Ron, what is your opinion about installing forced induction on those cars? I am still undecided about all this. On one side it is a gain of almost 100 horses, on other side I do not think 997 engine was even designed to handle such abuse...

What do you think?

 

Hey Old Guy, have not heard from you in a while. Could you please find this law because I had Softronics on my 07 and I wanted to do it again for my 09 but did not due to the Porsche Zone rep and PCNA telling me it would void the warranty on the powertrain and other electrical parts of the car. I was told Porsche is now very strict with warranty if a car has had the ECU altered.

I came into this when my car was in for a cracked header weld last year. The Porsche Rep said too much exhaust heat caused it and asked if the ECU or any other modifaction have been done to the car. The dealer called me to see if I had altered the ECU. They wanted to see what I would tell them. I told them no but I've thought about it. I was told that if the ECU is altered that the new header which has the Cat welded to it would NOT be covered under warranty and I am looking at around $2000+ for a new part. They went into my electronics and could see the car is stock except for Tubi mufflers. Mufflers are fine and do not effect the warranty thus my car was fixed under warranty.

I was safe on this deal so I called PCNA and talked with my dealer service manager and the zone rep. Again I was strongly told that Porsche is now strictly enforceing the warranty on a car that has been modified by the ECU, intake parts including air box and of course any internal mods. It was also explained to me that altering the Cats or headers on my 2009 will void the powertrain warranty.

These are my recent experiences. Both dealers in town use to sell GIAC or REVO ECU mods along with other exhaust and intake mods. They no longer sell these and strongly advise against them if you want to keep your warranty with Porsche. Remember the warranty is through Porsche not the dealer no matter if the dealers says no worry's it is covered if the dealer installs it...this is not true in the slightest. If something goes wrong with the car the Porsche Zone Rep will check it out and ask for the ECU print out and Porsche not the dealer will say if the car is covered under warranty.

 

For the track I'd say NO WAY...do not do it. Unless the engine internals are designed (i.e different pistons for lower compression, uprated valve train and ECU) to handle forced induction like a super charger.

 

I spoke to service manager about that and he told me following - they at dealership can close eyes in exhaust things as they will unscrew all of that prior to shipping broken engine to Porsche. But they ship ECU with engine.

He also told me what I already knew - headers are most important parts as they control output pressure from cylinders. Altering diameter of headers will significantly change those parameters that may lead to vibrations in the engine and subsequent failure of crankshaft. Same thing happens with lightweight single piece flywheel - even if clutch if replaced with sprung suspended one.

So essentially exhaust and intake mods are up to mercy of dealership but ECU and engine internals are not as it is not dealership who decides to give you new engine or not.

At least this is what I was told. I got car in that dealership with my fabspeed x-pipe since and they did not say a word. But I was told very specifically that ANY ECU flash is a third rail for warranty and there are no workarounds there if it is discovered.

Again, with all that being said - softronic is fully reversible so all you have to do if you blow your engine is to tow your car to your home first, flash it back and after that tow it to the dealer.

 

I am very concerned about valves as I get hydraulic lifters knocking after auto-x runs and I guess X51 engine had engine head rebuilt for reason as well.

I spoke to VF-E and they also spoke about limits like 400 horses is a max 3.6 block can handle without 'lubrication' issues.

On other side a lot of folks run FI cars on a track just fine. Go figure.

 

Thanks ronct. That's what I was looking for.

 

Honestly, I would never add super or turbo charging. If you want 100 horses, trade in for a Turbo. The factory got it right with the 997 Turbos. I'm plenty happy wih my car and on tracks I know like the back of my hand I still get spooked at just how fast it is, like the back straight right before the uphill at Lime Rock.

 

Thanks for your input! We were basically told the same things other than Porsche Zone Rep and PCNA told me no mods other than mufflers which I outlined in detail in my post above.
I will be honest with you all....I cannot afford to replace an engine or want to pay for any other issues with my car. I will pay for brakes, tires and could pay for shocks but that is as far as I want to go. Like RonCT said our 09 Carrera S is scarey fast at times on the track so keeping the car with in warranty is fine with me.

 

Mike I dont know the law specifically but the ECU and Exhaust should be exempt from voiding the warranty. If that was so all the tuners wouldnt be in business. Ask Sharky
those guys or Viper Bob in your area should know. It also may be state related as opposed to Federal. I think I am quoting a California code. It may differ state to state.

 

Hummm, as you can see from reading my thread Porsche will void the warranty. I can't believe tuners because they are in business to sell a product and will most likely tell you anything. I can certainly understand why a car company would void the warranty if the ECU was tampered with. I wish I knew of an exact law. I know there is a law about a car company can not tell you what brand of oil or tires to use...you just have to use the correct spec of oil or tires....an ECU is a different story.

 

Yea I read it all, but I am pretty good friends with my Porsche mechanic at my dealer.
He was the one who told me they are NOT allow (in SoCal) to void the warranty on ECU or Exhaust. I followed up on it when he told me but that was when I had the Manthey 996 GT3 (the First owner of that car told me the same thing, because I was nervous about my warranty). Then I had a RMS leak and I took it to my dealer as it was still in warranty. I asked my mechanic about the warranty with the Manthey ECU, exhaust, and racing cats. Thats when he told me that the owner has rights with the ECU, and exhaust. So I asked him about putting in the LWF and clutch. He did that with Porsche parts and I kept my warranty intact. Now if you go inside he said then Porsche has rights(Cams, rods etc etc).
That wouldnt keep Porsche from trying to intimidate you or threatening you to keep you from modifying your car. But I would be very afraid to be a tuner if everything I sold my customer would void his warranty. THAT would not be a good business model