are intake/exhaust/chip mods worth it for a 996 3.4L?

I am new to Porsches and have no experience with aftermarket parts. Are the typical intake/exhaust/chip mods worth it (i.e. do they actually help)? If so can anyone recommend a good bang-for-the-buck combo? TIA

I'll tackle your question one at a time. Intake- I don't think there is any power to be found there, the box is already flowing more air than the 996 can use. Porsche did their homework on this. Exhaust- Probably not much here either, maybe on the order of 3-10 hp max. The real benefit to this worthwhile upgrade is improved sound. It will sound like a 911. Chip- A lot of claims on increased power, up to 22hp- but I wouldn't want to screw up my warranty with this mod. Most of the tuners also increase the rev limiter. So there is some real power here, but not worth it to me. Suspension- This is where you can really make a difference. A simple spring change is often the first step, but might not work that well with stock shocks. The best solution is full conversion to ROW 030, about $2K installed, really transforms the handling from a soft US spec car to a razor sharp 911 if you will. Better yet, go for a coil over setup for the optimal suspension especially if you track the car a lot. These are just my opinions, I could be wrong

DJ- Thanks for your feedback - you confirmed many of my guesses. The stock exhaust is definitely not aggressive enough - what aftermarket exhaust do you recommend (factoring price, sound, and build quality)?

I have a 2001 996 C4. I had a cold air intake, and a GHL stainless steel exhaust and headers, and ROW computer reprogramming done recently. The ROW is easily reversable prior to warranty service. I just had warranty work done on an oil leak (seepage) with no problems at the dealer. I gained about 35 hp. I track the car and there is a world of subjective difference in torque and performance. The shop I use did the development work and dyno research in conjunction with GHL to develop the exhaust and headers. The improvements were docimuented by their research. Contact Bob or Bobby at [phone removed] at Foreign Affairs Motorsports. I have no connection to them other than the fact that I trust them explicitly to make meaningful upgrades to my vehicle and provide excellent service and track support.

Mike, It will be interesting to see the difference between your car and mine on the straights at Sebring. I've got straight pipes from the cat back but otherwise the engine is stock. Jim

I can recommend the RoW M030 sport suspension, really changes the car if you want more speed. Since you are in CA, I would locate some unleaded racing fuel and blend it in to get to 93 octane or so, you will feel and hear the difference versus 91 octane for $12-15 per tank, pay-as-you-go. By all means give a listen to the Porsche sports, Fabspeed, and Gemballa mufflers, a lot of owners think the louder/raspier/traditional sound is worth the cost. Unless other significant changes are made to the motor and computer, it seems unlikely these alone could add very much net power, i.e. gains in peak horsepower would probably come at the of cost some low-end torque.

Jerry, I really like my Ruf sport exhaust, sounds like a air cooled car at idle and screams like a GT3 at full throttle, as you would expect the build quality is superior -so is the price (about$1600). The Factory sport exhaust is also quite nice and sounds great, best of all it's a factory part, they cost as much or more ( about $1400-1700). A lot of people like their Fabspeeds, I think they sound great too, a bit more low pitched and throaty compared to the Rufs which have been called raspy and mechanical. Can't beat the price for the Fabs, about $1100 either. There are a lot of choices out there, and these are the few I have actually heard/ drove. you can't go wrong with an exhaust upgrade on these cars, go for it!

Doug--How loud is the Ruf compared to the factory sport exhaust? Is it reasonably civilized just tooling down the freeway?

You can see the mods I've done to my 996. Mine is out of warranty, so I'm not concerned about that. I can say I noticed a slight, but only slight power increase after the intake/exhaust. The difference with the chip IS noticable, especially at 3k to 6k, how much HP this is I'm not really sure. Between the three, it is not unreasonable to gain 20hp maybe as much as 30. Don't bother with the exhaust/intake unless you want the roar. I have enjoyed the sound more than anything else.

Autothority chip raises rev limiter 400-500 rpm. It also removed the top speed governor.

Another non-surgical upgrade to consider is tires, especially versus the OE Continentals. Michelin Pilot Sport or Bridgestone S-03 are MUCH better. If you are feeling very sporty the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup looks damned interesting, although I have not tried them yet.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by DCFLAT6: <strong>Autothority chip raises rev limiter 400-500 rpm. It also removed the top speed governor.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">I was under the impression that porsche was not a party to the 155mph agreement because they sell sports cars. What is/was the maximum electronically controlled speed limit?

How about APR's mods for the 996? Or the GIAC chip?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by DCFLAT6: <strong>It also removed the top speed governor.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">282km/hr aiming for 290.. are you sure?! <img border="0" alt="[burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" /> \\W//

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva"> JasonAndreas: I was under the impression that porsche was not a party to the 155mph agreement because they sell sports cars. What is/was the maximum electronically controlled speed limit? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Maximum speed limit in a Porsche?...what ever your heart desires <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <img src="http://members.rennlist.com/raptor/image001.jpg" alt=" - " />

That's what I was told... You guys are on different continents, you know how the US government likes to regulate everything, could be that US models have a speed governor, most other cars here do...

Hey Carlos did YOU take that picture <img border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" title="" src="graemlins/drink.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[bigbye]" title="" src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" />

Yes, I was alone so I had to take the shot myself while driving

Nick, I would say the Ruf is slightly quieter at idle, actually sounds more raspy almost air cooled, compared to the "motorboat" sound at idle of the factory piece IMO. The Ruf is definitely louder IMO at full throttle. However the cabin noise is just fine, actually fairly quiet at cruising unless you're lugging the engine. I drove to Dallas and back ( 600 miles) with no complaints at all, no resonance, in fact the road noise from the crappy road surface and the tires was the worst part. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

I installed the Unichip at The Racer's Group, and although the car didn't feel any faster, for the next couple weeks, whenever I looked down at the speedo, I was going faster than I thought! It was almost like they hacked the speedo instead ;&gt; For that price, I probably won't do it again. Soon after that, the dealer (Carlsen) gave me a new engine because they couldn't fix the rear main seal leak. No complaints at all abt the chip, so I'm not sure there's any warranty issues there. (hmm.....maybe I should run out and check to make sure the dealer didn't steal the chip!?)