Well it's been a bit of a journey, but fun all the same, and I've finally got to a point where I'm really, REALLY happy with my 718 GT4. Now I'll just drive it and enjoy it, or "use it as intended" as they say [
] My next modification will be to the brakes, but only when I've worn out the current discs and pads - so it'll be a little while yet!
It started off all standard but a great looker (in my biased opinion...):
With a tart's handbag interior:
First on the agenda was a replacement silencer which was built and fitted by the folks at Ninemeister, as I just felt that the car was lacking some exhaust noise as standard. Mine is made from inconel but they're also available in stainless steel:
It took a couple of iterations to get right, the added j-pipes you can see in this pic reduce drone in the 2k - 3k rev range. There's still a bit there but it's tolerable - an unfortunate trade off due to the OPFs fitted to Porsches these days:
I have carbon fibre tips, other options are available:
All fitted up and now the car sounds as it should - the X-pipe design mixes the exhaust gases from both sets of cylinders unlike the H-pipe design of the standard system that essentially treats the exhaust gases like two 3-cylinder engines. The tone is beautiful - deep with a nice rasp as the revs rise:
While I was working with Ninemeister on the exhaust they offered me a deal on a new product they were working on - a single mass flywheel. I jumped at the chance as I know how much they can improve the feel and responsiveness of an engine! I had the first one which fitted perfectly straight out of the box and they've since sold quite a few worldwide. It's now also available for 981s and in fact there's a 981 Spyder and a 981 GT4 in the Ninemeister workshop at the moment having them fitted:
With the engine now spinning up brilliantly and breathing a lot clearer the car feels much more alive - super responsive under my right foot and it goes like a scalded cat. They really help to overcome any slightly sluggish feeling due to the long gearing fitted by Porsche. I didn't have an issue with the gearing as standard, but I certainly don't after the modifications! If you want a faster car buy a GT3, which you can use even less of than a GT4 on the road...
The next thing I did was to change the car's aero package to the more aggressive setting, which involves increasing the car's rear wing angle slightly and the removal of a couple of plastic channel blockers at the front to keep the car in balance. You can't really feel much difference on the road but hopefully it'll keep things in check on track.
Finally, the chassis has had some attention. I'd originally shimmed the front lower control arms to get some more camber and was running -2 degrees up front with -1.5 degrees at the rear. This was OK but I thought the car could benefit from a bit more. The issue then becomes the caster up front gets out of spec and you cannot maintain a decent amount of toe in the rear.
So out go the standard front top mounts and rear toe links:
And in comes something similar to this (which is the Manthey Racing kit for OEM suspension). I've differed in that I've stuck with Porsche parts throughout although the top mounts below are actually a Porsche Motorsport part (so I have the same on my car) but my rear toe links are different (beefier, with a built in locking system):
So, all fitted and geo'd up I'm now running -2.5 degrees of camber up front and -2 degrees in the rear with the caster perfectly in spec. I've not had chance to take the car out for a proper run yet, but the initial feeling is one of great stability and lateral grip. There's no adverse impact on the handling that I can tell, certainly no dodgy tramlining or harshness from the more solid bushings in a few places, so I'm more than happy with the results! As standard the car tends to wear the outside of tyres so this should either even things up or flip the wear to the inside instead. Time will tell and I can always tweak the geo as required.
Just a few months to wait now to get "Wolfgang" around my favourite circuit on the PCGB track day in October...
] My next modification will be to the brakes, but only when I've worn out the current discs and pads - so it'll be a little while yet!It started off all standard but a great looker (in my biased opinion...):
With a tart's handbag interior:
First on the agenda was a replacement silencer which was built and fitted by the folks at Ninemeister, as I just felt that the car was lacking some exhaust noise as standard. Mine is made from inconel but they're also available in stainless steel:
It took a couple of iterations to get right, the added j-pipes you can see in this pic reduce drone in the 2k - 3k rev range. There's still a bit there but it's tolerable - an unfortunate trade off due to the OPFs fitted to Porsches these days:
I have carbon fibre tips, other options are available:
All fitted up and now the car sounds as it should - the X-pipe design mixes the exhaust gases from both sets of cylinders unlike the H-pipe design of the standard system that essentially treats the exhaust gases like two 3-cylinder engines. The tone is beautiful - deep with a nice rasp as the revs rise:
While I was working with Ninemeister on the exhaust they offered me a deal on a new product they were working on - a single mass flywheel. I jumped at the chance as I know how much they can improve the feel and responsiveness of an engine! I had the first one which fitted perfectly straight out of the box and they've since sold quite a few worldwide. It's now also available for 981s and in fact there's a 981 Spyder and a 981 GT4 in the Ninemeister workshop at the moment having them fitted:
With the engine now spinning up brilliantly and breathing a lot clearer the car feels much more alive - super responsive under my right foot and it goes like a scalded cat. They really help to overcome any slightly sluggish feeling due to the long gearing fitted by Porsche. I didn't have an issue with the gearing as standard, but I certainly don't after the modifications! If you want a faster car buy a GT3, which you can use even less of than a GT4 on the road...
The next thing I did was to change the car's aero package to the more aggressive setting, which involves increasing the car's rear wing angle slightly and the removal of a couple of plastic channel blockers at the front to keep the car in balance. You can't really feel much difference on the road but hopefully it'll keep things in check on track.
Finally, the chassis has had some attention. I'd originally shimmed the front lower control arms to get some more camber and was running -2 degrees up front with -1.5 degrees at the rear. This was OK but I thought the car could benefit from a bit more. The issue then becomes the caster up front gets out of spec and you cannot maintain a decent amount of toe in the rear.
So out go the standard front top mounts and rear toe links:
And in comes something similar to this (which is the Manthey Racing kit for OEM suspension). I've differed in that I've stuck with Porsche parts throughout although the top mounts below are actually a Porsche Motorsport part (so I have the same on my car) but my rear toe links are different (beefier, with a built in locking system):
So, all fitted and geo'd up I'm now running -2.5 degrees of camber up front and -2 degrees in the rear with the caster perfectly in spec. I've not had chance to take the car out for a proper run yet, but the initial feeling is one of great stability and lateral grip. There's no adverse impact on the handling that I can tell, certainly no dodgy tramlining or harshness from the more solid bushings in a few places, so I'm more than happy with the results! As standard the car tends to wear the outside of tyres so this should either even things up or flip the wear to the inside instead. Time will tell and I can always tweak the geo as required.
Just a few months to wait now to get "Wolfgang" around my favourite circuit on the PCGB track day in October...
