Ok.. I have been forum searching like a mad man and it seems the after the initial ECU and Exhaust upgrade the process get's quite a bit more complicated from there. From what I have seen, besides suspension, it's off to better performing headers, inter-coolers and even turbos. With this massive amount of info offered I have a few questions to you mod vets:

1) What type of gain should be expected from header and inter-cooler upgrade?

2) At what point does the 6 speed transmission need to be upgraded?

3) What have you found to be the best overall product for headers & inter-coolers keeping price in mind of course.

Your help is much appreciated.

 

Siglo,
It has only begun =) Please pm me for more details on our Power Package for the 997TT

 

We always recommend intercoolers early in the modification stage... Even before exhaust. You have a bit before your clutch starts to slip.

 

First of all, I would put some money aside for a clutch upgrade. It will eventually go with the ECU tune and Exhaust.

I would do an intercooler upgrade first. You can get GIAC to re-flash your car with the IC's upgrades that will yield a more aggressive tune.

Headers don't yield much. I just did it because of the raspier exhaust note it creates.

The transmission is just fine. No need for upgrades there. The stock trans has no problems holding up even with the 750-850 hp cars.

 

At this stage, your options are still fairly open.

I have done a lot of research on this issue over the past few weeks.
I came to only 1 conclusion that I can recommend in good conscience.

I then came up with the following guidelines for tuning (for myself that is):

1- Research your tuners

2- Shortlist the tuners you think are offering packages that suit your long-term needs, with an eye on:
a- The fact that the search for more power is addictive and you'll sooner or later be hungry for more...
b- The better tuners offer modular/progressive upgrade stages that do not cause you to have lost/sunken costs when moving from stage to stage.

3- Communicate with your shortlisted tuners with an eye on:
a- How easy the communication flow is between you
b- How much time the tuner is willing to give you and how accommodating he is to your questions, concerns, etc...
c- How informed and informative he is
d- Are you able to establish a good rapport and relationship that makes you feel comfortable with the tuner (chemistry between you)

4- Get to know how much R&D effort and money is expended by your tuner in developing a coherent and well put together staged upgrade package and familiarize yourself with the components of the various stages and the costs associated to move from stage to stage.

I cannot emphasize the importance of R&D enough. I will draw a parallel:
One of the main reasons that Apple Computer can introduce newer technologies faster and infinitely more reliably than windows based PCs is that the hardware and the software are designed and tested to work together and complement one another.
Whereas with the PC market, the sheer plethora of component manufacturers and system assemblers cobbling systems together without proper R&D is beyond Microsoft's ability to test and, as such, technological advances are more incrementally introduced by MS to allow for stability with component manufactures. Additionally, you'll find that proper system assemblers like Dell, Toshiba, etc... who take the time and effort to R&D what they are putting together, will run far more reliably than others.

5- Based on the ability of your short listed tuners to meet all of the above criteria suited to your individual needs, select your tuner, trust in your judgement and begin your journey.

Perhaps I over-complicated things, but, you must be aware that in the long run, as with Photography for example, once you begin investing in a platform (Nikon, Canon, etc...), you're locked in and it will become very expensive to change course (think of all those lenses you would have bought )!
The same holds true for vehicle tuning, to a certain extent.

Finally, at the risk of sounding over dramatic, the last thing you want to have is to have your enjoyment of your car eradicated by that one problem you just cannot seam to troubleshoot, that just might be due to components you bolted on that are not designed to work well together.

Let the professionals, and there are quite a few on this board, do the research and planning for you. Invest in them and you will likely be well rewarded.

Sorry for the hyper-long post

 

Your transmission does not need upgrading.

The stock pressure plate has a clamping force of about 544 lb/ft. Stock engine makes 457 lb/ft. It is unlikely that you will exceed 544 lb/ft unless you use race fuel and a reprogrammed ECU capable of using the fuel.

The next step up would be a Sachs 999764 pressure plate, which is rated to 659 lb/ft. It should maintain the same pedal feel as OEM.

 

Thanks for the input! At the risk of starting a tuner war, considering my current mods what would be the most logical choice for the IC upgrade?

 

Lots of tuners make IC's, but I think these three are the front runners as far as quality and performance goes.

AWE
TPC
Champion

 

Drive it for awhile and enjoy it. Then when you start to get a little bored do some more upgrades. It's like getting presents spread over time rather all at once. Gives you time to appreciate it. Just my thoughts.

 

I assume the make of the IC would not impact GIACs ability to adjust my tune for it? Also what is the conservative gain from an IC upgrade?

 

That looks nice!

 

Thanks for the mention GotBoost

As you can see from the thread below, we put A LOT of time and effort into our new Intercoolers for the 997 Turbo. Not only do they function like no other, but fitment is perfect as well!

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...tercooler.html

Also, check out this thread for some very impressive data about the intercoolers, including flow and efficiency numbers that will blow you away.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...1-997-2-a.html

Hopefully this helps make your intercooler decision a little easier.

 

I hear ya.. I'm just a power addict and normally I would have put the $ into wheels and other cosmetic upgrades but I'd rather put it towards performance. Besides painting my lower skirt and lip pieces I am very happy with the stock turbo look and contrary to many owners I love the stealthy stock look when it's modded.

 

GIAC can tune your car wtih any one of these IC's.

 

Which is the shop that you will be using to modify your vehicle. Picking a great tuner is only part of the equation. Even if you are shipping your car out to tuner you still need to have someone local to do the fine tuning or maintenance etc.

Make sure that you pick a shop local that you can trust has the skills AND experience to do all the modifications you are looking for.

I can not STRESS This point enough.