Desnorking - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Frodo · 07-15-2007, 05:29 PM

I know this is flogging a dead horse. I know this is an area that has been talked about ad nauseum. And knowing all this I therefore humbly apologize for starting yet another thread on this subject, but I can't help myself.

Here goes. The consensus seems to be that anyone and everyone lucky enough to own a Boxster needs to set aside a Saturday afternoon, take the plunge and desnork their intake.

My question is this: Is there anyone out there who's taken that plunge and has been sorry for having done so? If so, why? (I would also be happy to hear from those who are still feeling positive about having done this mod. But I especially want to hear from those folks that have regretted such a decision.)

Also, I purchased my car (2001 S) from a dealer, with a 2-year CPO warranty that's now a year old. If I do desnork, should I wait for the passage of that second year? Has anyone in my situation felt the need to "resnork" if they needed warranty work done? Is resnorking tougher than desnorking?

Help this dummy make up his mind.

Again, my apologies...

Boxter · 07-16-2007, 04:49 AM

I have not seen many horror stories that were not self induced by hosing down the intake area after desnorkeling.

That said IMO it can be done on the 986 with little mechanical aptitude in less than 5 minutes ( I have completed it that quickly but, dare I say, I am fairly mechanically inclined).
My guess is that if you chose to reverse the process it would take equally as long.

Save the rest of the afternoon for deciding how much different it sounds/feels.

Go for it.

Boxtaboy · 07-16-2007, 05:16 AM

I know of 2 other boxster owners who have desnorked and then subsequently resnorked. One complained of getting a slight hesitation/stumble at around 4K rpms after desnorking, and another resnorked because he thought he felt a slight power decrease after desnorking. I have absolutely no proof of this theory, but my thought is that the end of the snork tube has a curved opening which acts like a venturi, sucking in air at a higher rate when at high speeds, and thus shapes the air for better air flow as it hits the airbox.

I am thinking that a good real world test would be to run a car that is not desnorked from 5-100mph (on the road, not on a dyno where there is no true simulation of airflow as you hit varying speeds up to 100mph) and time it, and then do the same test after desnorking the car. Anyone up for a little test run?

Darkhamr · 07-16-2007, 05:29 AM

Even if it acted as a venturi or smoothed the flow of air that would end as soon as it got to the air box and filter so sorry there can be no power benefit to it. It likely has no real world affect on engine performance either positive or negative, but improves sound. It takes less than 5 mins to pull out so give it a try. As to getting water in there when washing don't leave the motor running and nothing will get sucked up.

Boxtaboy · 07-16-2007, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkhamr

Even if it acted as a venturi or smoothed the flow of air that would end as soon as it got to the air box and filter so sorry there can be no power benefit to it. It likely has no real world affect on engine performance either positive or negative, but improves sound. It takes less than 5 mins to pull out so give it a try. As to getting water in there when washing don't leave the motor running and nothing will get sucked up.

I don't even think water is an issue if you pull out the snork because I put my hand up the path of the intake box after my friend pulled out his snork, and noticed that the water would have to travel upwards quite a bit before getting through to the next area.

Oh, and, I've watched 3 people desnork in the past, and in all three cases, either they ended up snapping one of the arms off the plastic grilles, or broke off the lower inner ridge of their painted airbox casing while trying to get at the snork tube. Anyone know of the best technique to get at the snork easily without breaking anything?

zackwatt · 07-16-2007, 08:06 AM

Check out my 5th post here: Weekend Mods

It should answer a few questions

Zack

AZ UFO · 07-16-2007, 08:42 AM

I will say that after reading up on desnorkeling on this website i went out and did it after a few calls to poeple who had no intrest in the car, or me whats so ever. I called the dealership and 2 different shops that deal with porsche and high end cars to get an opinion of the procedure, Again they did not know me i had never bought anything from them and was clear i was just wanting information from an expert. I got the same thing from all three who I would say based on our conversation were experts when it came to porsche. I was told that there would be a power increase 100% no doubt about it of some sort "2hp to 5hp" was the range I got. Also it sounds great, really great I love it. If you take your time and dont force anything it will take 5 to 10 min to do, I can not even begin to fathom how it is possible to break anything while doing this, it's simple easy to do will not harm the performance of the car and the 2 hp to 5hp you gain will do nothing for you in the long run. But it sounds cool

.So my advice is go for it, I am happy I did it and have had zero problems and or performance issues. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

easyc · 07-16-2007, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

I know of 2 other boxster owners who have desnorked and then subsequently resnorked. One complained of getting a slight hesitation/stumble at around 4K rpms after desnorking, and another resnorked because he thought he felt a slight power decrease after desnorking. I have absolutely no proof of this theory, but my thought is that the end of the snork tube has a curved opening which acts like a venturi, sucking in air at a higher rate when at high speeds, and thus shapes the air for better air flow as it hits the airbox.

I am thinking that a good real world test would be to run a car that is not desnorked from 5-100mph (on the road, not on a dyno where there is no true simulation of airflow as you hit varying speeds up to 100mph) and time it, and then do the same test after desnorking the car. Anyone up for a little test run?

Like one of these http://www.tornadoair.com/ ? Sweet...

aussieboxy · 07-18-2007, 05:30 PM

Hi Frodo,

I did my 00 2.7 & I think it made a little difference. There is a corner near my home where it is quite safe to give the care a little squirt in second gear at around 4K rpm on the way out and I noticed that the car actually stepped out a little after desnorkling. Not much just a little difference.

Plus it sounds great. I have a reasonable amount of mechanical appitude and found it reasonably straight forward although a little tricky to get the grill out. Best bet is to be patient and reasonably gentle and it will all work out fine.

It took me about 1 1/2 hrs, but I was being very careful. After all it's all fun.

If you don't like it just put it back...easy.

Have fun

vipola · 07-19-2007, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkhamr

Even if it acted as a venturi or smoothed the flow of air that would end as soon as it got to the air box and filter so sorry there can be no power benefit to it. It likely has no real world affect on engine performance either positive or negative, but improves sound. It takes less than 5 mins to pull out so give it a try. As to getting water in there when washing don't leave the motor running and nothing will get sucked up.

What about Rain?
I ride my boxster in Rain, it's my EveryDay car when I am not on my motorcycle (witch I try to avoid when it's raining). I am hesitating for desnorting because I don't want to break anything when riding in rain. What do you think about it ?

Darkhamr · 07-19-2007, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vipola

What about Rain?
I ride my boxster in Rain, it's my EveryDay car when I am not on my motorcycle (witch I try to avoid when it's raining). I am hesitating for desnorting because I don't want to break anything when riding in rain. What do you think about it ?

Take the grille off, take a look and make the determination yourself. I would never advise somebody to do something they are not comfortable with to their car.

However, IMHO unless you were in a horizontal downpour with the throttle wide open I doubt you get much more than a bit of moisture which would still be trapped in the airbox / filter. Mine is out, I drive in downpours as I'm sure have many others with no issues. Will somebody be able to point out of a situation posted on the big 'ol internet of somebody hydro-locking? Of course, but any freak event can happen.

Again never modify your car if you are not prepared for the worst case scenario.

aussieboxy · 07-19-2007, 06:51 PM

I agree with Darkhmr, I live in subtropical Queensland and we have some real heavy rain on occasions and although I prefer not to drive my boxy in the rain sometimes it's unaviodable. Sure when it's bucketing down I don't have my right foot planted to the floor but I have never had a problem with rain getting into the airbox, and if it has It hasn't caused any problems.

But it's your call, these cars can be quite sensitive and I think that's due to the fact that they are reasonably highly tuned for a stock road car.....and that's why we love them.

Good luck with your decision.

Frodo · 08-01-2007, 03:48 PM

Desnorked day before yesterday. So far so good.

May be placebo effect, but I'd swear she feels peppier. The howl at 5500 RPM and up ain't so bad either.