2023 has start off as a very busy period for us and it is about to get a lot busier as we get stuck into not one but two Porsche 997 builds, these have been in the planning stage for the last 12 months as we have been deciding what parts we want to use moving forward as these builds will be offered as a drive in drive conversion for 2023 and moving forward.
This whole planning process started midway through 2021 when our old friend Kyle Rushall got in touch with us about our R13 GT3R wide body aero programme that he was considering fitting to his Porsche 997.1 Turbo after seeing the rather special Speedwells 997 Turbo-R build, Kyle just said he had to have one and he had the perfect donor, a 2007 997 Mezger Powered twin turbo, there are not many people willing to cut up a 997 Turbo chassis, especially the Mezger powered version, Iby is just a one off and pretty much cut from the same cloth as we are so tearing into a 50k turbo comes naturally, Kyle is basically cut from the same cloth as us especially when he gets to build and drive the car he wants but it wasn't long before we got talking about LS V8 engine swaps as that's what Kyle is involved in every day of the week, building LS engines and installs, as well as building and supplying his own LS7 Engines, no crate engines everyone is a built engine, and his LS7 build V8 is a little bit special, so as our cogs started turning it wasn't long before his beloved 997 Turbo & 996 Turbo were sold and we said hello to not only his but our own 2006 C4S platforms that we will use for our LS7 power upgrades, we are very excited with what we have planned for both of these 4S chassis along with the parts and companies that will we be working with to bring our vision to the UK streets.
GT RS-Street Engine Cover & Rear Wing
Every build will wear our R13 GT3R signature wider body, there will be a huge amount of options for our street builds, the customer can spec their own builds, all of the optional extras are listed on our website and we will also be introducing an all new standalone website for the conversion which will show every part of the build, so keep your eyes peeled for the all new R13LSX website, but if you are not familiar with the aero pack and what it consists of here is what is included along with the various options.
Porsche 997 R13 Aero Pack Front Bumper, front bumper canards, front replacement vented fenders, front splitter, front floor, side skirts, rear quarter panels, rear bumper, rear bumper out take grills, rear diffuser full floor with strakes, front and rear bumper aluminium grill sets Optional Extras Choice of rear engine cover, 1, ducktail, 2, GT steet, 3, swan neck race spoiler, 4, R13 GT3R race wing, carbon roof replacement, light weight carbon doors, kevlar arch liners, brake cooling channels, flat under floor
As well as working on four rear engine covers and wing assemblies for street and track use, there are a couple of items we are making that really do excit us, the first one which is a personal favourite is our GT RS Street engine cover and low set wing, which is loosely based around the old 993 GT2 Evolution engine cover which will have side functional air vents with a low style carbon wing that will be adjustable for height with wing extenders, we will also look to develop special air intake for this rear cover which will be another exciting feature for the future developments and that’s why this set up is quite exciting.
Another exciting part will be our R16 evo front bootlid, we have yet to see a nice bootlid option, which doesnt exist, and if it doesnt exsist you have to make one, both items will be a great addition for the R13 GT3R wide body styling.
Another area which has been a big discussion is the suspension, our main focus is to have a useable street set up that can be used daily just like the Speedwells built Turbo-R, street usability is paramount.
For the original Speedwells Turbo-R build we teamed up with Bilstein who built us a fantastic bespoke set up, the car drove beautifully it really did the job and we were happy to team up with them again on all of our new builds for this conversion only to be told Bilstein UK do not have the time to work on special projects at the moment due to a huge backlog of work, so unless we had a spare 9 months to wait that’s how long it would take to get a system built for the R13 LS7 street, which was never going to be an option for us, but as they say thing happen for a reason and that reason is Nitron Uk, which is a huge plus for us and they will be making us a complete bespoke custom set up based on their amazing product they already produce for Porsche, it’s one partnership we are really happy about and we cannot wait to test the NTR –R1 built to our R13 Specification, this was one area we had a bit of concern with especially with the relatively low options for this build, but we are happy Nitron UK are joining the high quality list of companies we have onboard with this build.
For the wheels we will run our usual 3 piece Forged 10.5x19 & 13x19 set up fitted with 265/35R19 and 345/30R19 Michelin tyres, for the wheels we will be working with 3SDM and we must say we are really excited to work with a long established UK 3 piece forged wheel company, for this product its only worth getting involved with the industries finest and the quality 3SDM bring to the table is priceless, the added bonus is they are UK based, so not only do we get the high quality standards, they are home grown. We will have two of our own designs as well as two designs from the 3 piece line up that are currently available from the 3SDM line up, with this option we get 4 special designs to choose from, which is more than enough to suit most people’s taste, but as wheels are a personal choice we will be happy to work with customer needs and personal prefrences when it comes to the design.
13X19 GT3R-RS Forged Wheel
Another area we will be developing and offering a full overhaul to the customers that are after the complete package will be the interior, the 997 is a lovely place to sit, but can be enhanced and made even better, the first enhancement for our own builds will be the seats, most Porsche owners are happy with carbon backed Recaros, but not for our builds, we will be working closely with the FIA Approved super light weight carbon fibre race seat manufacturer Tilletts seat design will depend on if you require seat belt harness or the conventional seatbelt set up, on our own demo vehciles we want it completely street useable so will be fitting the B8 Screamer, so we can run the conventional seat belt, for the rest of the interior we are hopeing to be work with a well renowned interior specialist that is currently working for Rolls Royce, but once we have secured his services we will be able to talk more on that subject.