Fabspeed Cold Air Intake; Would like to hear from someone who has this on a stock 996

Just wondering if anyone has installed this part on a stock 996 recently... They have a video or 2 up on YouTube but would like to hear from someone who owns the part. Seems high for a new tube and cap but if it greatly alters the sound I may go with it! Thanks for the input.

I have it, but as part of the entire Fabspeed Performance Package (headers to tips). Lots of guys have found cheaper tubes on FleaBay, and various cap options at Home Depot, etc. It's any easy little mod that sounds good. Don't expect any performance increase, it's solely for the sound. (The Fabspeed web site says 12 HP increase... I find this very hard to believe). Most people who have done this mod seem very pleased with the sound difference (which you will only notice at higher RPM).

waste of money. I pissed away a lot of money so you don't have to. Best bang for your buck mods are 997 short shifter and Fister muffler hack. Save up money for a suspension upgrade after the first two and you are done. If you don't have 18" wheels, then get that also. Car is great out of the box.

I got a tube off eBay for $20 and a cap from Home Depot for $8. Sounds great with fister mod.

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. What are the parts called from eBay and the hardware store?

Thanks for the help everyone! Planning on doing this intake mod and fister mod first! Just changed ims, rms, and aos...

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interested in the 997 shifter... Have a link?

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Yep!!! Save your money. 997 SSK is awesome and some suspension upgrades... Yep!!!

I just upgraded to the standard 997 shifter for $250, I think the SSK is $450 or so: http://www.suncoastparts.com/product/997SCU.html Smoother shifts and shorter throw (15% or so.) I think you get 35% shorter throw with the 997 SSK, up to you if you want to pay for it. Here's the intake tube from eBay: http://m.ebay.com/itm/130963994737 And I got the 1.5" rubber resonator cap in the plumbing department of Home Depot for $8. All very easy DIY jobs.

Great advice on the cheaper cold intake tube. Can you post a picture or show exactly what you bought at home depot? There's a lot of parts in those isles.

You can see it in the above picture on the helmholtz resonator intake. Just a 1.5" rubber pipe end with a metal screwdriver tightening mechanism. It was in the plumbing isle with all the other pipes and end fittings.

I think this is it on the Home Depot website, but I think I paid $8 at the store: http://m.homedepot.com/p/Fernco-1-1-...101/100372302/

And does this sound better and give you some performance advantages? I was looking at he fabspeed site and their cold air performance intake is almost $800. Also, the 997 shifter you bought. Was here a noticeable difference? There are short shifters on eBay for under 100 bucks. Is this one worth the extra dough?

I bought the Fabspeed intake and a pair of the valvetronic mufflers a couple of years ago. I put the intake on and drove it for a couple of days before putting the mufflers on. I was very surprised at the sound difference the intake alone made, very noticeable and to my liking. I also like the mufflers, although I always push the remote to bypass them. They sound great open when the revs get up under load. I'm thinking about just wiring them open all the time so I don't have to push the switch each time I start it.

No performance difference from the intake, just a bit more sound. 997 shifter is a nice upgrade, a bit smoother and tighter shifts.

Yeah, forgot to mention that that big sound increase comes in around 4000 rpm, not a big diff below that.

you know you can cut some corners,when doing upgrades,and of course we are all on diff budgets.my advice is to save your money and try to purchase the best quality,from the best company known for there aftermarket porsche upgrades.(fabspeed,evolutionmotorsport etc).because theres alot o f crap out there,not everything on ebay is,but alot of it is suspect!.as far as cold air intakes are concerned,they are primarily increasing the audible note of the engine at certain rpms,when you put together a whole exhaust package,(good quality headers,sport cats(200 cell),mufflers)you can really change how the car sounds,that doesnt come cheap also the factory headers also are quite good,there are a million threads here for you to check out,and a million diff opinions,nothing in my opinion comes cheap,as far as mods for the car they are numerous, hard to say bang for the buck witch is best,id say IMO that the short shift kit(factory or b+m) is one,and something exhaust related,our porsches came from the factory amazing cars,but its also fun to upgrade and make the car your own,try to be tasteful,careful what you buy(reputable manufacture)read these forums with a grain of salt,alot can be gained from this forum and alot of mis information as well....good luck once porsche fever gets you watch out....LOL

factory(tequipment)and after market upgrades.

Jims, you push your switch to open the exhaust bypass? My car is always open. I have to push the switch to make them quieter. I wonder if my switch is wired backwards??? CJ, my car shifts very hard. I wonder if the shifter upgrade with improve my shifting or maybe I have other problems like syncros or cable issues?

Hey Randy, I agree. The air intake sound would be nice but a cat 200 cell or fister mufflers would accomplish the sound AND performance. I already have the Porsche fever. I've had the car about three years (my 4th Porsche, first 911) and its just now that I'm starting to do some mods to it.

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I would start from the simplest. Make sure no air in the hydraulic clutch line. Make sure no leaks in the clutch slave cylinder. Make sure cables are adjusted correctly. Verify if you have an OEM or aftermarket shifter(if you don't know already). Then go from there. Does it shift with more required force when it's cold than hot? Does it always feel notchy? Do you have to pump the clutch sometimes to get it in gear?

The clutch is fairly new. Less than 1,000 miles on it. Not sure how to adjust the shift cables. It's an OEM shifter. It shifts hard when cold. When it's hot it shifts much better (what does this indicate?). It's only notchy going from 1st to 2nd. Never have to pump the clutch.

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Someone probably put the wrong trans oil in it. I changed my stock oil to Mobil Delvac and it was extremely hard to shift first-second and second third when cold. I drained that and went to Motul 300 in 75-90 and it shifts as good as the stock "Porsche" oil.

That's interesting and I've actually heard that before. What's the process on changing trans oil? Do you know how much it takes and where the intake and exit access is? I guess I'll do a search.

Change fluid first and then if it still exhibits the same traits, check shift cable alignment. Do you know if the previous owner(s) ever had a short shifter in there before? Could be that they never aligned the cables correctly if they put the OEM shifter back on. Did this symptom happen recently or have you had it since you bought the car?

I believe the shifter is original. The problem started about a year ago. I put in a new clutch, but I still have the problem.

I like Fabspeed's CAI. It probably didn't give me any performance improvement but (a) it wails like a banshee at WOT -- I never get tired of it; and (b) it opens up the engine compartment considerably which is convenient. I'd do it again.

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PSE on both of my cars is open by default, I use the switch to close them (quiet them). I am not positive, but I seem to recall a tech at the dealer telling me that they can change the default.

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I like mine set up this way. I like the sound when I start my engine!

For $40 bucks using the parts listed above, it is def worth doing (I needed the breather filter for the other line as well, so the Uni breather fitler fits in there perfectly for 14.95) It certainly makes a world of difference in the sound, may be good for one or two ponies, and only took 5 minutes to do.

Picture of my eBay silicone intake with an Ace hardware $3 dust cap for the airbox... The biggest difference between some of the ebay offerings seems to be the quality of the hose clamps. Mine came with very nice T-bolt hose clamps, but regular old worm drive claps probably work fine... My ebay vendor doesn't seem to be offering them any more, but if you search for '996 silicone intake' you will find plenty of others. Personally, I love the intake sound. Even more so *without* a louder exhaust!

As for other performance improvements, I was one of the biggest skeptics around of the 'Sprint Booster'. When the price dropped to $220 shipped on Amazon, I figured I'd try one and take advantage of Amazon's excellent return policy if it was a POS. It really does transform my e-throttle 3.6. It's just way more fun to drive. No 'power' increase, it just remaps the throttle so power comes on much sooner and in a more linear fashion. I think there back up to about $280 on Amazon, but color me convinced... Personally I'd put this mod above motor mounts or even a 997 shifter for added driver enjoyment.

The secret behind the cold air mod is that the stock unit has the secondary smaller tube attached into the main intake tube from the top of the box. In the upper section of your air-filter box is a resonator valve that modifies the intake pulses which the small intake tube is connected to. The valve's job is to moderate the air pulses coming from the intake. The reason why the sound is 'better' and people notice it at higher RPM's (WFO works the best!) is that the intake plenum plate is fully open at these throttle positions so the air pulses moving back and forth (without the factory set up) are not 'modified' by the valve opening and opening/closing to trim the pressure wave out. Capping the valve and eliminating the separate air flow path allows more back and forth air travel along the replacement air intake tube. The different sound you hear is the sound we should have been listening to in the first place but someone in Porsche around 1998/1999 figured the car sounded too 'raw' or too loud and spent engineering time and money altering the sound. There is no performance increase but I find the throttle action just a little bit crisper (seat of the pants mode) above 4K. It also doesn't hurt that most of these tubes are a little bit larger dia and smoother inside for a bit better airflow. The ultimate mod as far as air-boxes for 996's is using the dual intake air-box from a 997 that supposedly will fit with a bit of modding up. Better airflow and a straighter path for the larger dia tube, (no resonator valve). Haven't had time to try it but it sounds interesting.

Hi guys... So if, for the sake of keeping the stock intake tube in place (so that the engine bay continues to look unmodified), you somehow simply block the flow of air through the secondary smaller tube that goes to the resonator valve, would you foresee a problem with this? Would you accomplish the same result (or close to it) as going with the after market tube and cap? Thanks

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Good question. You'd have to block it inside where the small tube attaches to the larger tube and make sure you don't create a rough area that would disturb airflow.

Yep, Dini, you can do that. There's a few threads on RL with various ways people have done that, but not hard at all.

We'll then, I guess I have myself a little mini project this weekend! Thanks folks! Gotta see if I can find those RL posts....

With the cold air mod and secondary tube closed off, would a K&N air filter further enhance performance?

Dindcod, welcome to RL Search for the "shaving cap mod" basically using a cap to plug the tube going into the resonator box. Plumbing section at home depot look for a drain test cap, they are normal orange don't remember the exact diameter but it could be 11/4"

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Stay away from any oiled K&N or other oiled filters on the 996... They can cause issues with the MAF if they aren't oiled perfectly (and sometimes even if they are).

^^^ I agree ^^^ No need for oiled filters, and the potential problems abound.

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This is technically not a valve. It is merely a chamber resonator to quiet down the intake path and is sealed off from the rest of the intake box.

Thought I should comment in this thread that we are in final testing of our new Competition intake for the 996/997.1 cars. The heat shield is improved with an additional 60% area on 997 cars and 35% on 996 cars. Almost double the air filtering area. Dual style with smaller diameter runners for more velocity. The intake is designed to mate direct to the throttle body inlet to minimize turbulence in this area. So far I only have dyno numbers on 3.6 liter 996's, with power gains across the board, dyno'ed with the engine lid closed and the spoiler raised. Intake temperatures are the same or lower than stock. The sound this intake produces is addictive. This picture is a prototype, not final, but it gives you the general idea.

What are the numbers in power gains?

Will there be some sort of shroud to cover the filters? Otherwise, won't they get soaked in the rain?

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Correct. Here's the theory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_resonance

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No shroud is planned - we haven't had any issues with our current J-Pipe design and do not forsee any issues with this design. A little moisture ok (it is just water injection) and will steam clean the piston tops. This is where we are at on a 3.6 X51 car, dyno'ed with the deck lid closed and rear spoiler raised:

Back to the original topic of this thread - Cold Air kit for stock airboxes. One thing ebay does not have is a piece to replace the resonance chamber. When you removed this, you add valuable volume to the airbox, and allow the entire air cleaner to be used more effectively. For those that have purchased a cap or hose from other vendors, Fabspeed can sell this piece alone. It is a major reason why our kit actually works. Here is an independent dyno from years ago when this kit was first developed:

^^^ That's what I've been saying in my previous posts. People think the air chamber needs to be sealed tight when in reality, you don't even need to put a cap on if you don't want to. It's just taking up real estate in your airbox if you aren't using it as a resonator. You can pour water in this chamber and see that it's sealed from the rest of the airbox. How much would the cap replacement for the resonator run?

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For the 997 short shifter.. This the one for $250 on suncoast?

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What is the part# and the price?

👍 Bout to install the intake mod (silicone tube *ebay $28 1 1/2" cap *true value $3.99). Currently only modded with fister d's.

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The stock 987S/997 shifter is a popular upgrade to the 996 shifter. You can find them used on eBay -- I got one for ~$100. About 15% reduction in travel, IIRC. This is the part that Suncoast sells new for ~$250. For a few bucks more, there's the GT3 version, which replaces the plastic bushings with metal bushings. Good thread on 997 shifters here: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...r-997-ssk.html

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Thanks! Ended up getting the 997 shifter!