New build 996 RS recreation Project

[Uncle Monty]

This is all I could find

 

[Harryblue]

Yes they’re genuine RS wheels finished in black and the rims will be polished and lacquered, so sort of Fuchs style.

I’ve just got back from Icons of Porsche with lots of ideas about colours and interior stuff. Tartan seat inserts are looking good, they’re popular at the moment with the 50th anniversary of the Turbo and the tartan theme they’ve gone with.
Some blue tartan should look good.

 

[Harryblue]

I saw an interior at icons that I wouldn’t normally have considered and I don’t know how the pictures will come out but it really worked in real life.

 

[Mark Vine]

I read earlier, that the engine would be lightened, but was unsure if you are fitting a lightweight clutch. If so have you decided what type to go for ? An ali flywheel, or steel ? And who's ?
The reason I ask is many engine builders are against them, saying the engine does not improve by fitting one. But I chose one and find that heal and toe is a pleasure to use when driving the car, this was backed up by the rolling road guy's that set up my 4ltr engine, when he took it out for a test drive, and came back impressed with how it felt.

 

[Harryblue]

We haven’t had the discussion about it properly yet.

My interpretation of resistance from a lot of engine people is that they’ve been down that path so many times and ended up with complaints, when it’s harder to drive. Pulling away smoothly can be awkward and it doesn’t make for a decent distance car, or even often just a decent road car.

A lot of people think they want a race car on the road, only to find that it’s really not that nice to drive.
Having a bit of inertia in the engine makes it smoother and less demanding.

I purposely chose a non-GT car and engine to start with because I didn’t want an actual GT RS, I just wanted to cherry pick the best bits - which to be fair many would say is the engine but not in my opinion in a road car. For what I’m spending I’m not far off an actual 996 RS at todays prices but building my own means I won't have to compromise and I can create my interpretation of what a Carrera RS should be.

So I’ll talk to the guys and see, it’s going to rev a bit quicker with the lightweight internals and I think a lighter clutch/flywheel will be good as well, but they do know their onions so I’ll take their advice too.

 

[Harryblue]

I’m still committed (no choice really as we’re already into it) but if I wasn’t doing this I’d love to have bought this https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17330742

Although just for the point of discussion what has always put me off the actual RS was I remember reading comments from people that had tested them and (unless they were being paid to give gushing positive reviews) then they didn’t seem overly impressed.
Obviously looking back it was the start of something epic but back then we didn’t know where it was going and a lot of us thought they were possibly more hype than substance rather than a genuine stand out car.

This might still be a valid opinion, is a £150k RS 6x better than a well sorted £25k 996 C2S.
And people say the RS is undervalued.

Anyway, I always wanted the good bits of one, along with a big torque engine and a set-up geared to UK roads. Which is hopefully what this build will deliver.

But over the last couple of decades I’ve looked at those blue accented 996 RSs many times and I’d still really like to own one.

 

[Harryblue]

Back to the bare shell and ready for dipping.

 

[Tim_s]

They're cracking on! Shell looks really clean.
On the 996 gt3rs uprights, it's interesting to hear of someone actually using the RS parts, I've never quite got my head around the details - I'd always thought the control arm pick up (and the tie rod) on the RS is a fair bit lower than the gt3 (distance to wheel bearing is larger) for lower ride height, but then the RS has similar ride height to 'normal' gt3. I wondered whether it was to homologate race parts or something. Are you planning to run a low ride height? I take it you're doing the same at the rear?
I'd not realised there was a significant weight difference with the hollow RS parts as they're beefier - on rosepassion it suggests a matter of grams not kilos, they all basically come up at ~3kg give or take.

 

[Harryblue]

I have to be honest here and declare that I know very little about the intricacies of the suspension elements, which Marc clearly realised because as I said he had them all laid out on a table for me to handle. It was clever of him to do so because there is no way to adequately explain it unless you've held them all in your hands, it's a genuine surprise and I'd struggle to believe that the weight difference is slight, they felt like literally half the weight, perhaps it's exaggerated because they're much beefier, but they're definitely considerably lighter, it's not just a few grammes.

Getting into too much detail would be wasted on me, he basically said they're lots more expensive but what I was feeling by holding them in my hands also translates to how much better the car would feel with them installed. There are people who claim it's unnecessary but MLR have done cars with and without them and they said it's noticeable, he said something like the proper RS set-up is the difference between good handling and telepathic handling.

We're not going for a low ride height, it has to be a usable road car.

 

[Harryblue]

Reece dropped me a few photos last night as she was being taken off to the dippers.
He'd previously said that once they come apart they move at a fair pace to get them finished, but this is actually quicker than expected.

I think the next stage is back to the workshop for seam welding and any work that is needed, although it looks in exceptional condition so I doubt that will be long, then back to the dippers again and then ecoated.

After that it's paint and the rebuild, but again I don't anticipate that taking forever, most of the conversations about spec have been had now and there has been a fair bit going on behind the scenes to get everything ready, so it's looking promising for early summer.

I said it on another thread but in my opinion there is nothing in the water-cooled 911 range that feels as nimble and sharp as a very well set up 996.
I've had quite a lot of interest in this build and without doubt if someone big like Singer started using the 996 then it would bomb burst onto the scene in a big way, at the moment it is quietly sizzling away and getting interest from people that want a special car building and recognise that the 996 is a superb platform to start with, maybe in a few years the market will be ready for them.

 

[Harryblue]

I expect it'll go quiet now over Christmas, hopefully the boys are slaving away this week to get the 930 to me by the weekend, then they're off skiing, then everyone will close down for Christmas, so I don't think I'll see this shell again until the new year, at which point it should be back with an ecoat.

Apparently there was an annoying rattle on this car...lol.

 

[Harryblue]

Project costs on this so far are £38,500.
That includes the donor car, the teardown, a full GT3 big brake kit, the Mahle pistons, liners, conrods, etc.

Budget is about £100k-ish but that might move if I decide on something fancy, I quite like the idea of reducing unsprung weight with PCCBs but I've already got a full steel GT3 kit, then maybe magnesium wheels and keep the GT3 RS ones for spares.

I was reading about some fancy cylinder heads from an American firm that have partnered with Hartech, they reckon on 400bhp from a 3.9L upgrade and just their heads and a decent exhaust.
The list could be endless, I might get carbon wings, they not crazy money but the doors are expensive.

I think this will be a hell of a car for the money.

 

[photek]

This is all I could find

I found those in higher resolution, plus a few more (source) :

 

[Harryblue]

It's quiet on the build front, Christmas and getting my 930 out for Christmas Eve took up my allotted time when they were short staffed over Christmas, but hopefully now the new year has begun I'll start to see some more progress on this build. Reece mentioned about me going to Le Mans with them in the MLR built cars now they've got a few complete, so I'm hoping that's an ETA of late April as a complete car.
They're more plug & play than the 930 so hopefully less complicated to tune and set up - plus they've done a few now so they have it down to a fine art.

I've got some seriously high hopes with this build, it should handle better than a factory RS and as it's a custom built one aimed specifically to cope with UK A&B roads it should be a little more pleasurable to hustle around the lanes.

When I was down there at Christmas the guys said there were a few cheers in the workshop when they found out I was having it re-done in the PTS blue that it came in, it should look stunning and they haven't done a blue one yet, so it will be a bit different. A magazine article featuring the first few builds might be interesting because all have been specced slightly differently so they're all mainly off-the-shelf equipped 996s but there is some subtle differences in there.

The news is spreading, he said they've had one order from California and interested parties in Hong Kong, plus a couple when I was telling people about mine at Icons last year. As soon as people heard there were 996's being rebuilt as Carrera RS cars there was quite a buzz about it. I've already said, the 996 is an awesome platform to work from, it would be great to see a trend take off with the 996 as a base car for some interesting projects.

 

[photek]

I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again - thanks for sharing the details of this build, it's really fascinating to follow and I can't wait to see the final result

One question, what shock absorbers are you having fitted to the car?