Modding a 997 3.6l

what do you wise members think about modding  997 3.6l ?  Is it worth it?

I'd say it depends heavily on the modifications you have in mind. Exhaust or brake upgrades are good. Garish body kits and blinged up wheels, not so much. What were you thinking of doing?

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I was thinking of exhaust and chip upgrade

Of course you should. There is no reason not to.  Those are easily reversible mods.

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Did you decide on the tuner?

I'm interested to hear what people do to their 996's. I'd be fiddling with suspension and wheels mostly, maybe exhaust. Possibly some interior stuff like the steering wheel, shifter and seats...

exhaust, flywheel, IPD plenum maybe, tune. would be a lot of fun.

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I'm a twin turbo boost addict and reckon the 996 Turbo is the adrenaline source of choice that will keep me hooked without the need to spend more than 6 figures to get that first unadulterated hit.  The level of dependency is further enhanced if you tinker with ratcheting up the purity for an additional incremental cost. I reckon the areas to tinker with in terms of a strictly bolt on recipe for cooking up greater levels of purity are equally applicable to other  996's  in general terms.  (up to Stage 4 below).  Stage 5 is for those who fixes are up their with incurable junkies that require larger doses of higher cut customised product to support their habit. I like to tinker and cook up and get a  taste of recipes in documented stages.  The stock 996 turbo lasted 3 hours of driving time in stock guise before I started following the  documented recipes in my draft cook book.   Only at Stage 1 currently, but increased motivation to move onto other stages and capitalise on current upside changes to  EUR/GBP /USD fx rates Stage 1 - Tinker with lack of throttle response below 3500 rpm and anemic engine soundtrack Recipe 1A - Exhaust - Klein 2.5" X pipe with 100 cel cats  - great balance between performance (much ,much better throttle response and definite power gains noticed under 3500rpm per butt dyno ) along with a much better soundtrack note in and out of the cabin (eg not over the top, no cabin drone and definitely no longer have an anemic note emanating from the  rear end) Recipe 1B - Cobb Accessport - Hand held Diagnosis  tool (fault codes and digital displays of ECU parameters via digital gauges or datalogs) that will be attached to the windscreen when it needs to be used now and then. A bonus is that it also doubles as a medium to facilitate flashing of tunes.  Unit comes with access to a 93 stage (RON98) off the shelf tune that can be flashed onto the ECU to accompany solution 1.  For the purists, it saves your stock file so car can be flashed back to stock Looking forward to seeing what impact solution 2  has on throttle response below 3500 and it would be nice to put the car on a  dyno pre and post flashing to see whether along with solution 1,  is circa 500 crank hp/ 30% torque increases/  and up to 20% power increases just all heresay and marketing BS. Stage 2 - Tinker with parts with rubber inserts - Mounts and Suspension. With a bit more power available  both down low and up hgh to play with and still with plenty of margin in terms of braking capacity in the current stock recipe, I am a fan on sorting out aged rubber parts on cars of 996 vintage, particularly on mounts and suspension parts. I have found you don't realise how much slop (movement) is in the drivetrain and chassis that is due to those deteriorated rubber parts until they are actually replaced.  So plan is to tinker with the following: Recipe 2A - 997 tranny mounts to replace stock 996 tranny mounts and 964 RS semi solid engine mounts, plus 997 shifter mechanism. I think the 996 shifter is already like a short shifter in terms of throw length, and was advised the 997 mechanism is much smoother than 996 Shifter but has a 15% shorter throw length.  Apparently a 997 short shift kit is highly recommended in a 996 (absence of that precise rifle bolt action from aftermarket shifters that don't do syncro's any favours).  Lots of praise for the 997 SSK,  , but was told its circa 30% shorter than stock in throw length and not as smooth as the stock 997 shifter and less friendly on the syncro's.     Hopefully after installing that trio, they live up to the hype of reportedly being the best bang for buck mods to improve overall feel of the car, particularly after engaging the third pedal via your left foot and the gear knob with your left hand. Recipe 2B - Although its plenty low enough to make the front chin spoiler a consumable item, I would like to get rid of the some of the 4X4 ride height look.  Not a fan of lowered springs, eg need some options in case of buyers remorse and coilovers give that remorse in terms if flexibilit in terms of ride height and ride stiffness.  Given Ohlins R&T with its preferred materials of construction can be had cheaper than Bilstein PSS10'S, I intend to build a setup around the Ohlins to get rid of the 4x4 look Recipe 2C - Tinkering with lowering cars sometimes means may need to tinker with camber and toe on a wheel alignment to avoid excessive / premature tyre wear.  So unfortunately I have found once again a need to tinker with control arms / control arm links on a996 turbo.   Looks like its a after market set of adjustable toe links (tarett?) and adjustable 996 GT3 lower control arms are needed to facilitate enough tinkering to sort out tyre wear.  Procastinating on whether to replace oem rubber thrust bearings with solid ones. Recipe 2D - Had success with swapping out stock sway bars (particularly the rear) to plant the rear end and further reduce body roll even further post freshening up springs and dampeners with a replacement coilover kit. Eibach have a cheap front and rear adjustable sway bar kit if you can webshop (Eg Landed, will cost you less than a 996GT3 front bar which are cheaper again than  a rear sway GT3 sway bar.   However, flimsy sway bar links aren't restricted to brands related to VAG  ( wouldn't replace a stock sway bar without going with adjustable metal sway bar links to reduce binding , bending, snapping the endlink if you are going with an adjustable sway bar. Stage 3 -  Change up the all black interior Recipe 3A - When installing the 997 shifter mechanism, center console is out so may as well replace it with a matching external Artic Silver/ Alumi look replacement console along with matching dash strips.  Why should the undercarriage be the only place that gets a bit of a visual makeover Stage 4  - Brakes and Rims Recipe 4A - Freshen up all consumable brake parts, eg hoses, discs, pads, parking brake shoe set, caliper mechanisms Recipe 4b - Something different to fill the wheel arches out.  Perhaps go for bigger 997 350mm  rotors and caliper spacers to go with the stock calipers Recipe 4C - I like stock as best you can sleeper look  from exterior.  Back to some hollow turbo twists instead of the factory optional hallow  sportech rims Stage 5  At stage 4, most would be satisfied at that point and the tinkering would stop.  However, when I get to this point, cars definitely at a point were its out of balance.  Eg Arse about, Far to much handling capacity in terms of suspension and braking capability, and lack of ability to utilise it regularly.  Eg Lack of boost hit down low in the rpm range and not enough up in the higher rpm ranges which makes it a boring car to drive on the street Recipe 5A - More boost down low = Billet k16 turbo's that should be capable of delivering close to a 6xx HP figure  at the crank on the dyno and enough torque down low in the rpm range to have you worrying about bending your rods with the wrong tune Recipe 5B  - Problem with tinkering and upping boost is need to tinker with fuel and air, so need all the usual supporting mods in those areas eg upgraded 997GTRS Intercoolers, 890nm upgraded clutch kit, fuel injectors, custom tuning, replace all boost valves and hosing, throttle body upgrade, bigger IPD plenum, upgraded diverter valves along with the 50 plus other odds and sods  preventative maintenance part numbers you replace when the drivetrain is out and you have the whilst its out you may as well syndrome given its a 13 year old plus car. After that tinkering is done,  you have inspired me, eg keep half an eye out for a set of hardback sport seats (non bucket)  that can be painted to match to the exterior duco colour /   center console. Not withstanding the above tinkering, the other main objective besides messing with the power / torque  curves of the stock 996 turbo is to be illusive.  That is even to the trained eye  (car is not on a lift, eg dead giveaway as soon as you see the suspension and turbo's) with hood open, the only inkling of some possible tinkering (I'm a stock optional factory non oval exhaust tip fan) and that the car is owned by a boost junky is the two finger gap between the tyre and wheel arch and perhaps some glimpses of non factory standard yellow bling from the Ohlin springs.

Yeah. Turbo's a different thing again...

'Cheap' exhaust mod was Gundo hack.  $600 NZ dollars for everything including the pipes.  Sure it didn't cost US$60 like for some people in forums, but it is the cheapest and painless mod.

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Hey Macca I went with Peter Fitzerald.  I don't think you can go wrong with Peter.

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I stubbled across his website just a couple of weeks ago - he absolutely looks the business.