2003 996 Turbo X50 Manual, w/ 63k Miles, All Stock

Saturday Night Only Car, not a daily driver,

Right now the parts order list looks like this:

Kline Innovations Complete Exhaust without Cats.
IPD 74mm Plenum
74mm Throttle Body
997.1TT Intake manifold
EVO Boost Hose Kit + F Hose
Forge Motorsport Diverter Valves
K&N Panel Filter for Stock AirBox
Markski 3.5" Direct Replacement Intercoolers
GT2 Slave conversion
RSS Engine Mounts
Bilstein's PSS10
18" Forgestar F14 Wheels &
997 SSK Short Shifter


What Clutch?
What Tuner?
Pin the Coolant Fittings Now or No?
What am I missing?

Thanks,

Newbie Porsche Owner

 

Nice list

GT2 clutch disc + 764 pressure plate... Stock feeling while supporting exhaust/tune++ cars. I believe part #'s are: 88 1864 001 098 Disk, 88 3092 999 764 Pressure Plate

Lots of great tuners to choose from, if you have one that is nearby, that might be the best route. I am leaning toward Cobb AP personally.

I think you will find that most folks on here will recommend against going with a reusable air filter. The stock paper filter cleans the air going into the turbos much better and stock setup does not become a real restriction until really big power levels. Opinions seem to be mixed but I will only run oem paper filters on my Turbos

I'm sure others will chime in with more suggestions.

Welcome aboard!!

PS. I will just add that, I'm sure you are planning to do the mods over time so I would suggest doing the suspension/alignment, then exhaust and tune and go from there. These mods really transform the car and might just make you happy enough

 

Those intake mods won't get you much. Scratch those and get some turbos and injectors. I would go with thicker intercoolers also. Spend a little more on the wheels. Maybe some flow formed HRE's.

 

Also the 710N diverter valves are cheap and work fine.

 

As far as tuner, it really depends on your goals and what you are looking for, but Kevin at UMW and Sam at By Design seem to come highly recommended. I really like the Cobb Accessport tuning setup.

I agree with gophaster's clutch recommendation.

I would go ahead and pin the coolant lines for peace of mind as soon as possible. They can come out even if the car isn't tracked or driven hard.

As far as air filter, I run BMC panel filter in stock airbox, I chose BMC because Porsche uses that filter manufacturer as OEM in some applications (RS 4.0, 991 GT3RS). Who knows if it gains power, I did some datalogs that show positive results and it seems to have more induction noise. You'll get a lot of opinions here, some will say delete the stock airbox and run a no MAF tune with filters in the fenderwells or directly on turbos. Personally I am in the midst of converting to 997.1TT airbox and will be going with a no MAF tune. I chose this route because the 997 airbox has an outlet for each turbo and shorter/more direct turbo inlets than the convoluted mess that is the OEM 996 intake tract. It will still pull cool air from the factory location, and is an OEM part so it won't look like a hack job. Not exactly easy conversion though.

Personally, I would add an LSD to the list, but if you aren't tracking the car it probably doesn't matter as much if any.

I agree with brnrdtns on possibly thinking of upgrading turbos vs changing all the plenum/TB stuff at this stage. It won't hurt, but the HP/$ ratio isn't very favorable at this stage of the game from what I have researched.

Shifter is personal preference, I'd recommend trying a few out, I like the 997.2 GT3 shifter better than the 997SSK.

Intercooler wise, it depends on your goals. If you want big power and drag racing, maybe go with a larger cooler. If you are planning to do some driving events on road course or auto-x, think about the 997 GT2RS coolers. They have their flaws, especially at really high boost, but are lightweight compared to the others and have proven to be very hard to beat in some tests done by members with aftermarket ICs as far as keeping things cool and heat dissipation after a pull.

TL;DR- Hard to say what is good choice without knowing what you plan to do with the car. If it is just a take out to dinner or the occasional car show/cruise I think you don't need to do much at all if anything. They are awesome and comfortable cruisers in completely stock form and modding changes the nature of the beast, can effect reliability, etc.. There is give and take.

Oh, and good tires. Don't skimp on the rubber.

 

before i did anything i would do a complete 60 service. drive the car for a bit to get used to the feel and decide as your driving what power goals and type of driving you want the car to be modded for. then do a build list. for example theres no need for air filter in the box and forge divertors if you end up with a mafless file. there are a few different choices when it comes to intercoolers and you can get a complete 74mm t/b and plenum from other sources for less than the cost of the ipd plenum itself. and no worries about the internal checkvalve failing. unless your adding a good bit of power the 997 intake setup w=ont gain much but will drain the wallet!

lots to learn enjoy the car and build the list slowly

 

Its an X50 car so you already have K24's. Here's where I would start.

First Service the car and perform a **Boost Leak Test***
- Spark Plugs
- Exhaust without Cats.
- Aftermarket F Hose
- Factory Boost Hoses are fine change the O-rings if they are leaking
- 710N Diverter Valves
- K&N Panel Filter for Stock AirBox
- Direct Replacement Intercoolers (Many Choices Marksi/Proto/997 GT2 etc..
- Bilstein's PSS10
- Markski or Protomotive Tune

As far as the wheels (I had forgestars on a previous C63 and would never buy them again. They all had a hop on the balancer when brand new)

Clutch - see what others or your tuner recommends

 

Thanks All,

Any issue with Forgeline Wheels besides the price tag? Is there anything between the price of ForgeStar and Forgeline? I was thinking $6k for Wheels & Tires not $9k,

500-550 HP at Tires and a very low 11 second or high 10 second timeslip in the 1/4 mile should keep me happy for a while. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Might try a 1/2 mile event here in Texas, Might make it to the drag strip 2-3X a year, Might try out a Road Course Event here in Texas. Will definitely go out late on a few Saturday nights and early Sunday mornings,

Sounds like upgraded Fuel System and Upgraded Turbos will be necessary. I will likely do all the work & upgrades all at once. Can I just do injectors and the fuel pump or is more required?

Anyone have a great example car or build thread I can look to that fits the description?

Buy new turbos or send these off to get rebuilt?

Sounds like I should take the car to COBB in Austin for tuning or get with Marski, EVOM or Protomotive remotely,

Car runs well now, feels right but needs to be lowered and needs at least 20%-25% more power in my opinion.

Thanks,

Newbie Porsche Owner

What is this you speak of? Where?

 

I just did almost exactly what you are looking to do. Right down to the forgeline wheels which should be here next week. I'm in Lafayette Louisiana about 3hrs from you if you want to come take a ride in the car. See link to my build thread below.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...eet-build.html

 

Skip the filter, the MAF and the convoluted piping are a greater restriction. Measure the pressure drop near the turbo inlet and you'll see! I went with fender inlets but the power level you're going for may not warrant it but would certainly speed up spool.

I'd consider injectors or a regulator in the mix - injectors are better. Throttlebody is a restriction but don't go huge, plenum buys you little but SRM sells a good one that will fit any TB you want - not a first thing to do. If you have K24 turn them up first before tweaking them and save some cash! Turbos need not be done right away especially with K24.

I like the SRM intercoolers and the newest setup is an improvement over mine too. Thick, flow great, the instruments on mine show big temp drops and near ambient outlet temps. Install takes some work but if you have hand tools and time you can do it in a garage.

Cobb or one of the good tuners are a good choice but not an off the shelf tune for sure - this can be done remotely although dyno is best. Clutch will go with upgrades so be prepared for that and consider a GT2 slave when that's done.

 

Skip the K&N...

 

Aren't the flow form HRE wheels about 2250 a set? Check those out.

 

closer to 4k$ and no different than the forgestar wheels for twice the price

 

For great, light weight wheels have a look at the OZ HLT models. They are light, strong and right around $2k. Their wheels are built with correct Porsche center bore (no need for centering rings) and also are built to use Porsche wheel lugs (not conical aftermarket lugs). OZ wheels have oem fit and finish, can't go wrong

 

Get an exhaust and tune and do the plugs/MAF/coils, you'll get more power and lower the rpm where it hits.
Check for boost leaks and drive it.
The tune will fry your clutch and then you can pull the motor to do the pinning and other maintenance while it's out.
Suspension and motor and trans mounts will make a huge difference.