Hp upgrades
 

My last car, years ago, was a 1993 Mazda rx7 twin turbo. There were hp upgrades that generally everyone would follow in certain order. For instance, intake, exhaust, down pipe, intercooler, ecu, boost pressure increase, fuel injectors, mid pipe, boost pressure increase.


What are the normal mod order of events for a 986? I have a 2002 boxster S. This will be a fun street car.

Unlike your Mazda of old, it's both difficult and expensive to squeeze more hp out of the boxster's normally aspirated engine. However, many of us have been successful with some of the following upgrades :

1. A comprehensive and methodical approach to revamping the exhaust system; i.e. headers, cats, cat back ect...
2. Light weight under drive pulley
3. Larger throttle body and plenum
4. ECU re-programming
5. Lighter wheels (a potentially faster and better performing vehicle by means of
reducing unsprung weight and rotational mass)
6. Reducing weight in general; i.e. spare tires, oem seats, lighter battery ect.. (this is
more aimed toward tracking your boxster .
7. Suspension upgrades (though not a direct increase in power, a faster vehicle can be
had by means of better handling and performance .
8. A divorce (reduction in weight by means of one less passenger)

and the list goes on ...........

Step One: Inherit a lot of money, or win the lottery…………….
Step Two: The rest is easy...........

Cont....

Cut out burgers and fries. For most, it is easier to loose 10-20 pounds in the waistline, then cutting weight from the Boxster. :p

New and stickier tires made the biggest difference to mine. Also a good driving school!

Try this
 

http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/itisn%27tfastenough


though the first decision is figuring out where you want the HP and what you are willing to give up to get it there....besides $$$$$. Is it stoplight power, high end track power, sound, bragging items...

comments
 

It sounds like what I expected. I didn't think buying a Porsche was going to be a car to upgrade...... just an awesome car to drive.

I will concentrate on just cleaning the car up cosmetically to make it flawless. Then save for the 911!

That sounds like the better plan, you think?

Save up for the 3.6L swap... around $15k, or 3.8L swap around $20k.

Several on this board don't see the 911 as an upgrade.

Yep. I used to race bicycles and I still ride quite a bit. I get a kick out of guys that are chasing bike weight. After you get to about 19 lbs, its easily $1000 per pound to get any lower. and I look at them and they could easily lose 20-30 lbs off their fat butts for free. Hey just take dump before you ride and you probably lose a pound. There, you just saved a grand.

3.4L, 3.6L, 3.8L, 4.0L, 7.0L LS1 Chevy V8 :D

My road bike weighs 13.1 pounds (you're right on the equation - about a $1000 per pound ). However, as a former CAT 1 racer, even at 45 years old my body fat percentage is still only about 5% . :)

Cat 1, I'm impressed. I made it to cat 2. Well, actually I placed in enough races to make cat 1, but the USCF changed the rules that year and only national team members were cat 1.

Still ride quite a bit. Cycling here in Miami is great. Organized rides 6 days a week, 50-150 people show up. Several cat 1 and 2s and a couple of ex-pros that really cane the group. Not at 5% body fat, but I'm losing weight staedily.

By the way, you can't race your bike in sanctioned events. Its too light!

Years back, I was on "assignment" in Miami for awhile . It's flatter than "piss on a plate" there ! No wonder there were no "climbers" !! LOL ! Up here in New England it's all killer hills and climbs .

Originally posted Blue2000S "Several on this board don't see the 911 as an upgrade."

Agreed. Your S will run with, or outrun, any base 911. And out handle it also.


Oh and you guys let me know when you want to come up and ride the "hills". Mine start at 9,000 feet.... and go UP from there. This is where the climber's train. :cool:

First, I am one of those who do not think of a 911 as an upgrade, just a different and more expensive car. As far as the list to upgrade power cheaply, it is as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
After these it gets really expensive and not worth it. I really think that the best way to gain speed is to learn to drive the car.

Ed

cat 1
 

I know we are swithing thread topics..... but, I am a triathlete and an ironman. I have to ask out of curiousity..... what was your power output as a cat 1 racer? Also, your my new hero.

BTW- I find it interesting that people often share similar interests. It seems to me from the chat here that many Porsce owners are probably cyclists as well. Interesting.

To be honest with you, when I raced as a CAT 1 it was during my college years, and for a short while thereafter. I'm now 45 years old, so that was quite along time ago . LOL ! Unfortunately, there wasn't much technology back then to really map a person's performance like today . In any event, most of the riding that I do today is purely recreational with occasional master's road race. I'm much more of a "climber" than I am a sprinter .

It is flat here. All we have is the "Alp du Rickenbacker", the bridge to Key Biscayne that goes up a whopping 90 feet. But we are fast. The training rides/races are always 25 mph+, many times 35 mph+ for some fairly long stretches.

Raced in southern Wisconsin and there were some short steep climbs that I miss, but at my age, not too much. I raced criteriums almost exclusively, which were usually pretty flat.

I know the bridge well. I use to ride over it on my way the Bill Baggs Point !

Its also a great drive in the Box a little before sunset, top down or course.

Now that we've completely hijacked the thread (sorry) : ( , I see that you've had some Alfas in the past. I had one of the last commemorative edition Spider Veloce's imported to the US (#121 of 190).

Nice. Spiders are definitely going up in price, believe it or not.

The GTV6 is still my favorite of all the cars I've had. A real head turner, mostly because of its rarity. Man did that car handle. I remember flying through the hills above Berkeley, listening to the wondrous growl of the V6. Only 160 hp, but enough to get you in trouble.

Only downside was the bad synchros, which most alfas have. I did get very good at heal and toe double clutching and could downshift in any gear at any rpm.

It had Campagnolo wheels, so I would say to my cycling buddies "Yeah, you have a Campy group on your bike, but I have Campy wheels on my car!"
Alas, I crashed it.

Where in Wisconsin? I live here and ride everywhere. The hills on the ironman course in Madison are steep and often, but Holy Hill area outside Milwaukee is pretty hilly. I also ride mountain bike at Kettle Moraine. Currently I ave 6 bikes and I am just as much a nut about bikes as cars.

I had my Spider for less than a year, and sold it with only 2,200 miles on it . I couldn't take it any more ! The car was evil incarnate ! After the buyer drove away, I painted my house a different color and changed my phone number hoping to never see hide nor hair of it again !!!!!!! LOL !

Alfas were notorious for having tons of problems when new, but the design was really good and after the dealer worked out all of the bugs, the cars were actually pretty reliable.

What a coincidence, I grew up in Whitewater, where Kettle Moraine is located. Never rode the mountain bike trails but I did cross-country ski there.

I went to college in Madison, where I got into bike racing. I rode for the Yellow Jersey bike shop for a couple of years. I wonder if people still do the Paoli ride and New Glarus rides anymore. Fun times.

Going back to the Box's mods, to me it seems to make the most sense to go for a computer retuning, as people seem to get the most benefit and enjoyment for the money spent, from what I've seen on here, better power delivery, a few horses to gain, and also improving the fuel economy (though you're more likely to be putting your foot down more often afterward, so you'll only benefit from that last one when you're driving nicely). Exhausts, depending on what you buy, can do anything from just sound nice to netting you a few horses (with the aforementioned tune ;) ), but they'll also likely save you some weight and turn the rear trunk into less of a furnace (if you didn't know already, don't put anything in the rear trunk that doesn't like heat, it gets toasty in there).

On the intake side of things there's a lot of controversy over the effectiveness of an intake mod. Some say stick with the stock box and only remove the snorkel, others swear by their new intake box. That one's entirely up to you. Now beyond the airbox, the plumbing from there onward to the engine is fair game and worth the time without breaking the bank. It may not gain you gobs of power, but the delivery of the power you do have will be better.

:cheers:

engine swap 3.4 or bigger 10k + - 100+hp gain
Turbo 10k + - 100+ hp gain
Underdrive pulley 150$ - 10 hp gain
IPD Plenum 900$ - 24hp midrange and 5hp on top
Headers and high flow cats 2k - 8-10hp gain
ecu tuning will move your power band around for 1k. if you go this route for a good tune call pedrosgarage.com There the best for boxsters right now.


My .02 :cheers:

I did #8 last year, best mod I ever did...