I just purchased an extremely well priced and very low mileage 2008 997 Cab S. I am wondering if anyone out there has any advise on a few inexpensive mods that I can do to this car. This car is a daily driver for my wife and it is our 3rd Porsche, so I don't want to spend much on this car. It just seems very underpowered. Since it is for my wife, it is the dreaded Tip. I am going to hold out for about 6 months until someone trades in a 997.2 PDK, and then we'll trade. What can I do? Can you reflash this car? I only have experience with turbo reflashes, and not an aspirated motor. Help?

 

There is little you can do that will have any measurable effect on power, unless you go with a supercharger. I'd say leave it alone and save your money on mods that won't likely deliver much satisfaction, and wait until you get an 09 with more power and PDK.

 

Good point. Do only turbo owners mod their cars? It seems that way.

 

Oh no, plenty of non-turbo owners spend lots of money to mod their cars. But the gains are very modest compared to turbo mods. You could likely spend a few thousand dollars in re-chipping, exhaust and cats, plenum, air intake, etc. and gain maybe 20 hp or so. Adding a supercharger is a major undertaking (see "justatoy's" posts here on doing his own installation), and not cheap. It would be crazy to do that if you plan to flip the car within a year. Also, my experience has been that these cars seem to become faster as the miles get higher. Just drive it and have fun.

 

spend some money on porsche sport driving school. that's the best mod you can do. then, save your pennies for tires at the track

 

I had the F77/Tubi on my car and really liked it . Even though Hp gains are modest I did notice a more assertive midrange as well as a crisp Tubi sound .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMWLpdVrhWU

Add a sport shifter , a little suspension work and some light quality wheels and you are there.

 

Switching to manual mode on the tip makes a pretty big difference, it also helps to be a little more aggressive on the throttle if you don't have sport chrono. Although I have a 6 speed, I've had a 997 tip before and really doesn't feel appreciably slower.

 

I've noted before that it seems that turbo owners mod their car more than non-turbo owners. It's interesting to speculate what is the root cause - whether it is that the car has more power upside or that turbo owners have more discretionary income, or what?
I will note that, although the na Porsche engine doesn't have any simple 'big power' opportunities, there are options to supercharge the motor, improve handling with coilovers/bars/dogbones and others. These are not inexpensive, but as I read the TT forum, the 'spend' on those cars are often at least as much.
Which makes me think it's SES, not engine configuration, that is the root cause.
Of course, this is a Porsche forum, not 'Socio-Economic Monthly'.

 

I'm sure it comes down largely to ease/price per hp. I would have no issues at all dropping a few k on a turbo when the gains are so substantial ; I do however have a harder time justifying the relatively large cost per hp when tuning my S. I've spent close to 4k already and I've seen about a 25-35bhp gain, if you spent that much on a turbo - how much extra would that net you?

I know you can SC the 997/S but if you're thinking of doing that from the outset, isn't it better to take that $15k + it's going to cost to get the SC + fitting and put it towards a turbo? I can understand people who prefer the SC or people who probably like me will keep their S for a long time when it actually becomes more viable to SC than upgrade the car ; but surely if you're considering this route immediately after purchasing, you must either be a lover of the N/A engines or would be better off going for the TT?

 

There are many Turno owners who keep them stock . I have only modified two Porsches ou of 8 owned and my other cars are stock.

For years I had never consideed tuning my cars UNTIL I rode in a car which was the same car as mine but his was modded . I got back in my stock car and thought to myself "why not?" . Thus began my desire to customize my car. That car BTW was the 997S .

As for other Turbo owners .. each has his own person reason. Some are race drivers while others like to create something different . Some Turbo owners are Tuners or wheel companies displaying their products .

As for wealth .. some Turbo owners make a huge stretch to buy the car and othrs have enormous wealth so that varies too.

My feeling is that each person has to look at his own car and into his heart to determine what this means to him . There will always be those who lease the car , park it on the street, drive it 12K miles a year , never wash it and dump it after three years . But then there are those like me who cherish this and pamper it and spend what I can to make it special and create a car that is somewhat unique .

 

I know you can SC the 997/S but if you're thinking of doing that from the outset, isn't it better to take that $15k + it's going to cost to get the SC + fitting and put it towards a turbo? I can understand people who prefer the SC or people who probably like me will keep their S for a long time when it actually becomes more viable to SC than upgrade the car ; but surely if you're considering this route immediately after purchasing, you must either be a lover of the N/A engines or would be better off going for the TT?

I've got a GT2. No need to buy a TT.

spend some money on porsche sport driving school. that's the best mod you can do. then, save your pennies for tires at the track

Now that's some descent advise I should have considered.

 

Exhaust and tips would be enough.

 

Oh I wasn't referring to you, I know you have a GT2 and this is a 3rd car but I was talking in general terms, rather more to people that only have the one P car

 

Great advice, but I feel obliged to add that the Turbo brings along this AWD thing. A feature that I and others don't find particularly appealing. The weight, the feel, the 'automation' make me want to stick with the 'S', or the GT*. For where I live, and my driving needs, if I only have one P-car (and I do), I'd like a Cab. So, putting all of those factors together and you're left with a 997S - and the options of modifying that to taste.
If I had a second, your GT2 (well, not YOURS) would be the P-car at the top of my list.

 

There are NA guys and "turbo" guys in the car world. You will find NA guys have a profound respect for pure driving enjoyment and absolute speed and acceleration take a back seat. Then their are the "turbo" guys that to me, care more about all out speed than driving enjoyment. Not that being slammed into the seat isnt enjoyable. I realize I am over generalizing here. There are obviously exceptions to the rule and keep in mind I am not just talking Porsches here. S2000 guys vs. DSM guys, 335i owners vs. M3 owners etc etc.....

I decided a while ago that I was more of an NA guy. Not that I wouldn't ever own a TT but that driving was more than just speed for me. The feel of the car mattered, how I interacted with it mattered. I am also, not really a track guy so I did not need something that could do 200mph. I have found that in some ways my beat up 98 M3 can be just as fun as my 997S. In the M3 I can get on an on ramp, mash the pedal, and listen the engine sing to redline in more than 2 gears while I merge into traffic. In my 997S I get through about 2 gears before I go "Oh Sh$t" and have to slow down to merge into traffic. I cannot even imagine how stunted the road driving experience in a GT2 must be in day to day traffic. (not that I wouldn't enjoy finding out)

Anyway, I mod to increase what I crave in my driving experience, good handling, a nice sound, good looks, and crisp clean and smooth throttle response.... If money were no object I would probably be a GT3RS owner.

Jason