Low RPM Sluggish 2.9L Question

Bought my 2012 Boxster Base about 2.5 years ago and have enjoyed every minute of ownership. After catching up on some maintenance items the previous owner hadn't done, the car has been trouble free. One thing that I find odd though is that when the car is up to normal operating temperature, it feels pretty sluggish at low RPMs. Meaning, between idle speed and about 1800 RPM it struggles to get moving. Once past 1800 RPM the car takes off. Now I understand that this not a drag car, nor is it an S model. But still, the lack of oomph off the line bugs me. For others with this engine, is this typical? Or is this indicative of a correctable issue? Thanks.

IMHO, this is typical, and directly related to the throttle mapping of the car. You can add a sprint booster , or other way to artifically remap the throttle... but those are really just placebos that increase the throttle input. If the car is trouble free, you might want to throw in a new set of spark plugs and change the air filter based on mileage.

Changed the plugs and coils about 2 years ago, air filter last year. I think you're right, it's just the nature of the car.

I would recommend the Sprint Booster . Mine works really well when combined with PDK and Sport mode. Makes for a very responsive car. They may be "placebos" - but if they deliver what you want (a more responsive throttle response) they are just the ticket. I find it hard to call them placebos since we have drive-by-wire where the throttle response is determined by software anyway, so modifying the response curve is simply a software adaptation to improve the human/machine interface. To me for it to be a "placebos" it would have to do nothing at all.. Google "Placebo": A placebo is any treatment that has no active properties , such as a sugar pill - which is not what the Sprint Booster provides. It provides a very real and noticeable remapping of the throttle/throttle-body interface eliminating the sluggish feeling the OP finds bothersome.

Correct Don, as the myth that a Sprint Booster does nothing more than one can do by pressing the throttle pedal harder/faster just won't die, and is typically spread around by those that have zero experience using one or the similar Pedal Commander , and are just repeating what they read from other uninformed users on forums. It is absolutely NOT possible to replicate what either device does with your foot, as the issue is that the TB butterfly is set up from the factory to lag behind the actual pedal position to make things "smoother" for the average driver. The connection between the two is non linear, and this is what a lot of people are feeling. This Sprint Booster video clearly shows what the device does, and that one cannot replicate this using their foot in any way. With that being said, there are cheap Chinese devices out there that do nothing more than compress the throttle signal into a smaller ramp, and this makes the nonlinear issue even worse as you may be at 100% opening at the TB, but only 50% of the pedal down. You can even activate the electronic kick down mid pedal by accident using one of these cheap devices that does nothing but compress the throttle signal. The Sprint Booster and Pedal Commanders does NOT work this way, and the pedal and TB butterfly remain connected 0-100% with each other as they should no matter how fast its set. Its effect also layers on top of the factory sport modes if active. In other words, dont cheap out and dont think that all of these devices work the same way because of someone's experience using a $99 cheap no name device that doesnt operate the proper way. The results you feel are very real with these devices, and makes the driving experience so much better for less than $300.

Sprint Booster helped this for me and my 2.9. Maybe the lag or non-linearity was intended by Porsche to smooth response, but I had the opposite experience. By digging into the throttle to get some initial thrust, I would then hit the meat of the power band and surge more than I wanted. Throttle response feels more natural and intuitive to me now, especially downshift rev matching. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I installed the SB on my 2.9L manual and it threw a whole lot of errors and ran like crap. Removed it and cleared the errors and everything was back to normal. Any thoughts on install problems

Device might have been defective? Did you contact them about it?

Also verify that they actually sent you the model # for your specific car, as well as check that the transmission switch is set to the proper setting as stated above

Thanks all. I have contacted them and confirmed it's the right model. I am sure I selected manual. I am going to reinstall this weekend and try again

Its going to be something simple I bet, as these devices have been around and used on just about every make and model vehicle out there for many years now. Maybe just a poor connection that wasnt secure enough the first time around? Make sure you remove the single screw holding the throttle pedal assembly down if you didn't before, as this will make access to things much easier. The big main plug can be a bit tight, so make sure you have the connection fully seated with the unlock slider tab extended back where is should be after install It must be a defective device if it keeps happening again since its just a simple plug and play device.

Good luck, handy tip....use both thumbs when pushing the grey connector into the pedal and wait for the click. You'll be amazed when you first feel the difference in response. My setting of choice is Sport 8. Let us know how you get on.

Reinstalled but still the same errors. Would disconnecting the battery be an option?

Pagey, talk us through your installation process... may be 1 step that's missing... highly unlikely i know but may help. Only other consideration is that your device is faulty from factory, i assume it's under their guarentee..? IMO i can't see how disconnecting the battery would make any difference. Si.

OK. So first try I left the car doors open for 30min then set the SB to manual mode and disconnected the pedal clipped in the SB to the pedal then attached the SB to the pedal cable. Started the car and immediately got errors. Tried this 3 times. Then did the same as above but instead disconnected the battery for 45min

I'm thinking the SB is faulty, or at least the harness.

Agreed, its time to swap that one out for another device.

So the replacement device turned up and it installed first time no errors, clearly a defective unit. Wow I wasn't ready for what a difference it makes to pedal feel. I've got it set on Sport 8 for now.

Boom....just in time for Xmas....!!!!