High performance mods for 996?

I am in the midst of deciding what I want as my next Porsche. I've narrowed it down to either a 993 or a 996. I've noticed that for the 993, there are a lot of high performance modifications availabe: RUF conversions, superchargers, brake upgrades, that sort of thing. For the 996, I haven't seen a lot of these things. I've seen that there is a GT3 brake upgrade, but it seems a lot more expensive than the 993 Big Red upgrade. Is it worth the extra cost? Why doesn't RUF turbocharge the 996? Why aren't there any superchargers or similar items for it? I have noticed that the 996 and 993 are at least an equal footing as far as suspension kits go and right away, anyway, this is all I would do to the car. But $6000 for a supercharger kit for the 993 is really quite a bargain. Is there nothing like this for the 996? One of my biggest problems with my 968 is that there really isn't a lot that you can do to it, and I already feel like I've outgrown the car. Short of forking out the extra dough all at once for a twin turbo, I just want to keep my options open on the next car. Thanks everyone! -Jon '94 968 6 speed coupe '84 928 5 speed

Jon, You can pretty much find everything for the 996 except for engine and transmission upgrades. At the most, you can do a good chip and an exhaust but that's about it. The engine is not designed for higher power to begin with, that's why you won't find too many "reliable" mods.

Your wrong. FVD does 3.6L, 3.8L, and 4.0L upgrades on the stock 3.4L motor. The 3.4L motor itself is a strong motor. The block is tight, according to Porsche it was made to handle 1200hp. I think there was a post on here a while back about someone getting over 700hp out of the 3.4L block, and it remained well sealed.

Hi Jon, It is so that the 993 has a lot more upgades available than the 996, and many are well priced for performance versus cost. There are options for the 996, some mild and not too expensive, the big ones are very pricey. I have done the relatively standard exhaust, K&N air filter, OBDII mapping, H&R springs and short shift kit on my '01 and I love it. I have also seen a few of the Gemballa turbo upgrades on 996's and they are very professionally done. My 928 mechanic in Santa Monica, Claudio at Foriegn Sport Technician, is the Westcoast Gemballa tech specialist. The components are very well-built and though I haven't driven one, I've been a fly on the wall for hours of the conversion and asked dozens of questions, all of which were answered to my satisfaction. This is an option, but at $20K to $28K this is quite an "upgrade". If it's turbo you want, that's probably what you should get from the start. However if you are in possetion of a nornaly aspirated 996 and want the turbo, that might make sense. Try Claudio and see what he says. The last time they did one, they had someone out from Gemballa in Germany to do the computer mapping on-site. It looked good to me, but then I love my 996 w/o turbo. Hope that helps. Best, Josh

Sure, I guess that's exactly why porsche went back to the older air-cooled crankcase on the 360 HP GT3 and the 420 HP Turbo. Tell me, why is it that you are interested in a GT3 motor for your car if you feel the original 3.4 is so strong and can handle up to 1200 HP? Surely, a Gemballa turbocharging option is much less than a GT3 motor. Maxeemum's GT3 motor post

Just curious, how much money are you planning to spend on the upgrades? Why not just buy a street legal 996 GT-3 car in that case? I know there is one for sale for $150k that you can title.

Viken, the reason Porsceh used the 3.6L motor in the GT3 was for the simple reason that it was a race proven motor. I can get a GT3 motor for $20,000, and it will cost another 10 for labor...

Robin, Hi, Josh here. Off topic, but what is the deal with the GT3's in the States? I've seen two in L.A. in the past few months. Definately not just Aero-Kit 996's. These things sound very different, from deep down. "There's no repalcement for displacement" kind of sound. So I thought these were not a car the DOT would approve for road use. I'd prefer one of those to a Turbo. Best, JW

Ruf has turbocharged the 996. Check the latest Excellence mag. It is on the cover. It will do 212 mph. However, it will cost you $1,000 for each of those mph's.

No, that car's engine is based on the 996 Turbo's engine which has nothing in common with the 3.4 liter M96.

Josh, All I know is that these are private imports. There are only a very few of them here in the US. I don't know exactly how it works, but they are able to title them. And I have seem the car in person.

Basically, the reason for not going with the 996 Turbo to begin with is that the investment is all up-front. Instead of dropping over $120k on a Turbo, I would much rather drop $60k on a C2 and drive it until I get bored with it (hopefully that'll take more than a couple of years). Then in a few years I'll drop another $10k or so into it to inject a little more fun into the mix, or sell the car and buy a newer model (or a used Turbo). After I've heard a lot of people saying that after driving a 993 and a 996 back to back on the track they've realized that driving the 996 is such a superior car, I've basically decided on the 996. It's something like this, though, that could reverse the decision. Always have to consider the future.

If you are a US citizen or resident alien, there's no legal way you can title and drive a street legal 996 GT3 in the USA. You could, of course, do it illegally, if you don't get caught. You can also own and drive a GT3 here in the USA if you are a foreign national on some sort of work assignment here. For example, there's at least one GT3 owner in South or North Carolina (I forget which) who works for the Dutch government, and is here temporarily. When he leaves, he has to take the car with him.

Ok, drop the GT3 thing. This is in no way related to the question that I asked. I checked out the information on the Gemballa turbo conversion. It doesn't have anywhere near the professional look that the RUF cars have. That large intercooler box looks like it was scrap sheet metal riveted together, and that's in the marketing literature! Do chips actually provide any solid benefit?

How about a C2 3.6 turbo? I'm sure you can do a lot to up it power.

I read in a car rag that Porsche used finite element analysis and a buncha other computer stuff to engineer the 996 engine to the gnat's a**. Meaning they squeezed about all that could be aqueezed out of it then built in the durability JUST for that level of power. The car rag said you shouldn't really hotrod it even if you could.

Actually. That is not true. US citizens can federalize cars. The US DOT recently decided that if a private citizen wants to bring a car into the US, he only has to meet emmisions requirements. It used to be that you had to also meet rool over, window glass, bumper, etc. requirements.

However, you can't do this with just any car you want. You have to apply for this exemption and convince DOT that the car is fundamentally different than what is available in the US from the OEM. So far, not many cars have met this criteria and I have heard that PAG is against having the GT3 qualified for an exemption. Without cooperation from the OEM, there is almost no way to get the exemption approved by DOT. Believe me, lots of people have been looking into ways to legally bring GT3 road cars into the US and so far no one has succeeded that I know of. Karl