944 S2 Power Mods

[Guest]

I've got a 1990 S2 3.0, its got a K&N but thats about it, does anyone else know what and where i can get some simple but effective mods to boost the power up?
Also ive got the cup alloys on 17" but they rub on the rear under hard acceleration, this accross the board or is it just the offset is slightly different ?
Oh and anyone know of a good spares place in the north west?

 

[Fen]

Hi Stefan, welcome to the forum.

The S2 is diffucult to tune. I have a K&N on mine and that's it too (and more because it means the badge panel doesn't have to come off so often than because I expected any real performance improvement). You could decat and get the car rolling road remapped - that would get you a noticeable but still relatively small improvement of maybe 10-20% (if you're lucky) but wouldn't leave much change from £750.

17's shouldn't rub, so it must be the offset. Are your arch lips rolled? Both my current cars are but my '89 S2 coupe wasn't and I had it done on th epassenger side. That was to run 18's though, which are 10" wide - as I say you shouldn't have a problem with 17's assuming they are the usual 9" with the offset the 968 used (I forget what - ET55 or something?) albeit that I expect all 968 had rolled arch lips. If you do decide to get the arches rolled Porsche CArs GB hold a tool that they loan to dealers - you will get charged for shipping plus the labour.

Assuming you mean used spares then Douglas Valley Breakers are near Manchester IIRC. I think my first choice of Simon Butterworth's Porschapart is getting that way too - I want to say Stoke on Trent area for some reason (OK, that's probably not north west to you, but it is to me [].

New parts I would recommend Berlyn Services as a first stop, albeit in sunny (today anyway) Devon but they do mail order. Failing that there are a few others but I generally go with Bert at Berlyn or my local OPC if Bert doesn't supply that particular part.

 

[Guest]

I'll have to get them off and have a closer look at the offset etc, thank you, i would like to get a set of those GT3 alloys in 18s if they will fit.
Someone has suggested Throttle bodies, what you think? As for a good exhaust, can you suggest one? I'm new to the porsche side you could say so i dont have a clue!

 

[Fen]

Depends on your budget I guess. Ninemeister are supposed to be working on throttle bodies for the S2/968 but they are not finished R&D yet. They also do a supercharger kit making 350bhp as seen in this month's 911&Porsche World, but it's around £5,500 I believe.

While that's all well and good (and assuming we're talking coupes here), most S2's are worth about that themselves so is it worth spending the value of the car on major modifications to it? Personally I'd say no, sell the S2 and buy a late Turbo for maybe a couple of thousand more for a similar quality of car to the one you sell, then spend something around £1,000 to £1,500 to get the same 350nhp but still have a mainstream model and benefit from bigger brakes, LSD, climate control etc. etc.

 

[Fen]

Oh, missed the exhaust question.

I have a HAyward & Scott on my Turbo (well, on a shelf in the garage but you know what I mean...) and I know someone with one on an S2 cab. We're both happy but they weren't cheap (for whole systems). Since we bought ours the Essential Styling range (developed with Janspeed I believe) has come available. Some guys on here have them so I'll let them comment but I think the news is good.

www.essentialstyling.com

 

[John Sims]

Since we bought ours the Essential Styling range (developed with Janspeed I believe) has come available. Some guys on here have them so I'll let them comment but I think the news is good.

ES exhausts are manufactured by Janspeed. I have a rear section on my Turbot.

It fitted well and seemed good value. It has a nice gurgle on overrun and isn't that loud on a run. All good news. Bad news, perhaps, I didn't notice any change in performance at all, but then 5 or 6 bhp isn't going to be noticable on top of 200+

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: stefan944


Also ive got the cup alloys on 17" but they rub on the rear under hard acceleration, this accross the board or is it just the offset is slightly different ?

Actually, I see this problem a lot. It usually is the rear tire on the driver's side (or, if it is a RHD car, then the passenger side). The tire rubs on the inside of the fender lip. It appears that for some reason a lot of our cars are not symmetrically proportioned back there, and the error is on that side.

If you look at the rear wheel directly from the side, the rubbing is probably occuring at the 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock region.

There are two ways to go about repairing this (there would be three if your car is an "early offset" car, but it is not):

1. Roll the fender lip. There is a tool made for this, but it is common practice to use a baseball bat or other wooden cylinder, jammed between the wheel and the fender lip, rocking the car back and forth. This proposition scares me, and I didn't use it. There is too much of a chance of getting it all wrong and bowing out the fender and cracking the paint.

2. Grind the offending area away ever so slightly. You'll need to remove about 5mm worth of material in the offending area. I used a high speed grinder. Once the small amount is ground away, you will want to prime the small sliver of exposed metal with Zink Oxide primer (an artist brush works fine for this application). Then follow up with a touch up of body colour.

Hope that helps![8D]

Jeremy

 

[Fen]

I agree - it will almost certainly be the passenger side on a UK car.

My 18's scuff very slightly under enthusiastic cornering on the cab - no biggie because the lips are factory roller, but it's mainly the passenger side. A bigger ARB will be my fix. I haven't heard of 7's catching though, but then I've bever run 17's on a 944.

The biggest negatives I see with grinding are that you don't quite get paint over all the bar metal and also that it will leave a really sharp edge to slash the tyre if you don't take enough off.

I'd go for a bit of warmth (heat gun on low), a roller and lots of care myself.

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: Fen


The biggest negatives I see with grinding are that you don't quite get paint over all the bar metal and also that it will leave a really sharp edge to slash the tyre if you don't take enough off.

I'd go for a bit of warmth (heat gun on low), a roller and lots of care myself.

Good point on the sharp edge. I forgot to mention that I follwed the grinding with a quick pass of the dremel with the stone attachment on it to smooth the area before priming painting. Then it would be no sharper than the factory edge.

Definetly, if one should do this, they should ensure that the metal is completely primed over and painted. A good light source is an aid during this procedure to ensure that nothing is missed.

Take care,

Jeremy[]

 

[Diver944]

I have a good photo showing the difference in bulge between the left rear arch and the right rear. I'll dig it out and post it.

You have to remember that these cars were designed in the early '80s before CadCam design software came along. Apparently most cars of that age are not symmetrical in the way the bodywork sits on the chassis, and you only have to look at the tiny panel gaps in modern cars compared to the huge valleys on ours to realise design has come a long way

I have run 17" wheels with 255 tyres on the back of my S2 with no problem and I don't think it's arch lips are rolled. How soft are your rear shocks? New ones are £55 from Berlyn Services (coz I bought some last month)

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: Diver944

I have a good photo showing the difference in bulge between the left rear arch and the right rear. I'll dig it out and post it.

You have to remember that these cars were designed in the early '80s before CadCam design software came along. Apparently most cars of that age are not symmetrical in the way the bodywork sits on the chassis, and you only have to look at the tiny panel gaps in modern cars compared to the huge valleys on ours to realise design has come a long way

Agreed! I like "retro"!

ORIGINAL: Diver944

I have run 17" wheels with 255 tyres on the back of my S2 with no problem and I don't think it's arch lips are rolled. How soft are your rear shocks? New ones are £55 from Berlyn Services (coz I bought some last month)

I personally don't have a rubbing problem anymore, because I have 300lb coilovers on the rear in combination with stock torsion bars. There is no squat anymore in my cars arse-end, thankfully!

 

[944Turbo]

I think the essential styling exhaust gives a bigger increase on the S2 in the regionof 10-12 BHP but this may be in conjunction with a decat section as well.
On the titanic list a couple of owners went for a custom re-map by Wayne at chipwizards and were very pleased with the results, not just in top end power but overall flexibility. I think you are looking at £350 - £500 pounds though for a relatively small increase in the headline numbers.
Tony