Shawn,
Honestly I agree with these guys save your money. An ECU upgrade is no good untill you have full ehxuast (headers, cats, mufflers), intake, cams, etc. and have nothing left to do. Best things you can do for your car right now are headers and cats....
I am working at the office again, come on in some day and we can chat
Evan

 

Evan, what company is reputable for selling cats?

 

You turbo "experts" crack me up. Are you so arrogant with your Turbo's to suggest that it is useless to upgrade a NA car? Most of you seem to suggest that those of us with NA cars should just forget engine performance mods because modding anything less than a turbo is a waste of time.

YOU DON"T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! I understand that in the past, it has been difficult if not impossibe to improve on the performance of 02 and up 996 NA cars. This is no longer the case.

The performance gains are real, noticeable and enjoyable. So please, unless you have direct experience with this mod, stay out of the discusssion. You are operating under old assumptions and are not familliar with the new technology.

Headers and cats alone are more expensive and will not produce the performance gains that an intake and ECU upgrade will bring. I say, forget the cats and headers for now and get the chip. It is a MUCH easier and cheaper upgrade.

 

Deleted my long statement as its not worth arguing with a knowitall 996 expert...
Evan

 

I would reccomend either ours (obviously, but they are really nice quality and TUV approved) or Cargraphics which are equally nice (honestly).
Evan

 

can you PM me with pricing? Thanks

 

Swapping the cats on an NA 996 won't do anything. Waste of time and money.

Swapping the intake, exhaust, and ECU will get you about 20 HP at high RPM with a loss of low-end TQ.

Swapping the headers also doesn't really do much, if anything, but it could get you an extra 1-2 HP and further lower your low end TQ.

 

Interesting about the loss of low-end torque... Have you experienced this from the mods on your car? I only ask this because I've driven a stock 3.4 back to back with mine and there is a DEFINITE difference on both low and high RPMs.

So are you saying you will not see/feel any results when swapping the cats? I am interested in doing this to combine with my intake, exhaust, ECU and headers. I don't personally know anyone with that combination (headers, cats, ECU, intake and exhaust) so I can't get first-hand knowledge, but would love to know...

 

I am not discounting some benefit from adding hi-flow cats and headers. Doing these in conjunction with an Intake and ECU upgrade would maximize the benefit. I would just do the ECU and Intake first if I was budget constrained.

As for me being a 996 Expert, I am not. However, I know many who are and this is exactly what I was told. I can testify to the impact of this mod as I have modified my 996 with the ECU and Intake.

Evan, I do find it interesting FVD is not an authorized GIAC or EVO dealer and do not carry either of the aforementioned products. How do you know these products won't help? Is is just because you don't sell them?

 

FVD sells their own ECU's which are programed on ENGINE DYNOS in Germany and are not released untill perfected which involves days of tuning. This is why our 997 ECU upgrade was not released untill this week. We would rather be late and have them work well than be the first... We do not need to work with GIAC to know the ECU does not give huge gains, its a fact. Call Cargraphic, Techart, Gemballa, RUF, etc. and ask them if you get more than 10 RELIABLE STREETABLE HP from an ECU on an otherwise stock 996 (Intake and Muffler which Shawn has does really nothing maybe 5HP at most) and see what they say.

I am not taking anything away from GIAC or EVO, they are great companies, just stating the facts as they have been found by our company and some others...
Regards,
Evan

 

I think it's funny that you suggest the "experts" deny tested results. EVO and GIAC have published dynos. I am not sure "THEY" (experts) do, but how do YOU refute that evidence?

By inference, you are calling EVO and GIAC claims fraudulent. You also suggested that the FVD program has been better tested over "days of testing" and works better than others. "We would rather be late and have them work well than be the first..." What a crock. GIAC and EVO spent months working on this product.

To get 22 HP you need to combine intake and ECU. I never suggested that an ECU upgrade by itself would generate more than 10-12 HP.

As for me, I don't need experts or a dyno to tell the difference. I can feel the difference.

 

Yes, I've experienced it. I've also heard the same from many owners who've done these mods, including dyno testing. Driving the car doesn't really give you an accurate picture for these mods since they create A LOT more noise and can easily give the impression that the car is faster when your brain is simply perceiving the extra decibels.

I spent a very long time researching these mods before I did my car and I didn't find a single case of swapping the cats increasing HP. The reason you don't know anybody with the full combo of intake, mufflers, headers, cats, and ECU is that it's a waste of time and money. Otherwise, don't you think people would be doing it? It doesn't add a lot of cost to do the headers and cats too, but there's really no gains to be had.

The best place to spend this amount of money would be in upgrading the suspension to a set of H&R springs and Bilsteins. It'll make a much bigger and more noticeable difference!

 

James,

I hear what ya saying. Besides the obvious fact that the car creates more noise and "seems" faster, I've had plenty of runs against my friends 3.4 to draw a comparison that it pulls away from a stock 3.4. Not much, but definitely a difference, sorry I didn't clarify that.

As for the cats, I don't know if we can quickly assume that cats are a "waste of time and money". I'm sure you've done a ton of research, but I've still have yet to hear from one person (on the boards) that has done all five. Just because people haven't done it before, doesn't mean there are no gains to be had... I'm sure people have done them either seperately or with exhaust/intake, etc, but I am interested in the combination of all of them together. Maybe there are no differences, maybe there are, I just want to hear some first hand knowledge on this topic. Also, it is possible that the people that have thought about this route have invested their money into supercharging (more gains) instead of going the NA route.

And I agree with you fully... Suspension makes a difference, I can't wait to get mine in!

 

I am not claiming them fraudulent, but I personally (NOT FVD) do not believe it adds 22 Reliable drives like stock HP. Again nothing against Todd or Garret, I think they are great guys with great products, this is just one I don't believe in (I am entitled to my opinion). I do not suggest the FVD is better tested, but it is tested and ours proved differently (hey it happens). I am was not refering to GIAC when I made the statement of us being last because it works, just stating FVD thinking...

O yea the butt dyno tells a lot As said above, all it takes is a little noise to make the car "feel faster", but hey if you are happy I am glad for you, just don't call me arrogent for stating FVD and others findings when they don't agree with your tuner's.
Evan

 

the GIAC program is the same for all dealers!