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Charlie, sorry to hear about the engine! Having faced this choice myself, I found that installing a 3.6 in place of the 3.4 is quite an involved task, as the engine's interface to the instrument panel and throttle is completely different.
The 3.6 uses a data bus, while the 3.4 has an 'old fashioned' wiring harness--so the tech will either have to fashion an interface between the existing controls and the ECU, or replace much of the guts of the instrument cluster and throttle. Either choice is so sophisticated and tedious that a few very good factory techs I know were doubtful that it could be done at all. Almost needless to say, I certainly didn't want to approach the task myself, even though I've done almost all my own maintenance on Porsches and others for over 30 years.
That said--it can be done, and was on my car by Jimmy Hays, a Porsche Gold Meister tech, current PCNA tech rep for the southern US, and all-around Great American. Jimmy installed an '05-spec 3.6 with the X51 Carrera Power Kit, taking option 1 and building the interface himself.
The results, especially on the track, are eye-popping; only downside is that choosing the X51 will mean that--if you decide to go racing--you won't be in Spec 996, but in GTB where there are usually few folks to play with.
So, 300 ponies out of the 3.4 sure isn't anything to sneeze at--but if you can find a tech with the brains and the guts to take on the 3.6 mod, you will have gone from driving a very strong car to driving an incredible one.
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