Must Have Upgrades For Your Newly Acquired Porsche 914

If you're reading this, it's likely that you recently purchased a Porsche 914 and are looking to improve your newly acquired sports car. And if that’s the case, Congratulations! In this article, we will cover a few of the first big upgrades you should look at doing to make your new car a little bit better and that much more of a joy to drive! So let’s dive in!

Handling & Suspension

The first big thing to help adjust your car and modernize it is to focus on the handling of the car. 914’s already handled well, however theirs ways to make it better.

One of the first ways to improve handling is to throw away the old, worn-out shocks and struts for a set of Koni or Bilstein versions. These add much more stability and stiffness to the car, and if you choose the Koni’s, you will also have adjustable shocks to fine-tune the ride you want. 

Next is to add an upgraded sway bar to the car to add more stability to the car. The 22mm front sway (weltmeister) bar is the typical choice to give this added stability over the smaller stock sway bar.  

The last thing in the handling department is to add a larger, more aggressive set of tires to the car to add better traction and control. A typical easy-to-add size is 205-50/15s around the car. Not only does this totally change the look of the car, but as we said, this upgrade can totally help change the way the car handles. 

Engine & Drivetrain Performance

With most of these cars, they are packing the venerable 1.7L and 2.0L flat 4, respectively, and there are a few things we can do to increase the power and overall performance of the German-made mill. 

One of the first things to do is something every classic car enthusiast will know about, and that is an ignition upgrade. Go ahead and throw away your stock points ignition for a Pertronix-style ignition to add reliability by ensuring a strong and consistent spark, as well as remove a lot of potential maintenance headaches by having to sand and maintain a points ignition system.  

Next is upgrading the induction system, and this can be done both with fuel injection and carburetors. If you decide to go down the route of carburetors, dual Weber or Dell’/Orto are both popular and well-known options. In the EFI corner, there are injector upgrades to replace the older Bosch D-Jetronic injectors with systems like the Megasquirt injectors. These are both good and reliable options to add airflow and, in turn, make more power. 

Lastly, one of the bigger upgrades you can do to increase the performance of your 914 is to add a higher-performance exhaust system. Depending on the style and how much you want to spend, painted and ceramic-coated headers are available and can greatly help flowand lower the backpressure for the engine. All in turn raise power numbers. 

Creature Comforts

The last few things we will be taking a look at are things that will help you truly enjoy the car the way it should be. Cause let’s face it, nobody likes holding a soda between their legs or wondering what's at the end of a dim pair of headlights.  

First is the headlights, and anyone who has driven an older car knows that the stock headlights leave MUCH to be desired in the world of LED lights today. That is exactly how we would change it. There are multiple kits that change your stock headlights to H4 LED headlights and offer a much-needed increase in visibility for those late-night mountain drives. 

The next thing to be had is added sound deadening and insulation. This greatly helps both the cabin temperatures as well as eliminating rattles and drones that many older cars are famous of having. Places like under the carpet, behind the seats, and along the firewall are all great places to add material and give you a much more pleasant experience. 

The 3rd and last thing we will throw out for people is upgrading seats. Either upgrading your own seats or replacing them with a set of GT classic Lemans style seats or an aftermarket copy of that same seat works great for 914’s. 

Visit Our Porsche 914 Shop — Just Over an Hour from Salem

Martin Mid Engine
📍 25858 S Elwood Rd, Colton, OR 97017
📞 (insert phone number)
🕘 Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm

Just northeast of Salem via OR-214 through Silverton. If you're serious about fixing building the perfect 914, we are the shop for you!