What aftermarket ECUs work with/are commonly used with Porsches?

[mcgrews3]

2001 porsche 986 boxster S w/manual transmission


Looking at Haltech tuners - was looking for a recommendation on which ECU would suit my needs?

* Primary purpose for my 986 is learning - DIY preferred and i look at working on the 986 as a hobby.
* Gauges and data that an aftermarket ECU can provide are very appealing
* I don't (yet) plan to track the car, it's a weekend fun car
* looking to maximize fuel efficiency and performance
* I live in CA so there are local restrictions that I should follow ;-)
* Have 74mm plenum upgrade and looking to add new air cleaner (987 or cold air induction) and a fabspeed exhaust

I considered the flash upgrades to the current porsche ECU - softronic etc. These seem safe but also "cookie cutter" and a "black box". Better than stock but I would like to be able to "look inside"/understand.

Recommend I stick with a flash tune? Or if going with a new ECU - what would you recommend? Anyone with motec/haltech/aem infinity experience?

Currently leaning towards a haltech so interested in Haltech recommendations.

[Stl-986]

If you are in CA you are better off just sticking with stock. now if you had the car registered in a different state you may have better options. I doubt you will get any better gas mileage with some other ecu. I easily get 24mpg when I drive hard and better just around town.

[MaxD]

For a car driven on the street there is no reason for an aftermarket ECU.

Aftermarket ecu = No OBD-II in a 95+ car = no registration.

If the car is Off-road only - Real race ecus like Motec, Cosworth, etc. Serious money will be spent tuning the ecu for reasonable drivability. Reasonable drivability for a racecar is quite different from a street car.

Manufactures have the money to tune their cars to run well on the street. Most of us don't.

It all depends how much time and/or money you have + if you want a project that may never end.

[mcgrews3]

Appreciate the expertise from Stl-986 and MaxD - now leaning back towards a flash tune.

From my forum reading it sounded like with various mods like exhaust, plenum, intake one would **need** to tune the car to get the most out of the upgrades.

A whole new ecu etc sounds like way too much trouble for my use case.

[Stl-986]

For a street car it is to be honest.

Whatever you do, you have to make sure you can revert back to factory or the tune will pass CA smog testing.

without doing anything else with the car you wont see any advantage to doing a tune though. If there was HP to get the Germans would have got it with the factory tune.

[ike84]

Originally Posted by mcgrews3

Appreciate the expertise from Stl-986 and MaxD - now leaning back towards a flash tune.



From my forum reading it sounded like with various mods like exhaust, plenum, intake one would **need** to tune the car to get the most out of the upgrades.



A whole new ecu etc sounds like way too much trouble for my use case.

Hey mcgrews, I have been heavily modifying my 986 over the past winter and have learned some valuable stuff.

Dig deeper into old posts about mods before you test the old girl to pieces. You will notice two things - there are very few dyno plots to substantiate the "awesome pull" you get from any mods and those that are available show modest gains at most. In addition to this, I will personally vouch for the depth of the rabbit home that you are staring into. I'm not saying that you won't get something out of the car, but it's a long stretch to get a few extra ponies and you'll never see anything close to 100hp/l (or even 90 for that matter) unless you're going to go FI.

The short about tuning - stick with the oem dme, it's actually more advanced than most aftermarket systems available today. And stick with stock tunes, even with modifications. These one size fits all flash tubes from softronic and fvd are likely a waste of money. If you don't believe me, learn everything you can about ME 7.2 and NA tuning. Read about tuning approaches on nefmoto. and then have a conversation with those flash tuner guys. In just a few emails you will realize you are talking with an idiot.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from persuing this journey, but understand that it is exactly that. If you want to get the girl out of her heels and show you her dirty side, go for it If you want a project car that will make you **************** your pants in the end, this is not the lady you want.

Just my 2c.

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[mcgrews3]

Originally Posted by ike84

If you want to get the girl out of her heels and show you her dirty side, go for it If you want a project car that will make you **************** your pants in the end, this is not the lady you want.

What project car would that be? I like the benefits/balance of a mid-engine - perhaps a cayman is better suited? 911? Or should I steer away from porsches? I am curious here and appreciate the input.

Thanks.

[bcrdukes]

I think you need to help us determine what your end goals are. Given you want to use an aftermarket ECU to tune the car, the Porsche sadly is not the way to go. I'm sure it is possible, but that depends how deep your pockets go.

Based on the variety of makes/models I've owned over the years, I would say that Porsche will have its limitations on tuning. A Cayman or 911 won't be better than a Boxster, at least not by much. The newer models will have more opportunities for tuning, but at that point, it's a point of diminishing returns.

There's a fellow on Rennlist who swapped in a Honda K20 motor into his Boxster and I believe is running a Hondata ECU and seems to be pulling some solid power. Lightweight, reliable 4-cylnder engine and plenty of parts and aftermarket support. Tuning possibilities are endless.

[ike84]

Originally Posted by mcgrews3

What project car would that be? I like the benefits/balance of a mid-engine - perhaps a cayman is better suited? 911? Or should I steer away from porsches? I am curious here and appreciate the input.



Thanks.

Lotus Elise... Forced induction conversion... A bit more expensive than a 986 but the drivetrain in that car (the Toyota inline 4, not the British Rover garage) is bulletproof and you can easily push that car to 250hp. The car only weighs 2000 lbs so youre now into supercar territory for lbs/hp.

An interesting side note about those cars - I have been looking at them for about 3 years and I have never seen one still for under 35k, which is the same price they were several years before that. They may age, but they don't depreciate much if any (even with mods)

Bcr is right - you can swap the engine and transaxle in this car and make serious power, either with an Audi setup, Subaru setup, or whatever your imagination can dream up. As crazy as it sounds though, your car won't be worth jack if you ever got to sell it.

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