"Affordable" Boxster Mods

[germaniac]

Hi guys,

Listen, I have a beautifully "aesthetically" modded boxster...carbon hood, Zeintec top, carbon mirrors, interior treats etc.

I am putting a GHL exhaust set-up on the car I got at a steal but was curious what performance mods you guys recommend for the most bang 4 buck...

I know superchargers are gonna cost me 4.5-7k, so I was wondering if there were a series of smaller less costly mods that might equal a small kick in the pants.

Mu car just doesn't have anything low end right off the line (2.5 liter)


Help, any suggestions are greatly appreciated

Rob in South Florida

[Sputter]

You can toss coin at and make marginal at best gains in torgue. Noticeable gains can't be bought cheap. It's just not that kind of car.

Sheading wieght is likely the cheapest and easiest. Although you've already added about 100lbs of wieght with that top. (it's almost like driving around with a permanent passenger)

Swaping motors isn't cheap. (to a 3.2 or larger)
Having Flat6 do their magic and increasing the liters won't be cheap either but it's an interesting way to go.

Adding a turbo kit or supercharger sounds like fun but the added stress on the engine parts is questionable long term. Guys have done it, see some threads here, they can fill you in on costs etc.

I know it's not what you were looking for but others here can likely offer a different opinion and ways to get some extra.

[edevlin]

I agree that it is not easy or cheap to get more HP out of our cars. I would think that your strategy of changing the exhaust is as good as any. Even if you dont pick up any more HP, your car will probably sound like it did. Our cars sing such a wonderful song, when the exhaust is cranked up a notch or two, it really gives the impression of speed and power, great fun.

Ed

[Topless]

Yep. Difficult and expensive to squeeze meaningful extra hp out of our lil 2.5ers. edevlin has about the most you can get out of a 2.7 with bolt-ons and tuning. He did it right. It was a long process to get it right and required serious coin but it now goes like stink.

As with any project, examine your goals. What are you looking for? Simple butt dyno improvements, louder, street stoplight racing (wrong car), dyno chart bragging rights, faster times at the track? Answer this honestly and you will narrow your search a great deal.

I can't speak for others but to me "faster times at the track" is the only thing that matters when modding. Everything else is... er... foreplay. If this is your goal, look around at your local PCA events and see what the really fast Boxster guys are doing. You know, the ones who regularly outrun the GT3s, 997TTs, F430s, and Lambos every week. In SoCal those guys have all done the same thing: Fat sticky tires, tuned suspension, removed weight, honed their driving skills, and left the motor alone. Stock intake, Stock headers, no chip or software mods, no turbo. They just learned to drive these cars really fast. You can too.

[Lil bastard]

@Topless... BIG +1 !!

These cars usually far exceed the skills of the guy behind the wheel.

A driving course is almost always the best bang for the buck.

After that, suspension; remember the old addage: "Races are won in two places; the curves and the pits..."

The guy who can stay off the brakes longest and get on the gas soonest will usually have the best lap times.

[j.fro]

Headers have gotten pretty cheap, but installation can be tricky because the bolts to the heads like to break. You might pick up 6-8HP,as the power band goes a little higher in the revs. Unfortunately, you'll lose a bit on the bottom end.
The best autocross mod I did to my car was a set of R compound tires. When they're hot, you can really throw the car into a turn without it coming around on you.

[vath2001]

Weight kills speed and performance. Pull stuff out of the car. No spare, lighter battery, minium windshield fluid, minimum anti freeze, pull the stereo and amp and speakers. Pull the carpet over the engine and install something lighter. Pull the carpet out of the trunks. And finally, take out of the cigarette lighter.... too much weight.

I'll bet you'll lose over 100 pounds.

[germaniac]

thanks for the advice...sounds like the way to go is shedding all the weight...and getting rid of my creature comforts...guess you can't have speed and gadgets

Thanks again...now help me with the whirring sound coming from the rear under acceleration lol

[superglide]

Originally Posted by germaniac

thanks for the advice...sounds like the way to go is shedding all the weight...and getting rid of my creature comforts...guess you can't have speed and gadgets

Thanks again...now help me with the whirring sound coming from the rear under acceleration lol

Germaniac;
That "whirring" sound is your stock muffler........ It'll go away when you put the GHL on.
Cheers for the New Year

[JP-s-in st. louis]

I will sell you my Imagine Auto Super Charger kit and throw in my Cargraphic muffler for 3 grand shipped.

[Jaxonalden]

How much boost and at what RPM does that huffer come on?

[8 Ball]

To me the best bang for your buck is to get the sticky tires. Less weight and better suspension is good too but the tires are so simple and you can really tell the better times right from the start.

[trieullionaire]

I stopped eating ice cream as often. For a shorter guy, I weigh a ton of bricks and so if I shave 20 to 25 pounds off that be a pretty good performance mod...fit cars, fit owners is my 2009 motto.

[van arkel]

some suggestions. sticky tire and a more aggressive alignment. pull all the weight out you can. more power is good but hard to find. i have a modified intake, headers, a giac chip and a my own "internal pedrosport style exhaust" on my 2001 S. my butt dyno says it makes more power. my ear dyno verifies that it sounds faster. and the one mod that makes the most difference: the driver. teaching it how to go fast will do more for you than anything you put on the car.

Also with your 2.5 car I'd probably reference the spec boxster race cars. Most of the stuff they do, you can do too.

V

[schnellman]

I agree with the ways the guys say to lighten the car for the track, but I wanted to be quicker off the track too. I traded my wife of twenty-five years in for a model that was sixty pounds lighter. Wow! I'm a lot quicker now.

[cheetah]

Originally Posted by JP-s-in st. louis

I will sell you my Imagine Auto Super Charger kit and throw in my Cargraphic muffler for 3 grand shipped.

If this is the complete kit for the 3.2L, I'm interested. Contact me.