Performance Enhancements
 

Just bought a 1997 Boxster. What are the recommendations for performance upgrades that actually work? I get the feeling that the CAI isn't one of them but are there any other suggestions?

Driver Education, aka DE day with your local porsche club.

Agreed, driver upgrade is by far the best and most cost effective enhancement. Plus it stays with you when you sell the car.

Common wisdom that about the only real bang for your buck upgrade is an undrrdrive pulley. Close to 10 hp for about $200. 10 hp just barely rdgisters on the butt dyno. Its about the hp diff between ac on and off.

As Flaps and P9 said, Driver Education

Join your local PCA chapter and take advantage of their events
If they offer a Performance Driving School (PDS) it will be money well spent
Also look for Autocross (AX) and track days

For most people, the car has far greater performance than the drivers skills

As many will agree, upgrade the driver then the car

ROW M030 suspension and big red brake upgrade. Better handling and faster stopping.

On man's opinions here.

+1 Drivers ed ( I need to follow that advice)
HP gains are so expensive for these cars.
Good exhaust $$$$ some gains, better throttle response Weight savings

Spend the money on maintenance replacement parts, AOS , Water pump, Thermostat, coolant tank, suspension components.

You'll have more fun with your Boxster if runs without issues

I've done 6 and 7 on his list. Waiting on headers to get here to finish 8 on his list. I've been very satisfied with the performance increase of the intake work.

I like his recommendation of putting money towards things that may need attention first.

Would you please explain how you would do this in more detail please.
"Increase the air flow into the engine by decreasing the resistance provided by the air cleaner."

luv2box has a differing opinion on the advisability of decreasing the filtration effectiveness of the air cleaner while also decreasing the resistance.

My list offers the possibilities.

If each is a wise move, I'll leave to the reader.

I went with a 987 air box to increase the filter surface area and a K&N air filter.

Actually Mike we do not disagree on your opinion of how to increase air flow we just have differing opinions of the long term effects of oiled air filters on a motor. When I first bought my Boxster I read your entire web site for information about it and have always been grateful for your insight. Let's not let a disagreement over one thing ruin the fellowship of owning such a great car.:cheers:

Thanks everyone!

I'm not bashing on taking classes, but don't you love how they assume you don't know how to drive a car lol.

Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods.....all the best athletes had coaches and practiced and took lessons. No matter how good you are at something, you can always learn and get better.
It's less about what you know/don't know - it's more about practicing and enhancing your knowledge. IMO

How do you know this guy hasn't already gone through the paces?

Even if he has, do it again. The more you do it, the better you will get. Practice practice and more practice will only increase ones ability (up to a certain point - but I'd be willing to bet we aren't there yet).

KRAM36 is the Stig!

Not even close, don't put words in my mouth, even though I "think" I'm a good driver of this car, plenty on here could smoke me with a slower car. It's just funny people first assume you don't have any training.

well lets see, just bought a early model 986, 1st post....
It's highly likely that he has not had driver training in that car

Like others have said, no matter how good you may be and how much training you may have, you can ALWAYS benefit from more training.
There are people in our local PCA club that have had lots of track and AX time, that are instructors that have taken our PDS more than once.

..or... maybe like me, he has no intention of tracking his car and just wants to make it quicker.

The 986 is one of the least expensive Porsches available to a sports car enthusiast. Thus, it's a budget purchase. If you've got the roll for a dedicated track car - congratulations - I genuinely applaud your success. My '03 S is a daily driver... I break it... I walk.

Personally, I'd love to take a GOOD performance driving class. But, the expense doesn't factor high enough in my budget to justify it. I liken it to getting certified for scuba diving and then never diving. The fact is... those are TRACK SKILLS, and while it can be argued they can be used defensively, their real purpose is flat-out driving on track.

There's an expression... "Keep it in the helmet." I don't wear a helmet on public roads.

You could not be more wrong! A performance driving class is NOT just about the track. In fact, it is about learning how to properly drive your car and SAFTEY. Check out your local PCA club or even BMW club. Go on motorsportreg.com and search your local area.

Typical scenario in a PDS: you are driving on the freeway and a refrigerator falls off the truck right in front of you. What do you do? Lock up the brakes? Avoid the object?
Answer: avoid!. A PDS or DE class will improve your driving skills and teach you just how your car will react, just how great the brakes are, etc.

Its not necessarily about the track. A track school is very different

You can spend lots and lots of $$$ trying to gain a few HP and a driving school will teach you how you utilize the high performance from the factory all ready there that you don't know how to use. It could also help you avoid an accident or death

How much $ is too much to become a better driver, and you drive every day.

Maybe just keep a few gallons of gas in the tank. They are some that think that will improve performance and MPG significantly

I respect your opinion, but it's not how I read the OP's question or the resulting answers.

He wants a quicker car, but general opinion was make yourself faster. And I get. I do. But that's one side of the equation, the other obviously being the car. I didn't see safety mentioned at all. Quite the opposite was implied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr9r81O5vN8&feature=youtu.be

This video is an in-car shot of a world record acceleration/braking run. I'm sure the driver is more than qualified to pilot the vehicle but I include it for two reasons. 1) a faster car is just that - a faster car... and 2) other than putting heat in the tires, a monkey could've made the run.

Three pedals or death.

Tighten the loose spacer behind the steering wheel and weight reduction first, tires and suspension second, 3.4L transplant third. Few bolt-on mods will result in any measurable performance increase but sometimes the lighter wallet will make us feel faster. The placebo effect is real.

The question that comes first to my mind is, given that you just bought the car, why exactly do you feel there is a need to increase the performance? Or, more to the point, why do you feel the existing performance is inadequate?

In 2000, Porsche saw fit to begin offering the Boxster S. In 2003, the year of my car, the S was equipped with 258 hp… 33 hp more than the base Boxster. If my research is correct, the S accelerates to 60 in 5.4 seconds while it takes the Base model 6.2. If 33 hp equates to .8 seconds (something that in a race environment would be considered ENORMOUS), why is there such dismissal of bolt-on performance parts? The OP’s car is 18 yrs old, maybe he just wants a few more horsepower to keep up with all the pressurized four-bangers on the roads?

I spend a lot of time on the track and have seen a bigger performance increase from a 1 psi tire pressure change than I have from any of the engine work I've done. having said that, I've put a lot of time and money into bolting performance enhancers onto my engine. why? because that's what car guys do. something about tinkering with your car, then going and wringing it out, mebbe breaking it, then back to the garage to tinker again. sort of like being an artist, only I get to race my creation so I got it better.

In the words of the great Yosemite Sam... "Whoa camel.... WHOOOA CAMEL!"

If this is a forum primarily for racers, someone let me know, cuz I'm in the wrong place. I own a nice pressure gauge and compressor and check my tires once a month or so, but that's to keep on top of wear. I'm not averaging asphalt temps to optimize my daily ride into work.

I've already got the EVOM intake (swing for my knees, I'm cool with it) which is sitting until I decide upon an intake plenum and throttle body. Down the road, headers, an exhaust and some software and I'm done. Except for the plenum (OEM 997, IPD, Werks1), Fabspeed seems to be my one-stop-shop. It's enough additional hp to notice but not stress anything. Keep the factory parts and enjoy life.

maybe because bolt on stuff does very little to increase actual HP unless you spend big$$$

Well, that's rather subjective.

Shopping wisely, I figure parts at $5k and a local shop that works for $85/hr. Call it $6k. I bought a ten year old car for less than half of what it sold for new, and I'd guess the premium Porsche charged for the S over the base was $8-10K.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN_h9juITLk

I posted this link elsewhere and never got a response. Fabspeed has a good reputation as far as I can tell, so why lie about your numbers? Is there any good reason why I shouldn't trust them? Also, they don't upgrade the plenum and throttle body in their runs.

Looking at your signature, I'm guessing what I'm looking to spend one time on upgrades is pretty close to what you spend a year insuring six cars in southern California.

Your '97 Box is slow. Throwing money at it will not change it.

$6k in my book is a lot to spend for upgrades. IMHO, you would be better off selling the car and buying a 03/04 S and likely spend less than $6k over what you sell your older base for. You would have a more poweful car that is much newer with additional things like a glass rear window, glove box, better brakes, 3rd rad, etc.

My insurance is around 1/2 of that and the only reason its that much is 2 male drivers under 25. It would be just as much in other states

I own a 2003 Boxster S. I wanted a Boxster over a 911 for 1) mid-engine design, 2) two trunks, no useless rear seats, and 3) conveniently more affordable. I wanted a 986 specifically because I think the shape is more organic and true to the 550. I purchased the '03 for the exact reasons you mentioned, and of course the 'S' model for it's performance benefits.

All this doesn't explain why Porsche gets more HP out of the same size motor in subsequent models years, even after they've upped displacement - all of which, oddly enough, is to keep up with all the other cars on the road.

If no one can find fault with Fabspeeds #s, then it seems like a logical path for me at least.