Turbo install....your thoughts and opinions and comments

I have a mint -inside and out- 2008 987.1 base Cayman with 25000 miles. LOVE my car. Totally in love with it. That said....I'm thinking of going all turbo with her sooner than later. TPC seems the main choice around here. That's going to be at least $7500 in a car that worth...on a good day....$30K. At best. Downhill. With the wind to my back. So what do you think? Good? Bad? Dumb? Fun? Any alternatives to gain a nice chunk of HP for lower cost? Anyone with a TPC that can comment on reliability and engine life first hand? I'll be out of a car payment relatively soon and the idea of having my Favorite Car Ever with 300+ HP with no monthly payment is pretty delish.

I think that if insurance is paying your car off due to unforseen circumstances than you would get 30 plus all day. (Totaled, stolen, etc) they usually pay full retail plus tax. Just saying. But from my research, tpc is way to go, but if you have any type of warranty kiss it good bye.i have an 08 base cayman as well and been wanting that kit but my warranty through carmax will be no bueno.

I would hold off! There is a new turbo kit coming for our 987.1 's by a very reputable company. I have seen portions of the prototype and it's beginning to look exceptional. I believe it will have it's own plenum, intake, intercooler and exhaust . My car is up for sale but if it doesn't sell than I will be installing this kit here as soon as it's ready.

You'll trust a brand new turbo system over one that has been proven to be reliable with thousands of miles? Unless it's half price, I would go with something proven. Mine's been on mine for over 5 years now with plenty of miles and not a single issue. I think Tom and the guys at TPC has done a tremendous job.

i'd second the TPC recommendation. The fit and finish of the system is outstanding, the performance mind-blowing, and the reliability in 5 years rock-solid. Choose a reputable install shop and once you start driving her you'll be grinning like a drunken monkey - its like getting a brand new Porsche !!

For some reason I thought the base 2.7 isn't a candidate for a turbo install? What sort of power gains would there be? Thanks, Jeff

Jeff, We have turbo kits for the 2.7. They just haven't been as popular as the 3.4 kits probably because more S model owners are modding their cars. If anything the smaller bore 2.7 has thicker cylinder walls for a more rigid block. Here are the before/after dyno. Its a bolt-on kit that makes comparable power to a 997.1 Carrera S 3.8. This particular car we dyno'ed was the first 2.7 done in 2010. It has been and continues to run great. Tom

Well that's encouraging, thank you! What would the kit cost, and is there an installer in Portland, Oregon that can do this? Thanks!

what about the 2.9?

PM sent. My pleasure.

I own both a 2008 Boxster S 3.4 (bone stock, around 260 RWHP) and a 2007 Cayman S with a built 3.6L TPC stage 2 turbo motor (460 RWHP). They are very very different cars in terms of power delivery. While the Boxster is still quick, the turbo'ed Cayman is in a totally different league. It is supercar fast once under boost. It will break traction in 3rd gear on sticky tires and will push you back hard once it hooks up. Unfortunately, the boost does not come on quickly. My MINI Cooper JCW is also a turbo, and it spools much faster due to the smaller turbo that is attached right at the exhaust manifold. The Boxster is much better around town as well, as you can wind it up without worrying about getting shot out of a cannon when boost comes on. Another issue is that the stock engine is not built for boost and won't have the safety margin of a lower compression engine with forged internals. I probably would only do a turbo on a built motor...

We have turbo kits for the 2.9 as well. The 2.9 is a unique application because it has the 9A1 engine block like the 987.2 3.4 but the 2.9 is not DFI. The 2.9 has conventional PFI(Port Fuel Injection) and has the ECU carried over from the 987.1 cars but has .2 type software. It took some time to sort out but we have installed these kits. The first 2.9 we turbo'ed was in early 2011 for a Texan who tracks his car regularly. Has been tracking strong without any turbo issues. I think he might be a P9 member. Here are the before/after dyno results.

I've had my tpc turbo s for approaching a year now & I did extensive research before parting with my hard earned cash which included reading every article or thread out there on the Internet as well as speaking to the specialist who fit the kit to the vehicle originally. As above, whilst there are (as always will be with this type of thing) a couple of reported issues if you study these cases a little harder you will see that most of the issues relate to a poor installation or a pre existing issue. There are also many people who are very satisfied with the conversion & I'm one of them. My cars running a very safe (rich) tune at around 0.32 bar with about 440bhp. Since owning the car I've done a couple of track days & plenty of spirited driving & the car behaves completely like stock, no fault codes, no burning of oil, nothing. At the end of the day any major car mods carry risk but if you start off with a solid, well maintained base car, have a reputable installer who genuinely knows what they are doing then the tpc kit is, in my opinion very well proven & combined with the caymans setup & build quality creates something utterly amazing. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat! There's really not much for the money that ticks so many boxes in so many areas with this kit fitted....

My car has had the TPC kit (w/intercooler) installed for ~4.5 years, and ~25k miles. The kit was actually purchased by the previous owner, and he put the first 10k on it. Knowing it was well sorted and not one of the rare problem cars, I was happy to buy it already installed. The kit is pretty solid, and the power is just astounding. Drinks gas like a Hummer, but it's a hell of a lot faster. My biggest complaint would be the fit of the slip fittings in the exhaust plumbing - I get some occasional buzzing/rattling, and I've had some exhaust leaks, particularly before everything warms up fully. I also had an issue once where the the pipe between the turbo manifold and the wastegate cracked, but that happened during a track day (pipe section had to be cut out and replaced). But as far as major issues, nothing. The car idles smoothly in all weather conditions. It's never thrown a CEL. I sent an oil sample to Blackstone Labs on my last oil change. Iron measured just a little higher than the average Cayman , but everything else was spot on.

This is all good stuff. Many thanks for the replies.

I installed at TPC kit about a year ago. The power is great, but I've had some problems... I'm actually about to contact TPC about them.

Here's my take on the original question. I would rather invest any extra cash to trade the 987.1 to buy a 987.2 . Then you would have a better foundation for any mods that you choose to add.

Bingo....you nailed what I am going back and forth on.

Just curious - how often did you have to rebuild the TPC turbo? While I had a few problems with the TPC turbo that was installed by TPC themselves, the biggest problem now is that the turbo itself is leaking more and more oil. I was told that the turbo needs to be rebuild and that this happens at ~ 30 hours of operation is 'normal'. I have less than 30 hours (27.5 to be exact) run time on this turbo and have followed all maintenance recommendations from TPC - specifically in regards to oil (i.e. Red Line) and change frequency. Appreciate if you could share your experience with me - specifically what else you did to maintain your turbo for such a long time. The cost to rebuild the turno are staggering - considering that the TPC rebuild alone is $1,000 and together with professional help to get it off, shipping cost and get it back on I am looking at a cost of ~$2,000. Will I have to do this every 25 to 30 hours? Is this an acceptable quality - or am I just the 'lucky' one? Thanks - VK

Any new updates good or bad from people running TPC kits?