intake and exhaust change but no big change in preformance
 

hi all am a new to this forum...i have read and enjoy it very much...i bought a new 2004 boxster s about a month ago...i wanted a deeper tone and maybe a little more pick up...so installed a trueflow intake http://www.trueflow.com/ and magnaflow exhaust http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/shopexd.asp?zone=main&id=585 ...
my question is this with these mods should have i seen a noticeble differnce in performance? it sounds great but i cant really tell any change in preformance...also any suggestion on what i should do next to make the car alittle faster..i would like to be at 987s levels at some point...thanks for any help....

A general answer is that most here have NOT found any improvement in performance. In fact, one member's car was slower after the install.

However, if it sounds good, that is good, no? :cheers:

Those mods should get you little to no hp gains. Your best bet on acheiving 987 level of hp is an ecu remap

thanks for your input guys
 

as for the sound yea it sounds great so that makes me happy...any thoughts on which ecu remap is better the powerchip one or the giac one..thanks again for the feedback... :cheers:

This brings us back to the paradox of the underpowered Boxster - all the threads point in unison that the normal performance mods (headers, exhaust, intakes) add marginal HP at best. Got it. Going into a Boxster engine for heavier work like cams/valves/etc. is an unknown and probably costly, if you could even find the parts. All of which fits nicely into Porsche's strategy that the boxes would not compete with the higher priced 911's. As far as I can tell, the 2.7 and 3.2 engines are not overworked in their present configurations, and should both be capable of more power. This seems supported by the fact that when Porsche decides to tweek a year model up a little, the increased HP majically appears. The gains are there somewhere: we just need to figure out how.
The chassis will easily accomodate more power. It's a 911 front integrated with a wonderfully designed mid-engine rear. The Cayman will bear this out, as will future HP tweeks to the "S" models.
Off the soapbox now, & back on thread - has anyone tried chip mods?

Even with the 911s, I don't think Porsche ever makes it "easy" to mod their engines. I think that the 911 crowd has more dough and has been at it for many years (modding that is) so there are more parts for sure.

I also think the Box has been thought of as a "economy" Porsche by the aftermarket to some degree, thereby limiting how many vendors will invest in the go fast parts market.

Just a hunch!

:cheers:

engine performance links
 

found these while googling
1. http://www.rahul.net/dennisp/boxster/boxster-mods-engine.shtml
2. 34HP Dyno Developed Tuning Kit ( Boxster sport muffler, Boxster Headers, BMC F1 air filter, Piggyback Program or German DME Remapping ). Consists of Fabspeed Exhaust and Fabspeed German ECU DME Remapping service. Source: Dyno proven power - you can feel. http://www.fabspeed.com/boxster.html
3. RennSport - has graphs and dyno tests shown, but the gains are still fairly modest. http://www.rennsportsystems.com/996-Boxster.html
4. Interesting write up from a forum, with some thoughts attributed to Alois Ruf on Boxster mods (and 996's). Some good thoughts on the interaction between systems and how you can actually upset the balance by changing a single component. Only read the first entry - it runs on a wile after that. The Ruf pricetag: 27,000 euros, a bit steep for me. http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-5034.html

still no easy answers - but it's gotta be out there somewhere.

Very true Brucelee. As it is the boxster is pretty darn harn to see significant hp gains....at least for under 2k $$$.. The 3.2L has the most potential of course as Porsche increased the hp by 20 for 2005 and did not even have to raise the displacement. This tells me(and this should be common sense) that the 3.2L engine as well as all boxster engines are held back hp wise so they don't interere with 911 sales.

Adam,

I would agree with that logic, with the notable exception of the coming Cayman.

This will be interesting!

Yes, indeed. I just found out the 3.4L in the new Cayman is not the old 3.4L in the 99-01 996 but rather the 3.2L bored out to 3.4L. I truly believe the cayman will cut into 911 sales. What is Porsche thinking about this? Of course, at 58k minimum a pop, Porsche will probably not lose any money on the new cayman either right?

in thinking about potential cannibalization
 

off topic: it's probably more appropriate to be thinking about profit margin (or contribution margin) instead of price per car...though closely realted, maybe porsche has figured out how to make as much margin on a cayman as they do on a 911 (or close enough that a small increase in volume will offset difference).

I worked at Ford Motor Co for many years and this is how we thought about cannibalization from an economic standpoint.

on topic: I've posted this info numerous times before, but the '01 s I bought last year already had the techart v3 engine kit on it (headers, pre cat delete, new exhuast, ecu, throttle body, and air filter) and it is supposed to get 35 add'l hp. I don't know that it did get the extra 35 because I don't have dyno results for the car before trhe stuff was added...it is discernably more powerful that the other halp dozen or so used s's that I test drove, but at $7K new I would have a hard time justifying the expense.