996 c2 project

Nice work :thumb:

Giro discs, if the discs are larger, but calipers standard how did you get them to fit?

H&R ARB's are these solid or hollow? How do they compare with the GT3 items? Are they heavier?

Cheers

Nice project this, very good gains from the exhaust!

Anyone any idea on the price of the Kline system with manifolds? I'm currently looking for an exhaust and I might struggling to find a price on the manifolds.

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Brilliantly - well done Ken and team!

Hi guys,

Will write a short review this evening... suffice to say I'm in love with what's been done!

Cheers,
Ryan

Quick initial review

Hi all,

Been busy moving house on the weekend so excuse the later response!

Suffice to say I love the car and what it feels like, how it performs, etc... lets begin at the heart of the matter:

Engine
Turn the key and... wow! It barks into life with a sound and vigour that is absolutely a step up from the "old" car! Blip the throttle and the revs immediately rise - and then fall just as quickly.The LWFW immediately makes its presence felt. There is a slightly higher idle speed that quickly settles to 'normal'... once warm you can give it a blip or two and enjoy the new found harmony from the exhausts - what a difference!
Pull off and the clutch bites quickly and with little travel... its easy to stall the car until you gauge the bite point.
On the move, the low down torque feels slightly lacklustre - but once the revs get over 2500 to 3000 rpm it takes off like a scalded cat and with the energy of a firework.. .again, just wow! What a difference?
It's quite easy to feel the difference in the short-shift gear change from the 997 - shifts are slick, short and precise and each change as you approach the redline brings a variety of sounds into the cabin - from a low bassy thrum right up to a sonorous howl - chasing the limit never sounded this good previously?!?!
The power progression is also smooth and, as expected, the inertia in the engine is almost non existent. No longer does the car slowly wind its way up, it literally accelerates its way through each gear and the pace is actually quite unexpected - truthfully, it feels almost as fast as my 424bhp 991 GTS? The only thing I find missing is that on the over-run, the exhaust is probably a bit too quiet? But, for the benefits that the tuning, the exhaust and the flywheel bring, would I change anything?
Not a chance!


Suspension
Driving off, one is immediately struck by the pliancy and low speed ride comfort - wasn't this supposedly a sportier suspension setup, stiff and more uncompromising? From the drivers seat it feels the opposite, absorbing small bumps yet still communicating the surface nicely.
Pick up the pace and then you start to feel the more precise wheel control... its bumpy for sure, but not unreasonably so and it still feels as if each wheel remains connected with the surface, travelling through the compressions rather than the wheel skipping over them and running out of ideas.
Larger bumps, dips in the road and surface changes remain well within its capabilities and its almost as if the car eggs you on, further challenging you to find some blacktop that tests the suspension more completely. When you do find the gaps in the road, rough concrete and broken tarmac it still retains its control - but you can now definitely feel you're in a tightly spring sports car.
I didn't find it bottom out anywhere (even though some of the compressions left me wondering when it would happen, not if it would)... but either I wasn't pushing hard enough or even this remains within its set of skills!
From a cornering perspective, the car corners flat and firm - mid corner bumps don't throw it off course and it seems to find a front-end purchase that is markedly different from old, not to mention rear-end grip that feels mighty! Turn and the car follows the line immediately - no slop in the steering and no delay in the direction change... It must feel brilliant under track conditions and I cant wait to see how this can be used to rotate the car under a little trail-braking into some corners?
Most impressive for me was the control under braking and accelaration... the dive and squat are almost absent and even though minimal, still manage to impart that feeling of weight transfer that's so critical to 'fun driving'
Overall, the suspension, ARB's, springs and geo are a winner - and its the first time i had to get out and check the badge at the back didn't say "GT3" or similar... its that good!


Brakes
If I thought it couldn't get better, I was wrong! The brakes are probably the most noticeable improvement on the car - they feel great, full of progression, firm pedal and without a hint of lock-up. They're very easy to modulate and, whether your'e mid-corner and need a light touch, or firmly braking in a straight line, they never feel overdone and lacking sensitivity.
The ABS works like a dream still and the stopping distances are simply staggering! No doubt on track these are going to prove one of the best investments in the car...


Drivetrain
Particularly here referring to the LSD now fitted... who knew it would make such a clear difference to the way the car drives, corners, brakes and transitions? Out of junctions there is absolutely no lost momentum, the rear tyres simply finding oodles of grip and shunting the car forward like nothing I've experienced in it before... It almost feels like it wants to break traction but yet maintains its push and a slight waggle from the tail simply allows it to build on that momentum.
Quite interesting is the behaviours of the car under straight line deceleration - you can feel the diff working and generating grip even on the (now) unloaded rear wheels - strange sensation and one I still need to get used to (not to mention how to get the best out of it!)



So - that's a quick summary... first track day is beginning august and I hope to feed back from there. Ive left the settings in the same clicks that Ken set it up with and would probably describe these as my (close to ideal) "fast road" setup. Lots to experiment with still and lots to learn!

Big question most of you are probably asking is "Is it worth it?"
These upgrades weren't cheap (nothing worth doing ever is cheap) but I can wholeheartedly say the early signs aren't just encouraging, they're downright brilliant! Considering a base (good) car is now about £13k that means that for under £40k you can have a GT3 alternative that you can thrash, tune, keep coming back for more and genuinely use with abandon - not sure where you'd get that kind of fun in a normal GT car without risking a serious investment? Best of all, Ken and his team have been absolutely superb, dealing with every question Ive had, every suggestion I've made and making sure the finished product was nothing short of perfect. There are one or two small issues I still need to take care of - but without doubt, having 9e and Ken deliver a product like this makes you wonder whether you truly need a race car to enjoy these lovely summer evening track days...


With this setup, I genuinely am looking forward to my first outing!


Cheers,
Ryan

Great read Ryan, many thanks for taking the time with your detailed review
Ken has created a wonderful car for you there which I'm sure it will keep that smile well and truly painted on your face for some time to come.

Keep us up to date with any progress and feedback. Out of interest you mention a differential. Which way did you go with this (ATB or plated)? Any skipping or noise in the low speed tight turns?

Many thanks once again :thumb:

Very informative write up Ryan. It really does sound like money well spent.
I will look forward to your ongoing reports
:thumb:

crash7 said:

Nice work :thumb:

Giro discs, if the discs are larger, but calipers standard how did you get them to fit?

H&R ARB's are these solid or hollow? How do they compare with the GT3 items? Are they heavier?

Cheers

Click to expand...

The Girodiscs comes with 12mm spacers to amke them fit.

Re the ARBs they are solid are are quite heavy.

Ken

ELA said:

Great read Ryan, many thanks for taking the time with your detailed review
Ken has created a wonderful car for you there which I'm sure it will keep that smile well and truly painted on your face for some time to come.

Keep us up to date with any progress and feedback. Out of interest you mention a differential. Which way did you go with this (ATB or plated)? Any skipping or noise in the low speed tight turns?

Many thanks once again :thumb:

Click to expand...

On the diff we went with Quaiffe ATB. Hardly any noise, normally noise is associated with plated. It takes quite a time to shim the diff to get it to be correct on install.

Ken

Any feedback on the car after some use?

Hi Coullstar,

Lots to update on since July (and apologies for the late reply on your post) this is a story in 2 parts...

Part 1

So, come August last year I did my first track day at Castle Coombe. The car was outstanding, both from a handling perspective as well as drivability perspective. It was easily one of the faster vehicles there on the day and I was surprised by how 'friendly' it was - it gave me lots of confidence to push.

The upgrades worked really well, especially the brakes. Although they do tend to grumble a bit, the stopping power is consistent and awesome. Most importantly, brake feel and modulation is a highlight.
Of mixed emotion is the LWFW - no questioning its effectiveness and impact on revability... but it's noisy as hell and below a certain rpm sounds like a bag of bolts is loose in the engine compartment (quite disconcerting when you first encounter it). However, at the upper reaches of the range it's butter smooth and well worth it when you heel-and-toe. I can see how it draws such polarising views though I am happy it's on my car and I wouldn't change it out.

The suspension is probably for me the best part - I'll get to more of that later in part 2...

So, the track day goes well although I notice she's using a bit of oil and smoking occasionally. Nonetheless, with oil pressures up, very little drops in the high-g corners, etc I push on...
On literally the last session of the day, coming into turn 4 (the chicane), I drop a gear, trail brake in, jink right, junk left and get smoothly on the gas - when all hell breaks loose behind me!

Smoke, noise, mechanical grinding, you name it, the car loses all power and I pull off to the side, off the racing line, and onto the grass with smoke billowing everywhere.

Stop the car and get out and notice a fire at back - luckily the marshals were there in short order and literally emptied 3 canisters onto the car, the exhaust and the engine compartment.

Car gets flat-bedded back to the pits and ultimately back to Ken where I'm hoping it's the AOS that needs replacing (hahahahaha!)

On to part 2 now...

Part 2

Ken phones me after about a week to tell me the good news and the bad news...

The good news is that I'm clearly very good at something and have achieved a high level of proficiency at absolutely grenading an M96 engine! I think his words to me were 'Ive never seen someone do THIS to an engine before!!!'
Turns out it was likely a cam chain that snapped and that set off a chain reaction of epic proportion (pardon the pun). Couple this with other likely failures (maybe a broken rod, a d-chunk and a few others) there was no hope for the poor engine.

The bad news is I obviously need a new engine... not just a block but literally almost everything! Heads, pumps, filters, you name it had all been impacted in some way by my enthusiasm!

I must add, and in my defence, there was no over-rev or any abuse - it was simply a failure.

So on to the rebuild... only one place to go - Hartech!
Ken arranged the rest and by late October I had my car back, with a brand new engine, full Hartech 'protections' (eg. special sump, LTT, Millers oil, etc) but also with a few new choice parts added...

Ken put in a half-rollcage, some Recaro PP's and full harnesses. I stripped out the rear seats and shed some other unnecessary weight (including my own!). Although I was itching to go, I needed about 800 to 1,000 miles to run the car in, go for an oil change again and then hit the track (again!) for round2...

Those roughly 900miles took an age - but by end Jan I was in a position to book my first track day - up at Snetterton. Ken and Adam did a great job at prepping the car for me and giving it a safety once-over (which I must tell you they did for free and refused payment for... what a top notch, customer focused outfit!)

On the Sunday I took the long drive up to Norwich and even though it was cold, wet, sleeting and miserable I had an absolute ball!
The car was strong, the handling was as good as ever (although I did have to work hard to get temps in the tyres and also load the front end appropriately) and everything went like a dream.
The seats made such a huge difference I can't tell you - and the knowledge of the safety of the cage plus the harnesses really do put you at ease.

All-in, the car has now cost me quite a bit... the car itself, the upgrades, the new engine, etc - but it had been TOTALLY worth it! Not only that, but Ken, Adam and the team have been amazing in helping me get this done. All told, a GT3 might have been another good option... but it would have cost double and I'm not sure would have been as adjustable at th final point? For anyone contemplating this, just do it! The key is to find the right base car, allocate a
chunky budget, get the right partner (critical) and get cracking... you won't regret it!

A big thanks to Adam and Ken again - I wouldn't go anywhere else for my Porsche needs and it's great to work with people who genuinely care and take an interest in their customers. Cheers guys!

Wow, some big ups and downs there. I'm tempted to get mine ready for doing some track days as I do miss it.

So was it a 2nd engine rebuilt? Did you increase capacity?

Hi Coullstar,

It was the original engine that exploded... I'm on the second engine now. This one has been done right from the start - closed deck, Carrillo rods, arp bolts, proper cooling, etc. Couple that to the better oil system and pickup (together with better baffling) and it should be good to go on track for a while yet!

It's still a 3.6 though - I didn't go for a larger engine size as I didn't think it necessary.

What are you busy with?

I must admit, I don't really think M96s are up to track days, without some serious modding beforehand.

Not surprised by the brake improvement; the standard set-up is just okay for fast-road work. LWFW I think needs a drivetrain balance to not be unacceptably noisy, too. The Kline sounds lovely (and +30BHP is awesome) - roughly how much was that, can you say?

I salute your commitment to the 996, Ryan! :thumb: :worship: