Hello all, I have a very strong running 2004 996tt Cab X50, PCCB with 92k on the clock. Other than the KW V-3's that I added last year the car is stock. I am the second owner and it has been religiously dealer maintained to date. New clutch and water pump at 82k miles.
I have a set of RSS motor mounts and a set of Agency Power diverter valves on the shelf. I am thinking about adding a IPD plenum and doing all at the same time (seems logical).
Will I see any noticeable improvement without adding an exhaust and tune?
Is it also recommended that I change the "F" pipes?
I am reticent about doing the tune and exhaust as that will add a lot of work and possibly disrupt a strong running/well sealed engine with this many miles.
Thoughts??
Thanks!!
Brian in Seattle

 

If I were you, and I'm not . I'm a bang for the buck guy. I wouldn't worry about the diverter valves or the plenum. In fact, I'd probably sell them and go tune first then maybe exhaust. Add some 1 bar wastegate actuators. I don't even have anything other than the stock plenum. There are some tuning deals going on right now too. Call markski. Call the rest too. Decide from there. Good luck!

 

^+1 You're not going to notice anything without a tune. Get a tune and an exhaust and you will notice a huge difference and no, it's not going to hurt your car at all if you get a tune from a reputable source.

 

Thanks for the feedback guy's!
I'll watch for a "Markski" tune special!
Never ordered the Plenum so I may have budget vroom

 

He is was running a black friday special, may want to reach out to him and see if he will still honor it.

 

+1 on the tune. The car will be dramatically changed. Research tunes on here for some great information.
By the way, how do you like the KW's over stock? Do you feel it was worth the cost?

 

Tune and exhaust would take about 30 minutes and will have no effect on your "sealed" engine. Way more result for the given effort than the other mods you have planned - totally reversible if you wanted to sell "stock" at a later time.

 

Call Markski @ 911 tuning, you will not be disappointed ! Tune.exhaust and air filter..

 

Strong running well maintained Turbo and you want to mod it? What could possibly go wrong?

You I think already know the answer to this as indicated by this: "...possibly disrupt a strong running/well sealed engine with this many miles."

My advice is to leave the car as it is. I doubt where you live/drive you can even utilize half the car's car incredible performance. These are already brilliantly powerful/fast yet reliable cars. In this case modding the car would be like building a more fragile gun that can shoot straighter than you can aim.

 

i agree with what most everyone says about wisest sequential order of mods to your car, if you're starting from stock. the tune and exhaust are literally the best one/two punch for your buck and the car. i wouldn't worry one whit about the hi mileage and the fact that you haven't modded the car to date. an extra 100 hp give or take is not going to contribute to ANYthing potentially catastrophic, though having said that, stuff wears out, and eventually needs replacing, so added power does put more stress on "wearable items; e.g. clutch, brakes, tires. but hey.. did you get the car to drive slowly? or quickly!?

lastly, i have the ipd plenum on my modded turbo ( currently with 123k miles thanks very much ) and it was a terrific low/mid range gain, and mod. but follow the sequence and wisdom of those that came before and mod sequentially. believe it or not there really is a stepped manner in which to mod these cars that has most all parts work in tandem as you begin to upgrade. so a plenum is ( i don't think ) the way to begin. start at the beginning and simply improving how the air flows into the plenum is NOT a good first bang for the buck part. later, yeah.

btw, though i haven't used either of them, and as others have already advised, i too would seek out markski and/or kevin at ultimate motorwerks over on reenlist simply because their tunes/parts/knowledge and expertise with this platform is known universally within the porsche turbo community, and the personal level of support you will get cannot be matched ( day in/out ) by the larger known tuning entities. though any all of the KNOWN tuners of this platform can get you a few hundred more hp depending upon where you'd like to end up.

untuned and without exhaust you are running a hampered porsche turbo. at 90k miles? now IS the time to mod it. otherwise, for whom exactly would you be saving it? and from what!? the world may in fact soon end, but your 996 turbo will not LOL

tune and exhaust pkg.. a few grand, and BAM! good luck.

 

Thanks guy's!
The KW V-3 coilovers really freshened up the suspension and made it look (to me) like a proper super car by allowing for a more aggressive ride height. I left exactly as KW suggested right out of the box. After about 3 months, I decided to raise the front about 13mm. An acquaintance crews on a Porsche Cup team and suggested a good compromise on the alignment. The car handles VERY well. I also had my dealer install a factory short shift linkage at about 80k miles, also increased driving enjoyment. Over the past several days (thanks to this forum) I have had some correspondence and a long phone conversation with Mark from 911 Tuning. I am planning on doing the system pressure test that he suggests and do the basic tune with his flashing devise. Assuming I am as leak free as I hope (car runs really well now) I anticipate seeing the satisfying results that others here have had. I have a friend with a Dynojet 4wd Dyno and may do the flash on the Dyno. If I can pull that off, I will post the before/after results!
Thanks again for all your insights!

 

My girlfriend's folks live in maple valley. Nice city for sure! You're awfully close to Pacific raceways.. I envy you. I have to come 40 minutes from bellevue... ha!

These engines are (dare I say it) "Bulletproof". For a modern engine, 92k miles is not actually a lot. You should be able to tune it with no problem! I wouldn't say the F hose is nearly as prone to failing as the stock diverter valves. I would replace those before the F hose, but even the stock ones are often fine.

In my opinion, you'll notice a hefty power increase even without exhaust. Sometimes I consider throwing a stock exhaust on for fun... I'd be happy if my 720hp car was 650 but very quiet for the winter.

Markski is the tuner I'd go with too. I have a lot of faith in Todd @ protomotive, but hes so busy that he has terrible communication/responce times. Makes it impossible to get tune tweaks. Markski is legendary for support.

If you ever want a ride, let me know. I'll show you how fast these cars can really be.