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My experiences in Porsche tuning with Nine Excellence

martinspain

Active member
Joined
24 Feb 2016
Messages
25
Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster.

I wanted to share my experience with Nine Excellence, who recently had my car in for some brake upgrades and a little tuning work.

First, here's a little backstory. I have a 2002 996 Turbo, bought a few years ago when prices were in the mid-20s for a decent example. I didn't really mean to buy a Turbo - I was shopping for a 997 C2S, but a mate persuaded me to take a look at the 996 Turbo as an alternative option that would depreciate less than the 997, and would be a quicker car too. He was correct on both counts. Thanks Jethro!

turbo-post-detail.jpg


It had a Milltek stainless exhaust on it and according to the comprehensive wedge of paperwork I received with the car it had a mild DMS remap to 450bhp. Certainly when I test-drove the car it had reasonable punch when at full throttle. The exhaust made a lovely sound from in the cabin, giving a more NA-type flat-six howl at full throttle, and that combined with the rush of boost totally sold me on the car.

It mainly gets weekend use only, plus a couple of roadtrips and five or six trackdays per year. All-in, I do around 5,000 miles a year in it and it's just ticked over to 80k on the clock this spring. I've been really happy with it, but recently a few niggles really started to bother me. The engine wasn't feeling as potent as it once did, failing to boost past 0.6 bar even at full throttle, and the brakes, which were never particularly good, felt worse than ever. A trackday at Silverstone where I struggled to pass an old Ford Mustang on the back straight and the brake pedal got longer with every big stop was the tipping point, and I got a bit cross with the car and started to look for potential replacements.

hh2016-turbo-panning.jpg


I've always loved the Audi R8's looks and it's one of the very few cars I've seen that seems capable of handling the sort of use that Porsches can; cruise to the track, spend a day doing laps, then drive home with no issues whatsoever. However, after test-driving a V8 example I came to the conclusion that what I really wanted was the V10, but sadly couldn't afford it. Other alternatives included a leggy 997 Turbo (marginally better interior, much better brakes, 19" wheels allow wider choice of tyres than the stock 18s on the 996) or an Aston Martin V8 Vantage (surprisingly robust, heart-stoppingly gorgeous looks, lovely exhaust note, much too slow), or I could chop the car in for a dedicated track machine like a Caterham, and get an M3 for weekend use.

I went back and forth on this for some time, but ultimately I felt that I should at least try to hold onto the Turbo for a little while longer while values were solid, and take the cash I was going to use to move onto the R8 and invest it in some brake upgrades and a proper tune to replace the seemingly-absent DMS remap.

Enter Nine Excellence. I'd heard a lot about 9E on a number of forums including this one, and after reading many, many threads on various 9E-tuned cars, I bit the bullet and gave Ken a ring to enquire about his 996 Turbo brake upgrades, and to get a cost for the 9E40 package. Somehow, during the course of our telephone conversation, my intention to be sensible and start small with the 9E40 package disappeared and the scope of the work widened to the 9E38 package with a Kline Innovation exhaust plus throttle body and plenum upgrades, in addition to the full-house Porsche 6-pot brake upgrade with Girodiscs all round.

I dropped the car off with 9E for a couple of weeks while I went on holiday with my family, and Ken kept me well informed on the progress via email. The process wasn't without incident – even though my car is very regularly serviced and had received a 48k service in January, there were quite a few broken or failing components that I wasn't aware of that needed to be taken care of, including turbo heat shields and actuators.

Worse still, there were boost issues that took some time to track down. Ken ended up having the car for an extra week to get the car delivering the correct performance, since there were a number of niggly hidden issues that prevented it from working within the tolerances that 9E aim to deliver. As he put it to me, the car 'fought him all the way" before the last issue (a vacuum hose with a tiny split) was uncovered and dealt with, allowing the car to deliver its full potential.

brake-upgrade.jpg


I picked it up the day before a trackday at Bedford Autodrome and from the first time I hit the brake pedal leaving the 9E workshop, I knew everything was going to be fine. The power and feel of the brake upgrade was exactly what I was hoping for. I drove home very gently, partly because I wanted to save the experience of post-tune full throttle until I could enjoy it properly, and partly because traffic on the M25 was horrendous!

Friday's trackday was a revelation. Bedford isn't the most exciting of tracks, but only an hour's drive from my house and it does have a nice long back straight where you can pull big speeds, providing you have the stopping power to wipe it all off before the next corner. With the 9E38 tune and the 6-pot brake upgrade, the car felt transformed with relentless, breathtaking acceleration from 3500rpm onwards, and feel and proper power on the brakes. The first time I used full throttle an inadvertent giggle escaped my lips, because the performance was so shocking compared to what I'd been used to.

exhaust-1.jpg

exhaust-2.jpg

exhaust-3.jpg


I'd never been happy about hitting more than 130mph on the back straight before, because the stock brakes just didn't give me confidence that the car would stop in time. On my second lap I hit 155mph easily before leaning hard on the brakes and the car virtually nosedived into the tarmac.

bedford-panning.jpg

brakes-1.jpg

brakes-2.jpg


Finally, I'd got what I was after: a car that accelerated like a Turbo on steroids, but stopped like a GT3. I cannot thank Ken and 9E enough for the work they did on my car, and the care they took to make sure it was as perfect as it could be. If you're considering any kind of work on your Porsche, be it a simple service or something more extreme, they are the single best place to go.

A few closing thoughts: if this is 'just' the 9E38 package, what on earth must the more extreme packages that 9E offer feel like? The car is an overtaking weapon now, and I can't imagine needing anything much quicker for the road. For those with 9E30 tunes and more, I salute your bravery.

However, sorting the acceleration and braking has now highlighted other areas of the car that could be improved. The car handles really well on the fast road geo that 9E gave the car, but it does feel slightly too soft on track now for the performance that's on offer. However, the fact that it's used on the road as well, and often as family transport or as a long-distance cruiser, probably means that coilovers would be a step too far in terms of ride comfort. The stereo could also stand an upgrade, and I'd love to have some more supportive seats, and I wonder if there's a set of 19" wheels that look good with the 996 body shape, and...

It's a slippery slope, this tuning lark.
 
:welcome: to 911uk Martin.

I feel like a know your car already.

Feature and Cover pic of GT Porsche February 2015. :worship:
 
I have only used Ken once for my daughters Porsche due to distance ,the service and after care are second to none, excellent write up about your car :thumb:
 
:welcome: Great first write up and another shout in support of 9e :)
 
Great 1st post, welcome to the forum and the slippery slope of modding :grin: :thumb:
 
Ha ha, great write up. I was just reading your last article last night in my bunk, offshore Nigeria. I know what's gonna be in next months mag now.
My 997.2 turbo goes to 9e in a few weeks time. I can't wait.....
 
Superb.

I love mine standard but I'd also love to have the cash to have a second as a 'project' :thumbs:
 
Great first post.

Boost leaks are probably very common on these cars now and the chassis on the 996TT seems to be able to take almost any power/braking forces you can throw at it.

If I ever went back to a 6TT (unlikely, but not impossible) I have no doubt I would want a 9e version.
 
T8 said:
:welcome: to 911uk Martin.

I feel like I know your car already.

Feature and Cover pic of GT Porsche February 2015. :worship:

Guilty as charged! I forgot to mention that my car's been in GTPP over the last couple of years. The cover feature made me very proud.
 
Great write up - had the same excellent experience with 9E - highly recommend Ken!

Shame I moved north, trips too far to get down to him now.

Mind if I dropped you a PM - interested in your brake upgrade!
 
Jamesyg said:
Mind if I dropped you a PM - interested in your brake upgrade!

Sure, go ahead.
 
I suspect Ken has given you a lot more red hot chilli pepper than in the 9e 38 package. Hitting 155mph on the back straight (of GT circuit) at Bedford is approaching Macca 12 C / 9e 28 fast :thumb:

There's so much more to tuning than a simple remap I honestly don't know why more owners do not take the same 9e route as the OP when tuning their 996 , 997 or 991 turbo.

You can walk into 9e with your eyes closed and sign on the dotted line for your chosen power package safe in the knowledge that you will get your turbo back with a safe and very fast tune. :mechanic:

:welcome:
 
Great write up. My car has been to 9E in its life and Ken was happy to talk to me when I was purchasing.

Dare I ask how much that cost? I have a itch to spend some money. PM if you would prefer
 
IMI A said:
There's so much more to tuning than a simple remap I honestly don't know why more owners do not take the same 9e route as the OP when tuning their 996 , 997 or 991 turbo.

You can walk into 9e with your eyes closed and sign on the dotted line for your chosen power package safe in the knowledge that you will get your turbo back with a safe and very fast tune.

Well said :thumbs:
 

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