Are they necessary for a street build? Engine mount inserts? Deep sump/baffled oil pan?

Hi - I’m wondering what people think - as I build out my 987.1 for spirited street driving (no track) - should I add mount inserts? Worth it? also - I know the oil sump/baffle upgrade is mandatory for the track - but I’ll be road only… I’m thinking no real reason for the upgrade for me. Thoughts?? thanks!! Dave

Porsche sports cars are built for spirted driving. No need for deep sump for street driving since you won't be pulling hi Gs for an extended time period. If the motor mounts are not defective, no need to touch them.

Thanks! That was my take as well - but just looking for a little validation!

Dave, Be careful of how you adapt other guy's ideas to your street driving. First consider the shape of existing motor mounts, as they affect the shifting and engine weight transfer. Function First insert for the main motor mount is key. You most likely will need to change the original motor mount as its most likely shot. How may hard miles so far. The Transmission mounts are slightly different. I would stay away from track mounts here because they really bring the NVH to the whole rear of the car. I use a Orange insert and Orange tranny mounts. The tranny mounts take about 6 months to remove the NVH, but once that happens the whole engine assembly is locked in place. Next would be R springs and a shock to keep them dampened. No need for any spring rate over 450 lbs/in in your situation. What kind of roads are you driving on? You can increase you camber to the OEM max of -1.5f and -2.1 r which helps keep the outside tires flush with the corner surface. Then replace your shifter cables as the OEM may break. Numeric are the best, but make sure to order the noise reducing rubber covers. The Numeric short shifter is a great addition as well, Porsche makes much larger brake cooling ducts that fit your car's LCAs. I would go as large as your wallet can take, mine are 996 Cup Front brake ducts and GT2 rear brake ducts. Hawk make very good pads for street/track applications, if you need this item. They also make plenty of brake dust in case you want to keep your wheels looking fresh. No easy trade offs here. More braking power, more bake dust, squealing and wheel washing. M97 engine needs oil protection. LN deep sump or Hartech even better. Getting advise from owners of 9A1 engined cars do not help you as they have paid the price for this upgrade already as some M97 engined cars, even in Autocross have had bore scoring and rod bearing failures. So, only you can decide if you need this insurance protection for a $20k engine rebuild. Porsche changed the engine design in 2009 remove engine oil instability with 2 more head oil return pumps and other measures to give a engine that can rev to 7500, reduce the incidence of bore scoring and remove the rod bearing oil pressure related insufficiency. So the end result is you can have a street car with a bunch of R engineered modifications that work really well together, but not the engine as you are stuck with a M97 engine that costs a lot to rebuild and improve.

Thanks so much for the advice - it all makes sense. I just bought the car - 24,500 miles, no bore scoring (you chimed in on my other posts about the car)… Porsche short shift. I’m going to hold off on the numeric shifter for now to see how I live with the installed short shift - and will plan on doing the cables at some point in the not too distant future (but I’m not overly concerned yet due to the low mi I’m in the middle of installing Ohlins R&T struts/coils. I’ll inspect the mounts - but the car has been very gently driven and given lots of love - no bore scoring (scoped at PPI), no over revs, etc. I think I’ll at least do the engine mount insert for now and look at the tranny m I have no access to a track - just fun country and mountain roads in Vermont. So I’m also not super concerned with the oil sump - but might just do it anyway so that it’s never a worry.

Dave- LN make a really good deep sump for the money. If you do not have a Sprint Booster , I highly recommend that throttle improvement for about $279. I use Red 5 and very soft sole driving moccasins. This system really keeps your mind on the task at hand and aids in down shifting a lot by instantally reving the motor. Almost like having a light weight flywheel.

Oh absolutely! I have a throttle controller on my work bench, ready to go in (I put them in most of my cars). I’ll look at the LN sump for sure. Thanks!!

The transmission mounts just tend to sag over time. My originals were pretty shot after 6-7 years: you'll start to get sagging at the tailpipes and clearance issues between the rear of the transmission and cross piece. On the 987.1 the motor mount at the front doesn't seem to last very long either and can start to clunk, they improved that on the 987.2 . I don't think there's any clear need for uprated mounts for the street, and from what I've read a lot of the stiffer mounts have issues with NVH. What one guy did that looked interesting was to fill the gaps on the OEM transmission mounts with flowable silicone sealant: he tried a few and found some window version worked best. This seems like a reasonable way to stiffen them slightly (and maybe make them last longer?) without causing excessive vibration. Next time I do the job I'll likely try that. If you already have the Porsche short shifter then the Function First Shift Right kit would be a better upgrade than the full Numeric shifter IMO. Numeric cables are a good upgrade either way just for peace of mind against broken cables. Sprint Booster is worth every penny. Won't make your car any faster but greatly improves the throttle response and drivability.