More Kick Out of the Boxster
 

I have been looking around the internet, auto magazines, and miscellaneous
adverts like a starving squirrel trying to scrounge up
what information I can that will help me get a bit more kick out of the boxster.
With a meager budget of approx $4000 US I was looking to boost the power

Luckily I have the solution for you:

Sell your existing Boxster - use the $4000.00 as a downpayment on a new 987S.

You're Welcome!

Pete's right. You can spend a fortune making our cars a little bit faster.

I think the only decent way to increase power is to Supercharge the car, but that will reduce engine life from what I'm reading. SC kits start at 7 large, by the way.

Porsche didn't leave much on the table with any of their motors.

10% is all you are likely to gain with any upgrade. With your budget I would look at header's, HP cats, sport exhaust, intake and a ECU flash upgrade. If you did most of the work yourself you could probably get in under your budget.

You decide if it's worth $160 - $200 / HP

Maybe you can use part of the $4 grand to become a better driver, and maximize the potential that is built into the Boxster.

take the 4,000 buy a primo set of tires and take as much high performance driving instruction as you can. The standard Boxster and Boxster S has more than enough power when you actually turn the steering in in either direction. Believe me its plenty when you start to feel the lateral G's.

Buy a kart, and start racing :)

4000 clams eh? I can't imagine needing any more horsepower on a twisty road. Keep that puppie over 4500 rpms and hang on...I definately think she has enough power. I have broke my tires loose on more than one occasion...good thing I had PCM.

Donate that money to Randall...

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor???!!!

Rail, I think you mean PSM...we wouldn't want to throw DNatale off his game.

On that subject, what does it feel like to have PSM kick-in? I don't think I've had it happen to me yet, and I push pretty hard. Is that when you feel a little slip on the rear wheels and then not?

Hi,

Be very weary of HP claims by AfterMarket Suppliers. Many claims just don't hold up in real life, or occur high in the Power Band usually sacrificing some in the Low to Mid ranges.

As stated, 10% is about as good as you can do with copious amounts of $$. Personally, I bet the figure is closer to 8% unless you get really radical.

Just because you see some color glossy Ad, or read some Professional Copy doesn't mean that you'll get what your paying for or even make the Car better - which would be the whole point...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Maybe it's harder to do on a Boxster as opposed to Boxster S--I can get PSM to kick in pretty much at will--just throw the car into a corner and mash the throttle like a complete dummy. The back end will kick out nicely and then bam--engine shuts down/brakes pulse, dash PSM light flickers a bit and you're back on line.

Try taking a left turn across traffic into a parking lot sometime--do it a little hot and give the brakes a good poke as you're arcing around. Here comes PSM!!!!

Easy solution to your problem. Just let me know how much extra HP you want. I would stay with mayb 100hp extra as the maximum any more then that and you asking for it.

Buy a nitrous kit from NX and install it. They come with 35-50-75hp jets. I have had nitrous kits on my last 3 cars and they make a butt load of power. It will wipe the smile off a s/c boxster's face quite easily and he will have no idea what it was you did. He will notice your nice clear tail lights however lol..

I understand this isn't viable for most of you guys, I just threw it out there for a laugh. I really have had nitrous on 3 of my old cars and I'll tell you in my GTi with 150hp shot direct port it would mop the floor with a Corvette easily and my Talon (which doens't need it, 425 without nitrous) was nuts with a 50hp shot on race gas.

:cheers:

Hey, a guy from Spain donated a buck the other day... I'm getting so close. Just $7,978 dollars to go!

There are a number of threads in this forum with regards to upgrades, but here is the order that is recommended:

1. Evo Air intake $400 (8-10hp)
2. PowerChip $1000 (up to 22hp)
3. Muffler -Dansk $1000(3-5hp)
4. 2nd cat bypass $500 (8hp) or headers

No. 1 and 2 has the most bang for the buck, 3&4 will get you nice sound.

I've done the Air intake and a Borla muffler and it sounds like a 997S. I'm doing the 2nd cat bypass today and I'll let you know how it went. The last item will be the chip for me. I 'm doing the upgrade over a 1.5 year period, so it's not that bad from a money point of view. Also, I got some good deals through contacts, so by the time I'm done, I would have spent about $3000 Cdn or $2500 US. Each time I do an upgrade, it feels like I got a new toy!

Others may disagree, but doing the upgrades over time just adds more fun to owning the car. I also do track and autocross, so talking to the others about the mods during the events also adds another nice dimension of owning the car.

Despite what others on the forum are saying, there is performance increase that I can feel with the upgrades so far. Stay tune. . .

It is hard to get too much gain in hp from naturally aspirated engines, typically - those are more designed (and FAR more effective) on forced air engines, where the boost can be easily controlled. Still, it is the best bang for your buck, but there are still others out there who swear that it does nothing. Same with cold air intake. Several Porsche techs have told me that what is in the Boxster already IS a cold air intake, and that aftermarket intakes actually are hotter than the stock - all depends on whom you speak to.

Cat bypass pipes definitely increase hp, but not a terribly large amount, because you are improving air flow directly. New mufflers can, but if they do, it's SO slight.

You might feel it is slow in a straight line, but take it on the track and see if you can drive even 50% of its potential - that might put the desire to upgrade power down the toilet. Plus you get hooked on driving the car for real!

Your right SD987...PCM. You can really feel it kick in when you make a right on red in first gear and stomp on it...the tires spin then stop and you get an annoying little beep on the dash. Actually, I guess it is a good beep because it is telling you "Quit doing that stupid."

Randall, glad the Spaniard donated...was it a Euro? That is more like 1.30.