I've read endless threads on plenums, cold air intakes, reprogramming, exhausts, CATS blah blah. I did the 200 Cell CATs and I can't really tell power-wise, but the sound makes you think it's faster (louder seems faster) and the sound is better. However, has anyone actually taken a stock car and then done the reprogramming and exhaust and then dyno'd the car to see what's what? I want to do Softronic and I read that with my CATs I may get near 400HP (from 355), but is that true? Or just hype? I even read a long thread arguing the dyno accuracy ad nauseum. Aside from the people selling the stuff I mean has any one of us on the board done the test?

 

Kinda what I thought, no responses. We all take the manufacturers word for it that a reprogramming adds 30 or more HP and the other things we spends thousands on makes a difference. Personally, I think my car sounds a bit better but the faster feeling is because it's louder.

 

This topic has been endlessly debated here. The guys who sell the stuff have no end of dyno results that confirm some rediculous HP numbers when you bolt on their product. Add more of their products and the HP increase goes up exponentially. The Gear heads say no way without increasing the air and fuel being ingested by the engine and decry the dyno results as voodoo science. You'll have to make up your own minds. Just remember " If it sounds too good to be true it probably is ".

 

For the most part, if there were easy gains to be had, the manufacturer would have implemented them. All the modding doesn't add up to any faster times around a road lap. You might squeak out a bit more straight line speed at some particular revs at the expense of some other performance figure. The car may look or sound more like some goal you have in mind. But its not performing any better.

The few exceptions may be when an engine is not up to its full potential settings because the suspension/chassis may limit things.. so you'd have to upgrade a lot of stuff to see a gain, and then, its at a big price cost so why not just have purchased a better car? Or you gain performance at a drop in reliability or a drop in fuel economy that doesn't seem like a good trade off.

There may be some nibbling around the margins where the manufacturers build in performance conditions based on a wide variety of ways the vehicle is driven by the average buying public, where if you know and stick to your own operational envelope, you might be able to tune the performance to be optimal there (that fuel, those temps, that track/road, those tires). But for normal driving to and from places to visit, travel, work, etc. you will not see any gain for having spent a lot of money on new parts.

 

first u must understand the difference between hp and torque.

then u must know what each 'mod' does for ur car.. i.e. the purpose of the mod. u got to know what u r trying to accomplish with each mod.

200 cell cat by itself may increase hp, but that doesn't necessarily mean ur car will accelerate faster.. sometimes u can even lose the low-end grunt.

however, with the right tune, u can take advantage of less-restrictive cat to make ur car more responsive, faster, or even more powerful.

don't expect to throw some performance parts together from here and there and expect ur car to be more powerful. U really got to get a tune to get the most out of the mod parts.

dyno can be misleading since there are too many variables to get a direct result. But u can do a dyno the same car, before and after, on a same dyno, and u can hopefully see HP/TQ increase.

btw what u r looking for is a smooth power delivery without spikes and dips, maximizing the hp/tq.

however, if u want the 'holycow !' kind of reaction from the add-on mod, go for the S/C or the TPC turbo.

BOL

 

I'm not a "modder" so take my opinion as biased -

Look at everything included with the X51 option and the modest HP/Torque gains:

• - Cylinder heads with flow-optimized intake and exhaust ports
• - Intake Manifold & Throttle Body - Increases inlet size from 76 mm to 82 mm
• - X51 Headers - larger cross-section and optimized flow behavior
• - Carbon Fiber Airbox with two intake channels
• - Modified maps for the DME control unit
• - Sport Exhaust with Chrome Tips
• - Third Radiator Kit (for manual transmission cars)
• - Increased Engine Speed

This is probably going to cost $15K to add.

Yet there are dozens, if not hundreds, of aftermarket parts that if you believe the advertised claims any couple combined will match if not exceed the X51 for a fraction of the cost.

I don't buy it. I think a high % of these aftermarket parts don't do much other than change the sound.

 

I agree with you and great point. 26HP for I think it was nearly $17K.

 

Generally the mods do increase HP but they don't stack exactly. On my last car (2007 Cayman S) I added air intake, cat back exhaust and tune. On the dyno it gave me about an extra 12 HP on the before/aftyer dyno runs at the wheels. Adding up each manufacturer's claims for the individual parts it should have been 20+ . So they do add power just not as much as you might think.

I'm pretty sure my but dyno can't tell a 5%ish HP change so it was something I didn't do on my Carerra S.

 

Mods that make your Carrera faster

Driver Training
Suspension
Better Tires
Better Seats
Weight Reduction
LWFW
LSD

 

As an FYI Suncoast (board sponsor) has the complete X-51 kit on clearance for around $9K. That's very comparable in price to aftermarket "equivalents" and the gains are proven.

 

It's like golf clubs... I've been buying new clubs for 25 years and I am still shooting about that same score as I was shooting as a junior with my dad's old Wilson blades that were left handed when I was really right handed... Except that I am now playing 5-10 times a year instead of those blessed summers with 75+ rounds and no summer job to get in the way of golf.

It might be a pattern where I'm just trying to avoid acknowledging that I ran out of talent at both golf and driving a long time ago?

So it's probably all about therapy for me... Is there some mod hotline I can call for help?

.


T.

 

Hello all,

Would you get 400HP from a non S with a flash? NO. Would you get more HP and TQ from a flash in general? Yes and closer to 400HP with an S that is a 3.8lt. . I will agree as to the posts as there is a dyno for every intake, exhaust , flash etc on the market and they are all subjective.....What I can say is that Porsche as a rule increases HP in each line by software. As an example the base 3.4 DFI had 305HP and up to 330HP factory, this is all from software and the race versions that we program have 350HP. The pre DFI cars as a rule had 10% of programming kept in them for future progression in sales yet are depleted by MY.

Should anyone like to chat shop I'm always open I will be in Germany from 4/12/12-4/23/12 though. Just ask for me and I will give the facts as I have for many others in the PCA,PMA etc. I would rather educate rather than sell on any product including Softronic. I'm rather backlogged for magazines in questions yet a phone call is always quicker.

Softronic 203-723-8928

Best Regards,
Scott Slauson

 

People mod for different reasons. If you're modding for the sake of modding, then you probably don't need a before/after dyno. You've got the new bling, and that's what you care about.

If you care about performance, you'll do a before/after dyno to see what you really got for your money. I've always done before/after dynos on my previous cars, and if I ever get the bug to add power-mods to the Porsche, I'll do the same. I haven't done a lot of mods in the past, but I can say that the few that I have installed performed pretty much in-line with the manufacturers claims. Of course, I've never bought anything off eBay, so that might make a difference.

Also... nobody likes to look like a chump. So, if they buy something and find out that it has issues or doesn't make power, they might not be eager to share their story (unless they do it out of anger/frustration). I learned that from personal experience when I had a set of aftermarket camshafts fail in my last car. After I posted about it, then a half-dozen other people came forward to admit they experienced the same thing. I could've used that information a little earlier... if only they had been willing to share!

 

I have spoken to Scott before I purchased my flash. Honest person and he doesn't sell just to sell. I did the flash and YES the butt dyno is working and I felt a gain in power. My car is quicker and the sport button really wakes up the car. I won't do any additional engine mods as I'm very happy with my Fabspeed CAI and Softronic Flash. Based on claims I should be around 408HP, but it doesn't matter to me to find out. I feel it and I'm more than happy!!

Thanks Scott!!

 

Scott,

You've obviously done many flashes on all kinds of Porsche's and received enough feedback from your techs and customers to have a good idea about which other single mod complements your flash product best.

I've heard that for the C2S the 200 cell cats and the flash will yield the best results and most should stop with these two mods... your thoughts?