Pink Panther:

Hi Can,

 Having read about your's and Alex's improvements to the Turbo I have found a turbo that I will swap my cab for. A GT Silver/Cocoa manual with bucket seats. Unfortunately not PCCB. There was a turbo with PCCB in slate which looked stunning but sadly it was tiptronic. So I am thinking through various upgrades:

1. PCCB - costs a lot of money but possibly worth it for the reduced unsprung mass. Need to research cheaper parts suppliers.

2. Exhaust - not researched yet but cargraphic sounds like a strong contender

3. Lighter wheels with Michelin PS2

4 a. Stiffer springs and Bilstein dampers

   b. Adjustments to toe in and camber

   c. Sway bars

5. Tuning - might not bother with this or save it for a later date.

I think it makes sense to do the weight loss mods first as they will effect the spring and damper settings. I hope to take up Alex's offer of a ride in his turbo prior tomaking any decisions.

The turbo will be used as a long distance tourer so I need to be conservative on changes to suspension for my wife's sake. If she finds it too firm then it won't be fit for purpose.

My 996 GT3 RS is a keeper although she is currently being repaired after I spun her off the track.

Turbo + GT3 RS: Sounds like a DREAM garage and this exact combination has been my "secret" plan for a long time. IMO you are having the best of both worlds: daily driver, track car, NA engine's linear response, turbo power.

Yes, I too think the GT3 RS is a keeper, especially now that you will have all the power you need with the Turbo. I hope the damage to the GT3 RS did NOT extend to the frame or suspension components? IMO, not good if damage occurs there.

I agree with your mods. This is the triad of mods very common with US owners: suspension, exhaust, ECU. I agree with the order that you are doing yours. It seems like you have been doing very careful homework.

I believe very strongly in modding one step at a time also. It is good for learning and in addition, if something is not to your liking, you could backtrack and eliminate the mod. This is especially true with the suspension mods; I did mine in multiple steps even though it did cost more money this way. Not too bad, 2 or 3 extra alignments that in the US costs around 180 or so. Very cheap for the lessons I've learned.

If you mod the Turbo "correctly," my opinion is you will end up with an incomparable daily driver, a comfortable yet extremely aggressive and EXTREMELY powerful Smiley car when situations call for. Even though it's been time-consuming, I would not trade my mod experience for anything else in the (car) world.

 


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Regards,
Can
997 Turbo + Bilstein Damptronic ( Review ) + GIAC ECU Tune ( Review ) + Cargraphic Exhaust ( Oh heavenly noise! )