Long term issues with SC???

What if any issues are there with putting a S.C. on a 2002 996? I will not do it until I go without a RMS repair for 6 months. The real queston is why not put it on?

While new to this board, from what I can tell, nobody knows yet. Drawing from past experience and exposure to FI on bmws, all roads point to OK durability for street use provided that the vendor nails down software tuning, but suspect durability for track use.

Since I tend to drive cars until the wheels fall off or they get smashed by someone, long term reliability is pretty important to me. Plus my 996 is a daily driver. I'm not an expert but a supercharger is going to put additional working stresses on the engine that will in all likelihood affect long-term reliability. It's my understanding that during the install nothing is done to the engine internals so you've got an engine that was designed to deal with ~300 hp now putting out....what? 360 or thereabouts? Is this within reasonable design tolerance? Hell I dunno, but I think I'll let a few other people find out first. (Although I've gotta say, the temptation to surprise the hell out of a couple of SL55's in the neighborhood is getting hard to resist!) Just my take -Keith

A properly installed supercharger puts no additional stress on the engine, with the exception of the additional pully and longer drive belt. What DOES put additional stress on the engine are the habits of the driver. Like any other modification of your car that improves performance, you will tend drive your car harder. This by itself puts the additional stress on the car. The only increase in pressure to the engine resulting from a supercharger is the increase in the compression level. Depending on the amount of boost, your stock compression of 11.5:1 will increase to as much as 18:1 during highest boost. Porsche' engine can easily tolerate that high pressure in the heads. As far as a daily driver...the car drives great. There is no evidence that you have a supercharger until you get on it. Since the computer maintains the proper fuel/air ratio, the engine runs at a normal 196 degrees. I have over 40,000 mile on my 996 and have driven it with the blower (with 5 lbs of boosts) for more than 5,000 miles. It seems to get stronger with each passing day. Exceleration is smooth. Gas mileage has suffer a little; down from averaging 25 mph to around 21 mph. This might be more from the aggressive driving of mine than from the larger injectors. I am happy with my decision so far. It's alot of fun pulling away from the TT's too.

The engine may cope but what about the gearbox?

I would not be worried about the combustion chamber holding up to the compression, but I WOULD be worried about the increased risk of pre-detonation that occurs at these higher levels. Pre-detonation can be paritaly compensated for by the knock sensors but under some circumstances can be insidious and very damaging. I don't know that this occurs, but I would be very worried about this long term.

And for those people that live in the northeast, I noticed that an ad for superchargers in Excellence Magazine listed two Porsche Dealerships as places to have one installed: Brandywine Porsche in Philadelphia and Danbury Porsche in Danbury, Connecticut. If you haven't read about the superchargers for 996s, this website has the articles from four Porsche magazines that discuss how well they work. Click on this link, then click on 996, then click on supercharger. http://evoms.com/porsche%20ec%20art%20test.htm

From what I know about 930 turbos is that you cannot expect them to last as long as a 3.2 Carrera or a 911sc. Remember too the 930 has lower compression and stronger pistons. I'm sur that a propperly tuned SC will work fine for light driving, but it will decrease the life of the engine. How much I can't say. You might get 150,000 miles, or maybe 50,000 out of it. I has not been reported, but I agree when your talking about a car with 11:1 compression already more boost is gonna shorten the life some what.

'99Porsche911 - Did you get the EVO motorsports SC? I haven't heard of anyone getting the other brand as of yet. There are several members on this board that have had the EVO SC installed on their 996. As far as gearboxes are concerned, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I am considering the SC and mine is a Tip - the last time I discussed this with Todd from EVO (via email), he had installed a total of 8 SC's on tiptronics around the country. I'm sure that number is much higher as of now. I would worry about the tip more than on the 6sp. They do put tip's in TT's, though. If I had a 6sp, I would consider a heavy duty clutch, but wouldn't worry about the gearbox one bit. One thing to consider is that Porsche is notorious for over-engineering everything. It's not as if adding 20, or 40 or 60 hp is going to strain the hell out of my tip tranny. I have every confidence that it could handle the extra horses. And where did the 18:1 figure come from? that sounds suspect to me, but perhaps you got it from a reliable source. The engine management system can easily take care of avoiding pre-detonation.

Pre-detonation is not a concern. Engine is tuned for 91 octane; the intercooler keeps the compressed air entering the engine at normal stock temperature; engine temperature is the same as stock; and your computer will retard timing isnatntly if any knock is present. There is no change in the specs of the engine with the exception of increase compression while boost is present. If you engine is running hot for other reasons, Pre-detonation might occur but the system should retard the timing upon detection of a knock. As far as a better clutch than stock...not necessary. If you are planning on pulling hole shots all day....then buy a car other than a porsche and destroy it. I have a stock clutch and transmission and have no problems with the clutch or anything else. If you're pulling out of the hole using the clutch properly, there is no increase in clutch slippage than a stock engine. If you're going to pop the clutch at 6,000 RPM, then like I said before, get a different automobile to beat on. If something is going to give on the 996, it would be wheel slippage before tranny, unless your running 20 inch wide tires. Installing a heavier clutch and pressure plate would not hurt, but I believe it would be overkill, as it is for any application on a 996 except track running. Once the wheels are rolling, there is no need to have the clutch grab any tighter than the stock clutch. My stock supercharged 996 easily handles the 170 HP increase I got from the SC. I drive the car hard daily and expect I will replace the clutch in another 50,000 miiles or so.