Here, “stack” sounds like they’re describing the exhaust setup/appearance. It’s part of the car’s overall look and spec, not a performance number by itself.
“Mods” are upgrades you add yourself, like aftermarket parts or tuning. The speaker is asking whether it’s better to upgrade the base car or just buy a higher trim from the factory.
“Forums” are enthusiast message boards where owners share modification ideas, troubleshooting tips, and part recommendations. The speaker mentions them as the typical place people go right after buying a car to plan personalization.
A trim level is the version of the car you buy, like the “more equipped” or “less equipped” one. The hosts are saying it’s often better to buy the trim you actually want instead of trying to fake it later.
Debadge means taking off the little nameplates/badges on the car. Here, the point is that some owners remove them so people can’t tell they didn’t buy the higher trim.
Coilovers are suspension parts that let you change how the car rides and how low it sits. They’re popular upgrades for better handling, but they can also make the ride harsher if set up aggressively.
This is an aftermarket gear shifter upgrade. The hosts mention it as one of the mods that can make the car feel better, but it adds cost fast.
Term
numeric shifter
A shifter is the part you move to change gears. This sounds like an aftermarket shifter upgrade, and the hosts are saying it can cost a few hundred to over a thousand dollars.
Some cars use cables to connect the shifter to the transmission. If you upgrade the shifter, you might also need to upgrade the cables so the shifts feel right.
Part
Soul Exhaust
An exhaust upgrade changes the way the car sounds and how gases flow out. The hosts are treating it as a pricey mod that can quickly push spending past $10,000.
“Stock form” means the car exactly as it came from the factory. The point here is that once you modify it, you usually can’t get all your money back when you sell it.
Term
20%, 30% tops
They’re talking about how much of your upgrade cost you might get back when you sell the car. The takeaway is that you usually don’t recover everything you spent.
“Mod” means customizing the car with aftermarket parts. The hosts are saying Porsche owners are often encouraged to do this more than owners of many other brands.
Ferrari is a famous Italian supercar brand. The host is saying Ferrari fans often prefer you keep the car looking exactly like it was originally designed.
The resell market is what people pay when you sell your car later. The host is saying that unmodified (stock) cars usually sell for more because more buyers prefer them.
A suspension mod means changing parts that affect how the car rides and handles. The host is saying some suspension changes are considered “worth it” by certain buyers.
Lowering the car means making it sit closer to the ground. The host is describing how that changes the look and how close the tires are to the fenders.
Short shifting means shifting to the next gear sooner than you normally would. It can make the car feel calmer and quieter, but it’s not everyone’s idea of better.
Concept
I2 strategy
The host mentions an “I2 strategy” for modding, but they don’t explain it fully in this excerpt. It sounds like a planned way to do upgrades instead of changing everything at once.
Touch points are the parts of the car your hands interact with a lot, like the shifter and steering wheel. If you upgrade those, you notice the difference right away while driving.
Programming the car means updating its computer settings so the new parts work properly. For some upgrades, the dealer has to do this so everything talks to each other.
Aftermarket means parts made by companies other than the car’s manufacturer. Here, it suggests you can buy exhaust parts outside Porsche to get similar sound features.
Fister is a company that makes aftermarket exhaust systems. The host likes it because it costs less than many options but still sounds really good, especially after it’s been used for a while.
“Bed in” (in exhaust context) means the exhaust system changes slightly after initial use—often due to heat cycling and surface changes—so the sound can settle into its final character. The host implies the exhaust gets better as it’s broken in.
The host is comparing two styles of car upgrades. One focuses on slowing down and turning in better (so you keep speed through corners), and the other focuses more on making the engine stronger for faster straight-line acceleration.
Porsche 993 refers to a specific generation of the 911 from the 1990s. The host is talking about working on one and learning what upgrades actually feel like.
Bushings are small pieces in the suspension that help parts move smoothly. Softer ones make the ride quieter and less harsh; harder ones make the car feel more “direct,” but can be louder.
Elephant Racing is a company that sells aftermarket parts for Porsche cars. Here they’re mentioned as the brand behind the harder bushings the host tried.
“Taut suspension” means the suspension feels tight and controlled when you steer or go around a corner. It should respond quickly, but not feel rough or vibrating all the time.
Concept
danger of overdoing it
The host is warning that it’s easy to go too far with upgrades. Parts that sound great online can make the car uncomfortable or worse in real life.
It’s basically when you get used to your car and it starts to feel less exciting. After a while, you know what it will do, so it doesn’t feel new anymore.
“Stock exhaust” means the exhaust system that came with the car from the factory. It’s the baseline, and swapping it is one of the easiest ways to change how the car sounds.
Term
function first shifting system
This sounds like an upgraded way of shifting gears. The idea is that changing the shifter/shift feel can make the car feel different again, not just faster.
Swapping the steering wheel is an interior upgrade that can make the car feel more comfortable or more “connected.” It’s one of the ways to make the car feel new again.
Bigger wheels usually change how the car rides and how it feels when you turn. They’re often done for looks and steering feel, but they can also change comfort and tire prices.
A “wrap” is a vinyl covering you put on the outside of the car to change its color or style. It’s often easier to remove or change later than repainting.
Term
trading your car in
This is when you hand in your current car to help pay for the next one. The downside is you might not get as much money for it as you hoped.
They mean “do the numbers” to decide what’s smarter: spending money on upgrades or selling and buying something else. It’s about comparing the total costs and what you get in return.
These are extra charges a dealership adds when you buy a car. They can make the final price higher than you expected, so it matters when comparing options.
Michelin PS4s are a type of performance tire. Better tires can make the car feel safer and more fun because they grip the road better, especially when you’re turning or braking.
Term
shifting mod
A “shifting mod” is an upgrade that makes gear changes feel better. It can make the car feel smoother or more precise when you shift.
“981 Boxster” means a specific generation of the Porsche Boxster. The host is saying they found a 981 and ended up enjoying the base version more than expected.
The Toyota RAV4 is a compact SUV, which means it’s a taller, more practical vehicle than a sedan. In the podcast, it’s used for a trip to hot springs, showing it works well for everyday travel. It’s designed to be comfortable and useful for carrying people and gear.
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Really dropping some serious knowledge on the 11 After 9 podcast.
This is kind of opened up an interesting pushback from the audience where some people are like,
bass is the way, makes complete sense. If you know you know, having owned higher horsepower cars,
we really love the bass. And then there's a lot of people saying, you're crazy,
you got to go for the S, you got to go for the GTS, you have to go for the turbo.
If you're not driving that with the most horsepower, the most Porsche,
then you're not getting the full experience. And I think there's probably some truth in
both sides of that discussion. I mean, hand on heart, honestly, I was always that guy.
You put a cool name on any product, name of product, and then XL, or the S, or the pro,
or the carbon, or the black, or whatever it is. That's the one I want. I mean,
I get sucked into that marketing stuff all the time because I grew up with the thought process
that if you're going to spend the money, you might as well get the best you possibly can.
And the best was always whatever you're buying plus something. And so it's really kind of a huge
departure for me. And it's been a really interesting journey for me to kind of
take a step back and realize that in the Porsche world, sometimes the base car is
really just kind of the essence of what I'm looking for in a driving experience.
So I thought it would be interesting to name this episode Moving Up or Modding Out.
So what do I mean by that? Well, what I mean is let's just use a base boxer example.
Let's use my example. I have a 2014 base boxer. It's a 981. It is a fantastic car. I really,
really, really love it. And I think probably in the market right now with around 50,000 miles on it,
it's somewhere in that high 30s, low 40s. Let's call it 38, 40, 42, somewhere in there with sport
exhaust and it's a stack. Let's call it 40. Let's use round numbers. And then you can get an S version
of that for let's say $50,000. So $10,000 more, give or take. Then you can get Porsche's premium
version, the GTS, which is one small step below the GT cars, a really fantastic performance car,
just a little bit more horsepower, a little sharper suspension, things of that nature.
And that's like $65,000. So that's a huge jump up from the base that I have price-wise.
So the question I have is, is it better to take $10,000 difference between the base and the S
and put it into mods on a base? Or should you just take that $10,000 and get the S?
So what's the temptation? Anytime you get a car, you're immediately going online and you're looking
through all the forums and all the web pages and you're like, all right, what can I do to my car
to personalize it, make it more of mine? So I guess my first piece of advice is something I learned
a long time ago and that if you are unbelievably fixated on the label of your car, whether you
have to have an S, you have to have a GTS, just go with it. Honestly, what I inevitably find is
people that do quote-unquote settle for a lower trim level is they almost always debadge their
cars. I don't know why that is. They just don't want people to know that they're quote-unquote
settled. So someone will come up to you and they'll say, so was this a boxed harass? Or is this a
boxed GTS? I love what you did here. Look at those sweet 21-inch rims. Look what you did with the
carbon fiber bits and all this. And then as an owner of the car, a person has to go, well, no,
it's not a GTS. It's a base, but I did this and this and this. And they're always trying to defend
the car and their additions to the car to try to make it more than what they think it is.
Don't do that to yourself. Take the extra time and save up the money and get the trim level
that's going to make you personally happy. With all that being said, someone might say to me,
well, Derek, $10,000 into a 981, that's kind of crazy, especially in a base. What are you really
going to get for that? Well, I have a little shopping list. So here's the temptation. Here's
the build list of how you can drop 10 Gs real quick on a base 981. Coilovers, $3,000. Picking
yourself up a numeric shifter or a function first shifter, especially with cables, you're looking at
$700, $800, maybe even a little bit more. A Soul Exhaust, $3,000. And maybe you want to get some
sweet Apex wheels, and that's $2,500 minimum. Oh, you got to throw some tires on that. We're over
$10,000. So why are you doing that? Really? Is it because you want that next level car
and you're trying to make it that? Or are you just customizing and making your own? Also,
just understand that anytime you put money into a car and it takes it away from the stock form,
you're never going to get that money back. You'll get a percentage of that money back, I should say,
maybe 20%, 30% tops. You're never going to be able to take the 10K on top of the base model and get
back all of that money. So this is good or bad, right? Because what's really interesting is in
the Porsche world, I would say probably more than any other automaker. People are encouraged to
mod their cars. It's really interesting, actually. The Porsche market encourages it. People can
customize color, options, the looks, the performance of their cars, and it's celebrated by the community,
which is really fantastic because we all know that there's other brands that are very, very
against that. Ferrari is a perfect example. God forbid you were going to change the perfect
makeup as it was envisioned by the descendants of Ferrari. It's just not done. So it is really cool
that you can mod your car and it's not held against you until it comes time to sell the car,
in which case, almost always, stock will get you more money in the resell market.
Now, there are mods you can do to a car that do add value, and I don't mean that monetarily,
but I mean value in the eyes of some people, and it might be a certain type of suspension mod or
lowering the car to rest of world height, where it takes the stilt-like look with lots of clearance
under the fenders to the tires. It makes the car look a little bit more mean, and that's all perfectly
fine. But once you start putting loud exhaust and maybe even changing to short shifting,
that's more of a preference thing, and those are things you really have to consider. So on the
plus side of buying a car at a higher trim level, right off the bat, is that whatever upgrades Porsche
has baked into that car, those are proven upgrades that Porsche has tested through any number of
circumstances, any real-world climates, and it's been pressure tested by hundreds of thousands
or millions of people, and you can feel really good that it's integrated really well in the car,
and unlike something that you might be getting from another supplier, that while it might integrate
with your car, it's not quite so cohesive as something that comes from the factory. So that
is something that's fantastic, but you know, you got to imagine that if you do get an S or a GTS,
the same bug will be in your shorts to think, well, how can I make this even better? Because my S
isn't a GTS or my GTS isn't a GT. Just getting a base isn't going to always cure you of this.
So to bring it all back for a final point, you know, I think that if you want the best, you
should buy the best, and no matter how much upgrading you do, if you want that S badge or that GTS badge
on the door or on the rear trunk lid, that's the way you should go. But if you are going to mod your
car, I think that that's okay too. But I think you need to do it with an I2 strategy. I like to
think about maybe like an enjoyment per dollar. You know, we talk about smiles per mile, depending
on what car you buy, which is kind of a silly phrase, but it's true. So but the enjoyment per
dollar, it's kind of an idea that I try to live with when I do things to my car. And essentially,
what that rule is, is that if you're going to spend the money, spend it on the touch points of the car.
So for example, the shifter, you touch a shifter 500 800 times per drive, your hand is always on it.
It gives you that direct connection to the car in the road. And so it's an extremely important thing
when it comes to the overall enjoyment of driving. And if you want to move to a short shift system,
or you want to upgrade the shifting action, because maybe it's gotten a little bit sloppy,
or heck, if you just want to change the shifter itself, because you want a shifter knob that
feels better in the palm of your hand, those are all really great things that you should do,
because it's going to bring you immediate pleasure in terms of driving your car.
Steering wheel, same thing. I just upgraded the steering wheel in my 981 coming into winter last
year. And I know everyone, I will have a video coming out on that. But I was looking down at
this steering wheel, and it was just this sea of black cheap plastic from my base Boxster. And
I didn't love it. And so I upgraded it to a newer version of a Porsche steering wheel
that looks pretty sick. And I really, really like it. And it brings me happiness when I'm driving it.
And it doesn't look out of place in the cabin either, which is important to me. It's nice and
heavy. The leather is fantastic. My hands make contact with that the entire time. And I think
it's a very worthy upgrade. And I tend to put that on the top of the list, the exhaust. So
my base Boxster came with Porsche Sport exhaust PSA. And I'm very lucky for that. You can have that
retrofitted. It is a very expensive option. I've heard it going for as much as $6,500 at the dealer,
because not only do you have to buy the system and have them put it in, they have to run the wires
because it's a valve system, quiet, loud. And then they have to install the button on the dash,
and then they have to program the car. And so it's not an inexpensive proposition.
But the good news is, in the aftermarket, there are valve exhaust options. And then there's also
fixed exhaust options, both of which are fantastic. There's great companies out there with reviews
of plenty. I love Fister exhaust because I find for the money they punch way above their weight
class. They sound fantastic. They're affordable. They actually sound better the more you use them.
They kind of bed in. But it's not an adjustable sound either. I'm putting a Fister set on my 997.
So there you go. I'm putting my money where my mouth is. But the sound, the sound is everything.
For me, that's really important because it's amazing to me that even if you do have a lower
horsepower car, none of them are slow. But it's amazing that...
To find out more, just search up The Podcast with Nox and Jamie wherever you listen to podcasts
and prepare to make Wednesday your new favorite day of the week.
Ramping up the soundtrack of your motor makes you feel like you're going faster.
I'm sure you all agree with me. I mean, it is a psychological thing. Maybe an exhaust might give
you a couple HP more, but not really. But when it's loud in your ears and it adds a little bit
more vibration into the cabin, you feel more race car. And that adds to the overall enjoyment
and the experience of the car, which is great. So when I like to mod, I like to mod not necessarily
for the stopwatch because I don't go to the track. I like to mod for the Fizz. I want to increase
my happiness in the car when I'm driving it at 45 miles an hour, 65 miles an hour,
on twisties up here in New England. If you're on the racetrack, you might want to look at it a
different way. Though I would admit, if you do want to mod for the racetrack, don't go for power
right away. Go for braking. Porsche has an excellent braking system in almost all of their cars,
but the European way of modding your car versus the American way of modding your car are really
at odds with each other in terms of how they think about it. In America, I need to get some
more power in this car. I want to go faster on the straights and dive into the corners and pull
out of those corners really fast. I need torque. I need horsepower. In Europe, they look at braking
because if you can carry speed deeper into a corner, well, then you don't need as much horsepower to
pull out of it because you're at a higher overall speed in general. And while I'm not a racer,
I do have a lot of friends at race and they all tell me that the wins and the checkered flags,
most of the time, those come from cars that can brake better rather than accelerate better.
I will say this when it comes to modding your own car. Be very careful you don't go overboard.
What do I mean by that? Well, I mean, certainly overboard could be, hey, I went down to AutoZone
and I got every carbon fiber piece I could and stuck them all over the hood. I got vents for
days. If you look at my car, you're going to cut yourself. That's not what I mean. But I remember
back when I was modding my 993, you know, doing the run list checklist. I was putting on my, I
and one or two other things. I was trying to upgrade the bushings and I had ordered maybe
elephant racing bushings like full polyurethane hardcore bushings where normally in a car you
have softer rubber bushings and they do that because those soak up a lot of vibrations and
they just make it a more comfortable overall approachable ride on daily driving roads.
Well, I mean, I need to go race car, right? And so I get these like super hard,
hard, hard plastic hockey puck bushings that are going to go into the suspension. And I remember
bringing it to my mechanic and he looked at this bag of parts and he just threw it back at me and
he goes, I'm not going to install these in your car. And I was like, well, what do you mean? He's
like, your car will drive like crap. It'll rattle itself to death. You're going to be miserable.
You're going to lose the fillings in your mouth because it's going to be vibrating like crazy.
He said, it's not worth it. If you're going to do anything refresh with rubber bushings,
you have the sound, you have the taut suspension so you can go around corners.
That's what you want in the road. And so when I talk about the danger of overdoing it,
it's really that sitting behind a computer with tabs open and a credit card in your hand,
you, it's very easy to go down that road of, well, then this and I can do this. And then
you get on this adventure in your mind of what it's going to be. The reality sometimes is not
matching up with what the internet tells you it's going to be like. That's why I always have the
advice of when you do get a car, you know, drive it for a month or two, drive it 500 miles, drive
it 1500 miles, get to know the car. And if you do do mods, do them one at a time. Don't do three or
four mods at once. I've been there too. Do them one at a time. And if you do that, you're going
to immediately notice what that mod adds to the driving experience or takes away from it. I guess
drive that for a little bit, move on to the next mod and you get enough of those together. And then
you have a real progression of what you're doing with the car and where you started from and where
you're going to. So this, so that kind of leads me into what I'll call like the boredom threshold.
If you have one car and maybe you call it your forever car, maybe it's a car that you really,
really love and you really saved and scratch for it and it's, it's your baby and you've driven it
for quite some time. And then there's a chance you might be getting a little bored with it.
Every owner kind of hits this threshold. You know how the car accelerates. You know how it breaks.
You know how it handles around corners. And so when you go off with your friends, yes,
it's approachable and you can drive the car maybe a little bit more towards its limit because you
know what it's going to do. But at the same time, that limit is fixed. When we talk about upgrading,
say a base boxer, maybe your base boxer comes with a stock exhaust and then you go and put a
fister exhaust on it. Like that makes it a new car for you and you're going to revel in the sound
and that's going to make your experience start all over again and you get many more months of fun.
And it kind of resets the clock until that becomes normalized. And then maybe move on to your next
mod. Maybe you reach out for a function first shifting system. Maybe you change that steering
wheel. Maybe you move to slightly larger wheels. Heck, maybe you put a wrap on your car. Who knows?
Maybe Guard's Red has been great for you for eight years, but you really want a deep blue.
Go for it. Maybe saving up and spending $5,000, $7,000, $10,000 over the course of a year or two
to fall back in love with the car is a fantastic way to go. It's significantly cheaper than
potentially losing $15,000 or $20,000 in trading your car in at reduced value, dealer fees,
taxes to get another car that might be a little bit faster, a little bit newer, have a little bit
better tech. So consider that calculus. If you're looking to buy, say a base versus an
at base and you're like, should I trade that in? A new set of Michelin PS4s tires and exhaust and
maybe a shifting mod will change that car and make it really interesting for you moving forward.
So I know I was meandering there for a little bit, but I just kind of wanted to throw my thoughts
out there. I actually really do like the idea of modding your car to a certain extent. And I think
as I talked about, you can really make it feel new over a long amount of time. When I was looking
for my base Boxster, I just didn't have the scratch to look for a GTS. When I was looking for a 981
Boxster and I came across a manual with poor sport exhaust, I was thrilled and I was willing to give
the base a try because I had never driven a 981 base before. And as you know from all my videos,
I'm very pleasantly surprised. So who knows, maybe going for a base versus a GTS might lead you down
new paths and new experiences that maybe you otherwise wouldn't have. So that's my take. And
I'd love if you could weigh in on this topic down in the comments, whether it's on the audio
podcast platforms or down below on the YouTube video, two things. If I can, if you are listening by
audio, please go to Apple podcast or Spotify and leave a star and leave a review because that's how
that system pushes this podcast to new people because they know if you're listening and you're
liking what you're hearing that other people might too. And also I might ask if you are active on
the different forums, whether it's Facebook, whether it's Red List, wherever you might be,
whether it's Reddit, and it might be a topic that we've touched on on a podcast or in one of my
main channel videos, please don't hesitate to throw the name out there. You always have my
appreciation if you drop the 11 after nine name and maybe a link to send people that might not
have been exposed to what we're talking about here in this community. So for all that, I want to
thank all of you. We're going to be back next week talking Porsche with some new friends and I'm
really looking to have you along. So we'll see you next Tuesday.
Wanted to start a business on the side, you can't run a side hustle, you can't run a business,
they share real tips. And so I started connecting with all these people on LinkedIn
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easiest form of resistance and the actual strategies they use to turn their side hustle
into their main hustle. Getting back in touch with your tangible cash and sitting down and learning
to give your money a job, like it changes something. Check out side hustle pro every
week on your favorite podcast app and YouTube.
Next, we're heading to the hot springs in a RAV4. And finally, park your tenders and Tacomas
around the campfire because we're roasting marshmallows. Your summer start here.
Do you want to know the best part about being married to a woman that there's no man involved?
I mean true, but I was going to say that it's a sleepover every single night with your best friend.
Oh yeah, that part's cute too. I'm Taryn, she's Cammie, we're married and staying up is our weekly
pillow talk out loud with you. We're giggling, we're gossiping, we're arguing, classic marriage
stuff, just having fun being wives while we navigate growing up and building a family together.
Then our sleepover grows. Our listeners call the PP hotline with their own gossip, burning
questions, late night spirals, all the stuff they'd only tell their best friends. So it's a private
sleepover but you are invited. Staying up with Taryn and Cammie, new episodes weekly, follow
wherever you listen.
About this episode
A Porsche owner weighs whether $10,000 is better spent on modifying a base 981 Boxster or stepping up to an S or GTS trim. The discussion favors enjoyment-per-dollar upgrades, especially touch points like exhaust, steering wheel, and brakes, while warning that resale rarely recoups full mod spend. It also stresses taking time to learn the car, making changes one at a time, and avoiding suspension choices that ruin road manners.
This week on ElevenAfterNine, we’re slowing things down to tackle one of the most debated topics in the Porsche community: "Do I upgrade my car or upgrade the Model?"
Today, we do the math on the $10,000 Dilemma: Should you save that extra cash to jump a trim level, or should you spend it on the "Touchpoints" and "Soundtracks" that actually create the "Fizz"?
Support the Show:
If you enjoyed this episode, the best way to support us is to leave a review!
