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I still build engines for the Boxster's predocessor, the 914.. When I build those engines I am adding at least 75HP to the stock engine's output, sometimes well over 100HP more.
When I apply this much power to these vehicles the results are generally upsetting to the car's balance. Many times it takes someone a full season of autocross with the big engine to get their times as good as they were with the stock 2 liter, because the car is smoking the tires and is less than controllable while on the hammer.
To finally counteract the upset of the car an LSD has to be used along with thousands more dollars of suspension and transaxle mods, but even after all that the car really isn't much faster than it used to be with 100 less HP. The car is a real hoot to drive as its sliding sideways, so people love it, even though their time slips don't illustrate that very well.
The Boxster has proven to be the same animal, when adding power one must take extreme precautions not to overpower the car and upset it's balance. I focus on three things with a Boxster engine:
1- More usable RPM range, make the power come on earlier and stay on longer- get rid of the peaky power band that starts to pull at 4K RPM.
2- Add torque, because torque is king with a car that weighs 1-1/2 tons. Torque is what makes people LOVE to drive the car, much more than HP. Torque is what wins races, HP is what sells engines.
3- Throttle response. Add a ton of it and make the engine as responsive to throttle position changes as possible.
Its not how much power you make, its where that power is made and the compromises that surround it as a trade off.
I try to create engines without compromise, we get more MPG, run cooler and make more power at every RPM over stock with every street combo I have created.
The "Bigger is better" crowd is always the easiest to beat. They beat themselves.
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