You don't really "need" anything for a DE, the car is so above and beyond most sporty cars that it will hold up fine on track. DE's are like accelerated wear, tires and brakes will wear out quicker (more so in most cars then the Carrera). So having dedicated DE tires is probably the best place to start, do some events then see where you want to change the car. Also, if you are going to DE's, I'd start measuring your brake pad wear and keep an eye on your rotors, you don't want to be in the middle of a weekend and run out of brake pads.

Here is where I learned the brake pad lesson (heavy awd car), backing plates do not stop the car well:


That being said, LSDs are great in every car. The quaife, I assume, is torsen based so you won't get the parking lot sharp turn chatter like a heavy loaded clutch plate LSD, but they all help you put the power down. Remember that differentials work in both acceleration and decceleration, again not sure how the quaife is designed, but in clutch-type LSD's you have a ramp angle on both sides and while often times they are the same, they can be different thus having a different affect depending on which way you load it.

just go out and run some DE's first and see how the car does stock.

 

Thanks for the good advice, I have been carried away with the mods.. My first track day is just this wknd and am not driving just observing. Thanks again. I'm tracking my car Jan 3rd.

 

Yeah guys. If you haven't driven a car WITH an LSD and then one without back to back, it's hard to understand the value here. It's so important. You can get on throttle earlier, the PASM can be left ON and it will still let you really wag the tail, it will put power down far better, and I find that it's better with getting on the gas after trail braking.

Cattman, if you're that far in today, you should really do the LSD. I didn't see it on your list. With the tranny out, I highly suggest putting a Quaife in.

 

Blakt Out;
I appreciate the advice. I spoke my tech about adding the LSD today, and he said on my car it's not worth it. He said unless I am certain to do a SuperCharger, then fine, but at 400hp it's not necessary. Yes, my car is a daily-driver, but I do run it HARD daily.

Your take?

He said it's also a multi-thousand dollar project.
CATTMAN

 

i'm not blakt out, but while yes an LSD is expensive (it is inside your driveline), you can offset install cost by grouping it with clutch replacement.

I disagree on not needing one unless you have 400hp. Any car can benefit from an LSD. I have a VW Rabbit 2.5 and that thing has issues putting power down. While I agree with the tech in that it may not justify the cost to many owners, i disagree it holds no value to lower hp cars. Differentials give you more grip/traction, that means you can brake later, accelerate sooner and harder and carry more speed. While this example is in terms of "track time", there are few upgrades that can have such an impact on the car.

I'm dissapointed Porsche didn't offer the LSD as a factory option for the 997 CS.

 

Cattman,

I totally disagree with your dude, respectfully of course. You already have the stuff out, so you're saving BIG on install. Also, I got mine from Dan at Vivid for $1649 plus $35 extra on shipping. Install won't be too much because, again, you're in.

My car was just in a big shootout test for Excellence Magazine. I actually got to fly out and be the fourth driver in the test. One car there didn't have the LSD but it had TERRIFIC everything else. The car also had about 350 CRANK hp. The car didn't reach its potential at all because of its open diff. This was a backroads test, and coming out of any 2nd gear corner and half of 3rd gear corners it would spin the inside wheel. Whereas other cars with the LSD, even with inferior suspensions, could come out of the corner on power even if the front wheels weren't straight.

I know you're there now having your car worked on, and I know that now isn't the best time for surprises to the wallet. But I strongly suggest ALWAYS doing the LSD and LWFW at the same time while it's all out (and the clutch if it makes sense). I'd rather skimp on other items. That flashing light in the gauge telling me that traction control is getting me is REALLY a frustrating bulb to me.

Jared

 

I have grouped my mods, CO + Sways, Exhaust + Intake, Seats+Harnesses, LSD + LWFW. I feel that if I am going to improve one area, I make sure I figure out the best solution. In the case of the LSD and LWFW, my goal was to improve corner exit speed. These two mods made the most sense to me when I started thinking about getting more power to the road. Grip and quicker Revs to get to max HP. I really don't think a NA engine can make any real gains with bolt on stuff and software. Forced induction is the only way to improve this, and since 500HP would scare me in this car, I decided to increase the use of the power that I already had.

 

I've decided to skip the LSD today. I get a good deal on labor, so can do it later if I want to.

So I took at look at my tranny while it was out, and saw the clutch was worn nearly to the rivets. The new SachsStage2 is a totally different company, and much heavier duty. The hi-performance pressure plate is also significantly more heavy duty. But the real beauty was the LWFW. Stock honestly weighs close to 50 lbs! The new single mass LWFW is about 12.5. Should be a big difference. I'll find out tonight. The guys at the shop were pretty enthused about the upgrade.


Meanwhile, are there any other suggestions for adding HP to a NA car? Not sure there are.

 

This is a very very very good post. Car wisdom right here. There's going to be people that search through and find this post many months from now. Everyone, this is a post to pay attention to.

How do I add rep? I never have done that. Want to on this one.

Jared

 

Don't think so, buddy. Let us know what you think of the mods!

 

I echo above, not really. You could start messing with the intake manifold, cleaning up flow, maybe while you're in there, work the ports on the heads, but you're going for the last little bit at that point, and the price to hp would hardly justify it. Maybe if you can drop on X51 parts, that might be cost effective. This is not exactly a run-of-the mill motor that say VW puts in a million different cars. This motor has been done over and over by porsche for a long time, so it's pretty well sorted. I doubt (could be wrong) there is some magic to be found without adding the SC.

I'd start going after weight, muffler bypass instead of muffler, no back seats, start pulling out interior stuff, cd changer and what not. Lighter wheels, replace rear glass w/ plastic. At some point you have to say this is a street car and that last 10lbs may not be worth it.

 

When pulling out the old throw-out bearing, they discovered that I had a slave cylinder leak, so that's being repaired. This is getting costly.

Looks like, from what's been said, the only next logical step would be a SuperCharger.

Blakt Out: did you do yours in NC? I am in ATL and would need a good installer when I am ready.
CATTMAN

 

Glad I stirred up this discussion, thanks guys very informative. I think I'll wait and run the warrenty out before I go adding a SC. Maybe...

 

Do you have any warranty left? This should be a warranty item.

 

Thanks for the compliment Jared, I guess one post out 2300+ isn't bad