Real RWHP

I have recently modified my 99' Carrera with several performance upgrades. FABSPEED provided the headers, exhaust and cold air intake system and CARGRAPHIC provided the race cats. The expert installation was performed by POWERTech in Rockaway, NJ. I immediatley noticed some hp gains, however, the idle was bouncing and acceleration was very rough. I knew that the car needed to be retuned even though I had my OBDII computer tuned prior to the new upgrades. I was going to call the company who tuned my car the first time to have them retune the computer, but I wasn't sure how well they could tune the car without me sending the whole car to them. That being said, I decided to call The Racers Group. I spoke to Tony Wost and he explained the UNICHIP car tuning process and how well the car could be tuned with UNICHIP. So, I decided to give the UNICHIP a try and I was absolutely astonished with the results. Before I get to the HP numbers, I think it is important to mention the situation that my car was in prior to the UNICHIP. These cars that we drive are extremely expensive and a great deal of research should be done before modifying a car in any shape or form. Porsche builds these cars for one purpose and that is to go fast. Prior to the UNICHIP, my car was running way to lean, to the point where I could have BLOWN MY ENGINE! Beware, there are a lot of people out there who claim to know how to tune a car, instead they'll sell you a chip that is generic for everyone, they might claim that the chip is tuned for you, but how do you really know? YOU DON'T! Some chips might give minimal hp gains at the expense of the motor, some might actually downgrade the performance of the car and also damage the motor. There are probably some good chip tuners out there, the problem is choosing the right one. Now here's the numbers.... Prior to having the engine components (headers,cats,exhaust,etc.) installed, my car was dyno'd on a MUSTANG DYNAMOMETER at 234.9 RWHP, 202 FT LBS. At, this point my only mod was the old computer tuning (not UNICHIP). I didn't get a chance to get back to that dyno due to scheduling conflicts. However, I managed to get an appointment at IDA Automotive in NJ to install the UNICHIP and they dyno'd the car prior to UNICHIP installation on a DYNOJET. The numbers were similiar, 231.9 RWHP and 205.2 FT LBS. After, many hours of tuning and dyno pulls the car was tuned to have a whopping 268.1 RWHP and 242 FT LBS. Besides gaining over 36hp and 37 FT LBS, the car idled smoother and just sounded better. All of these numbers sound great, the seat of the pants was even better! I haven't had the chance to do any timed 0-60 or 1/4 mile runs. If I had to guess, I would say my 0-60 times are around 4.4/4.5. These cars directly from Porsche are fast, and there is generally very little room for improvement. These modifications made a noticable improvemnt and worth every penny. Many thanks to PowerTech, Cargraphic, Fabspeed, IDA Automotive and of course Carnewal for those great PZERO CORSA tires! Mike Miniutti [phone removed]

[quote]Originally posted by MMTECH: <strong>After, many hours of tuning and dyno pulls the car was tuned to have a whopping 268.1 RWHP and 242 FT LBS.</strong><hr></blockquote> Wow! That sounds great, Mike. Do you have print-outs of those dyno runs? I'd like to see what the curves look like to see where all the gains are: specifically, did you lose anything down low, or is it across the board gains? Drive safe.

I did the TRG's Unichip as well but they only given me a diagram of the hp but not the torque numbers. Did you do at another shop? I like to see the diagrams as well as I did about the same minus cats/headers hp wise. Regards. Mike

Do the cats increase the sound volume (assuming you could even hear it over the Fabspeed mufflers)? IOW, if using the stock mufflers, would there be much of a diff? Also, will a CA car equipped with those cats pass smog testing? Lastly, like DJ, I'm extremely interested in the post mod power curve. TIA "996FLT6": When you said you "I did about the same minus cats/headers hp wise", does that mean you got the same hp numbers as Mike w/out doing the cats and headers?

My numbers measured at 261.3 at 6500 rpm but what I noted above is TRG never gave me trq numbers just hp (wheel) and to see his numbers for trq at 242 a gain of 37 ftlbs- I don't feel that kind of pulling in my car. Does that mean the cats/headers have something to do with it? Regards. Mike

He used a Mustang Dyno. What did you use? This might cause a wide variance between the two of your results.

Mine was done at TRG's Sears Point facility and they used the DASTEK dynamometer to use to tune my car. The Mustang dynometer seems to me the standard for which to measure hp/trq but for whatever reason they didn't use over here. I wonder myself because even with the tuning other then a smoother running engine didn't notice much in torque or dramatic pulling of my car low end wise. I do say I felt I lost trq before the Unichip especially if I had a passenger and going up the steep hills of San Francisco but after the Unichip it was restored. His trq numbers are pretty amzing especially with that much gain. Regards. Mike

Mike, if you have a RWHP vs RPM plot, you can make a torque vs RPM plot yourself: just use the formula power (hp) = torque (lbs ft) x RPM/5252 For example, power in hp = torque in lbs ft at 5252 RPM. <img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

Guys, sorry for the delayed response. I took a picture of the dyno chart, however, it is too large to upload. If you would like me to email it to you drop me a line at [email removed]. The hp and torque gains were significant across the board and nothing was lost. I think the standard cat for a 996 utilizes a 400 cell element, the Cargrapic version utilizes a 100 cell element. While catalytics do play a huge part in maintaining safe emmisions there are other factors which can effect the emmision level of a car. The cats definetly add more grunt to the sound of the car. I did all of these mods at the same time, so it is difficult for me to determine which mod gave the most gain. All I can say is that I am extremely happy with the results. In about a month or so I should have the Carrrera Powerkit installed, I have been waiting for the parts since January! Then I should be pushing at least 300RWHP. Later, Mike

Here's Mike's dyno.

MMTECH, Wow that is a lot of extra horses! Btw, may I ask how much of these upgrades have cost. If you want just send me an email. TIA

Hey Ben the pic is cloudy-do you have a clearer one(asking too much from you : )). MMtech-what race cats you used and I presume the headers are from Fabspeed? Regards. Mike

Hey 996FLT6, Since your UNICHIP was tuned at TRG, did you happen to get an impression about reliability of the 'authorized' UNICHIP dealers? I've been trying to decide between GIAC and UNICHIP and my biggest concern if I go with UNICHIP would be the tuner. On TRG's site, they list a few dealers her (Houston) but I'm not familiar with any of the shops. Thanks, David

try this:

The race cats are from Cargraphic. The fit and finish is excellent. At low RPMS the sound starts off as a low end grunt on its way to a healthy throaty growl at 7500. -Mike

David, My suggestion is to call Tony Wost at TRG and ask him to suggest a reliable tuner. I would definetly go with UNICHIP over GIAC for the simple reason of upgradability (adding cats, headers, intake, heads, etc.) and custom tuning. I hate sending my ECU to someone, wondering when I'll get it back and wondering how efficient the car will really run with the generic tuning. When you buy a pre-fabricated chip you are paying for R&D, when you pay for UNICHIP you are paying for custom tuning. In my opinion custom tuning is the way to go! Not every 996 is the same. In addition, the quality of gas seems to differ from region to region. You would also want your car to be tuned for the gas that you normally use. I usually use a 50/50 mixture of 100 and 94. If the chip is tuned for 94 or higher and you can only get 91, your car will not be running at its optimum performance level. Thanks, Mike