987 v 986 Air box

[Pololo_Boxster]

Thank you so much for the valuable information. You are right about getting my nomenclature right...

Usually picture a MAF as a pipe/sensor included as in my older bimmers... DIdn't know the MAF are was part of the 986 airbox.

Couple of questions please(actually 3 ) :
1) Any 996 tune will do it? I am sure there's a difference between the base and the S version.
2) I have the 997 TB/plenum (in combination with the 987 airbox). Do I need the 996 intake as well? Is that a must or a nice to have? Was planning on keeping the 3.2S intake intact.
3) Suggestion for the pipes/bends to connect from the airbox to the plenum?

Already got the exhaust, and downpipes (no secondary cats)... but keeping the stock headers/manifold due to the emissions regulations in my county.

Was planning on leaving my car stock (wishful thinking lol)... but I can never manage to do that with my cars.

Once again, thank you so much for your help and feedback.

Regards
CB

Originally Posted by The Radium King

is up to you.

first, some nomenclature.

the maf is the sensor. the 986 maf is the same as the 987 maf.

the maf housing is the tube the maf mounts to. on the 986 it is part of the airbox. on the 987 it is a separate tube that attaches to the airbox.

the 986 maf housing is a smaller diameter than the 987 maf housing. the computer multiplies the maf reading by the cross-sectional area of the tube to determine flow. so, change the tube diameter and confuse the computer.

if you do not wish to do a flash then saw the maf housing off of your 986 airbox and plumb it all together. the 987 maf housing is not required.

otherwise, if you plumb it all together using the 987 maf housing then you need a flash that will work with this larger diameter. for a 2000 the solution is a 996 flash. the 996 of the same year had the larger intake tract and the 3.2 runs just fine with this flash. your dealer should be able to provide for you, or anyone with a piwis or pst2 contraption.

the benefits of the latter option are twofold; using the larger diameter maf housing removes a restriction to airflow. second, the thinking is that porsche neutered the boxster so as to not compete with the 996. otherwise a 3.2 should not be 50 hp down on a 3.4. there's only 3 places that can happen - exhaust, intake, ecu (fuelling, timing). so, an ebay exhaust, clean up the intake as much as you can (pro tip - bolt an intake manifold from a 3.4 onto your car) and 996 tune.