I went to the RUF Sport springs to lower my '04 Cab and then after a year switched to PSS 10's as the RUF were too choppy.
I started down the slippery slope of mods with a $5k budget also (at least that's what I told the wife). Was going to do a Sport exhaust only at first. Wound up, over 12 month period doing Sport Exhaust which drove need (?) for headers, diverters and Cats! This evolved to ECU "flash" which then evolved to TCU "flash" (car is TIP) and of course the Mass Air flow came along. Not set with this did the PSS 10's and the Big Brake upgrade (Yellow calipers and iron rotors) plus a set or BBS RS-GT's, Recaro Sport Seats and a Carbon Fibre "paddle" shifting steering wheel. All of this done up in Vancouver where everything is more expensive. Sure clobbered the original budget! However, car is fast with immense torque and is easily driven in the city or the highway.

 

my wife still thinks that I only had the exhaust changed.

 

Haha, I knew I would eventually fall into the same spiral and wanted to be on the look out for specific part deals as they popped up. I'm not opposed to used parts since I'm handy with a wrench. I've decided to buy a softronic flash and exhaust to start with. This is also my first 911 Automatic and since I have not seen alot of forum chat about the "TIP flash", I'd like to hear your feedback!

BTW; I've taught my wife too much, so I'll never get away with unnoticed upgrades...She would be upset because I didn't involve her in the install!

 

Can't say too much technical on the TCU flash. My indie recommended it strongly when doing everything else so that the shifting etc. would match up with the new power and torque curves. Everythink is just natural but I would say shifts seem a little more "crisp" both going up and down.

 

I have a TCU flash; it is a relatively good mod considering for the price.