Oh man... It's been a long time since I've been around here. I am so happy this forum is still alive. I finally have time (and funds) to revisit my old beloved Boxster, and I of course have so many questions again since I forgot all there was to know about these cars from back in the day.
A Brief Introduction: (Skip to TLDR if you don't care)
I don't know if the guys who were frequenting the board when I was frequenting the board are still around (Johnny Danger, Particlewave, Bruce Wayne?), but I bought my 2.5L base Boxster in 2013.
My first car during college. Loved it. Took it everywhere. Constantly broke down on me. AZ heat killed it so many times. Drove it many years without AC as a poor college student. Spent every
day on these forums.
Graduated, started making money, started doing stupid things to it. Some aesthetic stuff here and there. Took a 3.2 out of a Boxster S, re-sleeved it to 3.8, and stuck it in my car around 2016.
The engine has been a blast to drive with. I've put about 80k miles on it since the swap back in 2016. I've since gone on to own some other fun cars and projects. Changed professions a few times. Bought a house. Got married.
Meanwhile the Boxster has kind of moved from home to home and was somewhat being neglected
it constantly found itself in the BACK of pictures of my other cars, despite it starting life as the first.
But no more! The Boxster is ready to make a comeback!!
TLDR:
I own a 99 Porsche Boxster that has an upgraded engine. The M96 motor has been re-sleeved to 3.8L, and is currently outputting 240 whp on 11:1 compression with a tune on the OEM ECU. The throttle body has not been modified, as it is the older cable throttle generation and not drive-by-wire.
I want more power, but am coming to terms that my little M96 is likely at its limit.
Ideally, I want to hit 600 whp, but I know that is very ambitious. In all honesty, I would be happy with 450 whp - enough to keep up with some of the newer 911s.
I figure boost is pretty much out of the question. I've asked all kinds of experts who have worked on cars much more expensive than what I could afford, and they all pretty much said the same thing - the M96 is not an engine built for forced induction. Even if I were to lower the compression, the heads evidently lift at even modest boost.
I understand this is an unusual path for such an outdated and not very popular platform (the 986), but this car has extreme sentimental value to me and is the only reason I am pursuing spending money on it. I understand that the money is likely better spent on a better car, but I am here because getting my beloved Boxster up to snuff is the goal.
Boxster S Upgrade, any merit?:
I know a big limitation of the 99 was the outdated cable throttle system, which 2000 Boxsters and newer did away with and replaced with the E-gas system. I am actually within reach of an IMS failed 2000 Boxster S, and was wondering if there was any merit in obtaining it? I already have the Boxster S front brakes (I could get the rear brakes and uprights to complete the set).
I guess the 6 speed would probably be an upgrade from my stock 5 speed.
But aside from that, is it worth transferring the whole chassis harness from the Boxster S to my Boxster just to get the new electronics (alternatively, take my modifications and block and put them in the blown Boxster S) - assuming I upgrade the ECU and get a tune. Would there be more support for me to upgrade my heads and throttle body?
If boost is out of the question for the M96, what about going really nuts.
I don't even know what's out there anymore. I know Renegade did an LS swap kit for the >2000 Boxster S's. I know someone somewhere did a Subaru EJ25 swap. 3.4 from 996 is really common, but I wanted something 450whp to 550whp range, if that's even possible.
Thoughts? Insults? Have at it! I miss you guys!
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