A Tune and Exhaust are the best bang for the buck. ( I leave up to the owner on which tune and which exhaust). PSS10 worth it for the street and if you don't go nuts with the lowering you won't have to change a bunch of other suspension parts. The 997SSK shifter certainly worth it, transforms the tranny. Motor mounts and tranny mount as these are soft and wear out rather quickly. These are also easy and not to expensive DYI's. ( I put headers on only because i got them cheap and this is the first Porsche i've owned you can put headers on without losing your heater. They also take 30 minutes to put on compared to hours in most cars.) 19 inch wheels a total waste and actually make the car handle worse. I am considering intercoolers as they help accross the entire rev range.

 

I think that's a loaded question.

For my setup I run the following:

Turbos
60+lb Injectors (required if you plan on ever running race gas, but you can get away with a 5 bar with pump only)
Audi 710N Diverter Valves (they cost a fraction of the billet units and need no maintenance). They don't stick or tear.
Stock Y-pipe - my aftermarket y-pipe always caused boost leaks and didn't really do anything at my 650-700 power level
Stock throttle body and plenum
Exhaust (required)
If you're running K24s or bigger (hybrids) you need a 1 bar wastegate springs. There is no way around it, this is simply a mechanical need to keep the exhaust pressure from forcing open your wastegates and limiting desired boost.
Suspension
Sway bars (especially rears)
wider front tires
more front camber
Better tires (this is where most people get lost). There are tires that are virtually street slicks and there are performance tires of every gamut. Most any R compound tire will outperform even the best street tires in the dry. The issue is do you drive the car in the rain? ...and how may miles do you expect to get out of the tires. A great set of tires will out-handle a fully setup car with totally stock suspension and great performance tires.
case in point:

 

Great list of mods...

I hadn't considered some of the basic Porsche upgrades like a 997SSK and 997 trans mount, but those are excellent items to note as an upgrade on our cars. I did quite a lot of research and ended up with the 7GT3 shifter from Suncoast and really have enjoyed it.

The other one you brought up that isn't often mentioned was tires. You're dead on with that one... No matter what mods you have, a good set of tires will make/break a setup. And to go one step beyond that; I think a GREAT mod to add on is a good alignment. No matter what setup you have, you need the proper alignment to functionally put the power or handling to use.

Good thoughts, good thoughts. I like!

 

Can you expand on this? Assuming that you are not decreasing the width of the rim, handling should improve. I'm also assuming that you didn't buy wheels that were significantly heavier than stock?

I'm looking for some 19's now, though I'm open to possibly staying with 18's. I want to run wider tires.

 

I think tires and an alignment are crutial but, I would not consider them a mod. Reason being and I'm going out on a limb by saying this but hear me out, they are only important to someone who knows how to drive, the level of performance at which the cars is at and how you use it ie.. street, track, drag.

If the car remains stock, the stock tire sizes are ok. That being said, don't get hung up on 10-12 year old tire technology vrs new tires. I realize newer tires will kill the OEM tires from 2001-04.

Meaning, yes they improve the car but, if you have no idea how to drive, it doesn't matter as you probably won't over drive the oem tires on the street.

 

damn, so everything i've done to my car has been a total waste of time and money and hasnt improved it at all

 

Don't be so narrow minded. Your quote .

This post is perfectly fine for someone who only drives their 996TT to the grocery store and back. Which is a tiny demographic on the 6.

 

Is that the best you have? This is why this forum is tough, no real world data. Here is a list of cars sold by PCNA. Even if only 1/4 of them are stock, and that is a lot of cars, they probably will not be driven to the point of needing better tires. I bet a few are sitting in bubbles and a few will never even be driven.

Total # of 996 TT sold in U.S. by PCNA: 6,604 Coupes,2,556 cabs

2001 Coupe: 2418
2002 Coupe: 2318
2003 Coupe: 1384
2003 Cab: 482
2004 Coupe: 298
2004 Cab: 1490
2005 Coupe: 186
2005 Cab: 604

Total # of 996 GT2 sold in U.S. by PCNA: 317

2002: 198
2003: 90
2004: 24
2005: 5

 

lols...

wider front tires are a HUGE improvement for the TT. Not sure why you would not call it a mod - pedantics perhaps?

Were talking about a sports car that is set up more like a GT from the factory. 235 vs 225 front (and coilovers, and good alignment) really wake up the turbos front end. Way LESS understeer, a touch of drop throttle oversteer - awesome)

personally - i think the biggest/most dramatic emhancements at the lowest cost comes from.

1. Exhaust
2. ECU
3. PSS9/10 (medium duty coilover)
4. 235/18 front tire

re: the 19" wheels, its a known fact that the 996 platforma suspension geomeetry was deaigned specifically for 18" wheels. Unsprung mass aside, the 19" wheel is associated with poorer cornering performance. Evil wants data? simply ask the factory and private ALMS teams...


or better yet, search ths (and other track oriented) forum or better yet - take it to the track - since you seem so keen on reinventing the wheel. Many of us have been around this board and the porsche scene for a long time. We spent tons of money sorting stuff out AGES ago.

Seriously, just do a search....

 

Heck no it's not my best. But my best may hurt your feelings. I said on the 6, (6Speedonline) THIS forum. This forum has hands down the MOST REAL WORLD DATA on 996 turbos.

Your posts make my head hurt. Do your research on THIS forum, and then come back and post something relevant to the conversation.

 

First off, I am not re inventing the wheel. Just trying to figure out which wheels are the best by using real tried and true testing.
2. I didn't ask is 19" wheel is a good mod or not so, no worries there.
3. I search this forum a lot. You are right, there is alot of information here and I am happy about that.
4. To your quote, Personally, I do not want spend a lot of money sorting things out over AGES. If I do not know what works and doesn't work, I look for the people who do and ask them to school me as to why. I'm not a parts changer. If there is a need to buy something to test it, trust me, I will. The difference is, I have no buyers remorse and will show failure.

My only point is that a lot of it is in the fashion of, "I bought "x" and it feels like "x". I'm not being trying to be a jerk nor am I trolling for trouble. I just like full on data because it is hard to make a decision based on the "butt-o-meter".

Staying on the subject of tires, without a lot of controls, it is hard to determine which tires are the best. I know what your saying and agree, the right size tires per their application is crutial.

 

Ok, I hear you but, yet disagree. That doesn't mean my posts are irrelevant. If that is your angle(and it appears to be your only one). Why don't you just ignore my posts?

The subject is" The mods, which are a waste of money?"

Personally, I think this is a good post yet you seem to think(aside from the OP and others who posted), that I am the only person who doesn't search and this thread does not command respect or data driven answers. Why don't you focus on helping rather than showing your prowess and desire to hurt people feelings.

Sorry to the OP, I'm just looking for answers myself.

 

A Bad Dyno operator is a waste...As I am dealing with now..

 

Agreed. But by that logic then, a wider wheel would help as well.

The 996 was designed for 18" wheels, but there are many running a 19" combo. Is it just opinion that our cars have poorer cornering performance, or fact?

I'm more inclined to believe that if performance is hurting running a 19" wheel, it's because the tires were not properly sized. The accepted size tire to keep the total diameter the same is 235/35/19 for the front, and 315/25/19 for the rear.

Going with a 19" wheel by itself shouldn't correlate to poorer handling. In fact, it should be marginally better due to less sidewall flex of the tire.

 

I run both setups - 18" and 19". There is no doubt the 18" setup is going to perform/feel better, but not with the stock size tires. You can upgrade the width on the 18", while maintaining the ratio front to rear. The problem with the 19's is that they have more unsprung weight which is not what you want for optimal performance.

I stick with 19's for the street because they look good and provide more performance than I will ever need on the street. However, for the track, the 18's with some Hoosiers does some wonders with the light turbo twists.