Increasing HP?
 

Hi. I have a 986 Boxster with the 2.7L engine. While it's a fun car that I bought on a lark one day and am glad I did, I've always had Corvettes before, and the lack of power in the Boxster is frustrating at times. My Ford Expedition has more power.

What can one do to raise the HP without breaking the bank?

I'm not going to go to heroic measures to eek out another 5bhp at the cost of $5,000. But are there things that will make a noticeable difference in oomph without major surgery? I'm told some exhaust solutions can bump up the HP, but is it really noticeable? Feel free to tell me, "It's never going to be a fast car, just enjoy it for what it is." That's what I've been telling myself. But I thought I would ask, just in case. What wisdom do you experts have for this lady with her first Boxster?

A Boxster midengine is a track car and made for track racing; quick on the turns and corners. To increase HP:
1. install a IPD with a larger TB
2. Increase exhaust e.g. headers
3. Tune
Options: install turbo/supercharger but that may defeat the costs

Probably the cheapest and easiest way to get a few hp that I'm aware of is to get some secondary cat bypass pipes. Adds around 5-10hp and I got mine for around $150. The cheap ebay ones are fine.

There is no cheap or easy way to increase the power these cars enough to be noticeable. Especially if you are used to the grunt of a Corvette!

It's never going to be a fast car, just enjoy it for what it is.

You are welcome! :)

Anything you try will be peanuts when it comes to added HP and by the time you get everything installed, you'll have maybe 20-30hp and you'll be $5K lighter. With that addl $5K you could upgrade to an S and have 50 more HP. Porsche engines are not small block Chevies that open up with a few cheap mods. First of all, they don't "open up", and secondly, they're not cheap. You'll be better off buying the car that has the proper amt of HP from the factory.

If it was easy, everyone would do it.

The difference between a base Boxster and an S is definitely worth the price difference. And it’s not just about HP!

I'm sure this is the correct answer. Thanks.

That is the correct answer. You can't do better than husker. But, if you really want to cure those low horsepower blues? Just take the car to the track. You'll find yourself very quickly driving circles around Corvettes.

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You’ll never wring a lot of power out of these cars. They are roadsters meant to be enjoyed in a way different than most, top down with wonderful driving characteristics. With all due respect to Newart, and I have a lot, don’t get sucked into the age old thought that an S is better than a base. They simply don’t have enough “more” to make an appreciable difference. Go drive one you’ll see. Enjoy the cars for what they are and buy another corvette.

Newart's the MAN!

I would not buy a 986 Boxster for the horse power, for the convertible fact and handling are a couple of good reasons. For the 2 years that I was looking for a 986 Boxster, I drove several base and S models, yes the S has a bit more power but nothing compared to a corvette. My 330xi has about the same power as the S model, maybe a little more with the bolt ons, but it is much faster than any S models that I test drove. If you want power, you are better off just getting something else, almost any newer model convertible has a lot more horse power that any 986 Boxster model, with the exception of a few, like Miata, Fiat, etc., And they are a lot cheaper to mod. than the Boxster. Good luck.

Put corvette engine in boxster??? Not the average joe thing, but if you want the style and the grunt. Costs are either money or ingenuity.



The grease rat's sign said:

Speed's just a question of money, how fast can you go?

Consider spending some time with a Porsche trained driving instructor. What these cars lack in grunt, they more than make up in agility. Two very different driving approaches required, Porsche vs Vette. Learning how to never coast in a turn will make a huge difference in lap times, canyon carving, etc. Safe travels.

Now some truth. I own a Boxster S and I do enjoy driving it on country roads and around Athens, GA. It is perfect for that and fun. I tracked a Corvette Z06 for years. Ran Time Trials also. No Boxster ever came close to running circles around me at the track, most were just a blimp in the rear mirror after a few laps and that's a fact. I was also an instructor and took quite a few Boxster owners out for lessons. Now that I have retired from track/racing days, I am looking to replace my 986 with a 2009 or 2010 Boxster S.

+1
I was fortunate enough to drive Laguna Seca as my 5th ever DE. I was still pretty green (I look back at my videos and see all kinds of places to improve) and they had me in an intermediate run group. I got a thrill in the 2nd day because I passed a 997 GT3. Now I look back and understand it was more about his driving than mine. As I've gained more experience and driven a variety of tracks, I'm placed in run groups with lots of experience. That also means with my measly 303HP and street tires, I'm a knife at a gun fight vs all the GT3s, GT4s, McLarens, and race cars. It would take a special track (one that I haven't driven yet) that would put handling over HP. You can still drive a slow car fast, but chances are low you're going to be passing better cars.

Well husker and myrx, I'm disappointed in both of you! Haha (j/k)

But seriously; my point was NEVER that a boxster is a faster car than a corvette. My point was that once you learn to drive properly, there's more fun to be had than simply mashing your foot into it, the way most drivers do it. (especially those in corvettes, haha)

FWIW:
Same driver (me ;-) ) same track, same day: in the Ferrari F430 (street tires & brakes) i was only 2/10ths faster per lap than in the boxster (race tires and brakes.... plus all the other suspension goodies, haha ). Yes, I was driving the Ferrari "conservatively", (scared, haha) but it was still the fastest- lapping car in NASA's HPDE 3 group that day. (No way i was taking into DE4, haha)

If you're driving it well, you'll find yourself passing LOTS of "faster" cars that are driven less-well. Driving a boxster at the racetrack injects enormous enjoyment into ownership. Learning to drive it well should make you miss a corvette's hp much less.

Just my $0.02

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20 years ago, even my 986 (2.7l) was a REALLY fast sports car.
2020...20 years later: Don't invest big money for a few HP more, they don't make a difference anymore.

It still is one of the FASTEST CARS on the Autobahn, if you want to, but acceleration wise...no match anymore even for a "little" Audi S3 with their 300HP turbo engines.

Fun wise...unmatched.

+1 maybe 2

Or install a used 3.2 liter engine and then do intake and exhaust up grade's that's the best spent money,..short of newer, faster,.. But again once it's added up,.But they always say once you get use to the power you always want more..!! LOL Torque is where the fun if but I don't know how to get more of that, short of a engine built for just the Torque..80 MPH is 80 MPH no matter what your driving.!! Have Fun ! Frank

Totally agree with this. Nothing more satisfying than a near-perfect lap (like Costner said in Tin Cup, "perfection is unobtainable"). It gets disappointing when a third of the people who pass you don't come w/in 2' of an apex but think they're "fast" b/c they can mash the accelerator and go fast between corners.