Performance enhancements

As a newbie to this chat board and certainly even more so to Porsche ownership, I would like to now if there are any basic enhancements you could make to get better performance out of your Porsche. I heard discussions about " quick flow intake systems " and other modifications. Nothing extremely expensive but cost effective modifications. I own a 2001 996 C2. Cheers and safe driving.

Unless you want to spend $10k on a supercharger (which I would advise against), you're stuck with what you've got. Exhaust and intake system claim to make a few hp, but their claims are questionable and each has its drawbacks too. Your best bet may be to upgrade the suspension to take better advantage of the power you already have. My favorite mod was the B&M short throw shifter (~$200 and an easy DIY).

holger, i just added the short throw myself and love it. it would make sense that a bit of time is picked up in acceleration. is that possible? maybe 0.1 or 0.2 seconds 0-60? thoughts? 04 c4s cab

if you can be 0.1 sec or more faster when changing the gears, with the short shift kit, maybe.....( iahev it, and i dought....) certainly you feel beeing a bit faster, and i am pretty sure that's what counts...the feeling of driving... same thing with the factory sports exhaust.Porsche states: NO ADDITIONAL hp...but in the end of the game you feel better.....

Harris is right. I don't think of the B&M as a performance mod per se. I liked it because it has a much more solid feel than the stock plastic piece of crap, making for a better driving experience. Isn't that what it's all about?

Everything I've read concurs with Holger and harris. Excellence magazine did an article some time back on the 996 and basically concluded the cars don't lend themselves to significant, if any performance gains with the typical add-ons. Porsche changes a bunch of engine internals in the X51 option to get 25 HP - if they could do that with simple bolt ons I think they would. Here in California the highest widely available octane gas is 91. There's a petroleum dealer in SD who has Sunoco GT (100 unleaded) at the pump. I mix in five gallons of that with ten of the 91 octane and get a tank octane of about 94. The car is designed for 93 octane, and it seems to runs stronger (subjectively) with the design octane vs. 91, particularly in the higher RPM ranges. Objectively, you would need a stopwatch to tell the improvement. Running the correct octane gas is a simple way to get a little more out of the car with no modifications.

here in greece were I live, we do have shell V-power racing+ unleaded fuel, which is supposed to be imported from france, @ 99+ octane..... u can definetely feel the difference from our normal 95 octane unleaded fuel, as to 98 superplus unleaded.... haven't confirmed with drag racing the difference though, but you can definetelly feel it, especially when you overtake...

could you simply add a can of STP octane booster then?

I think you you can reasonably expect 5-10 horsepower with the proper intake and a free flowing exhaust. Problem is most of the cone type intakes suck hot engine air and power is lost. If you could deliver cold air to the cone intakes that would probably make some power.

Where in San Diego is the high octane at the pump? Robert

Gentlemen I have heard of the B&M short throw shifter several times now. Where can I acquire one for my 2001 C4? TIA Dean

Check out some of the super sponsers on this board (top , right hand corner of your screen), many carry it. If you join Rennlist, many will give you a discount. Cheers

Best performance improvement would be some driving courses (in your own car) and track time with an instructor out at Shannonvillel or Mosport with the PCA or thru private track days with good instructors. We had a bunch of them this season, last one was this past Monday at Dunneville.

1: A real driving school - this was the most effective 2: Adjustable suspension (PSS9) 3: R compound tires for dry days the above are the things that made a big difference in providing more fun at the track. The suspension also lowered the car and it looks much better. The shifter (I used the Porsche) is a big difference when there is a lot to do. Find someone and go through the gears. Holger B: Why no SC? There are a couple up here in Seattle. The owners seem happy. Very linear power curve. Worked well at Autocross and a rocket at DE.

01c4, b&m shifter can be bought on ebay, or at your dealer for $300 or so more. sm

start by taking out the stuff you don't need. Rear seats. Rear belts front spare tire lighter battery various plastic covers under trunk. lighter seats Lighter wheels you see where I'm going with this.

Guys Can someone post a pic as to what the B&M short shift looks like in the car? I assume the gear shift **** is no longer used? TIA Dean

The B&M short shifter replaces the shift lever inside your console. You will re-use your shift **** as it slides over the shift lever. So it will look the same.

if you want to get some actual HP out of ur engine you'll have to go inside and get the cams re-worked or aftermarket cams, maybe a different throttle body etc.. if you have a bit (and i use that term loosely) of $$ you could alwase sell ur 3.6L engine and get the Turbo engine (hell even a remaned one) and drop that in...(whats the price on a 996 Turbo engine anyhow? its got to be like 20grand rite...prolly more?)

Thank you Doug! Dean

Interesting... are those ratings using the RON method... here in Canada Sunoco 93 = 98 RON... Canada and the US use the L+M method... so going to 99+ octane (RON) is equivalnt to Sunoco 94 (L+M) method....

proper suspension alignment and or parts, sticky tires ( pilot cups ) and lotsa track days. www.fiorano.ca to get the work done

... if you've never taken your car to the track you ought to do so before starting any mod program. It will (1) let you appreciate just how great these cars are right out of the box (much better then we are) and (2) give you a baseline for where you want to go if you do upgrade. Drivers ed gives you the most bang for the buck (and it feeds on itself) After that there are lots of great suspension/tire/brake upgrades you can explore. Sports exhaust sounds faster (very important) IMOH engine mods should only be done when you've exlplored the above. The old adage is that you get used to more power much more quickly then to better brakes and handling. Much has been written in the past year in this forum about the EVO Supercharger system, most of it very postive. While somewhat expensive it offers easy installation and a huge boost in real usable power. Have fun

Holger B: Why no SC? There are a couple up here in Seattle. The owners seem happy. Very linear power curve. Worked well at Autocross and a rocket at DE.[/QUOTE] With the caveat that I have no direct experience with the SC, here's how I see it: The engine internals weren't designed to handle that much power. You may be a beta tester. Support after the sale is unknowable. Your factory warranty (if you still have one) is history. HP vs longevity...there is no free lunch, add to one & subtract from the other. Probably not a good idea for a daily driver from a reliability standpoint. As there are sure to be at least some minor problems, it's not for those who don't turn a wrench. I'm not saying it's not a quality product (I don't know), just that there are too many questions/risks for most people (like myself) to consider it as an option.

With the caveat that I have no direct experience with the SC, here's how I see it: The engine internals weren't designed to handle that much power. You may be a beta tester. Support after the sale is unknowable. Your factory warranty (if you still have one) is history. HP vs longevity...there is no free lunch, add to one & subtract from the other. Probably not a good idea for a daily driver from a reliability standpoint. As there are sure to be at least some minor problems, it's not for those who don't turn a wrench. Now why would increasing the power of a car shorten it's life. If you use that theory, no one should be exercising in order to increase their body strength or they will die at a younger age. The fact is, the longevity of an engine is dependent on proper driving and proper maintenance. If you're going to make jack rabitt starts with any car every day, chances are it will die sooner than another car that is only occasionally abused. I agree with your point on warranty. As far as a daily driver, my SC is driven every day, every night and has 8,000 miles on it since the SC was installed last April. There were some minor bugs that had to be worked out and I haven't yet passed the emission's test, but I an confident that problem will also be resolved before my testing is due. I'll be driving from Chicago to Vegas and back in a few weeks and have no worries as to it's reliability. It'll be a fast and hard driven 3800 miles. The only extra item I will carry with me is an extra drive belt since it is not stock and may be hard to find one quickly on the road. I'll also be stopping by Tempe on my return trip to thank Todd for the install and to get another Dyno.

Thanks for mentioning the emissions issue. I knew there was some stuff I left out. "Now why would increasing the power of a car shorten it's life. If you use that theory, no one should be exercising in order to increase their body strength or they will die at a younger age. The fact is, the longevity of an engine is dependent on proper driving and proper maintenance. If you're going to make jack rabitt starts with any car every day, chances are it will die sooner than another car that is only occasionally abused." Your motor was designed to handle 300hp and whatever amount of torque. Dramatically upping those numbers puts a lot of stress on the connecting rods, bearings, tranny, etc. that they weren't designed to deal with, meaning that they'll likely wear/fatigue quicker than normal. Also, it's my understanding that forced induction generates a lot more heat that exponentailly increases wear on motors. It's just common sense that you're asking it to do more than it was engineered for and there are consequences to that. I'm glad your experience has been good so far, but unless you're babying it (which it sounds like you aren't) you'll pay the piper eventually. Your exercise analogy is off the mark, yet interesting. If you look at extreme athletes (tri-athletes, marathoners, pro athletes, etc) who really can perform to high levels (such as your SC motor), it's my contention that over time they destroy their bodies too. Look at the problems they run into when they age. It's worked well for you (for the most part) and you're enjoying it, so that's great. But, it's not for the average 996 owner.

As you can see by my list of options, serveral are performance related. I had my car Dyno'd before and after mods and between the Air flow, BMC filter, fab speed headers, switchable sport exhaust, sport cats and the Uni-chip, I have gone from 211 hp to the wheels to 238.1 HP on 91 Octane and another 3-4 hp with 100 octane (dual maps). The last three dyno's where done by the same person and he did not install any of the mods, just tuned my car to maximize the mods. Also note that I have a C4 and the front drive was removed since the Dyno was a two wheel dyno. Between all of the engine mods and the Racers Group swaybars I have shaved significant time off of my laps. My next mod is the X50/X51 oil pan mod.

Holger B!! There is a guy in US who is drag racing his 964 C4. the car is well known and you might have seen photos of it. It is the white 964 which at the start of the drag race stands at its two rear wheals…this specific which I a m not familiar with its specs, uses its stock gearbox and transmition parts… I recently had a conversation with the technical director of a well known tuner here in greece, and he told me that Porsche cars are 80% over engineered.. So an increase of lets say 100 over 300 hp would cause that much of a prob…

Harris, no argument that the car is overengineered, but the motor/drivetrain is only as strong as its weakest link (ask any hot rodder). The extra power will still negatively impact longevity over the long run (there's a reason Porsche uses a completely different motor for the TT). There are too many variables to know precisely how much engine life you're giving up, but it's a trade off you have to accept if you go with a SC. I'm sure it's a fun mod for those who have it, it's just not for the average owner. BTW, I've seen photos of the car you're referring to and it's awesome!

I have to agree with Holger. Look the 996 has a 11.3:1 compression engine. Turbos are 9.4:1. Why do you think its that way. The reason is that an engine could only take so much compression and boost at the same time. Also remember that the turbo uses a different engine based off the GT3, GT1 old air cooled cars. The 996 engine was not designed to take the additional stress of forced induction. I know that the kits do not force the same boost as a turbo, but it will reduce the engine life. How much we don't know yet? Hey we don't know how long the 996 stock will last. Remember the old 2.7 911s lasted about 70K before it needed a head job. Improvement to the 911SC made these car almost indestructable. The 996 is a new engine and no one knows for sure how durable is it. The fact is that bolting on a SC to a stock car will reduce its life. Now if you redesigned the engine by putting in lower compression stronger pistons, better rods, ect.. then it will last long.

there are two ways, making our cars different: 1. modifying the car so that the same driver might be quicker or, 2. "modifying" the driver i.e driving lessons etc....