Hello everyone,

I am the owner of a 2005 911 Carrera S 6MT coupe as of about a month ago. In addition to some preventative maintenance (IMS retrofit, alternator cable update and possibly water pump and coolant expansion tank), I'd like to do a few minor things to improve the overall character of the car without changing the look or feel drastically. So far on my short list I have the following:

Engine performance:
-K&N or equivalent intake
-IPD plenum with GT3 throttle body
-X51 headers
-Eurocharged ECU tune

Suspension/steering:
-7mm/15mm wheel spacers
-H&R or equivalent lowering springs
-H&R or equivalent sway bars
-performance alignment

Aesthetic:
-clear side markers
-991 "PORSCHE" emblem to replace "Carrera S" emblem
-new clear stone guards, L&R
-35% window tint

Convenience/technology:
-compact umbrella for door sill pocket
-PCM 2.1 or Pioneer AppRadio retrofit to gain bluetooth, navigation, backup camera
-V1 or Passport with Blend mount

I'm not sure what pads I've got but they held up well during the last track event; I'll likely do pads, lines and fluid when they come due. I will be tracking the car occasionally but no wheel-to-wheel competition, just HPDE's.

Can anyone suggest any more must-have tweaks or upgrades that aren't too expensive? I don't really care to change anything else aesthetically but I'd be interested to hear about any tech upgrades or performance upgrades that I may be missing. Thanks everyone!

Pics of my car for reference (still haven't taken my own pictures yet):

 

Great car. Yours and mine are long lost brothers.

First thing I did was cover/remove the airbag stickers on the sun visors

 

You would really enjoy the car with a new exhaust system. More power, more sound and saves weight!! I would recommend the performance package which covers the entire exhaust from header back and an intake. Please take a look at the full product line below and let me know what you think!!

997 Carrera Product Line

 

Get a simple 911 for the back of the car. Mine is matte black.
Get black stoneguards. Makes it Pop.
Exhaust mod (Gundo Hack) or new exhaust makes it wake up and sound like it's supposed to.
I replaced my steering wheel with a new thicker one from Dallas Custom Wheels. Made a HUGE difference and not terribly expensive. Maybe $500 all in after core exchange Easy to swap out yourself. Singly the best upgrade as your hands are on it all the time.
I got new pedals and dead pedal, makes that area look way better. ($120)
Had custom Floormats done by Lloyd's and they look terrific. Less than $150 for all 4 Then LED's all the way around will update the outside. Depends on where you get them.

I did Spacers as well, 7 and 15 seem to be the most popular along with a drop in ride height.

 

My friend bought an identical model to ours just last week! hehe

Yes, that would look great. I did that on my last car by wrapping the visors in Alcantara. Well, I didn't wrap them. JPM Coachworks wrapped them.

Good call! I had my previous car's steering wheel re-wrapped in smooth Italian leather and it made a huge difference. I actually like the quality of leather on the Porsche's wheel but it could stand to be a little thicker in diameter.

 

Solid engine mounts! Inexpensive DIY that makes a big impact.

 

You might want to do a little further research on installing solid engine mounts before making the plunge as "Don" has advised above.lol

 

Agreed, almost all the way. I went with 15mm spacers all around, and added Fabspeed X-pipe cats and an ECU tune. A short shift kit also adds to the fun. The gundo hack is my favorite, in the bang for the buck department.

 

I've had mine since December... so far here is what I have done:

Suncoast LED interior lights
Clear side markers
Numeric Racing short throw shifter
IDP Plenum
EVOMS intake
Fister exhaust
GT3 front brake intakes
GT3 front and rear sway bars
GT3 Lower control arms
RSS drop links
RSS rear toe arms
Tarot mono's

 

If by intake you mean aftermarket cold air intake, skip it. Your stock airbox is already a cold air intake. K&N's version pulls warm engine air. The upgrade would be to the OEM X51 carbon fiber one but that's very expensive. Just change the air filter to K&N if you want an oiled filtered or BMC for a dry one. Both will improve sound but do little for performance.

X51 headers is a great idea. Pair them with 200 cell cats to get true performance gains. Honestly I'd do the cats first. You'll see the most gains with this upgrade.

 

Best bang for your buck, in my opinion:

- Clear side markers (cheap and easy)
- Fister sport mufflers (cheapest exhaust mod, sounds wonderful)
- Mobridge M2 Pro bluetooth interface (adds bluetooth telephone and streaming audio to your PCM 2.1 for less money than a new head unit)

Things to avoid, again - my opinion:

- Cold air intake (debatable if they add any performance, although many people claim that they do)
- ECU flash (I had it done on my 996 C4S. It added minimal performance and was expensive)
- Personally, I would avoid sport cats and headers. The gains offered by headers are controversial - there are claims of more than 20 HP gained, and there are reports of reduced torque. Sport cats would improve sound and power, but there are multiple reports of short lifespan for 200 cell cats.

That's my $.02 worth!

 

Isn't the Fister exhaust just the Gundo hack, essentially?

 

Can take a stroll around our parts catalog here and look at the type of performance upgrades we offer. Might help.

-Luccia

 

Oh believe me, I've done plenty of strolling already

 

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me.

-Luccia