Was released from work early one day last week and finally had a chance to take my Turbo out to the "country" to let it flex its muscles.
Since the GIAC flash, I've felt the car could not adequately unwind in Los Angeles traffic, as if constantly there is a monster inside trying to get out. 
The day is a "landmark" because although I've had the car for nearly 2 years, it was the first time that I drove it with all mods completed (see my signature). Now, its performance has finally met my expectation of what a Porsche Turbo should be.
On the open road, the car shows enormous power reserve, and that power arrives instantly. The GIAC flash has virtually eliminated all Turbo lag above 3000 rpm. With Bilstein set to firm, GIAC on Sport, it is rather fast & ferocious. Moderately stiff, very noisy, very aggressive, and demands attention every moment of driving. It's a good thing my wife was not in the car because I don't think it would have been possible to carry civilized conversations.
The stock Turbo gives you this nice sense of limitless power. Tuning the ECU of the same Turbo with the GIAC flash gives me this feeling of TRULY limitless power 
. As I've stated many times, the Metzger turbo engine is the heart and soul of this car. You have got to try it once in your life.
The car's clutch had slipped when I was being abusive a while ago (slam the throttle at 2000 rpm in fourth gear). In this test drive, with the car driven as aggressive as I could ever be - while still obeying the law 
, the stock clutch functions perfectly, so I am safe with stock clutch still.
The Bilstein suspension is perfect for someone looking for a street/track combination. Unlike the stock PASM, Bilstein PASM works, and works to perfection. Car is firmer yet does not feel nervous or jittery and intolerably harsh like stock PASM.
The stiffer coilover has significantly reduced the excessive side to side and front to back movement of the stock car. I actually prefer carving canyon roads to going all out on the straight, so Bilstein remains a most critical addition to the stock Turbo.
I have a lot of appreciation for the Turbo's 4WD system because of its outstanding corner grip. Without 4WD and with this much power, I actually think the car would not be as safe to drive. You really have to be careful in corners with this much power. I followed slow-in fast-out dictum as if my life depends on it.
The beauty of all this is that with 2 button pushes: GIAC to normal, PASM to normal, my Turbo transforms into a docile daily driver.
There is a certain gentleness to stock level ECU that makes the car "better" in big city freeway, so again I highly encourage those who use the car as daily driver to consider only an ECU mod that could be reversible to stock like GIAC.
I really should do this more often and too bad I was only out there by myself.
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Regards,
Can
997 Turbo + Bilstein Damptronic ( Review ) + GIAC ECU Tune ( Fast as a torpedo & reversible to stock - Review ) + Cargraphic Exhaust ( Oh heavenly noise! 
)
Re: Porsche Turbo - The Joy of Driving (Review & Pictures)
