ECU upgrades - worth it? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

23109VC · 04-07-2009, 06:02 PM

my independent mechanic told me a client of his put a chip on his 2.7L boxster and themechanic said it made the car noticeably faster.

i've seen some online sources for upgrades - like softronic.

has anyone here used these? do they really work? is it a big fat waste of money unless you have full exhaust and intake?

Wingnut2u · 04-07-2009, 07:31 PM

I am not sure what kind of results you will get with a 2.7

heyjae · 04-07-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingnut2u

I am not sure what kind of results you will get with a 2.7 but I just did a GIAC flash in my 01 Box S with EVO intake and the results were impressive, horsepower was increased by 10 and torque was up by 19 and the butt dyno is very happy with the results too

That's impressive. I got a GIAC a while ago and I wasn't too impressed, especially considering the cost. I'm assuming you dyno'ed before and after since you quote HP and TQ figures. Personally, I think getting headers made the biggest difference.

eightsandaces · 04-08-2009, 04:26 AM

I've read as much as I can find on the subject. I think headers sport cats and intake mods would produce the biggest gain. However, the sport muffler is loud enough for me, I think the headers would: draw attention I don't want, be loud on long trips and not really offer the performance gain we all wish for. If I ever have enough funds to direct at the project, I'm going to get a raby motor made out of my stock unit.

edevlin · 04-08-2009, 05:32 AM

If you have the money, chipping seems to work, I like mine. You just need to determine if an increase in 10hp or so, coupled with a better throttle response is work the cost. In the non-porsche world, most folks would think chipping our cars for modest increases in performance would be a joke. But additional hp is hard to come by in our cars.....

Ed

RandallNeighbour · 04-08-2009, 11:11 AM

Here's a question:

I've swapped my headers and exhaust on my 2.5 and got a bump of 15 hp and 19 ft lbs of torque.

If I chip the motor, will I get another bump?

Man, tweaking a measly 10 hp out of a Porsche motor costs a wad of cash. Something like $100 per horse!

ChrisZang · 04-08-2009, 12:03 PM

IMHO, if you have all this disposable money then "upgrading" the engine should be the last step.
First upgrade the suspension (coil overs and stronger sway bars) and the driver (AX and DE)

MidMotor2TrunkToter · 04-08-2009, 01:44 PM

Heyjae,

What kind of wing do you have on the back of that car? Does it keep you on the ground?

spyder803 · 04-08-2009, 03:17 PM

I keep seeing posts about headers being a good mod for hp increase, which headers are recommended and proven? Any links or suggestions?

eightsandaces · 04-08-2009, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyder803

I keep seeing posts about headers being a good mod for hp increase, which headers are recommended and proven? Any links or suggestions?

google up fabspeed and take a look around..

heyjae · 04-08-2009, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidMotor2TrunkToter

Heyjae,
What kind of wing do you have on the back of that car? Does it keep you on the ground?

It's a universal APR wing. I added spacers to it since that picture was taken, so now it's even higher. The wing more efficient now and I'm starting to get a lot of push on big sweepers, so I added front canards last week to help offset that. I'm excited to see what it'll do when I get on the track again in a couple weeks.

mikefocke · 04-08-2009, 05:06 PM

I've been advised of.

The Chinese headers available on eBay are good enough and don't cost an arm and a leg. But beware and use someone with experience in removing frozen bolts as it is easy to break off the bolts that attach the stock headers to the block. Use new bolts and anti-seize when you install the new headers.

This is a case where spending more for a part doesn't get you more performance.

You want to do the flash only after you've done all the intake and exhaust mods you are going to do and you want to do it with access to a dyno so the parameters can be optimized for your specific setup. You'll get a higher rev limit and a quicker response but it is amazing how good the recent Boxster ECU stock settings are. They even work well with enhanced displacement engines.

Perfectlap · 04-08-2009, 07:04 PM

I did all this on my old Miata. Headers, intake, exhaust, suspension, bla bla bla.
The grumble of the engine on start up was so cool. The suspension was perfect.
Had two sets of wheels, one with r comps for AX and one set for winter.

All for the cost of one Boxster exhaust upgrade and a Tequipment carbon shift knob.