation Detection Techniques as they were originally called) anywhere near your 911. Their maps are generic c**p that have never seen a rolling road or engine test cell. You're just asking for trouble! There are good tuners out there (RS Tuning / FVD / REVO / Softronic come to mind) as does Wayne Schofield at Chip Wizards for live mapping. But a remap isn't where you'd want to start and won't give you much gain no matter what the exaggerated BS claims say. Trust me, there's no more than 10BHP on the table from a map and it'll cost you a fortune to get that. Not worth it for road use at all.

The 3.6 996 is a difficult engine to tune with bolt-on bits. There's simply nothing that's particularly 'bad' or restrictive to attack. Whilst 200-cell cats work very well on the later 3.8 997, they give very little on the 3.6 (996 or 997) as the standard cats aren't particularly restrictive when 'only' asked to flow 320 BHP. Again, good quality manifolds work on the 3.8 as the standard manifolds are from the dark ages. But the 3.6 already has X-51 style manifolds and tubular ones only give very marginal gains. Straight-through silencers will give 6-8 BHP and sound a lot better. The standard airbox, like everything else, isn't really restrictive to a 320BHP engine. A BMC-F1 filter and closing-off the Helmholz resonator will improve throttle resonse and sound good though. I'm personally not a fan of the K&N CAI as it draws-in hot air from inside the engine bay - this is a power killer on Porsche engines as the ECUs quickly pull timing and richen the mixture as IATs rise. In truth, the difference you'll get from using V-Power fuel rather than 'cooking' petrol will be a lot bigger (in terms of increased BHP and torque) than you'll get from any bolt-on bits.

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but I'd not waste any money on worthless 'tuning' mods for the engine (other than maybe silencers and the airbox mods mentioned above and they will only improve the sound, not the performance). Instead, go for a full coilover suspension setup and trick geo from Chris at Center Gravity. Also get the best tyres you can find/afford. Unlike an extra 10 BHP, doing this really will make your car a whole lot faster point-to-point. You'll be able to turn in to bends faster, carry more speed through turns, adjust your line better, get on the power earlier..... you get the picture. And the car will simply be an absolute joy to drive - the grin will last forever!

HTH

Ian

[s_mcneil]

Ian_UK1 said:

Unlike an extra 10 BHP, doing this really will make your car a whole lot faster point-to-point. You'll be able to turn in to bends faster, carry more speed through turns, adjust your line better, get on the power earlier..... you get the picture. And the car will simply be an absolute joy to drive - the grin will last forever!

HTH

Ian

Amen! Suspension, suspension, suspension! Oh, and maybe a short shift kit for that 'sportier' feel...

[marktol]

Thanks for all the responses,

I think I will start with just the air filter for the noise and see how I can go from there...!

Many thanks,
Mark

[73 Duchess]

MO30 Sports suspension, Sports exhaust(PSE or Cargraphic, Fabspeed very loud IMO), CAI with BMC filter. Depending on your budget, read from beginning or start from the end and read backwards .

[911Fiddler]

Next Q; anybody found that with a sports exhaust box, STD cats and sports headers, the idling is poor even though normal running and power are good? Lumpy idle, like the choke is on!

[dom9]

911Fiddler said:

Next Q; anybody found that with a sports exhaust box, STD cats and sports headers, the idling is poor even though normal running and power are good? Lumpy idle, like the choke is on!

I run Miltek rear boxes, standard cats and equal length, aftermarket headers... No problems at all with idle etc. In fact, as far as I can tell, everything is just 'better'. Check/ clean your MAF, then pull your battery for an ECU reset (key in 1st position to avoid alarm)...

[Ian_UK1]

911Fiddler said:

Next Q; anybody found that with a sports exhaust box, STD cats and sports headers, the idling is poor even though normal running and power are good? Lumpy idle, like the choke is on!

This is more likely to be caused by either an air leak in the exhaust at the manifold/head joint(s) or manifold/cat joint(s). Any air leak there is going to give false lambda readings to the ECU. Another possibility is a faulty lambda sensor or sensors. The cat sections get moved around a bit to fit manifolds / cans (if not removed altogether) and the lambdas can get knocked, the rubber covers on the wiring disturbed or the wiring damaged. PIWIS or Durametric will find the problem.

[911Fiddler]

Thanks chas. Lamdas both new, so is maf. And coils.
Don't suppose you know whether the miltek boxes are straight through without baffles?
Cheers

[dom9]

911Fiddler said:

Thanks chas. Lamdas both new, so is maf. And coils.
Don't suppose you know whether the miltek boxes are straight through without baffles?
Cheers

They are certainly less restrictive and give a better noise than the standard stuff (I recommend them) but they are much, much quieter than what I would call the 'straight through' systems I have heard. That's not to say they are baffled, but there is definitely some sound deadening going on, but I guess that will be down to bends, packing and perforated tubes!

[RtdRacer]

marktol said:

Thanks for all the responses,

I think I will start with just the air filter for the noise and see how I can go from there...!

Many thanks,
Mark

Alert: Thread resurrection!


How can an air filter change the induction noise, I mean, really, how different can one lump of folded cardboard be to another?

A new airbox, or COI box, yes, but just the filter? I'm deeply sceptical.