Best Mod Under $500?

As a company that focuses on Porsche accessories, we love hearing what small but impactful upgrades owners are making to their 987s. Mods can get expensive quickly, but what’s the best upgrade under $500 that you’ve done?

My vote goes to Sprint Booster , with 2nd place going to LED swap for all exterior lighting.

Sprint booster . Transforms the throttle to the way it should have been delivered!

Sprint booster is definitely something that should have been OEM.

Agree with the Sprint Booster . I haven't done many mods, but the best cost/benefit bang for my buck was a plastic tote I bought from Home Depot for +/- $20 that fits perfectly in my frunk. I've put bags of kitty litter and bags of salt for my water softner in it and had leaks from both. Saved me from having to get that stuff out of my carpet. Something I think would be great, haven't seen and could be another bang/buck item for not much money is this.

Mine came with the Sprint Booster (and Sport-Chrono ) - so nothing there. The one transformative thing I've done - under $500 more or less (depends on if you count adding an amp and 4 more speakers..) was changing to the AliExpress HereGoes head-unit. It makes the car feel modern again somehow.. I guess the Android-Auto is what does it.

1 track day.

Great question, @dasschild -- Under $500 is really the sweet spot. There certainly is a market for us P-car guys as you well know, as we've spent already quite a bit on our cars and we like to pamper them. Most of you guys already know how much I love LidLiner (I've already sung the praises of LidLiner in another thread), so let me try to impartially try and throw out other "under $500" Porsche purchases that I've made that I deem essential and which readily spring to mind without thinking too hard. (Obviously, all are under $500 if you can DIY) Head Unit upgrades, including backup cameras. This gave me Car Play (which means Waze). In my case, I went with a Sony HU for 987.2, and Joyeauto for 981 Outlaw. A solid (used) Escort radar detector (to complement Waze) Rear shelf speaker project (SPP, 987.2 Boxster) Focal speaker project (SPP, 987.2 Boxster) Trunk liner, frunk bin A used Numeric shifter with a heavyweight Raceseng shift knob (987.2) Apple AirTags Rennline phone mount

Appreciate the shoutout as always!

A cheap stock 981 exhaust tip from eBay flows way better than stock and a ported throttle body speeds and smooths the airflow in. SE-474-078, 74 mm (78 mm Eff.) Porsche 911, Cayman, Boxster, Macan, Panamera & Cayenne — Soler Performance LLC

The Das Schild lid liner was the first mod I did. Easy install and does as claimed. One possible kink is if the gas struts are tired replacement might be needed due to extra weight. The only other under $500 mod I can recall is grills and the rear sunshade.

Love to hear that you are satisfied with your Lid Liner!

I did the 981 tip as well. It os so much larger inside than the base 2.9....literally it is that exterior width all the way to the cross pipe. Gives it a little rumble but not much. I like it better than the dual tips as it fits the opening better.

Before I go ahead and snag one, just to double check here, @Stumpalump and @Ric_in_RVA -- Are you saying that a 981 base tip (guppy mouth, not the dual port) is a simple bolt on for the 987.2 2.9L that offers more flow and rumble? If so, I'm sold. Although I've gone back to a totally stock exhaust, I wouldn't say no to a little more noise and I don't need the dual S pipes. The guppy mouth on my 2.9L hasn't really bothered me.

YES but you need to grind the weld on the clamp on the right hand side so you can rotate the clamp so it won't contact the trans bracket. Other than that it bolts right up and has just a freer sounding rumble with no real increase in sound. They are cheap to find and all stainless so they clean up beautifully.

Thanks for the fast-reply, @Ric_in_RVA !!! Just ordered one off of eBay As I certainly don't want to hijack @dasschild 's fun thread here, I'll move that 981 tailpipe discussion to a new thread shortly. A few other things I forgot to add to my "fun under $500" list yesterday include the following: Surprisingly... used tires/rims combos. This purchase doesn't quite fall under the "accessory" category, but definitely so when it comes to "upgrades." ( @dasschild -- hopefully the full list will give you a good idea where my own <$500 P-car splurges go). If one keeps their eyes peeled per used stuff, one might be amazed what one can find as people do like to upgrade their gear and/or sell things off when they sell their cars. Anyhow, last year, I scored a set of OEM 987.2 Cayman rims running Michelin PS4S that needed just one rim to be straightened. Given the owner was a track guy (and I'm not), you don't want chance racing on a straightened rim -- but they would be fine for me for street use. I had my local rim guy quickly straighten the rim while I waited (which quickly snapped back into true). So for a little over $400, it was like putting a new pair of sneakers on the car with insane grip. I can't wait until both spring and post-surgical recovery to pop them back on the car! Additionally, for even less money, I also scored used Michelin winter tires a few years back that were in like-new condition and am running them as we speak. OEM P-car indoor car cover (used) - strong recommendation if you're storing the car for the winter Lightly used OEM winter/summer floormats from a 981 (fairly close fit in a 987) Inexpensive soundproofing material. If you've got a free afternoon and want to spend about $30 in tools and materials, just pop some inside your door cards (an absolute no-brainer if you're already doing your door speakers). Just like @dasschild 's awesome Lid Liner, this is the sort of thing that should have come from the factory. It makes the car sound system sound better (improves the base), quiets the internal road noise a little, and makes the door closure more satisfyingly solid -- just like a Mercedes or another luxury marque. If you're a track guy and are avoiding any extra weight -- skip this -- but I highly recommend it if you're not. I'm guessing such an omission was a weight savings thing. Looking forward to seeing other responses here.

But those are like potato chips, in that you can't do just one.

Soler Performance’s website is seriously geeky in a good way, they seem to have done their research and loved that they backed up their product with data. Thanks for sharing!

I really like this idea. My cap seems loose. I will investigate this weekend. I am sure this covers the end of a beam that traverses the door and ties into the door frame nubbin to stop side impacts form getting to the passenger compartment. Might be as simple as a hole saw or maybe a simple canvas strap/ pull tab. damn black cars...

Some more under $500…. -drain hole grates (located under convertible top) -radiator grill grates (from radiator grill store)

The cover at the upper aft end of the door pops right out. There is a tiny clip in the aft end and two small hooks forward. On the forward side there is a cast metal piece so no way to cutout a hole going forward There is enough space to get a finger on the lower more horizontal section if you put a hole there but not much and I think it would collect stuff. I also think the clips would not hold up to that kind of tugging. So for me It's back to pushing on the outside of the door handle.

• Clear side markers if the amber lenses clash with your car. This is a very easy do-it-yourself and cheap. • I got new struts for my frunk because I was tired of it hitting me in the head when I was rummaging around in there. Another cheap and easy do-it-yourself. • I doubt it's under the price cap anymore, but everyone needs yellow seat belts. • Push pins with yellow heads to hold up the drooping headliner. $2.99 on Amazon . I created a nice pattern and some people think it's actually a standard part of the car!

Great thread, look for it each day to see what others have done to their rides. Having already posted one of my mods, I’d like to add another which I didn’t give thought to originally. The sound quality of the audio system in my ‘08 Boxster had been lackluster, no surprise for a 17 year old vehicle, but reached a point where any increase in volume was met with a tinny, raspy output. So, a visit to Crutchfield ’s website, a new Boss head unit, giving me more modern amenities such as CarPlay /Android Audio, backup camera, hands free phone/text, Google/iMaps/ Waze navigation, and the addition of Kicker 2-ways speakers in the doors and Alpine tweeters in the dash, and for keeping under the $500 price point I now have a sound system that is leaps and bounds above the stock system it came with. The best part is that since the interior volume of the Boxster is so small it doesn’t take a huge amount of power, watts or amps to create a more than adequate sound response for those drives.

performance wise a Pedro’s Garage 4” Underdrive Crankshaft Pulley with serpentine belt, new bolt and lubricant, (belt is a Bando 6PK2070B) for $230 my mechanic and I were both surprise at the improvement Pedro says 5-7 hp. I have had it in for 4 years.

I also did an Interstate INTMT-MX-5 “ Miata Battery ” INTMY-MX-5 Battery 19.6 lbs. and my Custom Aluminum Bracket and all bolts 13.75 oz (0.86 lbs) Bracket 0.86 lbs so with my bracket it’s 20.46 lbs total. Stock Battery - Odyssey AGM 94R-850 54.4 lbs. (Saves 33.94 lbs.)

Only "mod" I've done so far is WeatherTech mats, so I'll say that. Everything else has been restoring to closer to OEM standard (fixing issues). That said, thanks to this thread my list of future endeavors just got longer.

How long have you been running that battery ? Do you have to keep it on a tender and does it crank well?

So far i’ve only been using it for track days, but my big battery is failing so I think I’ll try it in there on a long-term basis. My mechanic says it works. I will report back to you.

So far, I have only used it for track days, but my big battery is failing and I’m planning on installing that small Miata battery and I’ll report back to you how everything goes. My mechanic uses it in his car.

With all this talk of lightweight batteries… DO NOT INSTALL A LITHIUM BATTERY IN THESE CARS! “”Just as an FYI, there's a TSB from 2010 titled "Charging System - Unnecessary Alternator Replacement". It states that "As of model year 2007, the generator has a charge voltage of between 12.0 and 16.0 V and must be evaluated as functioning correctly in this range.”” Your perfectly good alternator will put out up to 16 volts at unexpected times. The problem is that all these new lithium cranking batteries have a BMS or Battery Management System. It protects the battery from heat and cold but the big problem is it uses a hard charge shut off when it sees input voltage above 15.5 V. That is when your alternator is pumping out 16 V with a high current and it has no place to go but to overcharge your entire electrical system. On my car, it has blown five headlights and I got lucky that it did not blow expensive electronic control boards. I called the major battery suppliers and they all said to not use a lithium and to go back to AGM. I am currently searching for a solution, but so far there really is no easy way to limit the 16V spikes at 150 Amps down to a level that will protect your car.

Great thread! Added 7mm (front) and 15mm (rear) spacers. Provides a bit of an aggressive stance IMHO.

Forgot the ultimate free mod....for a little poor mans exhaust . Grab your 13 mm socket on a small wrench. Loosen the 2 13 mm on the upper crosover....DON'T take the nuts off....just very loose. Slide it over and leave a gap between the crossovers....yes an actual exhaust leak. I slip a piece of beer can under on the top/ front side of the pipe and under the clamp. Might drone a bit if you open it all the way up. Adds a little bark to a too quiet exhaust and takes 5 mins to put back to stock. You can see mine is slid over to the right in this pic as well as a little bit of the beer can ...and some gap just above the exhaust tip.

Track day! Ze car es perfeckt already

Pedro bar also a good cheap mod. Ties the rear subframes together more solidly than the aluminum plate. Cost of some hardware and a chunk of metal.