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What performance mods have you done, that you'd recommend?


Tengocity

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I've had my Boxster S for a couple of years now, and really enjoying it. I've ended up sinking a bit of money in to it, some planned and to improve it, others unplanned and to fix stuff that's broken!

I do enjoy playing around and trying stuff, and given it's a 3rd car for weekend fun and track days I can go a little more focused in it's set up. So far it's got Eibach springs and Bilstein B8 dampers, along with a lot of suspension components having been refreshed too, and it's had a new exhaust with high flow sports cats fitted. I've fitted a deeper sump kit to help with oil supply on track, and Pagid RS4-2 brakes pads with RBF660 fluid, so hopefully the brakes are good. 

There's lots of other things I could do, and can see as option on various Porsche websites, but interested to hear what other stuff folk have done to improve the the handling on track (bushes, engine mounts, suspension components, strut braces, LSD etc), improve the reliability or robustness for track and performance work (extra cooling, 3rd radiator, power steering cooler)

Also likely I'll change tyres at some point this year to something more track focussed, and fit some bucket seats and harnesses, so any ideas or advice around that is appreciated too.

I'd love to do all of it, but the wife would object and it would leave less for actual track days and petrol, so would just like to prioritise the best value stuff first.

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I like the front brace on convertibles, stiffens the front end loads and gives more precision and feedback through the steering, for the cost it's a great mod and the difference can be felt immediately 

The rear brace is worth while too, stops the rear bouncing/wagging under hard cornering and calms the back end over rough ground. 

The car feels much more of one piece with both braces on, the contrast is quite stark

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2 hours ago, Menoporsche said:

Driver training. 

I always get tuition on track days and have actually been looking at some bespoke full and multi-day courses this year too.

I'm not necessarily just trying to make my car faster, but more robust, so that I can run longer, and practice more. No point in getting training if you can't practice as much as you'd like.

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4 minutes ago, toplad said:

I like the front brace on convertibles, stiffens the front end loads and gives more precision and feedback through the steering, for the cost it's a great mod and the difference can felt immediately 

That's useful to know.. I had wondered about them. I do feel a bit of shudder on bumpy roads, hence why I went with Eibach springs rather than full coilovers, and at times wonder if I should have gone for a Cayman instead. Not expensive so worth a go I guess.

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Yes, the shudder on bumpy roads is movement in the chassis, it's greatly reduced with the addition of the braces 

I'm in the process of selling my Boxster. I removed the front brace, it's for sale in the classifieds 

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My list of performances enhancing mods are, in highest bhp first

boxster spider instrument cowl +50 bhp 

red gear knob numbers + 30 bhp. 

Lowering springs + 25 bhp 

wheel spacers + 20 bhp 

LED lights all round + 15 bhp 

retrimmed steering wheel +15 bhp 

over badged rear end + 10 bhp 

Your welcome 

 

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53 minutes ago, Dave_4 said:

My list of performances enhancing mods are, in highest bhp first

boxster spider instrument cowl +50 bhp 

red gear knob numbers + 30 bhp. 

Lowering springs + 25 bhp 

wheel spacers + 20 bhp 

LED lights all round + 15 bhp 

retrimmed steering wheel +15 bhp 

over badged rear end + 10 bhp 

Your welcome 

 

I think you're under-estimating some of those!

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If you're looking for improving reliability then things like underdrive pulley, braided lines, GT3 ducts can help.

For some small performance and handling improvements then uprated pads/fluid, fresh engine mount, poly gearbox mounts, top mounts of adjustable arms to get the right geo. 

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17 minutes ago, edc said:

If you're looking for improving reliability then things like underdrive pulley, braided lines, GT3 ducts can help.

For some small performance and handling improvements then uprated pads/fluid, fresh engine mount, poly gearbox mounts, top mounts of adjustable arms to get the right geo. 

Braided lines are done, as are pads and fluid.

Car set up is fine overall having been to Center Gravity to have it done.

Need to check underdrive pulley, but it's Duffy's old car and I think it was done already. 

I've heard that a power steering cooler is a good idea on these, but hard to know how much something like that is needed.

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I doubt you will need a PAS cooler for a handful of trackdays. If you have an underdrive pulley then the PAS spins slower anyway. Check the Boxster race series cars and see if they have any PAS probs and if they need that sort of mod. 

More convenience than performance but maybe a stud and nut conversion if changing wheels regularly. 

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Anyone fitted a Pipercross or K&N filter for road use? Any not able difference in sound or performance? 

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987 already has an increased air filter media area over the 986 panel filter.  A pipercross or foam filter doesn't give any improvements , just more induction noise and additional hassle to clean the filter at shorter intervals than replacing the paper one. 

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Race/bucket seats would be my top suggestion.  Once you add back subframes, sliders and side mounts, the weight savings are not huge, but I would do it primarily for the better location and connection to the car.  I used the very keenly priced Corbeau Club Sport seats - details in my running report.  Only downside is that with the subframes, you cannot get them quite as low as I would like.  The narrow version of these seats is pretty narrow - works for my 67kg, 5'10", regular runner type of frame but not for much bigger.

I also like LW 18 inch wheels and bigger 345mm front discs.  I would have recommended coilovers, but you have a decent suspension already, so not as much merit in that.  Don't know how much front camber Chris at CoG was able to get with std top mounts but that's certainly worth future thought as lowering tends to add more neg camber to the rear and not so much to the front.  An LSD would be really nice, but more for hairpins than typically higher speed track corners perhaps.

Possibly the most annoying thing IMHO in the 987 when pressing on is the somewhat heavy flywheel that means the revs hang a little too much for smooth high rev up changes.  But without needing a clutch change, I can't really justify replacing the flywheel.

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3 hours ago, 911-32 said:

Race/bucket seats would be my top suggestion.  Once you add back subframes, sliders and side mounts, the weight savings are not huge, but I would do it primarily for the better location and connection to the car.  I used the very keenly priced Corbeau Club Sport seats - details in my running report.  Only downside is that with the subframes, you cannot get them quite as low as I would like.  The narrow version of these seats is pretty narrow - works for my 67kg, 5'10", regular runner type of frame but not for much bigger.

I also like LW 18 inch wheels and bigger 345mm front discs.  I would have recommended coilovers, but you have a decent suspension already, so not as much merit in that.  Don't know how much front camber Chris at CoG was able to get with std top mounts but that's certainly worth future thought as lowering tends to add more neg camber to the rear and not so much to the front.  An LSD would be really nice, but more for hairpins than typically higher speed track corners perhaps.

Possibly the most annoying thing IMHO in the 987 when pressing on is the somewhat heavy flywheel that means the revs hang a little too much for smooth high rev up changes.  But without needing a clutch change, I can't really justify replacing the flywheel.

Yes, I'm thinking the seats and harness would be most sensible, especially if I get some more track focused tyres. Do you run normal seatbelts and/or harnesses?  I wish I'd gone for coilovers now, but was just concerned the Boxster chassis wasn't quite rigid enough for the even higher spring rates. I did a clutch and IMS bearing 15 months back and probably should have gone LWF at that time, but the flywheel was fine and didn't need replaced. Would have been the ideal time to fit the LSD too.

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Normal seat belts.  Same as when Porsche option sports seats on non-GT models.  Needed a resistor to turn off the airbag light as no side airbags now.  I bought seats from ebay (because out of stock everywhere else) and subframes from GSM.

BTW - required drilling of side mounts for the seat belt receiver to mount to and some messing around with bolts, spacers, washers.

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  • 2 months later...
56 minutes ago, spyderclub said:

 

has anyone tried the RS engine mount on the 987? Any good?

I haven't but a friend of mine with a 987 Cayman S has done it and reckoned it was a huge improvement. Hard to say whether just changing it for a new standard one would have helped just about as much though.

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