Porsche 718 Boxster Tuning

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The fourth Generation Boxster took up the classic 718 name and were fitted with the lovely sounding flat 5 engines.

Released in 2016 the Cayman and Boxster shared much in common but the roadster Boxster carried a higher price and looked more sporty with top down, but the 718 Cayman is the more practical of the two, so became a great selling Porsche.

The 718 Boxster is a awesome car modification project to execute. The key to 718 Boxster tuning is finding the right mods - a lot of money can be wasted if you do it wrong.

Boxster Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are top of many to do lists for the 718 Boxster.

Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you 718 Boxster radically enhancing your drive.

We suggest that you fit motorsport suspension and lower the car by 25mm - 37 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with performance suspension.

Turning our attention to the 718 Boxster's engine we need to get a bit more power out of the top end.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

718 Power mods.

This list of the stages and motorsport mods are usually fitted by our members, decide how far you want to go before you get going.

Getting the best sports mods for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 (competition) mods just don't work well on the road making the car difficult to drive.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your car. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best mods for your Boxster

1. Engine Tunes - A tune/remap provides the biggest gains in terms of cost, replacement ECUs, and inline Tuning boxes are all alternatives.
2. Intake Upgrades and Performance Exhausts - Please note that on their own these mods won't ADD POWER on most cars, but they can help enhance power after other mods by freeing up a restriction.
3. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - Adding a turbocharger is the most significant way to increase air supply, which permits you to use more fuel and make better power figures. Typically one of the most challenging mods but provides the best gains.
4. Brake Upgrades - Improve your ability to stop ought to be listed in your priority list.
5. Lighter flywheels - a lower mass flywheel will improve the engines ability to rev freely. But not always suitable for all Boxster engines.
6. Boxster Handling Mods (suspension) - Replacing worn bushings and shocks radically improves your Boxster handling Poly Bushes and Coilovers are typically fitted to achieve this
7. Flowing and porting the Head - Head work will get air flowing into the engine while removing turbulence or restrictions.
8. Fast road Camshafts are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they are doing and you might struggle to find one but there might be a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft for you.

Boxster Tuning Stages

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Suspension upgrade (drop 25mm - 37 mm.), Engine Tunes/Remapping, Lighter flywheel, Panel air filter, Sports exhaust, Alloy wheels.

Typical stage 2 mods often include: Power/Sport clutch, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Sports gearbox, Engine balancing, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves).

You really need to keep as much low end power as possible and aim for a long power band across the rev range rather than a narrow top end power hike.

The point of our advice is to give a brief overview of tuning upgrades and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your tuning project, the best motorsport mods and all aspects of modding cars.

718 Fast Road Camshafts

A fast road camshaft often proves to be one of the best NASP power mods you can do mechanically to your engine.

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip.

TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to increase the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Using higher octane petrol is another option if you find you are suffering from pinking or premature ignition on your Porsche project after fitting other kits. To get sufficient fuel you may need to upgrade the injectors on your engine.

Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned 718 Boxster's uprated injectors.

718 Boxster Turbo upgrades

NA (naturally aspirated) engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your Boxster

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes excellent power gains.

If a car is fitted with a turbo mods are going to net you a larger power gain and we find turbocharged engines will have harder and stronger components.

However every engines will need better parts at higher power limits

Discover these restrictions and upgrade to better pistons and crank to cope with the power.

There are many drivers spending a lot of money on turbo upgrades on the Boxster only to watch the car explode when it's been completed.

Big turbo units tend to suffer a bottom end lag, and small turbo units spool up really quickly but do not have the top end engines power gains.

Thanks to progress the selection of turbo units is always increasing and we commonly find variable vane turbo units, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into two channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbo charger. They also improve the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there is a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAF on the Boxster when a lot more air is being pulled into the engine.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp at a much lower level.

718 Boxster Intercooler Upgrades

An intercooler is a radiator that cools the air charge before it reaches the engine. Install an intercooler in front of the radiator to take advantage of the large volumes of cold air that are reaching it. More power and longer heat soak resistance are possible with a good intercooler design.

Remember that you want to get as much air into the engine as possible, so if the intercooler's internal core impedes airflow, you'll actually lose power. Internal flow characteristics and cooling fins are the two key components of an intercooler.

The fins should have the largest surface area, while the inner core should have a minimal number of tapered bends and no internal welds to generate turbulence. However, considering the benefits of having a high-quality intercooler installed and the modest loss of airflow inherent in a well-designed intercooler, this argument falls flat.

An intercooler that is too large will restrict airflow in practise, therefore finding the right size is crucial for this application (this is something which can be discussed in more detail in our forum.)

An intercooler is a must for all turbocharged cars, and even the stock intercoolers may be upgraded to provide better performance. The most important advantage is that they remain colder for longer periods of time, allowing for larger power numbers for longer durations of time.

Boxster Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Air induction kits will only help to boost power if your cars air intake is restricted! Adding an induction kit to most stock engines will see NO LOW END POWER GAIN AT ALL. If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction.

Derestricting the flow of air into the engine is a primary goal of tuning so get a freer flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not really increase power and usually rob you of power on most cars.

Do not go with the biggest exhaust you can get this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Head porting and polishing the head will allow you to maximise your air/fuel charge. Leave this to a professional though with a proper flow bench and machine tools In nearly all cases of 718 Boxster tuning your clutch will start to slip and this needs to be uprated - read our tips on clutches for more information. The best mods in our experience for your 718 Boxster are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

NA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A tuned/remapped turbo will give phenomenal power gains and take full advantage of the strength of the block.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twincharging applications and making some very high power figures.

The most significant power gains for NA (naturally aspirated) engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. It is often cheaper to bolt on a supercharger than it is to get a turbo working. With a turbo the boost curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it difficult to map fuelling with.

The nice directly proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them simpler to map. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

Boxster Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloys include lowering your unsprung weight and better brake cooling. If you are serious about performance then you will need to carefully choose your tires - ideally with a track legal slick tire. Large 718 Boxster alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Due to this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 18 inches, although we know some of our members have gone larger than this with no problems.

If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss 718 Boxster options in more detail with our 718 Boxster owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Porsche tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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