I may have caught the mod bug.
I've been lurking on this site for months.
Reading all of these threads has inspired me.

My Porsche mechanic (from the dealer) said that the best bang for your buck mod would be an intake plenum.
He said that my car would gain 20 horses.
Is he correct?
What is the best bang for your buck mod?
Would getting an intake plenum be your first mod?
Thank you in advance.

 

Do a search on the plenum and you be the judge!

As far as first mod...High flow cats would be my suggestion.....may gain some performance but you will also gain sound!
I have AWE high flow cats and love them!

Stacy

 

I recently had PSE installed.
I know there isn't much performance gain from PSE, but I like the way PSE sounds.
Would high flow cats + PSE make the car much louder?

 

Software

 

Oye.
Search for the Plenum here and you'll get a lot of different information, and some anger and passion, too.

I am currently running it, along with just about every other penny ante non-forced-induction mod there is, and I am adding Stacy's modified Supercharger next week because most non-FI mods add up to nothing more than a hill of beans. If I had to choose just one non-FI mod, regardless of cost, exclusive of suspension or driver's ed, I'd go for the AWE cats, and choose them for 2 reasons:
1. they make a performance difference
2. they make a sound difference

I wish I were where you are. Were I, I'd skip the mufflers, headers, cold air intake, ECU flash, Plenum, etc. and go straight for a SuperCharger with AWE cats.

If you don't mind dropping your tranny, a LWFW is about the only other non-FI upgrade I'd bother with a 2nd time around.
CATTMAN

 

Yes it would........that is what freeing up the exhaust will do!
The good thing is you are able to switch between settings with pse.

Stacy

 

Wow, great reply.
I will definitely consider a super charger.
Appreciate your input.
Your SC thread is pretty cool.
Thanks,
David

 

Thanks for the replys.
Unfortunately, I didn't wire the PSE so that I can turn it on or off.
It's on "loud" all the time.
But on the bright side, the PSE isn't really that loud.
AWE cats sound interesting.
Thanks,
David

 

I had PSE and AWE high-flow cats on my Targa, along with a set of X51 headers. I was able to control my PSE. Without the control, I likely wouldn't have wanted the cats as they definitely magnify the louder setting of the PSE mufflers, which I liked on occasion but not all the time.

To me, using PSE mufflers only to get the loud mode is somewhat wasteful, as the same effect can be obtained by doing the "Gundo hack" to the factory mufflers for a lot less money than PSE mufflers, and with less weight (the PSE mufflers weigh more).

I agree with others, that all the add-ons like mufflers, headers, plenums, intakes, chips, cats, etc. add negligible measurable power improvement, with most of the improvement being psychological. For any meaningful increase in power, something you can actually feel, you need to go to a supercharger IMO. But driving lessons and good tires will make more of an improvement in track times than most aftermarket goodies, for a lot less money.

For my next C2S cab, which I hope to find soon, I won't bother with headers, cats, mufflers, plenums, or chips etc. as I don't feel they contribute enough to warrant their cost. Unfortunately, I'll have to put up with Stacy bugging me relentlessly to install the supercharger I purchased last year, that is sitting in a box in my garage.

 

I guess it's not too late to have the wiring installed for the PSE.

I'm aware that PSE is a bit on the heavy side, but I heard it at the dealer, and I fell in love with the sound.

I heard the gundo hack in person, albeit it was a modified gundo hack (it had the pipe in between the inlet and outlet, but also had an elbow added from the second outlet to the main outlet (am I making any sense?)) and I wasn't that impressed.

 

kevin, did you also have the awe or sharkwerks crosspipes? Im kicking the tires on it. tks

 

HUm, I haven't tried working out the $benfit/cost ratio directly, but one of the oft over looked "best performance gain for the $$$" (in a motor power sense) in my opinion is a light weight flywheel. Moves work done in spining up/down the engine to the wheels. Most effective in the lower gear ranges. Engine feels a lot more responsive, and is ussually viewed as saving on transmission wear & tear. Depending on the amount of weight removed, can easily be worth 15 to 20 or more bhp in 1st, a bit less in 2nd & 3rd gears on a chasis dyno chart.

Cheers

 

Yes, the LWFW is a great mod, but it's very labor intensive as it requires dropping the transmission. Thus, in terms of bang for buck, the AWE cats offer greater value, as they cost only $1,500. Labor alone on a LWFW job is about a grand.
CATTMAN

 

Actually, wear and tear on the drivetrain is increased with a LWFW. Ever wonder what that rattling noise is? The only unknown is to what extent this wear will shorted the life of the bearings.

 

There may be about 1000 posts like this one, so one suggestion is do a search and read up on things like the Plenum, cats, exhaust, software. Depends on which 997 you have (Gen 1 or 2), but there are some good options for both. On my 07 C2S I tried a variety of things and found my favorite combination for performance (1st objective, for track) and sound (also for track - so I can hear the engine with a helmet on) was: X51 headers, AWE cats, stock mufflers, Softronic software. On my 09 C2S it's Sharkwerks primary bypass and Softronic.