To de-snorkel or not to de-snorkel, that is the question. - 986 Forum

messing · 06-18-2011, 08:03 AM

Hey guys. I am a long time car buff, mostly jeeps but recently purchased a 99 986. Love it. The cars in great shape minus the tires, coolant tank repair and door locks I had to get fixed. Needless to say I just wish I had a litlle more power in the car. I know it's probably my driving or I should have purchased a "s". Anyway, I came across this snorkel mod. Any thoughts. While it may not help my hp it sounds like it might help increase the air flow and may make the car sound a bit throatier. So I pose the question to the experts. Do it or leave it alone.

S3adrag0n · 06-18-2011, 09:17 AM

congrat on your new Porsche and welcome a board. I did mine not long ago and I have to say, it does give you a slight noticeable throttle response and better sound (or it's in my head as I have several family members who couldn't tell the difference). I say go for it as it's free to try and if you don't like it, you could always put it back. I can honestly say that if you live on a dusty road, the snorkle may help as it's "cup shape" tip which is right side up may helps to avoid dust and water from being sucked in.

mikefocke · 06-18-2011, 10:52 AM

has been tested as being quite adequate for a much larger engine than your 2.5. So you won't get a lot of added power out of the de-snorkle, just added intake noise.

Jaxonalden · 06-18-2011, 11:26 AM

I say go for it, live on the wild side. Remove that one screw, pull the grill, grab the snorkel like Representative Anthony Wiener grabs himself and yank it off!!

Yeehaw, now lets go for a ride!

Jake D · 06-18-2011, 02:21 PM

Others will tell you it gains no HP and decreases the fuel mileage, but I personally found the throatier sound when you put your foot to the floor is well worth it. Try it and see what you think

Highlow · 06-18-2011, 02:51 PM

I didn't notice any difference at all. The car makes an awesome sound completely stock.

Chuck W. · 06-18-2011, 06:46 PM

I did it and after a few years put it back to stock. Not that much of a difference.

pothole · 06-18-2011, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck W.

I did it and after a few years put it back to stock. Not that much of a difference.

Agreed. Tried it and the difference re noise is small and the performance benefit is absolutely zero. But it's easy to try, so give it a go if you are interested.

Lordblood · 06-18-2011, 10:57 PM

I found my S to be rather quiet with the snorkel, it sounded better with it off.

I think half the argument is psychological, if people say its true it must be happening. I don't mind playing that trick on my mind, it doesn't seem to present any big danger and the sound makes you feel like you're accelerating faster than you really are.

wawa · 06-19-2011, 03:30 AM

I think a saw somewhere a post about 5hp gain dyno proven. Not sur if it was here or somewhere else. I need to find it back.

I think I will try it myself and see

wawa

messing · 06-19-2011, 03:33 PM

Thanks for all of the responses. I decided to give it a go. It took all of 3 min. The bad news is I broke off one of the three clips. The good news is it does sound much better. At least for my 986 there was a large difference. As far as the performance it feels more peppy. It may just be a mental thing but I swear it seems to have a better throttle response. Anyway, I am happy with it for now. I'll respond back in a week or so with an update.

Lil bastard · 06-19-2011, 08:45 PM

Can you say PLACEBO EFFECT (soon to be renamed the Obama Effect)?

It does absolutely nothing for performance whatever - it's a sound abatement device, nothing more.

It does improve the intake sound, and that's reason enough to do the mod.

But just don't kid yourself that you've unleashed some hidden HP Genie.

Cheers!

sasha055 · 07-01-2011, 01:53 PM

Just removed my snorkel! found couple of interesting things about my car..

First .. on US cars snorkel is on the driver's side right? I hope I didn't ripp-off something in a wrong place

It seems that PO tried to remove the snorkel .. 2 out of 3 tabs on the grille were broken.. and snorkel was stuck.. it took me almost 20min of gentle wiggling to make it move

Now as far as results...

1. Sound.. no improvements at all.. it seems (PLACEBO?) that it has more growl on idle and low rpms.. however on high rpms .. it's exactly same sound.. and I know how my car sounds at 4-5K rpm.. I'm that guy that is cruising at 4k rpms.. I know I know.. my mileage sucks

2. Power.. it maybe placebo.. but it seems that it got more torque especially in 1st and second gear at low rpms.. over 4K no visible improvements..

3. Best part: The engine is MUUUCH smoother.. before I could feel a bit of engine vibration on low RPMS.. now it's smooth as butter.

There was maybe something wrong with my car before.. but removing snorkel had an amazing effect on engine smootheness, maybe that's why I feel like it got more torque..

There was absolutely ZERO sound improvements.. I'm kinda disapointed a little bit

Thanks
Sasha

PS: my car is a 2000 2.7 boxster with 76K miles

ddb · 07-01-2011, 02:36 PM

sasha055,

Yes, you worked on the correct side.

I have a 2000 2.7 too and experienced similar results, especially when I had the OE exhaust installed and OE air filter. That is I didn't notice a big change at high RPM's. Like you I noticed the biggest change right off idle. It is like the initial gulp of additional air right after the clutch engages makes a nice whoosh sound. Now that I've changed the exhaust and air filter I don't notice the low RPM improvement as much, or at all.

ddb

DenverSteve · 08-17-2011, 08:17 PM

Here it is. Finally: Dyno charts of de-snorked 986S!!!

jakekit · 08-18-2011, 06:01 AM

I recently desnorkeled my stock 02 S after 3 months of ownership. I would say there is zero butt dyno difference. However, the sound is definitely more robust. That initial "gulp" of air as the throttle body opens is clearly audible now and overall volume at full throttle is increased. Off throttle and cruise throttle there is no discernible difference.

In hindsight I really should have taken my DB meter and done some tests.

truegearhead · 08-18-2011, 06:40 AM

The snorkel mod is a must. It seems like the earlier non-s boxster get more of an audible difference from what I've read. I would not recommend Pedro's hi flow intake mod, it definitely makes the car louder but mine lost a lot of the gargle(for lack of a better word) that it used to have. It just doesn't sound as exotic as it did before with just the snorkel delete.

Jaak · 08-19-2011, 11:36 AM

I desnorkled, removed resonator box from intake and installed NHP Sport 2 muffler. There is a BIG difference in both the sound as well as the performance. This was verified by my shop as well as my driving it over the last few weeks. I installed the muffler over a week and a half ago and am very happy with it.

The growl is nice when the "happy pedal" is depressed more than usual