Need Help, Mods - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

PlayersExpress · 12-31-2007, 02:06 PM

Hey guys, happy new year!

I was wondering if anyone could give me a little information or advice on which products to install on my 97 boxster. (One of my new year's resolutions is to mod up my boxster by next new years.)

So far, I plan on installing

-Stage 3 Surge O2 Chip for Boxster
-Catback Exhaust
-Performance Headers

What I need help on is

-Supercharger that would be best/cheapest (lol)
-Air intake system
-Intercooler
-NOS???

2.5L (205hp)
Catback(+15hp)
Headers(+10hp)
Chip (guess +15-20hp)
Supercharger (+70hp min.)
Intercooler (+20hp min.)
Air Intake (+15hp)
NOS ??? (Possibility)

Guessing above 300hp around 340-400hp range with everything installed.

I Love my stock car, but I'd like to take her down to the strip sometime or when i take her from the south side of Chicago to the north side on the weekends to see my girl friend (15 miles on expressway) and I hate all the 5, 6, 7 series beamers, the TT civics, and the Subarus along the way. I think it would feel great to leave them in the dust.

Cheers,

Adam

blinkwatt · 12-31-2007, 02:28 PM

Chip (guess +15-20hp)
Supercharger (+70hp min.)
Intercooler (+20hp min.)
Air Intake (+15hp)

It's more like

Chip (+2-3hp)
Supercharger (+60hp max)
Intercooler (There aren't intercoolers for the supercharged Boxster set ups)
Air Intake (+5hp on a 2.5L)

PlayersExpress · 12-31-2007, 02:33 PM

Yes, the iffy thing is the Chip, I'm not completely sure what it will do performance wise.

Ive found out that there are compact Procharger kits with 3 core intercoolers that kick out a minimum of 50% increase and a maximum increase of 80% hp, with the average around 50%

Basically, I'm trying to find the best things to upgrade my 97 Boxster with to over 325hp.

12-31-2007, 02:39 PM

[QUOTE=PlayersExpress]Yes, the iffy thing is the Chip, I'm not completely sure what it will do performance wise.

Ive found out that there are compact Procharger kits with 3 core intercoolers that kick out a minimum of 50% increase and a maximum increase of 80% hp, with the average around 50%

Basically, I'm trying to find the best things to upgrade my 97 Boxster with to over 325hp.[/QUOTE

only way is 3.4 engine swap.

PlayersExpress · 12-31-2007, 02:49 PM

I don't think the 3.4L swap would be the only way. It's a little expensive.

Tell the guys with the Nissan Skylines with a RB26DETT 2.6L I6 that kick out OVER 600HP to swap out their engines for larger ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_RB_engine#RB26DETT

So I think it is possible to get a 2.5L DOHC engine over 300hp... correct me if I'm wrong.

http://www.roocksport.com/main/tuning_boxster.php

12-31-2007, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayersExpress

I don't think the 3.4L swap would be the only way. It's a little expensive.

Tell the guys with the Nissan Skylines with a RB26DETT 2.6L I6 that kick out OVER 600HP to swap out their engines for larger ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_RB_engine#RB26DETT

So I think it is possible to get a 2.5L DOHC engine over 300hp... correct me if I'm wrong.

http://www.roocksport.com/main/tuning_boxster.php

Lol, if you really wanted power you shouldn't have got the 2.5

idheaton · 01-02-2008, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayersExpress

I don't think the 3.4L swap would be the only way. It's a little expensive.

Tell the guys with the Nissan Skylines with a RB26DETT 2.6L I6 that kick out OVER 600HP to swap out their engines for larger ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_RB_engine#RB26DETT

So I think it is possible to get a 2.5L DOHC engine over 300hp... correct me if I'm wrong.

http://www.roocksport.com/main/tuning_boxster.php

Roock advertises 300 - 500hp but it's not from modifying a 2.5. These are based on engine conversions(swaps).... a basic 3.4 conversion gets you around 300 and if you want more hp then you are looking at turbo-charging and/or doing a 3.6/3.8 conversion.

I'm not entirely sure but I would bet that to get 500 hp out of a boxster you are looking at a twin-turbo'd 3.8 conversion.

djomlas · 01-02-2008, 11:56 AM

listen to Gary man.

and yeah, the HP gains you put up in the original post made me laugh a little.

good luck with the mods man, but others here will tell you, and i agree, learn to drive the hell out of that car before you mod it, it handles great, and keeping it in higher RPMs like it loves to be in is a thrill.
intake will give you a lot of pleasure as well especially abover 4.5-5k and its not that expensive.
i would suggest getting all your suspension dealt with first, this is a car that is setup for that and a little bit more tweaking will make it worth your while.
this is by far no off-the-line-drag-car, so get used to getting soanked by a lot of car, but come twisties, say bye bye and look at them in ur rear view

PlayersExpress · 12-31-2007, 03:11 PM

Well when you get a good deal on something, say $7000 less than private party blue book value in excellent condition.... you kinda jump on it and go from there, don't you think?

12-31-2007, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayersExpress

Well when you get a good deal on something, say $7000 less than private party blue book value in excellent condition.... you kinda jump on it and go from there, don't you think?

Not really, if the car doesn't have the characteristics that you are looking for. It's only money, what's the point of buying something just because it's cheap if it's not what you really want?

PlayersExpress · 12-31-2007, 03:57 PM

Lol, actually, it is what I wanted for several reasons.

1. The car is a Porsche
2. Older cars are easier and better to modify.
3. Insurance is less
4. Instead of buying a 2005 and up Boxster S for what $30K+
I bought this car May of 2006 for $7000 less than blue book
5. Difference between 2005 S and 1997 that I paid is about $20,000
6. I would rather have a 97 2.5 with $20k to spend on it doing whatever I want to it rather than have an S.

I think those reasons are pretty clear and they make sense to me.

12-31-2007, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayersExpress

Lol, actually, it is what I wanted for several reasons.

1. The car is a Porsche

LOL!! I hate people that buy a Porsche just so they can say they have one. Posers

Grizzly · 12-31-2007, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blkboxster

LOL!! I hate people that buy a Porsche just so they can say they have one. Posers

Dude, why are you beating the guy down? He's just asking questions about modifying his car...you know, like you do sometimes.

Player, check out members like Gary in BR and JP in St Louis. You can also check to see if the supercharger install DIY by OhioBoxster is still available. Those are some of the quickest modified cars I can think of off the top of my head. These cars are not cheap if you want to go fast, but it can be done. Gary and JP are good guys and will help you if you ask good questions.

Hope your project goes well and post pictures of your car ASAP. It's sort of a requirement here.

blinkwatt · 12-31-2007, 04:16 PM

I don't see how you could get 300 dynoed ponies with a 2.5L(or even a 2.7L for that matter).

Randall(board member) has a header and exhaust set up that got him +15lbs & +10hp at the wheels. That could be a start.

BUT,the only power mod that everyone seems 100% satisfied with is a 3.4L conversion.

When you start to add stuff up

exhaust $500+
headers $150+
cats $500+
ecu tuning $800+
supercharger $3000+
intake system $300+

at least $5k right there not installed. Your better off sticking with an early 3.4L engine. OEM reliability, 996 power and documented on several boards.

Good Luck!

der Geist · 12-31-2007, 06:07 PM

A supercharger is gonna be the cheapest way to get power out of your car. They turn up occasionally on eBay for 1 or 2 grand. Best bang for the buck. You need to watch the compression though. If I am not mistaken the 2.5 runs at 11:1 and without an interooler you run a risk of detonation. You didn't say how much milage you have on the engine. If you are over 100K I wouldn't be putting a supercharger on it but that is just my opinion. The nissan engines you are talking about are cast iron according to that article and are e completely different animal than the Boxsters motor. Jap cars are made with the knowledge and expectation that they will be modded where as the Germans make things as hard as possible to tweek. A cast iron engine is going to be able to take a lot more punishment than the Boxsters.

I rode in ohioboxsters car and so did Randall. My butt told me 300 HP for sure. That car was a screamin' demon. I think Matt told me he paid around 1K for the S/C. No chip. No intake. No exhaust upgrade.

If you have 20K to play with though you would be crazy to not get the 3.4. or even the 3.6 The reliability factor is way higher with a 3.4 NA engine than a 2.5 supercharged. Check eBay and Pelican Parts, I just got a great deal on a 3.0 for my 911 from a guy on the Pelican board. I am pretty sure that you could get a decent 3.6 and have it installed in your car for under 10K. It would be a real outlaw and chew up just about anything else on the street er ah uhhh I mean track. Yeah track!!!!

Do intake/exhaust/chip for your own listening pleasure. You will spend a bundle and be very dissapointed. I did a chip, intake and exhuast and dynoed out at 240 HP about 12 HP over stock on my 2.7.

And for what it's worth, I bought my first Porsche (a 1971 914 that was literally rusted in half) because I always wanted a Porsche and it was all I could afford. Careful though- Porsche ownership has now becaome a lifelong obsession. Use the search engine on this board and you'll learn volumes about your car.

Amfibius · 01-01-2008, 12:31 AM

Before I owned my Boxster, I had a modded Alfa GTV (the last of the RWD ones, not the current FWD ones). That taught me a few important lessons:

1. The best mod is an engine swap. More reliable and less stress on the engine.

2. Forced induction = asking for trouble. It's not just a matter of slapping on the kit and away you go. You will have to reprogram the fuel maps as well. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on the dyno getting it right. It may end up costing you as much as an engine swap.

3. If you want to go fast, the best mod is to learn how to drive. When I first got on the track, my time was 1:25. After just ONE lesson, I shaved 10s off my time. My engine swap only bought me an extra 1s. Tyre change got me 3s. This was in the Alfa. In my stock Boxster I can do it in 1:00.