Porsche Aftermarket Perf. Upgrades...

[M.D. Holloway]

OK, here is your chance. Please list upgrades that you can think of that enhances the speed, performance and handling of a Porsche. But please also include what that increase actually accomplishes compared to stock.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

OK, here is your chance. Please list upgrades that you can think of that enhances the speed, performance and handling of a Porsche. But please also include what that increase actually accomplishes compared to stock.

Personally I would not perforate a Porsche... sure it saved weight but I just don't like the look.

Oh wait... never-mind...

[recycled sixtie]

I like stock. Why mess with success? The only thing I have non stock is the IMS Guardian to warn me of a kaboom....

[GH85Carrera]

How fast do you want to spend?

For a turbo is is simple to add performance. For my old 911 not so much.

[scottmandue]

sbc!

[M.D. Holloway]

Sky is the limit Glenn but please explain the benefit v cost. Thanks!

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

I like stock. Why mess with success?

Sorry for the sideline but... being new to the Miata crowd... I'm kinda surprised at how much they are "Mazda OEM parts are the best."

YMMV

[GH85Carrera]

I prefer mostly stock.

I have seen friends buy a 20K car, dump another 20K in upgrades and go really fast for a short time, blow the engine and sell the entire package for 10K to be rid of it.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

How fast do you want to spend?

If price were no object...

I would hand the 911 over to techart or 9ff and let them go bonkers.

[Jim Richards]

Dood, Cool Collar FTW.

[recycled sixtie]

Porsche Boxsters are not really suitable for performance upgrades unless you want to replace the engine. Miatas as mentioned above are more suitable candidates - cheaper to upgrade and they really need the extra power. I am just waiting for my Boxster to blow up so I can replace the car and not just the engine. I don't need to mod it to jeopardize it. There is an 8% probability of it grendading anyway!

[pavulon]

Providing accurate advice and/or experiences will require you to provide which year and model P-car you are looking to modify.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

Porsche Boxsters are not really suitable for performance upgrades unless you want to replace the engine. Miatas as mentioned above are more suitable candidates - cheaper to upgrade and they really need the extra power. I am just waiting for my Boxster to blow up so I can replace the car and not just the engine. I don't need to mod it to jeopardize it. There is an 8% probability of it grendading anyway!

Again, sorry for the sideline.. but my research shows that much like Porsche it takes big money to get a small horsepower increase... the only economical way to get HP out of a Miata is to go forced induction... without that otherwise you start with 135HP, drop a couple grand on intake and exhaust, and end up with 150HP. I think the turbo/supercharge guys are getting 200-300HP depending on how hard you want to push it... then there are the V8 conversions.

But back to the Porsche discussion

[afterburn 549]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

OK, here is your chance. Please list upgrades that you can think of that enhances the speed, performance and handling of a Porsche. But please also include what that increase actually accomplishes compared to stock.

I think "Year" would be a mandatory part of the equation.
I have TONS of up grades......but not all suitable for all years.

I weigh in at 2200 with full tank, That alone makes HP !

[onewhippedpuppy]

I'll play. Probably somewhat 996 centric, deal with it.

Add lightness. Pretty easy to get 200-400 lbs out depending on the car by just removing stuff. Spare tire, tools, replace heavy power seats with non-power seats, sound deadening, A/C if you're lucky to live somewhere that's actually nice, radio and speakers, etc. The upside is that your car will handle better, accelerate faster, get better MPG, and you can probably sell some of your removed stuff. Obviously the sky is the limit once you start spending money on lightweight parts.

Intake. I just put an Evolution Motorsports intake on my 996. I have no idea if it added even a single HP. But DAMN does it sound good, and that's worth the $300 (used) all day long.

Exhaust. See intake. I plan on adding Fister D mufflers (aka Gundo hack), similar to the PSE. May not add much HP but they sound great. Even going from headers+race mufflers to stock heat exchangers+B&B 2-out on my '88 Carrera didn't make a huge performance impact.

ECU chip. Minimal gains on an NA car. Huge gains on a turbo car.

Engine builds. As crazy as your wallet can handle.

Suspension. This one is a bit tricky, because you can either enhance your car or totally ruin it. I am not a big fan of picking a la carte pieces because they should all be matched to work together. Factory engineers spend months and millions to get the ride/handling balance right, suspension tuning isn't an easy thing. My '88 Carrera had Bilsteins that were custom valved for the heavier torsion and sway bars, despite being low and tight I would not describe it as being rough. For my 996 I'm planning on getting the RoW M030 package, because it has shocks, springs, and sway bars that were engineered and optimized to work together as a package.

Wheels. Bigger wheels look cool but are also heavy, and unsprung weight makes pretty much everything worse. Either spend the money to get lightweight wheels, or stick with the stock sizes. Suspensions are also designed around a wheel size range, for example wheels larger than 18" are not approved by Porsche on the 996.

[afterburn 549]

Everything you do to turn your car into a "race" car directly detracts it from a usable daily car.
Its a compromise of sorts.

[Nostril Cheese]

Driving lessons.

[M.D. Holloway]

hmmm, this isn't going the way I want...let me try a differnt angle...

Any year, any model...what part(s) would you add to increase speed and handling?

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

hmmm, this isn't going the way I want...let me try a differnt angle...

Any year, any model...what part(s) would you add to increase speed and handling?

Driving lessons.

[afterburn 549]

1975 S =
Like I did, knock about 400 pounds out of it
add some cams
Cambered ball joints, and other related suspension parts
corner balance.
better tires wheels
through body sway bar (front)
Some Elephant "A" fame bushings
How is that for a start.....?