996 Upgrades!

I'm looking at a set of Fabspeed Maxflo mufflers that I ordered on ebay from another Rennlist member - I can't wait to get them installed! I just ordered a set of Fabspeed headers at a great price and will be ordering the new Fabspeed sport cats as soon as they are available within the next two weeks. My EVO fresh air intake should be here in the next day or two as well. Once I get all of this installed, my next step is for an ECU upgrade. Because I am so isolated and have very little options, I will not be able to have my car custom dyno'd to have the remapping precisely fit my car. I am going to have to ship my ECU and have an "educated guess" done based on my modifications. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best possible outcome for ECU modifications? Who should I go to? I am discussing this with "Departstop" in CA as they have the Bosch German computer stuff that I believe is the best way to go (and they also sold me a set of headers for $999). I think it's the same technique that EVO uses and since they are giving me discounted prices on parts, I was thinking of developing a little loyalty and sticking with them. Any thoughts?

Not sure how much power/torque you'll gain from all this work/$$$$. With the exception of a supercharger or the X51 power kit, most people have said that all other upgrades give marginal gains at best....

Unless you Dyno before and after Mods you are shooting in the dark. You might even lose some power. At least it will sound more powerful

Well, looking at it this way, the '99 had a slightly restricted exhaust flow. Porsche squeezed an additional 4 hp out of it by flowing the exhaust better for '00. I definitely wanted more sound as well. Even marginal power gains are going to be worth some $$. overall I'm going to be spending not much more than what a PSE from Porsche costs, so I have been budgeting this very carefully. I cannot believe that these products will reduce power. As far as gains go, that is left up to debate and/or the dyno. The technology in the headers alone is not new science - same length header tubes into collectors. This has proven itself in engines for decades to flow better than the design that goes into the stock header with unequal length tubes into a manifold-style collector. Less restrictive cats and the muffler design is similar to what goes into the GT3 cup exhaust system. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that better flowing air in (less restrictive air intake w/ proven cone shaped filter) and better flowing air out the other end will improve the engine's performance. How much is yet to be proven by the use of a Dyno. Playing with mods is half of the fun anyway. My car sounds like a lexus in stock form and is a little on the boring side because of it. Having some growl along with some mild gains is well worth the fun of modifying the car. It's out of warranty, so who cares? Any thoughts from anyone on ECU upgrades?

Keep us posted on the results....

It sounds like you have thought things through pretty logically. As long as you weren't expecting like 20HP gains then you won't be disappointed. There isn't a whole lot of low hanging fruit. Otherwise, Porsche would have taken it for themselves.

I don't think remapping your ECU will do anything except empty your wallet. Unfortunately, all of your mods will not gain you much in terms of hp or torque so to remap your ECU is useless. I would spend the money on suspension, wheels, seats, steering wheel, etc.

I HAVE INSTALLED THE EVO ECU IN A FEW 996N/A CARS(MORE IN TURBOS)AND THE CUSTOMERS WERE HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS.THEY DIDN'T GIVE MUCH PEAK POWER GAINS,BUT THE MID-RANGE WAS A LOT BETTER.CRISPER THROTTLE RESPONSE AND A STRONGER PULL THROUGH THE GEARS.TRY IT,I THINK THEY GIVE A 30 DAY GUARENTEE IF NOT SATISFIED(YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK THEIR WEBSITE EVOMS.COM)

lightening out ur car wouldn't hurt either....carbonfiber hoods, fenders etc. you could also increase displacement...i believe there r kits from tuners that can increease disp to 3.9L...not sure what the results r

Wow! 3.9... *drool*. Well, perhaps down the road. My '99 drives, smells and looks like it is brand new off of the showroom floor, so that will have to wait a while. I have pretty much decided against a supercharger - I think it will strain the engine far too much. There have been several discussions regarding this on this board, but I am finally feeling convinced that it will not be in the best interest of my car.

I just installed the EVO fresh air intake last night. It took me about 15 minutes. It definitely revs much quicker with better throttle response, but there is a cost. It is really noisy with mechanical noise from the engine through the intake that wasn't there before. Now I know why Porsche made such a huge airbox/filter - to quiet her down! I'm going to leave it on. It either settled in and quieted down a bit, or I started getting used to the noise. Don't know which. I'll install the Maxflo's this weekend with the help of my son, since I'm weilding only one arm at the moment. I'll keep you guys posted on how that turns out. Aloha!

if i'm not mistaken there is a kit that pushes the displacement to 4.3?maybe they started with a 3.6,i'll have to check.

^ how bad for ur engine is somethin like that..i can't imagine it would last too long.

What do you mean, Dead eye? The supercharger? You can't mean the fresh air intake, can you? That has nothing to do with mechanicals. The flat six already is a very noisy engine. That is why Porsche has gone to great lengths to quiet them down.

^ no i meant how bad for ur engine is boring it out to increase displacement?

OH. Thanks for clarifying. I don't know, really. The flat six has "nikasil?" lined cylinder bores, and I would think you would have to do an awful lot in a complete rebuild such as that. There is nobody in Hawaii I know of that I could trust to do something like that. I'd have to order one from a known P-car engine builder. But like I said, mine runs like brand new. Doing something like that is not on my menu at this point. But a huge engine does sound appealing, no doubt!

btw that difference in the hp from 00 is due to the new motronic upgrade to support the use of egas. It has nothing to do period with the exhaust. Do your research-

^ what exatly is e-gas? is it kind of like drive-by-wire technology where you're imputs don't directly control the throttle but send a signal to the computer which in turn decides the optimal amount of gas to use up or somehtin?

it's a potentiometer instead of a direct throttle linkage hence the drive by wire ala egas etc.

I know I read that about the exhaust differing from the '99 to the '00 and that yielding a mild hp increase. I'll have to look it up. I read that egas was to make throttle position more precise. Perhaps I'm wrong on that, but I remeber reading it! Where, I can't remember. I will do some research.

nope just the egas change-

Drove it around 300 miles today on a nice cruise through mostly curvy roads. The new air intake makes beautiful music in rpm notes! It definitely feels like there is better throttle response.

Well with respect to your mods what improvement you get is more in the upper rpm's and with a chip 20 hp is about as high as you get(maybe less). Without a ecu upgrade and with the exhaust/header/cat your planning your going to lose lowend trq but if you do track days high rpm power is all you need anyway but street stuff it'll be affected(not big but noticeable) but one thing is for sure less restriction means engine will run cooler so that's a plus. But if I had to do it again I go with suspension/brake/tire/and lightening up before doing those mods and also attend some DE's-you'll learn alot about your car and yourself. Regards and good luck. Mike