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When Iby from Speedwells decided to sell his beloved Supras and finally secure the dream of owning a Porsche 997, most people that know him were pretty shocked, mainly because he is known as one of the Europes Supra kings, you only had to see his red turbo example to see why, immense is an understatement, so as we know the beloved Supras were sold and the Porsche 997 was purchased, but not a normal 997, nope this is Iby were talking about so it wouldnt be a basic chassis it had to be the turbo example, nothing else would cut the mustard. He looked long and hard for a red example, which is extremely rare in turbo disguise, but a clean black example was located as talked about in previous posts, and we have known for a long time its not a colour that Iby liked, so we always knew a change was on the cards, we are just amazed it took over a year to make those changes, but November 2018 it was taken off the road for a major power upgrades and a colour makeover.

Porsche 997 GT3R > Turbo-R

We will be discussing the power upgrades, in another post as we have quite a lot to talk about as there has been a few headaches in the upgardes and build, but as they say its all come out in the wash, and the car has surpassed the stock 500 hp and has been drastically increased, to stunning effect, more on this topic at a later date. Now onto the comstetics of this overhaul, with so many colours being discussed over the last few months, white, blue, grey to name a few, even a burnt orange was a serious consideration, but it always came full circle to gloss red, which is what Iby wanted from day one for his 997R conversions and we must say what an inspired or should I say spectacular choice, as I personally always showed lots of selfish negativity when a colour change was discussed as I do love the black on black look with this 997 GT3R conversion, but I also don't mind admitting when I am wrong and on this occasion I was, the red shows just how wide the GT3R conversion is, all of the 7 feet width actually looks wider, its shows all of the wonderfull R body details too, the front fender vents now pop, the grills front and rear, the rear bumper side grills all stand out and boy of boy the width of this beauty is just incredible.

MSL Customs working their magic on the Speedwells Porsche 997 Turbo-R

For a few months paint was discussed, but Iby decided against that option because he wanted the base car to remain a factory colour, so after a chat with Shabs at MSL, the job in hand was given to the MSL custom crew, these boys are local business based in Birmingham 5 mins from speedwells, which is great for a collaboration of this magnitude and we must say they have done an incredible job, the workmanship is of the higest quality with beautiful details all around the car. The front splitter and canards have been finished off with PPF so that now matches the rear enagine cover and spoiler, the wheels have been repainted in a matte and gloss black combination with gold hardware, with the front lights, rear light lenes and DRL's all coming in for a touch on tinting, the rear side intake vents are being replaced with carbon GT2 style intakes with the slate grey stripes from front to rear finishing off the attention to the details, with the car about to be finished this week we can't wait to get behind the lens and get some shots of this beauty. Get in touch with us for more details on our full carbon fibre GT3R aero conversion for your 997 chassis, we can supply, or arrange supply and fit, as well as suuplying various other parts, bespoke Bilstein coilover suspension for the GT3R conversion, as well as megnesium or aluminium forged 3 piece wheels, adjustable control arms, various designs of engine covers and rear wing set ups, exhausts and the super wide Michelin tyres.

Full VAD // Speedwells photoshoot coming soon.

 

The Porsche 996 seems to be the most disliked Porsche build alongside the 955 Cayenne, personally we love the look but we do understand why people dislike the look, you only have to look at the older generations of the 930, 964, 993 chassis to see there was a huge jump in styling to the 996 chassis, with the front end being the most discussed topic on this model and something Porsche themselves must of taken on-board too, as when they launched the 997 model it looked more like the older 911, 964, 993 models rather than an evolution of the 996 as we would of expected.

Full aero conversion available to convert the Porsche 996 to the 997 GT3R 2013 Chassis

There seems to be many offering upgrades for the 996, the most popular at first was the 996 to 997 face lift, with the 991 look now and option for the 996, but we don’t personally like either. The best one to hit the market so far is our Japanese partners Old & New with their amazing slant nose, that really does transform the look of the 996 model, its extreme but we have to admit we love the slant nose on any Porsche chassis, we are looking at building our very own Kremer 997 K3R this year all being well, and that is the ultimate original slant nose, it’s the king of kings.

With not a lot of love be shown for the 996 we too have set out to look into transforming the look and we feel we have the ultimate 996 make over with the 997 2013 R upgrade now available as an upgrade option this year and will be added to our website.

From the Porsche 996 to 997 chassis there isn't a huge difference, but there is enough to keep a good body work specialist / mechanical expert busy for a while, but we take the pain out of the conversion by offering all the conversion parts to make the job so much easier.

Parts for the conversion consist of the full R13 exterior wide body work, we supply in GRP cloth or carbon fibre, as well as the rear 996 to 997 conversion parts, you will also need the front bonnet and you can then add as many optional extras as you require from light weight carbon cup doors, carbon fibre roof, full flat under floor, kevlar arch liners, we also offer a multitude of rear engine covers from the RSR, GT3R ducktail with various wing assembly, we also have a 993 GT2 Evolution style with the air intakes that sit either side of the main wing which looks well on any Porsche chassis.

996 to 997 GT3 Conversion & aero parts

We can also supply bespoke built coilover suspension set up for this conversion from our partners Bilstein or JRZ, built to our own specification, as well as 18” or 19” 3 piece forged wheels in either magnesium or aluminium, or our hybrid carbon fibre barrels with magnesium centres.

For any further details on this aero upgrade for your 996 chassis then get in touch with us to discuss further, we are happy to build or we can supply the parts only with shipping all over the world.

So if your 996 is looking tiered, or you just fancy a road going R13 conversion, then feel free to get in touch and start planing the overhaul of your Porsche 996

 

The past weekend saw us head down to Goodwood Motor Circuit https://www.goodwood.com/sports/motorsport/ for the Players Classic Show http://www.players-show.com/players-classic-event-info.html with our good buddy Iby from Speedwells Refinishers https://www.speedwells.co.uk, as the Porsche 997 Turbo-R was to be displayed on the Bilstein UK stand, they are our sponsor for the all new GT3RR brand and the R is first vehicle to wear the Bilstein brand in the form of the PSS10 Coilover set up, which is a welcome addition to this epic build.

Speedwells Turbo-R on route to Players Classic Show, at the Good Wood Circuit

It was an early 5.30am start for us on the Saturday morning with the final checks being done to the car before 180 mile trip to the famous circuit, the car didn’t disappoint it was flawless on route, it really is a special car, its comfortable, super fast, with supreme handling, a true thoroughbred GT car, which happens to ride so much better than a standard Porsche 997 turbo, which we were a little surprised by considering its fitted with the race specification GT3R adjustable rose jointed suspension arms, the ride quality is helped by the slightly over sized tyres that this Turbo-R is fitted with, which has been well worth the headache making this wheel and tyre combination work as it should on this build, which has certainly been tested to the maximum this weekend on the roads of Portsmouth, especially the 25 minute journey from the circuit to our hotel, as we must of encountered some of the worst stretch of pot holed roads the UK has to offer, but happy to report the Turbo-R coped extremely well.

With this being the time at the players Goodwood show we didn't know what to expect, it didn't disappoint with some amazing vehicles on display, the set out of the show has a real bespoke feeling to it, with the entrance tunnel of the show setting the scene, we must say the players crew certainly know how to set up a show, with various cars hitting the Goodwood Motor Circuit for some timed laps, it was the perfect day, fantastic weather, music, with some good company.

Goodwood Motor Circuit

Players Classic Show, Goodwood Motor Circuit 2018

At the end of a first day we head back to the Hotel in convoy with the Matt Clifford of Reflex Auto Design, and their Old & New 997 slant nose, seeing these cars together was awe-inspiring, both 997 chassis, but each with their own unique look and sound, just such a good sight and one we just had to capture, so before we headed out for food we had an hour with the cars chatting and shooting some pictures of these epic machines.

The second day was just as good with even more cars arriving, to the point they opened up the main circuit to display a huge selection of cars from every marquee, as there would be no track day blasts on the Sunday, so the cars lined up in unison along the circuit. Amongst the huge array of cars was our customer Andy Meek who managed to grab a top 10 for best wheels, with his Nissan 350Z, wheels we had supplied 2 weeks previously, it did look incredible sitting on its 9.5x19 & 11x19 RVL IRA forged 3 piece with their exclusive centre lock mechanism, the very first set to hit European shores.

Andy Meek's Nissan 350Z Fitted With 19" Centre Lock RVL Forged 3 piece Wheels

The whole feel to the show was incredible, and it was great to hang out with the Bilstein crew, with our buddy Luke from Plush Automotive turning up on the stand with his amazing Audi for the Sunday.

We can wait for next year, this is one show we can’t wait to get back too, this time the Turbo-R will have some company, in the shape of our BMW Z4 GT3 V8, now that’s a mouth-watering prospect.

Amazing shot of the Speedwells Turbo-R, from LB Photography

 
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OFFICE
Unit C20
Rose Hill Industrial Estate
Rose Hill Road 
Market Drayton 
Shropshire 
TF9 2JU


WORKSHOP 

Unit C21
Rose Hill Industrial Estate
Rose Hill Road 
Market Drayton
 
Shropshire
TF9 2JU


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