Pros and Cons of adding Dinan S3 to 4.6is

[SeattleYates]

Originally Posted by Dinanaholic

The Dinan S2 package will bring his 4.6 up to around 370 HP which is exactly what I currently have. . . .if you want to meet on the Eastside on weekend I'll let you drive my rig then you can see for yourself if it is enough. . .If I had to do it over again I'd go with the supercharger out of the box as this is exactly what I am saving for now...

Just to follow up, Dinanaholic did indeed meet me and I drove his rig (which is absolutely gorgeous, BTW - a shining example of what love and attention can do to make and keep an X5 looking "better than new"! ). While his black sapphire beauty (with the Dinan S2) sounds a little thoatier than my stock 4.6is, and seems to shift slightly more smoothly (undoubtedly due to the Dinan software), there is negligible difference in power, from what I can tell -- just as Dinanaholic told me there would be. I guess that shouldn't be surprising, considering that the increase in power is only about 10%.

Based on this experience, I'm thinking that, although the S2 is significantly less expensive than the S3, it's still a lot of money...so I'm going to (as both Dinanaholic and Curtis have suggested) consider skipping the S2, and either get the S3 package or just the supercharger--and perhaps the strut tower brace to firm up handling -- instead. (Thanks again, Dinanaholic, for taking time to chat with me and let me "test drive" your baby!)