I have 3 cars all in various states of modding, and I'm trying to decide what to do with my 996 Turbo X50 (48k miles). This is a car that sees a lot of driving, including about 20k miles in the last year and a half. It's stock other than an MA Shaw GT2 front bumper conversion and HRE 19" wheels (43R's with Hankook V12's).

I'm planning to track the car this year, and I still have my OEM GT3 wheels which are in need of rubber. I'm thinking about getting some Hoosiers to make for serious track wheels.

Where should I go next? Yes, I'm a forum pro with lots of years on places like this (check my join date here, I'm old school), so I've searched and read lots of threads. Here's what I've arrived at:

Fabspeed exhaust
ECU tune (though not sure what to use, EPL or something else?)
H&R sway bars
X73 suspension (I have a hard time lowering it too much with how much I drive it, I already have issues with scraping the carbon lip on my bumper in way too many places!)

Motor mounts seem to be a popular choice. It has a factory short shifter and sport steering wheel, so I don't feel the need to change those. I had a lighter battery but the problem is if you parked it for a week and didn't drive it, the battery died. I'm ok with the extra weight of an OEM battery because the car gets driven a lot and with shared custody of my kids, it tends to get parked a week at a time then driven, then parked, then driven.

I also have an extended bumper to bumper warranty to consider. I've had $10k in repairs since I bought it, which I've only paid $500 or so towards. The warranty is 4 years or 48k miles so I have a lot left on it (bought used with 28k miles a year and a half ago).

I think the sway bars are a given. The exhaust and tune are also pretty much locked up, warranty be damned (though I'd like to be able to flash back stock if I have to).

The money isn't really an issue, but I'd like to keep it to $5-7k total. Where would you spend your money?

 

Similar to my setup, for track also a good alignment/corner balance will be needed once you have the X73 installed. Should also use some better brake fluid and consider brake pad upgrade, mine got a bit soft at Laguna recently. Maybe a video mount to re-cap the days events- then have a blast! I used stock tires and Sumis at the track but would like to upgrade at some later time.

Have fun!

 

Scott--

I'd wait on the sway bars til you got a good feel for the car on track as-is. We can put together a ECU flash that brings the boost in smoother for track use, and of course you can flash back to stock at any time for warranty purposes. The WEVO motor mounts are a nice upgrade, especially on track.

Quality coilovers adjusted to a stock-like ride height would probably give you the control you're looking for without ruining the ride or making your front bumper scrape everywhere.

Let me know how I can help!

 

Flash that puppy. I still can't believe what a difference it makes, and it's been a while. Robin offered to help, so you should let him and Tony do it. I couldn't be happier with my EPL X50 flash.

 

For 5 to 7K you could address a lot of things for the track that you can use in daily driving.

*You could get the vivid big brake package that allows you to use 997 rotors. SS brake lines and new synthetic brake fluid.
*Then some RSS adj toe links to the help get a more aggressive set up for the car at the track.
*Flash.
*BMC filter.
*DVs.
*Adj sways front and rear from GMG
*Adj sway links from Tarret

and still have money left over if you are OK w/ the 7K side.

Good luck and let us know what you choose.

 

Based upon your join date and reputation, you've probably forgotten more than I know but if you're going with Hoosier's, then your suspension needs to be robust enough to support an alignment that's aggressive enough to maximize their potential; coilovers, lca's, etc. If you go the full-monty, that will be tough on your street tires when you swap them out but those are the trade-offs.

If you're looking for power, the most cost effective application is in the tune; not the exhaust. My bias is obviously Evoms not only because it's performed well for me but because I think Todd Z. has a handle on high altitude tuning that others may not have. Given where we reside and run, it's worth considering.

I too have H&R sways and found them to be an improvement over OEM bars even on full-soft settings. I intend to play around with them more this coming year and get them dialed in.

Will you be running at HPR? If so, see you there! Good luck and best regards,