This might cause some controversy, however I'll go for it anyway - In absolute terms air is more powerful than water! There, I said it. I'm very sure that there will be vast numbers of people making groaning noises at this claim; however I assure you it is. Now in terms of the 911, air-cooled ruled the roost from its humble origins in the Volkswagen Beetle and off course the 356 pre-A all the way through to 1998, when due to ever increasingly stringent noise regulation and increasing customer expectations in terms of refinement, the call for a water pumper was made. At the time the purists claimed this has a terrible step in the wrong direction; however Porsche and its uber bright engineers have proved their worth and the 911 today is a much better car than it has ever been.

The air-cooled car will always have a place in people's hearts and im pretty sure that this will continue on for many years to come. Now this is very true for me as I have only ever personally owned air-cooled cars (ignoring my Golf GTI for the moment) however the same is very true for my friend and general Porsche Guru and technical tour de force; Jean Lahoud (you would never believe this guy is desk bound exec at a certain drinks company). Jean has been into Porsche for as long as he cares to remember and is a self confused Porschephile with a rather tasty list of previous rides. Starting with a 1995 993 C4, he made his way through a couple of 993TTs that where sold on to knew homes. He then bought and put together a beautifully modified Speed Yellow 964 turbo 3.6 with a 6speed 4WD tranny and 460HP! Make of that what you wish - sounds like a weapon to me. Then one fateful day the call of a GT2 began gnawing in his mind. As we all know the 'God' of all 911's a bit thin on the ground and the idea of driving one hard on a regular basis, let alone in the middle east with what can only be described as an inclement atmosphere, a plan was hatched to create a GT2 'look-alike' using a 993TT as the base car.

Now digressing slightly, in racing terms 3.6 seconds a lap is chasm of time! I received a phone call from a very modest Jean recently, that went along the lines of the fact that he had just blitzed the Porsche Club lap record at the Autodrome and left a race prepared 996 GT2 in its wake by over the above mentioned 3.6 seconds. 705 BHP at 1.2 Bar (0.9 Bar at the track) and acceleration numbers of 100-200kph (62.5mph - 125mph) in 5.6 seconds helps dramatically but lets not forget that this isn't a new fangled water fed Stuttgart missile but a home brewed, all be it exceptionally well thought, out air-cooled monster!

Jean had some clearly laid out targets when planning this vehicle and all these plans had to make up to what amounted to a blindingly, no scratch that, a monstrously fast street car, all whilst maintaining a streetable aspect, certain comfort levels, and safety. The biggest challenge as with any car that has a dual role was the choice of suspension. The springs and dampers would have to be stiff enough for the track whilst decently comfortable for the street. After researching every suspension manufacturer known to man the suppliers where narrowed down to JRZ or Moton. After a first contact with Jerome of Moton, the very friendly approach and overwhelming technical knowledge quickly assisted Jean in making the decision. The call was made and a set of double adjustable Moton Clubsport dampers with H&R springs and camber plates where put on ordered. Now as is regularly discussed the disadvantage of going with an adjustable suspension set-up is that you need to test, test and test again until you find the ideal compromised for the surrounding and driving style. However once the ideal is found the change in the vehicles dynamics is profound and it can be described as the most important improvement you can make. In addition to the dampers and springs the control arms where replaced with items from a 993RS and even though initially Jean wanted to keep the car rubber mounted, solid GT2 sub frame mounts made their way and no perceptible change in comfort has been noted.

In true GT2 style Jean decided to go for a 2WD conversion that entailed the removal of the front differential and axles and the middle torque tube. There was no need to change the gearbox which made the conversion a much more simple undertaking however this means that there is still a G64/51 6 speed box with stock synchros and gearing tucked up inside. Rather amazingly the whole process took about 4 hours thanks to the great instructions from a chap called Bob Brooks who used to work at Devek in the United States. When I first laid eyes on the car there was a 6 speed GT2 EVO (G50) sequential gearbox from Konrad Motorsports fitted to the car that had been modified and tweaked by Ricardo in the UK. The box itself was built for the 24Hours of Le Mans in 1997 and even though it was deemed fantastic it destroyed any streetability that the car had so it was removed after a few track days and sold a couple of months later.

Next on the build agenda was the GT2 bodywork to give it the much needed 'Scally' look! Jean sourced the required parts through USA however after the pervy thoughts of how awesome it was going to look had subsided there was the realisation that it was a living nightmare to make it fit. Not only that to add to the disappointment the kit turned out to be ever so slightly heavier than the stock PU material. As you can see from the pictures however a Ruf front unit has been temporality fitted due to the horrendous road surfacing in Saudi where Jean used to live. Hopefully the Evo unit will make its way back on soon.

As with any true track car the key is weight - to clarify, lack of it. The diet that this car has been put on amounts to approximately 110 Kgs (total weight at 1540Kgs with a full tank of fuel and all fluids), which whilst not sounding a vast amount was very welcome. The move to 2WD has made the mega horsepower monster a handful to drive, especially as there isn't a Limited slip in the gearbox as of yet. A unit has been purchased however but time constraints and the desire to keep driving it have halted the fitment for the time being. A few other weight saving measures included the removal of the sunroof and mechanism with a GT2 roof skin from the Porsche factory. A decision was also made to go for a flush mounted Lexan rear screen that would remove the 993TT's third brake light and its associated negative disturbance of airflow over the rear of the car, as well as removal of the rear wiper and mechanism.

Inside the car the rear seats and side panels have been removed and replaced with carpeting, while the front door panels were replaced with some very sexy German carbon fibre pieces with red pull straps to retain the GT2 spirit. The same carbon fibre supplier was used for the front gauge panel and dashboard as well as the centre tunnel and the switch console. Finally to finish things off a pair of Porsche supplied GT3 seats were bolted up to provide decent lateral support and weight savings. A Heigo 6 point roll cage has also been bolted into the frame to add some much needed safety and rigidity to the body.

You might be surprised to hear that the stock 993TT callipers and discs are still being put to good use, however mixed with some sport Pagid blue/black pads front and rear they give Jean great performance and get to operating temperature quickly. Jean mentioned that every couple of track days he use's a drill to clean brake pad dust and rust deposited inside the cooling ducts in the discs. As of yet no brake fade has been experienced, even in 45+ degrees C on the track. The secret in this region and I imagine everywhere else is to do a good bleeding job, use the right brake fluid for the job and be smooth on the track. There are plans to move to slightly bigger discs and 6 piston callipers could/would improve lap times at the track, but they are seen as niceties rather than required at the moment.

In terms of wheels and tyres Jean as what most of us dream of. - i.e. a decision of what wheels to fit depending on how he feels. He has a set of BBS Magnesium wheels and a set of 3 piece Cargraphic racing wheels, 10 x 18 “front and 12 x 18” rear. He does however use the Cargraphic wheels more often than not they are more reliable (read, less fragile) on the street. There is a slight weigh penalty to this decision that goes against the general rule of thumb that unsprung weight is a cars worst enemy. However safety first and a bit of extra talent will make up the time difference. Jean like's to experiment with tires and finds the usual Michelin Sport Cup excellent when they are hot even though they do take a while to get to the right temperatures. A set of Street Legal Hoosier (R compound) tires have been tested recently and where preferred over and above the Sport Cup's, however they are a compromise on the roads and don’t have the same wear rate.

Now the best bit - the motor. As you can imagine the lump in this car is very special and was created after months of research on Jean's behalf. Only a handful of builders were able to offer Jean what he wanted, and out of those, some were unapproachable from a budget point. RS Tuning in Germany, Sportec in Switzerland and a guy called Todd Knighton of Protomotive Inc where all approached. In the end Jean decided on Todd as he was a great guy to talk to, his openness in sharing information and a very high technical knowledge quickly assisted in the decision. Todd's inventive approach which is quite similar to what Reinhold Schmirler (now RS Tuning) and Pierre Ofzsky used on the famous RUF Yellowbird years before also further drilled home that the decision was a good one.

Todd suggested a 3.8 litre engine built around OEM Mahle cylinders and pistons, twelve spark plugs, and a pressure sensing setup instead of MAF (Mass Air Flow). The advantages of getting rid of the MAF were to eliminate the restrictions on the air intake, help the engine breath better therefore improving its BMEP which is key in a hot market. The downside is that it requires careful calibration of idle and it is not as flexible when it comes to hardware changes (further retuning of the ECU will be needed). The brain remains Bosch Motronic, however the atmospheric version of it. The advantage of going this route seems to be that the engine keeps its knock sensors and the safety they provide with poor fuel quality which rather unfortunately was common in this part of the world until recently. It would be great to have some loopy juice care of BP, but in the mean time 98Ron will have to do.

The turbos were changed for Garrett T03/04 which for the turbo connoisseurs will now that these units are very large and provide sustained CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) throughout high RPMs. They have a certain slow response at less than 3K RPMs, but nothing that is uncomfortable for driving on the street or track. The tremendous amount of torque it has makes in 4th gear driving around the city makes the car drive as easily as Jean's other toy - a bone stock 993TT with tiny KKK16 turbos.

The heads have been slightly modified for improved airflow and have been fitted with upgraded valves, springs, guides and retainers to withstand a limiter of 7100 RPMs. The weak link in these engines seems to be the rods and their bolts, so these have also been changed for some super cool Carillo rods, which being slightly lighter than stock help reducing the rotating mass. A lightweight flywheel, uprated clutch and pressure plate have also been fitted to improve performance and increase throttle response.

Now the numbers! On the engine dyno, this monster delivered 705 BHP at 1.2 Bar! Incredible in any car, let alone an old school air pump. This is hardly a power level that can be sustained on the track, however it will be there long enough to achieve an acceleration of 100-200kph in 5.6 seconds. An engine as highly strung as this needs constant attention however Jean has been lucky enough to get two years of track and street driving with it before any work was required.

Just going back to the time this car set around the Dubai Autodrome. Jean managed a best of a 2.19.768 sec lap (standing start) after a total of 12 laps. Bearing in mind that this was set with the largest attendance in the clubs history and a standing start it becomes an even greater feat. However, when you realise that the 997RSR that recently won the Dubai 24 Hours managed a best of a 2.03.334 sec, the achievement is even greater.

What this all goes to prove is that a well thought out, correctly built and balanced car can be seriously competitive. Whilst appreciating that this 993 is loud and proud it can still be used for weekend drives around town and on some blasts out into the desert. It is however far from a race car and Jean claims that he could if required pull another 250 Kgs of mass out of it, improve the suspension and brakes and fit the long awaited LSD. However at this particular time its more than enough and goes to prove my point at the beginning that air is indeed more powerful than water.

Update: Have a look through a couple of the other posts and see how Jean has changed the 993 into a race car at long last...

Words: Phil McGovern
Pics : Max Eary