2000 model standard 996 upgrades

Hi all, Well i just bought my first porsche , a mint low km 2000 model 996 with a tonn of factory accesories. It is completely standard including exaust. My questions, A new exaust sysyem, recomendations? does it give power gains and what other things do i need to do if fitting a performance exuast. ( I really only just want to hear the car ). If a new performance exaust will give a few more HP, i will be happt to spend 5k or so. Turbo? If i install a smallish turbo, with small boost, (i dont want to shread the engine) is this a realistic upgrade? Do you have to totaly rebuild the engine? I have an older ducati in my collection and its fitted with a small turbo running small boost. The engine is completely stock standard and turn key reliable. It has given the bike about 25% more power. Im not after a 600 HP engine, wouldnt mind an extra 30-50 HP over standard. Anyone here added a turbo to their car?? Suspention. To me, after racing motorcycles for many years, suspention is everything and will be at the top of the list if required. my car comes factory , with a lowered kit and porsche factory stability management. a 3 k extra according to build sheet. is this good enough or is further attention required. Many of you may be asking, "why the hell do i want to mess with it?" well, Noise for one thing, I want to hear my new car, and power. You can never have enough! Im not a million air but over time, will be wanting to improve my car as i love to change and make a few things different. Also, I DO want to take my car to the track and i want to drive it like ive dreamed about for so many years. Ive owned a lot of performance cars over the years, mainly american muscle cars (good in a streight line) and my wife and i have a current model WRX as our daily driver. I at least want to be able to out perform the WRX!!!! Im VERY happy now that I own this car!!

I think most people do exhaust for noise, I don't think it makes much power gains (like 5hp-10hp) Has the IMS fix been done? I'd do exhaust, suspension and maybe some ECU tuning, I don't know how an M96 engine would go with an added turbo (bang probably)

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The IMS is the bearing i assume? No, Not yet. I spoke with Autohaus and they said they will do it when clutch is due around 70km.

Normally you'd go an exhaust and header combo to get the power improvements. Otherwise it's just about the noise. I'm no 996 expert (in fact, I know nothing about the 996) but the yanks always talk about Fabspeed. Also, here's the 101 Project for Your 996 book.

Raafrebel, The first thing I would do is track it, then go from there. The 996 is highly capable out of the box.  Of course you can always do more and I agree with your inclination to change the exhaust note purely for personal preference.  But given your intended use for this car, why not track it set a base line time, then progressively make changes with track days in between to guage the difference. I am guessing suspension changes will give the best results. tk

Didnt you want a 930 ? My recommendation for anyone whos looking at mods and tracking their car is you'll get more fun learning how to drive it properly, its amazing how many mistakes people can make on a track day (me included). The next thing i'd do as "tk111" mentioned is upgrade the suspension you'll shave good time out of a well setup car. Exhausts can make a difference on paper and may feel quicker due to noise but you wont get bang back, I had Gemballa headers/cans and a cat bypass on my 996 and yes it made a slight difference but not to justify the cost. I wouldnt waste my time enternating the turbo idea... if you want a turbo buy a turbo...and then you have a real weapon with some slight mods. Good luck enjoy your car and make sure you get the IMS done... and post some pics for us to have a geeze at.

Congratulations on your new car! I had a 996 manual & just loved it, it was stock except for a sports exhaust, don't know which one, but IMHO maybe drive it for a while until you are used to it before fiddling with it. These are very capable cars just as they come from the factory, I drove mine at Eastern Creek a couple of times & it was great fun. Good luck.

honestly.. fresh tyres (if yours aren't), good alignment and a once over then go hit the track... then see what works and doesn't work for you. Go from there rennlist is probably the best site for water-cooled

Have you had an oil change yet? if not then I would get the car on the hoist, drop the oil and check for metal particles which are an indicator of IMS bearing failure. Just for safety you know.

I have a 996 which has been very mildly tweaked to better reflect my preferences and I am happy with it, here is my two cents worth on improvements for the 996. I am unable to comment on turbo charging, however there is a custom turbocharged 996 for sale in Sydney, maybe you can go and check it out to get some ideas.  Here's the link: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2000-Porsche-911-Carrera-Speed-Yellow-6sp-M-Coupe-/161239443901?pt=AU_Cars&hash=item258a9ea9bd&_uhb=1 1) I agree with Terry, get it out to a track day and stretch it's legs, this will give you a real sense of how it goes and shortcomings for your style of driving 2) No doubt I will get laughed at for this one, but I reckon spend some time finding some parts to improve the interior of the car, be it some carbon trim, coloured gauges, alcantara trim or so forth.  The standard 996 interior is quite plain and I reckon since you spend the majority of your time in their you should put some effort into making the interior feel a bit more special.  I mean you will be looking at it every time you drive it so improve it to your tastes.  It just makes the drive all the more special. 3) pick up some cheap 17 inch rims and get some r spec track tyres.  This will make future track days much more fun and will save you a fortune in tyres 4) decide what rims and tyres you want and sort this out.  There is a wealth of threads on this and everyone has a view.  Personally I like 18 inch rims with Pirelli tyres, you can fit 19 inch rim if you get the right offset and tyre size.  But everyone has their preferences on this 5) replace your brake ducts, the brake ducts from the 997 GT3 are a straight fit and should provide slightly better cooling, every little bit helps if you wish to track and for around $25 this is a no brainer 6) Enlarged and baffled oil sump.  The 996 came with a warning in the early days from Porsche not to track the car due to oil starvation.  I reckon its smart to invest in a bigger baffled sump to reduce this and provide a bit of piece of mind.  Mine is a Gemballa sump.  Main downside is because its bigger it hangs lower there's a risk of damage, particularly if you lower the car.  I believe you can adapt the standard porsche optional 'bash plate' to fit. 7) Sports exhaust and cold air box.  Everyone has an opinion on this, personally I think it does nothing for performance.  However the 996 in my view sounds much too quiet and I reckon fixing this makes the car 100% better in terms of the straight smile factor.  I have a Gemballa exhaust and headers with Eurocup GT carbon fibre twin intake.  Makes the car sound meaty and I get positive comments on the track regarding the sound.  (Of course if you decide to Turbo, you will need to consider matching your exhaust and intake to the turbo to get efficient breathing and best performance).  Ideally get the car dynoed and tuned at this stage to make sure everything is set up corrrectly. 8) In my view the gear shift on the standard 996 is too long.  I was finding on the track I was putting the clutch in and waiting whilst I shifted gear, it was all too easy to crunch gears.  I recommend the Numeric Racing short shift kit.  Its the most expensive kit, but unlike most others it has no plastic components and is a beautifully engineered piece of kit and it's almost a shame to cover it up.  It has three positions that you can set it at.  I recommend putting it in the middle setting, this gives you the option to make it even shorter or dial it back a touch.  If you put it in the shortest setting just be careful that the carpet underneath is not fouling, you may need to cut the carpet. 9) Get an Alacantara shift knob like in the 996 GT3 RS.  Combined with the short shift kit it just makes the act of changing gear so much more visceral.  Given you change gears every time you drive the car, I reckon this just makes the car that bit more special. 10) Bigger sway bars.  The standard sway bars are pretty puny, I reckon get adjustable ones so you can adjust it to your personal handling preferences.  Otherwise I believe the GT3 bars are a straight fit 11) Best brakes you are willing to pay for.  If you want to get extreme you can fit GT3 brakes but this is far from a straight swap and requires replacement of the knuckles and other parts.  I have fitted slotted rotors with Ferodo DS 2500 pads, I like the set up, only downside is the Ferodo pads put out heaps of brake dust.  Make sure you check the brake lines as they are rubber and can perish, since you are doing the brakes anyway you may as well replace them with stainless steel lines.  Pay for good quality though as with stainless steel lines you won't be able to see the rubber inside for wear, look for lines which have teflon components to increase durability.  (As always check they don't rub against any metal parts of the car as metal on metal is never good!!) 12) Adjustable coilovers.  I recommend adjustable as my car is a pain in the butt around town with lowered coilovers and the bigger sump and reckon it would make life easier to be able to raise the height around town.  I would also replace the bushings, your call about whether you replace with rubber or solid bushings. I reckon strut braces do nothing other then get in the way but hey that's just my opinion. If you do fit one, make sure its a one piece solid steel brace 13) Heavy duty clutch, lightened fly wheel and IMS replacement.  I have put this towards the end simply because of the cost and figure this will slot in whenever your current clutch wears out.  Heavy duty clutch is a no brainer for extended life, lightened fly wheel is a personal preference thing.  I like the sound and characteristics of its behaviour but it has no performance advantage and it can cause some issues with your computer as it can trick your computer into failsafe mode due to the faster drop in revs, so may need a little tuning.  Heavy duty clutch and lightened fly wheel comes in a kit from Sachs for around $3,500 then fitting.  You also need to replace the master cylinder and slave cylinder, At this point you should do the IMS and I won't bother covering that since there are a heap of other threads to cover this That's my view of the things to do to improve the 996 without blowing the budget too much or ruining what is a nice handling car to begin with.

Thanks for taking the time to make such thorough and well-explained suggestions!

Thanks a lot Carrera28, very helpful info. Ive even printed it out so thanks for taking the time. The interior of my car is already pretty good, It has a lot of genuine porsche stuff, Bose sound, Carbon pac (the gear knob was $1600) , sports seats withe head embroided logo etc etc. also has been lowered in the factory (that was an option as well)  with some sort of porsche stability control, GT3 wheels ETC ETC On the build sheet, there was nearly 40k in extras, car cost $240,000 when new !!!! Aslo has customer order paint. Car has only 50,000 km , so i think i got a good deal for 53k That yellow 996 i have actually driven, and it is the fastest car i have EVER been in .... scary fast. it has a TCP turbo kit on it. I can get one from the USA for 9k , and its just a bolt on kit, only requiring about 10 hts labour , comes with its on ecu and complete exuast system .Check them out on the net, they say it only runs small boost and dosnt affect reliability. http://www.tpcracing.com/tpc-997-996-turbo-kit.html The guy who owned the yellow on, I have spocken to and he said its been on the car for at least50,000 km trouble free. I think i will get suspention sorted first, then think about the TURBO!!! For 9k, its great value i think as it includes EVERYTHING! TCP have been in the game for over 20 years, so they now their shit. You should go take that car for a drive, its still there, it will scare the shit out of ya. Picked up my 996 today!!!!

Let's see some pics raafrebel!  Interested to see the custom colour and other goodies!

Sounds like you have purchased a pretty clean original car, would be a same to mod it with a bolt on turbo IMO.

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Sounds like you got a great buy!  congratulations and where's the photos. I agree with the above.. drive it as is for now, get used to it and then do some mods.. will help reunite your passion for the car as you get used to it. Where's the pics! I agree with Hugh here - buy the 996TT later on if you want a Turbo.

Im in the process of posting a few pics shortly and i will post em in the photo section As far as adding a turbo to this car (not that it really needs it), Ive been for a drive in an identical one with the TPC kit installed. Its a bolt on bolt off application. The one i drove was by far thefastest car i have ever been in . Thats a big statment as i have owned many performance cars and motorcycles. Ireally did want to buy a turbo porsche, but for me , BUDGET is a big factor. Yes, I could have sold a couple bikes from my collection to fund one, but they are expensive to buy from the start. The turbo kit ca be bought, installed for around 12-15k. Thats pretty cheap performance for 100hp gain. when i was racing ducatis, on average, it costs $1000 for 1 horse power. Eg, I installed hot cams and a powre comander to one of my race bikes, that cost me just under 8k. On the dyno, I acheived an extra 8hp, at the wheel. 15k for an extra 100hp?? absolute bargin!!!! I also agree wit thanks, to everyone that posted about suspention. That will be my first thing i do. On motorcycles, its everything !! On a standard ducati 998, just by adjusting the suspention to suite your style, gained me 3 seconds a lap at eastern creek over standard settings, so i know what thats all about. It is a beutifull car though, and i defenatly dont want to spoil it. I might agree to most and just leave it as it is exept for suspention. hahah, Im sure most aggree though , you can never have "too" much power!! after having this car for only a few days now, I cant seen to be able to remove my ass from the seat!! Man, how good do these things go??!! what a great car, im pretty impressed with my first porsche!! I should have bought one years ago instead of playing with American cars. But what do you expect from a yank!!

Hi raafrebel. I `ve seen no posts since your enthusiasm in 2014. I wonder if you`re still in Oz and still have the 996 ?  I have one and assuming you`re at Richmond, am not far away in the Blue Mts. I`d appreciate speaking to you and exchanging experiences...not least about your drive in the yellow turbo`d car which is still for sale in Sydney.  Please make contact. Rupert 0403616512

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Interesting post to pull out of the archives. The comment about cost per horse power I found amusing / interesting in context of the discussion.  Eg 15k for 100hp is indeed pretty cheap.  But very one sided.  To add some balance / context,  the first additional circa 80hp or so can be had on a 996 tt for as little  usd $895 plus delivery from the US (box half the size of a shoe box).  After that the cost curve does indeed go hyperbolic and closer to being a much steeper vertical  line and its way more than 15k for the next 100hp if  chasing numbers is your thing on a 996tt.  Just  a view but I think its a waste of time  putting on a turbo (supercharge = maybe if na power not enough) on a na 996.  It will never be a turbo and 15k budgets easily  balloon out to 20k+ when all done if not wrenching yourself.  Plus need a niche buyer to pick it up when selling.  Better off bitting the bullet and saving some more dollars and the mod budget and stretching to buy the real deal. (made that mistake before, eg end up replicating a lot of the  original, eg same sort of parts and costs you a pretty penny doing it by part number).   Wait is well worth it and suspect when its time to sell, I would be surprised if any red is seen and probably easier.  Hasn't been a new 996tt manual on the market that passes the sniff test in the last 4 months .  Plus it appears 996tt's have dropped since then so the relative difference between na 996's and turbo's may have narrowed.    (eg changing times, eg 996 gt3 back in 2014 were cheaper / on par with good 996tt's plus at the other end , I posted on the forum was similar  / conditioned 996 4s within about 10k km of a 996 turbo with similar spec / condition for a delta of a mere  a 3k in terms of initial asking advertised price to purchase price within the last twelve months.

The best advice given in this thread is the updated sump of track days are on the menu.  Find the 'apollo 911' videos to see a 996 go bang at the track.   Amateur commenter consensus was oil starvation in a high km motor.  Whether true or not it's definitely something to consider.

Dont mod her yet... get used to the way she handles and then tick off the the stuff that needs improving. The ecu doesnt give much in performance gain. Infact the whole 996 engine gains power from internal work rather than external.. If you want power like i do.. just save up and go for a 4.0lt stroker kit which gives it 400hp. In our cars that are light, that is blisteringly fast lol.

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Googled all that ages ago and can remember it was only a UK guy that does supply this - has anyone in AU modded the 996 to that degree?  Was it Fitzgerald (BoxHill) that did the whole hog on a gt3  996?  I am being lazy - could you please share what you know Pokiou

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i thought oil starvation is only when you're running slick/semi slick tyres on it. but yeah saw that vid and it was very interesting.

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Jake Raby and LN engineering in the US offer a 3.8L and 4.0L package.

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autohaus do it and they did a similar work to the cayman or a boxster. If you call them they do give some info. I know thats what ill be going for.

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I hope that I never have to do a rebuild of my M96 but if I did it would be epic to rebuild it myself. I'd enrol in the Raby engine rebuild webinar and go from there. The parts list to rebuild the engine is huge let alone the labour on top of that... In the states the value of the engine surpasses the value of the car (996 models specifically). Luckily here that isn't quite the case.

I wouldnt mind getting in on that engine rebuild class!!! I've always wanted to rebuild an engine!!! But yea i home it never comes to that!.

The Americans make me super paranoid! Almost weekly that someone's 996 starts ticking over there, not good. Fortunately I think overall the 996s here have been treated a bit better than over there and we also don't have the cold that they do which has been said is a possibe contributor.

Having known a few Americans.. a lot of them treat there european cars likes american v8's, rough and also self fixing and serving and never on time.. most of that can fly on an LS motor but not a Porsche engine.

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Generally yes, but a sustained high g corner whilst overdriving the car could theoretically induce it. Spinning it at speed can have the same effect.... which he did, but I don't think it had oil starvation as he should of had fuel starvation issues as well. I think he just stalled it when he forgot to clutch in as it went backwards.