X50 vs Normal

Hi, I'm looking to iminently purchase a 996TT following a host of advice from you kind people a couple of months back. I was adamant that I wanted an X50 vehicle as I know what the upgrade entails and I was hoping to tweak the car closer to the 550-600bhp mark which I have heard was 'relatively' easy. As ever when buying used trying to find all my desired options on one vehicle is proving difficult. Seal or Atlas grey, 2003 onwards, X50, Nav, 40k miles, Crested Seats, Black leather interior etc etc etc I seem to be coming across a couple of cars that have all my options other than X50. So my question is, if I take a normal 996TT with the 420bhp what is achievable 'relatively' easily power wise? I'm talking of a good remap and full exhaust system system etc, no internals. I've also heard that the none x50 spools up a bit quicker due to smaller turbos which can make them a little more usable in places so if I can acheive 500+ BHP then I may be tempted. Over the past few years I've joined the 200, 300 and 400 clubs with my latest tuned AMV8. Basically my next move has to have the potential to take me to 500+, numbers seem to mean a lot to me!! Thanks in advance to you all, Jon

With a good remap, exhaust, diverter valves, and silicone hoses, 500bhp should be achieveable. Maybe a little more with larger intercoolers, and certainly more with larger turbos. Have a word with Ken Napier at NineExcellence in Horley. He might take you for a ride in his 875bhp monster. http://www.nineexcellence.com No affiliation, just heard and read lots of good stuff about them.

A 420hp car can be made to run 500hp with nothing more than a re-map. I believe DMS quote 525 with an exhaust on the non x50. Where abouts are you based? I have a 420hp car re-mapped and fitted with dv valves plus the larger x50/gt2 intercoolers (for my own peice of mind). It should be running about 480hp at the moment (boost has been kept slightly low). It will be going back in the next couple of weeks to get a little more boost and at that point it should pass the magic figure. However even without the extra boost I'd wager a quick run in my car would aleviate any worries you might have about the performance of a non x50 car. p.s. I will also almost certainly be upgrading to some lightly improved gt2 turbo chargers at some point and will be running 580 ish hp with no other alterations required.

TBH if you want to tune your car you would be better off getting the X50 to start it has the larger intercoolers turbos and the exhaust is slightly modified 300 cell cats vs 400 the world is awash with massive HP claims for their simple remap plus exhaust as Richard says Ken for nine excellence is carving out a bit of reputation for himself as a straight talking no BS tuner he posts all the time on pistonheads the other sounds guys are Fearnsport although i hear they have split Ken talks at great length about dubious HP claims and tends intsead for direct comparison to talk about acceleration times up to an including Vmax.One note of caution pit is extremely important to make sure when your car is tuned the AFR's are safe and the general chat on pistonheads suggests quite a lot of fancied tuners run the AFR's lean and whereas that might give big HP it rapidly shortens the life of your £30,000 engine. My advice would be talk to Ken first if you wish to mod and see which base car is best,then get out your check book. however it will be worth it and dont forget brakes and suspension [ ]

Agreed. The x50 is a much better starting point for a tuning project. It would have been a lot cheaper for me than upgrading to it but te car I found was exactly the one I wanted. Plus before you start thinking about big numbers you need to know the standard 420 wth a map is quite some car.. my brakes and suspension feel in strong danger of being overpowered even at this level. If you choose to upgrade those too you are really making a choice to move away from the car Porsche designed it to be/change the soul of the thiing. I would strongly suggest the car doesn't need any more power than 500hp. My point was more aimed that if you can't find the right x50 car on the market. Don't narrow your choice and get the wrong car just to have x50, even if you do decide to make a full out racer one day the option is still available.

Thanks for the replies guys. Divine - I'm in Solihull, close to Birmingham Airport - how about you? Richard Hall - That's what I have been thinking but trying to find everything I want including X50 is proving difficult. Not after a full on racer but would love a safe 520+BHP turbo! That's why I'm trying to find out whether I should bite on a car that's perfect but without X50. Thanks for the note on the AFRs, whoever I decide to do the tuning will be somone with a good rep and will run it through the forum if needs be beforehand. 30k engine, ouch. I suppose I need to sit tight and eventually the right car will come around but it's difficult and will also involve probably having to buy a £5k runner for a couple of months which I'm not exactly excited about.

Well you're in luck that's 40mins drive from me in Northampton. If you want to meet up tomorrow let me know. I don't mind a drive out, could maybe meet you at the services on the M6? I'm free anytime before 6pm. I'll send my number by pm.