Engine swap vs bolt-ons in a new Boxster S

[ChuckV]

I've read everything I can find on all the different options, but I'm still not sure what the best way to add power to my new Boxster S would be... It seems that with heades/intake/ecu one can realistically expect to gain 25whp, which basically puts power out-put on par or ever so slightly below that of the 3.4l motor. Cams even further increase output.

Nearly all the talk of motor-swaps I've seen has been limited to pre-egas Boxsters using the 3.4l motor from the '99 cars. Since my car is egas, would swapping in a 3.6l engine be feasable? What would be required for this swap beyond what the 3.4l requires? That swap seems very straight forward. The 3.6l puts out nearly 50whp more than the 3.4l, and would easily put out more power than a 3.2l with the works, even cams.

The 3.4l upgrade definitely doesn't seem to make sense dollar wise. $6k buys more performance with headers/intake/ecu/cams, the only advantage would be the extra .2l and 11.3:1 vs 11.0:1 if you started throwing mods on the 3.4l.

Would the 266bhp motor in my car respond any differently to mods than the 250bhp cars I always see in dynos?

Basically, what I'm trying to decide is if it even makes sense to consider the engine-swap route seriously given the 3.2ls responsiveness to basic modifications. If I were to do a swap, I'd want it to be the 3.6l, but I can't find any info on how easy/difficult it is to perform. I've only see Roock's and RUF's advertised products. If I'm going to spend 20K+, I'm going to tear down the engine and rebuild it for twin-turbos, end of story. 70bhp is not an acceptable gain for over 20 grand invested in a car in terms of tuning products and services.

What does everyone think?

Edited September 6, 2004 by ChuckV

[Fletcher]

I am an advocate of bolt on's. Call Rob at scargo about mod's. Motor swaps are intensive procedures and quite costly. Even though it is about 6k for headers, intake, ecu and labor. I am told this will give me 25h.p. not cheap at all but still gives an element of exclusivity and an edge in performance over a stock car. If you have an S car to start with you can make them really scream with bolt on's. 275-290h.p. is nothing to scoff at in my book. I look forward to doing these mod's in the next couple of years with scargo racing doing the work.

[ChuckV]

Agreed, I'm sure the car would move nicely with 290hp. I think I might try it and then see how it turns out.

[rxbox]

hey chuck

right ther with you

started 2 yrs ago dicussing with tom at http://www.turboperformance.com/

they have a good system for the 2.7 but still have to develop for the 3.2 been waiting since 6000

decided to have my local porsche shop try and still am in the books for winter redo 11000

thought by just getting the 3.4 ...should be enough to give that pull off the light or accelerate after a sharp cone on autox but if i go scca then i am now in gt class and hanging with the 600 horse monsters for future road racing

talked with mark carillo at techart http://www.cecwheels.com/tuners/products.s...uner_brand_id=7 they take the motor out and send it to germany 15000

fabian roock does it in his garage but heard some horror stories about how long the work is there http://www.roockusa.com/products/boxster_rsb340.htm# 20000

a company that works with ttp has done one 3.6 bore out with porsche products replacing, bought my gt2nose from len http://www.autosportengineering.com/index.html 20000

alot of money!...but with these gto's, srt4's, m3's, s4's, c6(the new corvette is more well balanced then the boxster, takes 96g's, and is sitting at 400hrs), not to mention the bubble gum chewing sti and evo crowd...and finally the new comercial for the "subaru legacy gt that is faster than a porsche boxster"....need to keep up with the jones ...if porsche would just give the boxster what it needs

i talked with fvd http://www.fvd-web.com/fvd-usa/index-usa.html today and the guy i spoke with had tried several different set ups for the boxsters in his shop

he just suggested highflow cat, headers, chip tune and x51 cams...he thought 3.6 is too much for the 3.2 engine block,,suggested just getting a 996 3.4 and working with it and bolting the above on.....

i will decide by january on the next step but it will probably be a 3.6...just waiting for some guys to break in there engines

good luck

ric