Help with a mod

I am currently deciding what air intake i want for my 996. Should i go with the 996 K&N 57i Gen 2 Performance Air Induction Kit , see below. K&N 57i Gen 2 Performance Air Induction Kit LINK UPDATED BY MOD, SHORT URL's ONLY! or the cold air intake ? well, the first option i have no idea how much HP it will give but its expensive. The 2nd i think is around 10hp, combind with a new special filter (39.95)that may give me 10hp from that too. Which will give me the most power and throttle responce? Is it also worth replacing my MaF too, as sometimes it idles a little... rare, but it does do it.

save your money and get it from http://www.porscheshop.co.uk/acatalog/porsche_996_engine_induction.html

Sorry, but NEITHER will give you 10bhp, despite what the manufacturer says. They WILL give you a better induction sound, so do it for that reason alone. If you go for an oiled filter, be very careful not to over-oil it, as the MAF is sensitive to it.

2-4bhp if your lucky. Put a new set of plugs in it and a k&N filter in the std housing and you will probably get the same result.

Yeah porscheshop looks good thanks. Richard. I wont gain Hp? I don't need a roar really as my exhaust is very loud anyway, but.. Ive read on a few forums how dyno results have shown an increase in BHP. I dont really wan't the oil version, but the second link or the one from porscheshop looks good and must increase hP as it gives better air flow. guys Will replacing my MAF make a difference. Also, what do you suggest for better performance if none of these ? It's getting mapped next month, so that aside. =)

Usual stuff.....make sure its running perfectly in std form before embarking on mods....ie plugs, leads/coil packs & MAF 1) Exhaust 2) K&N filter 3) Re-map(live ones on a RR are better) 4) Use Tesco 99 octane or Optimax ....but not IMO if its an earlier 3.4 996 Then get the geo done.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. IMO Porsche made an exceptionally good job of fuel mapping, intake and exhaust design on the 996 Carrera, based on years of development of flat-six engines. I consider these wild claims like 23bhp for an air filter, or 20bhp for an exhaust to be wildly misleading. Porsche make a retrofit Power Kit for the 3.4 996 engine. It consists of: Cylinder Heads Valves Valve Springs Camshafts Pistons Oil Pump and pickup tubes Sump baffles Inlet plenum Additional front radiator Exhaust Manifolds Heat shields DME Remap The cost of the kit, without fitting? £7200. The result? 25bhb Note that there is no mention of an air filter or silencers. So that's why I have no faith that a £200 air filter or £500 exhaust will give you any more than a couple of bhp. And as has been said before, a small amount of over-oiling will fry a £300 MAF in an instant. Sure, Porsche use a cone filter on the 996 Cup car, but that has a proper cold air intake chamber, and the engine doesn't use a MAF sensor. That's my 2p's worth. I would also like to offer one of Loren's Blogs on RennTech, with which I agree wholeheartedly: There has been a lot of discussion on several Porsche boards recently about new products that give "10-15 more horsepower" or "20-30 more horsepower" or whatever. I just wanted to give my two cents here (in my Blog, rather than elsewhere). Not that these things should not be discussed - by all means they should. But because some of us old guys have been there and done that before (and still have some of the scars). So an after market manufacturer says "my sport exhaust will give you 10-15 more horsepower". Or, "my cold air induction system will give you 15-20 more horsepower". Or, "my plenum will give you 20-25 more horse power". Well, all of these claims may be true -- but they could also be just hype to take your money. My first problem is that in very few cases (if any) do these folks provide some technical proof of their claims. I am not asking for them to tell me how they made their product - I am talking about viable 3rd party testing with engineering documentation of their claims. For instance, if you want to convince me that your product produces more horsepower (usable or not) then why not hire an independent, bonded, third party to test it. My idea of the testing process (from over 18 years in new product development, owning and racing Porsches) is to start with the target market. So, in this case, at least three cars in good running order. Put them on the dyno (again remember this is a reliable 3rd party that knows how to run proper dyno testing) -- and make 5 dyno runs on each car. Take the results - toss out the best result and the worst result for each car, and then average the remaining 3 dyno runs together to get a more normalized result. Next, install the after market part. No other tuning or tweaking. Do the same 5 dyno runs again on each car. Toss out the best and worst again, average the three remaining runs for each car. Then on a chart plot and overlay the results for each car. Now we should be able to see the real difference the after market part made. If we want to validate the data - guess what? You need to remove the part and return the cars to their original stock condition. Then do the 5 dyno runs again. If the cars return to the output they had during the original dyno runs -- then case is proven. Sure this would take a little time and money - but for the prices these folks are getting for their products I think it is worth it -- at least to me it is. Maybe it is time for us to just say -- Prove it!

Good point there richard, yeah understood. But, about that stuff porsche offer. I wouldnt really go on them figures about 25bhp, after all they claim a carrera is 300bhp when it dynos at around 289RWHP and cayman s dynos at 256 when in fact it should be 298. ? How can skylines and cheap ass evo's/subaru's put these aftermarket mods on there cars and get so high BHP on dyno's?

Because they throw money at it......... A buddy of mine invited me to a Japfest dyno run recently, in Plymouth, on a RR that is considered to be realistic and accurate. One guy in a Subaru had spent over £21,000, yes, Twenty-One Thousand pounds to get his car's performance to a level that he was still unhappy with, and had just priced up another £8000 to get him where he wanted to be ! There are many Porsche owners who have 'Invested' in the performance of their cars, I say 'Invested' cos generally the return on the investment, financially is generally downward ! and they tended to start by talking to a single engine tuner, at great length, who would explain the process, and associated costs in detail. Now, if Porsche are looking for £7k+ for a +25hp improvement, that has to say something. Specialist independant engine tuners will probably want a similar amount for a similar improvement, or possibly more cos they will go to a greater extreme than Porsche. So, in all reality, how can you expect to spend £200 and get a 12-15hp improvement? If you search the 996 forum for bhp increase, remapping, increased performance, etc etc, you'll find First hand experience of guys who have done it, and I don't think any of them 'Only' spent a few hundred quid in doing it. You could buy a 996T to get the performance, and probably save money. All IMO of course.

Simple. They have turbos which are really easy to overboost to create more power (at some cost to reiability) and their exhaust systems may not be as well designed from the factory.

Sorry lads, but i don't agree. The fact that porsche say 7k for 25bhp, and someone in an M3 can spend a few hundred $ and get 25hp, and prove it with dyno results, before and after. Richard posted about someone from a forum stating about overlaying results, back to stock and then again. "prove it". Well, this guy did just that. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=539004

But, you asked about a 996, Now you're quoting BMW figures........ And the guy put a different head on, well, one he got off ebay, so it's still more than just an air intake, and what's the BMW OEM price for new M3 Head, ?? I have no idea, but I would guestimate several hundred GB£. I don't know, I'm not an engineer, but maybe Porsche engineer their engines nearer to 'The limit' than BMW, perhaps there is a smaller available margin of improvement on a Porsche engine when it leaves the factory than on a BMW. But, most of the experience of the Porsche owners on here is that despite the claims made by the people selling the various options, no-one on this forum has achieved those claims, that I am aware of. The only people who have realised any significant increase, by this I mean anything like 25hp, in performance have spent Thousands, to the best of my knowledge. I will concede that Engine remapping does seem to improve low and mid range torque, which if that is what you want, good-oh, you can get that for a few hundred quid, and when this is coupled with a top of the range Geometry set-up, people have noticed a 'significant improvement', but this is still not an major increase in bhp, it is setting the car up for the style of driver you are, and the type of driving you want, fast road, track, etc. As many other owners on here have commented, a geo setup and some hours of professional driver training will cost you significantly less, and allow you to get a more full-on experience of the cars 'Standard' capabilities than most of the products on the market, other than major engine work. And even then you'd still benefit from the geo and training. IMO.

No, im talking about aftermarket parts.. well im going to dyno my car soon, then fit some of these mods one at a time, then take them off and cross refrence them then and a remap and post the results so everyone can know for sure once and for all. Then everyone can know what to expect from these after market so called "more BHP" products.

That will be of interest to many people on here, and I know most of us will be both grateful, and interested to see the results. We also, believe it or not, want the results to be as claimed, but please excuse our, (my) sceptism, until you've gone through the process you've set out. And if it does come good, I'll be amongst the first to shake your hand and buy you a drink when we do meet up along the way on a forum 'Meet' (Oh, and please tell me the Boxster is for your wife/girlfriend/partner)

The reason some manufacturers engines can be easily fettled upwards is due to them selling an effectively detuned engine. The reason they do this can be two fold: The engine MUST meet all worldwide market regulations, power based tax bands, fuel and atmospheric (altitude) etc etc requirements. The manufacturer can't be bothered (or more likely prohibitively expensive to) make different versions for each market. So they make one compromise engine. Therefore on purchase, assuming still legal, which it isn't in places like California, you may choose to fiddle/remap etc engine for quick gains. The other common reason for a purposefully detuned engine is marketing. This falls into two sub-groups: future proofing and variants. Future proofing is when the manufacturer designs the vehicle for its lifetime expected specification, but artificially hobbles its performance output on day one, so that it may gradually up the spec in a market place war with other manufacturers over the model's lifetime. Variants is simply the expectation that another "super" model will be unveiled with the higher specs and higher price to run concurrently at some point in the model's lifetime. Also don't forget, a manufacturer with a large model range (or extended model range if they own multiple marques/sub-brands), there is the marketing and politics of not stepping on the toes, or embarrassing, other models in production, particularly if they are "cash cows". Porsche however are not as "common" as BMWs and choose not to cover so many markets in such breadth. So the compromise design discussed earlier is not relevant. They also choose, or are exempt (as pure sports cars and relatively low volume), from certain regulatory issues (see 155 mph limited top speed of other German cars etc with Porsche's lifetime unlimited top speed), and tax band engineering is largely irrelevant in a high end sports car. You should be aware that, certainly for the 996, at one point Porsche made more than FOUR global variants of the flat six engine of the same nominal capacity (3.4/3.6) and performance C2/C4, for different world regions. So they do go to the expense and trouble to optimise the engine for each market. Porsche do not (or certainly didn't used to) "future-proof" - all the 996 engines were improved kaizen style, literally improving it each model year in very specific mechanical ways (not just DME mapping). Some of this was sadly as a "patching" exercise to remove inadequate quality issues, but most were genuinely to push the performance and reliability envelope forward.