what can I do to my 3.2?

samsnead · 06-23-2006, 01:06 PM

Just recently became a Porsche owner, 86' turbo look. Took me 18 months to find the car, hopefully it was worth the wait. I know these cars can only be squeezed so much. I put a Fabspeed exhaust and intake on, put a strut tower brace on. I am debating putting a chip in the car. People I speak to argue for and against chips, any thoughts? What chips are people getting good results? Will a chip cause any premature wear?

Thanks!

Wil Ferch · 06-23-2006, 01:16 PM

Do a search on Steve Wong chips.. if chips are what you'r after. A lot of satisfied customers ( I'm one...85 Carrera).

You can do a lot of things to your car....but the key question not answered is..."toward what end?"....what's your goal or target for your mods?

-Wil

samsnead · 06-23-2006, 01:22 PM

Thanks Wil, just looking to get a bit more power out of the car. I know that these dont do much under 3000, but I feel I get a bit of lag between 1st and 2nd when I push the car. I will be driving the car mostly on the street, not much track time.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

You can replace the 3.2 with a 3.6. That'll solve your problem...

johncmng · 06-23-2006, 01:30 PM

How fast do youwant to spend

MOMO3.2 · 06-23-2006, 01:31 PM

samsnead:

Congrats on the M491!

If you have the need to add speed (spend money), I personally would advise you to concentrate on suspension and set-up first (lower, align, corner balance by a skilled professional that specializes in Porsches).

I had Steve W make a chip for my stock 1987 Carrera 3.2 a few months after I bought it. I have had the chip now for almost 3 years. The improvement in throttle response is good and well worth the money. However, the most satisfying improvements for me were related to my above suggestions. Suspension improvements don't come cheap. I did not do half of what I wanted and spent over $5,000. I also removed 400lbs of excess weight from my car. That really gives one a lot of "bang for the buck".

Good luck.

Mike

P.S. I will beat others to the punch. Don't post again without some pictures of your new car.

Wavey · 06-23-2006, 01:37 PM

Sam - you will not believe how much Steve's chip improves the driveability of your Carrera, especially by improving the mid-range torque. I was disapointed in my '88 until I did the chip. In fact I did a lot of Beta testing for Steve and I'm on version 7 or 8 now. The chip is absolutely the best mod I've made. Do a search on Wong Chip and you'll find plenty to read (pack a lunch!)

samsnead · 06-23-2006, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the info guys, not looking to break the bank yet, spent all my dough to get the right car. Will a chip harm the engine, its got 77,000 miles on it.

Sorry for the ignorance, as I said my first Porsche

stormmaster · stormmaster's Garage

My suggestion is learn to drive it first before adding more power...you will be surprised how much those German engineers know about making a car go fast....you just have to learn how to make it happen...

randywebb · 06-23-2006, 01:51 PM

It's a heavy car with many luxury items. How much of that are you willing to toss out?

If you do the chip above & a good muffler and lighten the car up by 100-200 lbs. it will be transformed.

It will not be transformed into a light wt. early car with a big motor, but it will be far from what it is now.

You might want to make up a table with columns for Item, wt. saved, and hp/wt ratio for each and for cumulative changes. doing your prototyping on paper is much cheaper than doing it on the car to begin with.

Items column can include:
A/C
R Heater blower
2 F footwell Heater blowers
kill big R bumper blobs
substitute Euro crush tubes for bumper shocks
toss R bumper for FG one
delete sound deadener
or repl. above w/ lighter material
delete rear seat backs

samsnead · 06-23-2006, 02:01 PM

Thanks Randy, the AC just died, how much weigth will that save?

rusnak · 06-23-2006, 02:10 PM

samsnead,

That is a great car. Leave it alone as much as possible.

As for mods, Porsche factory stuff is better than most aftermarket.
If you don't have sport seats, I'd add those. I'd keep factory air if you aren't racing for money. You can't tell if you're shaving 1/10th of a second off your time going to get a taco at lunch time.

jester911 · jester911's Garage

IMHO it would be kind of a shame to start stripping and modifying a turbo look if it is factory.

The good unmolested ones are getting more rare and it sounds like you paid a premium. It is your car and you should do whatever it is that suits you, but you might want to think about it before stripping a/c and other stuff out of it.

Once you start going down that road the slope gets mighty slippery. There are many of us here that have slipped beyond
the point of no return
Just my 0.2 worth.

randywebb · 06-23-2006, 02:30 PM

you'll have to search -- could be as much as 80 lbs. for all of it

I have a compilation of wt. data that Thom graciously agreed to host on his site rennlight.com

Also, I have a table of the early cars, ST, R, RS, Jim Calzia's car, Grant G's etc. posted there and on the Rgruppe page. It may not help you much tho since I'm focused on the early cars.

The search engine and a lot of time using it will find a huge amt. of info on this, even things like the wt. (estimated) from the extra galvanzing on the later cars and things like that.

It would be a public service for somebody to supplement that info with a thread devoted exclusively to the heavier, "bumper" cars....

rusnak · 06-23-2006, 02:35 PM

The turbo look 911 is not a track car. It's a special limited edition 911 street car. The "heavy" bumpers, flares, tail etc are special Porsche items. It might not be for everybody, but to many Porsche nuts it's special because of the Turbo brakes and equipment without the turbo maintenance issues.

If you want a track car, I think you be better off buying a track car. But if you go too far (I agree with Jester911) then you'll end up turning a rare Porsche into a third world taxi cab.

Carrera3.5L · Carrera3.5L's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by randywebb
It would be a public service for somebody to supplement that info with a thread devoted exclusively to the heavier, "bumper" cars....

BTDT

I have an excel spreadsheet with a list of weights off deleted items that I've been sending to interested parties. Any Carrera owners who wish a copy of the file can send me a PM with their email address and I'll be happy to pass it on. I've taken just over 200 lbs. off my '88 and it sits right now at approx. 2600 lbs.

Steve's chip provides the best bang for the buck, a larger displacement 3.2L based motor or 3.6L transplant will eradicate the "my car doesn't do anything under 3,500 rpm" problem that plagues many 3.2L's.

Ralph

MotoSook · 06-23-2006, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by samsnead
I know these cars can only be squeezed so much.

You can squeeze a little over 500 HP out of that sucker if you put the right bits on it

Lindz · 06-23-2006, 03:00 PM

If you do decide to strip the A/C I need an evaproator assembly (from in the smugglers box) and the A/C compressor bracket from the engine for an A/C retrofit I am doing - let me know how much $?

samsnead · 06-23-2006, 03:02 PM

I understand the rarity of the vehicle and I dont think I would do anything major to gain power. I wont be racing the vehicle, maybe taking in on the track to learn how to drive it. I have been considering a chip to see if I could squeeze a bit more out of the engine.

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

1) Welcome.
2) Beautiful car! (I originally looked for an M491 and couldn't find one I would buy)
3) Learn to use the search button-there is months worth of reading material waiting for you.
4) Buy some books like 101 Projects and Bentley's Manual.
5) Sign up for DE and auto-cross and find out what that thing can do (you will be amazed).

If none of these things work, then:
Sell the car to me and buy a Turbo. That will get you the power you need (and I get the M491

)