Performance Upgrades for an '87 Carrera?

[druckpress]

Hey guys,

I just picked up a great '87 Carrera and after driving it for a bit now I'd like to make some performance upgrades... but definitely want to go after the ones that are going to be the best bang for the buck and also benefit the car rather than tax it.

There are some small oil leaks in a couple of the engine seals and my mechanic said he'd advise replacing a few of the seals at the next oil change and at that time it wouldn't be much more labor to put in a lighter flywheel and change to performance headers.

I was thinking 1. Lighter flywheel 2. Headers 3. Steve Wong Chip.

Does that sound like a good plan? What have other Pelican folks had great success with?

Thanks!!

Eric

[88-diamondblue]

Welcome to the forums, we need to see pictures of the car you know Where are you located at?

Not sure what to think of a lighter flywheel. Do you need a new flywheel? Lots of opinions on the lighter flywheel but most seem to be with cars that see a lot of track time. The Steve Wong chip is at the top of the list. Do you need heat? With headers there will be no heat in the car. I went with a euro pre-muffler. This was great upgrade along with the chip and still had heat. I have increased to a 3.4 and will eventually put 993 heat exchangers on the car to get better flow and still have heat.

Anything beyond what you are talking gets expensive really fast...

[druckpress]

Hey Michael

Thanks for the shout back. Good to know about the headers and no heat. I would like to still have heat so maybe the pre-muffler is the way to go - in your research, which one gets the most juice to the car? Also, appears to be way more affordable. As for the flywheel, I just thought it would be a good idea if it were easy to do to decrease spinning weight and ease shifting... but I haven't even been able to find a lightweight flywheel for our year Carrera. By the way... Mine is diamond blue as well. I'll get those pictures out as soon as I snap some!

[flatsixjunky]

Eric,

The best you can do without breaking the bank is the SW chip with a M&K pre-muffler or SSI's(these are not cheap), you gain a couple of ponies. Actually the cheapest way to make your car faster is to make it lighter, no money spent but you have to get rid of comfort features like AC, power seats, etc.

How about a pic of your car?

[gchappel]

Been there, done that - with an 85 carrera.
The best performance upgrade you can do to the car is to the nut behind the wheel.
Get the car to the track and learn how to drive her. When you can routinely turn laps with consistent times similar to other cars, then look at upgrades.
This is assuming the car is functioning as expected, and the suspension, brakes, exhaust, drivetrain are all performing normally. Routine maintenance, fixing leaks, bleeding brakes, are all assumed to have been done. Is the suspension at spec? Shocks, bushings, etc can all be worn on a 20+yr old car- and will make a difference.
If you really want to do something now- I would check the alignment and get a good aggressive sport alignment done. Look at tires- can be a huge improvement.
Now if you want to think you are going faster- new exhaust sounds really neat!
An exhaust and chip is going to get you like 10hp- this is not the type of performance change that is going to let you win red light challenges, or that you will even feel as you drive to the Dairy Queen.
I think all new owners want to upgrade their new rides. This porsche, however, unlike a lot of other cars of the era, is actually pretty well balanced as she sits. You will not make her better by randomly adding upgrades.
By the way, this thread is useless without pictures!
Gary

[IROC]

Originally Posted by druckpress

Hey Michael

Thanks for the shout back. Good to know about the headers and no heat. I would like to still have heat so maybe the pre-muffler is the way to go - in your research, which one gets the most juice to the car? Also, appears to be way more affordable. As for the flywheel, I just thought it would be a good idea if it were easy to do to decrease spinning weight and ease shifting... but I haven't even been able to find a lightweight flywheel for our year Carrera. By the way... Mine is diamond blue as well. I'll get those pictures out as soon as I snap some!

You might try Patrick Motorsports for the lightweight flywheel - I think they carry one for G-50 3.2s... I have been thinking that I will go that route when it comes time for a clutch replacement, etc. My 3.2 is horribly sluggish when revving.

[KTL]

I'd not bother with the LW flywheel- not much to be gained there. The bigger gain is the clutch housing/pressure plate. Especially on a G50 car like yours.

I agree with Mike/IROC that the 3.2 leaves a little to be desired w/respect to throttle response. However a chip, free flow muffler and LW clutch housing, my throttle response improved dramatically. I went with the Kennedy Eng. Products alloy clutch housing. Stock clutch is ~25 lbs and the Kennedy is ~ 18 lbs. So 7 lbs is a pretty big savings, but it's still not what I would consider truly light. The G50 clutch housing is a boat anchor any way you slice it unless you switch to a on/off switch like a Tilton (don't go there- race only). My car is on the path to for sale right soon, so the Kennedy clutch will be available if interested.

Also agreed that there's not a ton of upgrade parts that give you serious bang for the buck. Headers are not a huge gain from my experience for the 3.2 in stock form. I think there's money better spent elsewhere just like Gary said- fresh rebuilt brakes, lose some weight, good alignment, fresh shocks, stiffer main torsion bars and better sway bars. All of that will make the car perform leaps and bounds better than some headers.

[widgeon13]

steel lug nuts and drive it like you stole it! Have fun.

[teamfee3]

Performance Pyramid:
1. DE
2. Tires
3. Suspension
4. Weight
5. Motor

Track days are really fun. Chip and a pipe / cat bypass are fun and can make a lot of noise. Pulling your a/c, seats, big metal bumpers can ruin a perfectly good car. Suspension is more expensive / impotant than you think and I would think a motor swap would make more $$ sense than anything beyond a chip unless your motor is dying and needs a rebuild anyway.

[druckpress]

Ok ok - after many comments about the new guys skipping over adding a photo - here is one. I'll get a better one soon!!

[Brando]

My performance pyramid:

1. DE/AX events (with an instructor!)
2. Suspension (bushings, swaybars, braces, struts, torsion bars)
3. Steve Wong Chip
4. Exhaust (header with heat or SSIs for smog compliance)
5. MAF conversion
6. Engine... (blow wad here).

Be sure to return to step #1 after each upgrade. You only want to upgrade after you've exceeded your car's potential.

[Rot 911]

If you decide to do horsepower upgrades keep in mine it will cost you approximately $100 per horsepower gained. An no, I am not exaggerating.

[JeremyD]

From the BTDT crew (old 1987)

Steve wong chip, premuffler and sport exhaust
Wheels and tires - 7's and 8's at least (light weight and strong which means fuchs 98% of the the time) Tires can have a huge impact - but they usually also show shortcoming in the stock suspension.
Suspension Elephant racing polybronze or rebel racing - not cheap - but transforms the car - bigger TB
Weight reduction - check out what "shakinjoe" did with his 1987 - dramatic weight reduction and performance increase was astounding.

I really would not bother with SSI's - any other exhaust unless you do cams -

As others have said - upgrading the nut behind the wheel is the biggest return. These cars on the street utilize about 50% of what they are capable of - get on the track - and the light bulb goes off...

[kristan]

The most valuable performance upgrade I did on mine:

Adjusting the throttle linkage to get full throttle!

(Mine didn't even close the WOT switch).

[Hotwatermusic]

Originally Posted by kristan

The most valuable performance upgrade I did on mine:

Adjusting the throttle linkage to get full throttle!

(Mine didn't even close the WOT switch).

How would one know they're not getting true WOT? I have a '74 running an 83 SC engine.

[wildcat077]

What Jeremy says !
I've done most of the same mods on my 89 and the car is more fun to drive.
You won't get much more than that unless you spend "mega bucks" on the engine
but you can really upgrade the handling !

Next step,Gekkatech MAF sensor,supposedly good for another 10 HP ...
Next Winter's project

Phil

[efhughes3]

A) You can buy headers with heat-B&B for one.

B) I think headers with a chip are indeed a real performance gain. I've had several exhaust setups on my car over the years. The B&B headers with a dual out Flowmaster is by far the best I've had for power.

It also sounds friggin' awesome.

[jimbauman]

After playing with the suspension, a chip, and a cat bypass, the best and cheapest bang for the buck is to start dumping weight. Dump the A/C and all the junk outta the trunk. Maybe get 15 inch wheels and lighter racing style seats for the track and ax. A Flowmaster 80 muffler will sound good and save you weight too. Make sure your WOT switch works as others have said (get the Bentley book).

[UrQuattro]

Sorry if I'm wrong, as I don't have a carrera. But I remember a lot of references to the cheapest gain in power being the disconnection of the brown jumper wire on the ecu unit under the passenger seat?

Correct me if I'm wrong.

I wish I could do something so simple to get my SC to have some extra power.

Michael