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-   -   Best "bang for the buck" (http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/4515-best-bang-buck.html)

mikedivincent 12-14-2005 08:31 AM

Best "bang for the buck"
 
So, now that the gift season is here, what do we think the best performance modification is for the money? Chip, Exhaust, Headers, Intake,.......

I have a 2002 S, and I am not sure what to put on my list.

MNBoxster 12-14-2005 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikedivincent
So, now that the gift season is here, what do we think the best performance modification is for the money? Chip, Exhaust, Headers, Intake,.......

I have a 2002 S, and I am not sure what to put on my list.

Hi,

For me, the best Bang for the $$ I've spent on my '99 has been the addition of Front/Rear Strut Tower Braces.

Not too Sexy I admit, and it didn't make the Car even 0.00001 MPH Faster.

But, it Handles Better, Corners Faster, and has significantly reduced, if not eliminated, any Rattles or annoying Squeaks. All IMHO...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

blinkwatt 12-14-2005 01:04 PM

Many may go against this one but my K & N air filter was only $35 and I love it. It helped the throttle response some and gave it a more aggresive sound. I read over some 0-60 results from someone who modded his Boxster and he ran more consistent times after he installed his K & N air filter. Not necessarily faster but more consistent.

Onad 12-14-2005 01:06 PM

Stupid warranty question...
 
Just curious:

Can you add the Front/Rear Strut Tower Braces without voiding your warranty, or does all this stuff give Porsche a reason to deny claims.

Perfectlap 12-14-2005 01:35 PM

If I were you I would put that cash on some premium tires. Nothing has MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK than that piece of rubber that contacts the street.
Hate to sound like a party pooper but the 2nd best bang for the buck is to take that money and sign up for something like the Evolution High Performance Driving school. They tour all the across the country reminding people that they are very far from exploiting the full capabilities of their sports cars. An entire afternoon of instruction for about $300. Improvement of driving capability: hard to calculate.

Evolution Performance Driving School

You have a 2002 S. That's a world class sports car, Automobile Magazine named the 2000 S the sports car of the year. There really is no such thing as bang for the buck when it comes to this car. SOme people have put in short shift kits and think its great bang for the buck, but that's more to do with driving style than any measured performance increases. Those guys in Stugart are pretty smart and at $60,000 for a fully loaded S they aren't exactly cutting corners.

I tinkered like mad on my last car because it was a japanese tin can made with cheap parts and labor. Now I have a car from a brand some people have always dreamed of owning. The only enhancements I make now are cosmetic although going with lighter wheels (10 pounds at each corner) can be considered a performance bonus,
oh and GT3 seats, expensive but oh so worth it.

here's a black set for $1400, somebody better jump on that soon.
http://www.911pcar.com/Porsche_Parts/porsche_parts_interiors_seats.htm

bmussatti 12-14-2005 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfectlap
The only enhancements I make now are cosmetic although going with lighter wheels (10 pounds at each corner) can be considered a performance bonus,
oh and GT3 seats, expensive but oh so worth it.

Perfectlap, really, 10 pounds lighter per corner, that's a lot. How much do your wheels weight...about 13-14 pounds each??

MNBoxster 12-14-2005 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onad
Just curious:

Can you add the Front/Rear Strut Tower Braces without voiding your warranty, or does all this stuff give Porsche a reason to deny claims.

Hi,

The Braces should not void your warranty. At the very least, any items not related to the Struts would not, by Law, be void. Porsche cannot supercede the Federal Trade Commission. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

MNBoxster 12-14-2005 03:43 PM

@PerfectLap

Hi,

I agree with you 100% about the Driving Course and 100% about the Tires with one Caveat - for the Experienced Driver only.

Upgrading your Tires can cause some issues for new Performance Car Drivers. The better Tires will add more Grip, but will also tend to breakaway much more suddenly and with less warning.

To the Unexperienced Driver, this can artificially raise their Confidence Level in their skills which could possibly result in some bent sheetmetal or worse - bent people... :(

I strongly suspect that many Go-Fast upgrades are at the Root of many accidents simply because they raise the Car above the Driver's abilities. I've seen this time and again.

Today's Sports Cars and Performance Sedans, even those in the middle of the Line-Up, far surpass the performance of some of the Best Cars of even a few years ago and come dangerously close to exceeding the Skill Level of their average Owner, lending even more creedence to your suggestion of the Value in taking some Driving Courses...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Perfectlap 12-14-2005 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmussatti
Perfectlap, really, 10 pounds lighter per corner, that's a lot. How much do your wheels weight...about 13-14 pounds each??

stock 18" turbo twists are about 30 pounds each. Carrera Lights (factory) are 20 pounds front 21 pounds rear. That's allot for rotating weight. You'll def fee the difference under braking and entering corners.

MN,
very true. I recently drove a POS Toyota Corolla with crap tires and forgot for a momment that I shouldn't be driving it like a Boxster on R compounds!
Sometimes you drive instinctively rather than looking ahead 25 yards.
Driving instinctively can get you into allot of trouble, specially with a car with loads of understeer and no power.

bmussatti 12-14-2005 04:27 PM

Thanks for the clarification, Perfectlap, I did not realize the stock wheels were soooo heavy. I thought they were about 24 lbs.

nastyboxster 12-14-2005 06:04 PM

Tires are probably the best bang for the buck if you autocross or track, but I gave myself an early Christmas present by installing an Evo Air intake. Suppose to add 8-10hp, but feels like 50 from the sound of the intake.

I still get a big smile everytime I floor the car, which happens a lot more now than before the upgrade.

Perfectlap 12-15-2005 06:18 AM

I think if you did the chip, headers, exhaust and evo intake you would get 8-10 horses out of it. I highly doubt you would get that with just the intake. and 8-10 horses is very marginal and that's at speed not from a standstill where most people want it. But on this car those four upgrades would probably cost more $ per pony than any other car on the market.

I've always done the K&N upgrade on my previous cars and its always a great improvement: louder and a little extra oomph. But those cars were designed with budget restrictive air intakes, not the case with the BoxsterS. I also worry about upsetting the finely tuned balance of intake and exhaust. I once had to change the exhaust on a previous car because the intake was working TOO WELL. but The sound that the Boxster makes out of the box is unmistakeably Porsche. I know it a mile away. My friend swore up and down that I would tinker with Boxster performance wise, when I bought it a year ago. I assured him I wouldn't! That's the whole reason for buying a Porsche. They get it right from the start.
Although a full set of Billstein coilovers would be nice. Can't leave well enough alone!

p.s. A premium set a tires is not just for autocross and track, it could save your life! I've read many times that one extra second of reaction time at the average speed limit of 65 mph would avoid 50-60% of all motor vehicle accidents.

markk 12-15-2005 11:00 AM

Best bang for the buck:

Buy a used Impreza GT Turbo (1999 or 2000 model) which the owner tuned to 300+bhp (turbo/intercooler/chip) and now needs to sell because he miscalculated affort the running costs and/or needs money.

If you want the best bang for the buck and are into Porsches something doesn't match up.

Mark
(BTW, I have both :-)

blinkwatt 12-15-2005 11:04 AM

I think the best bang for the buck is just enjoying it. I think we all forget about how nice these cars are stock and is the reason why we bought them in the first place.

nastyboxster 12-15-2005 01:03 PM

Perfectlap,

Attached are dyno charts from Evolution MotorSports for the Air intake and Chip/Intake upgrade. I did several months of research and inquired with a number of Boxster owners who did the Air intake before putting down the $400.

According to the charts, there is actually 11hp increase to the wheel with just the the air intake. I guess we can also argue that the dyno's are fake and it's all B.S. since it's Evo who makes the intake.

Also, check previous thread http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/4431-stock-h-p-wheels.html?highlight=chip. He dyno 246hp to the wheel (almost 280hp) after headers, chip and air intake.

Aside from numbers, I think what really matters is how it feels. As long as it makes me smile a little more driving the car, it doesn't matter if it actually adds 2hp or 20hp.

I agree with most Boxster owners that the car is great as is, but a little icing on a great cake always makes it taste a little better.

With regards to the tires, I didn't mean to offend your opinion. I was referring to R compound tires as an upgrade.

P.S. I didn't mean to stick all the numbers at you, but I can't help myself since I'm an Accountant and I use to be an auditor!

Perfectlap 12-15-2005 01:34 PM

well Porsche got 30 more hp out of the 987 3.2 with intake and exahust upgrades but I believe they also did some presumably very costly upgrades to the engine internals. Which is why I'm skeptical that a few bolt ons to the 3.2 could produce just a few less ponies than the guys at Stugart in a much more elaborate process.

But $2400 for and aditional 25 HP sounds about right for this car. Although I would have to see the dyno chart to see whether top end had been sacrificed for more low end power. Not to mention where mid range power stands after the upgrades which is where most drivers would want the extra kick in pants.

as far as Dynos yes, I don't know how many times I've read in Excellence or Import Tuner where the editors dyno a product themselves and rarely are the vendor 'dyno' HP claims confirmed. Except one Tech Art 911 where they actually low balled their HP claims. Very rare.

and yes R-compounds for daily use, not a good idea. R-compounds during the middle of December: really not a good idea. Better get over to Tirerack.com!

bmussatti 12-15-2005 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfectlap
well Porsche got 30 more hp out of the 987 3.2 with intake and exahust upgrades but I believe they also did some presumably very costly upgrades to the engine internals.

Perfectlap, you are correct in your statement above! Porsche did much more to the 987 to get the HP gains.

Here is what I have read on the PCA site:

"There have actually been many changes made from 2002-2005 and in fact to many to list. All of these have only gained 21kw of power. Now the changes were not to the compression or to the displacement but to its efficiency. The camshafts and their operation were drastically changed in 2003. Their were other changes for a total increase then of 6kw. The other 15kw evolved in the 987 from the Motronic 7.8 with faster processor speeds up to 40Mhz and memory of 1Mb. This translates into faster corrections and mapping of the engine management. The fuel injectors were also upgraded along with the intake system and exhaust. When you put all of this together you get this increase in KW (KiloWatts) .

In general there is not much you can do to gain more power with your engine. The bolt on after-market air intakes,exhausts and chip upgrades do little and often lower your power. Should any of this been that easy then Porsche wouldnt have to spend millions for product research and development. These products that show power gains by Dyno testing are all in the area of error. I could change spark plugs in an engine and Dyno it 3 different times and most likely show a gain of 3-6kw on one of them. I could now use this to sell my product and say that you can gain this amount in power by using these spark plugs. I only used spark plugs as an example. An air-freshener inline with the intake stream would have worked also. Perhaps pine scented?

Scott Slauson - PCA WebSite - 12/4/2005"


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