Once again, Sam underpromised and overdelivered! In a word, his kit is amazing. The only thing more impressive than how well the car runs and drives is how dedicated Sam is to making sure he is there to support his customer, regardless of time and day.

After talking to Sam about what I wanted from the car he put together a package for me that would make ~650 on pump and ~700 on race gas. As posted in a previous thread, Sam explained that his a1668 billet turbos, SRM 4.5 intercoolers, Kline catless, Cobb Acessport, ID1000 injectors, and Sachs 2.5 clutch would make for a daily driveable 996tt that would be just as much at home on the track as it is on the street. I didn't believe it was possible, but he seemed confident and he has a great reputation.

I installed the exhaust, which was pretty uneventful, and uploaded an OTS tune. The car felt like a different car, it was great.

The next weekend I pulled off the rear bumper and started to install the SRM 4.5 intercoolers. When I opened the box it was immediately evident that Sean at SRM takes a great deal of pride in making a perfect product. The intercoolers belong in a glass case, not hidden behind a bumper. In the process of installing the intercoolers I ran into a bit of an issue and called Sam...at 6pm...on Saturday...on Halloween night...and he answered. He talked to me for a while and decided my problem needed input from Sean. He told me to sit tight, and within 20 minutes I'm on the phone with Sean! Sean took time from his schedule to explain to me where I was making a mistake and talked me through the proper procedure. Simply amazing customer service. (BLKMGK was also there to lend a hand over PM, huge thanks to him as well!)

Two weeks later I took the car to ESTuned to get the clutch installed. Shop owner Evan Smith and head mechanic Rick Warner were great. In two days they had the motor out of the car, clutch, injectors, and turbos installed, coolant lines pinned, and motor back in the car. Upon starting the car it had a dead hole. I immediately call Sam...at 9pm...Sunday night...he answers! He gives me a few things to look for and when all checked out I pointed at the tune. He immediately sent me a tune from another customers car so I could verify it was the tune. He stayed up and answered the phone every time until it was fixed, which happened at midnight. It turned out to be a bad EV1/EV14 injector adapter. Rick replaces the adapter, I upload the original tune and the car fires up and runs great. I drove it 30 miles home and it never skipped a beat. Sam insisted I message him, regardless of time, once I made it home safe. I've been doing the car thing for a long time and never in my life have I experienced the kind of service that Sam insists on giving. The a1668 turbos and the catless Kline exhaust sound amazing. It's not nearly as loud as I thought it would be. Its got a deep tone that sounds like a factory race car...with hardly any drone at cruising speed. From start to finish Sam has been there 100% of the time and his advice has been spot on.

Sam, if you read this, thanks for being there and turning my 996 into the car that Porsche should have built from the factory. Your dedication to the hobby and your customer service makes you an asset to the community. I'm looking forward to getting the car dialed in the rest of the way!

 

Some pics of the install process:

 

Great write up... Sounds like an awesome experience. Congrats on the new found power!!!

 

Wow I am flattered by your write up dude. Chalk up another friendship through this game.
Thank you for your faith and trust in what I felt would be the recipe for you. Just wait till we let it loose now. Special thanks to everybody involved who helps me do what I do by providing me with outstanding hardware. The Cobb AP really showed its value as we were able to log the car and also drive it for codes and extract them right away from the side of the road. The Halloween situation was funny. My son was so focused on his Batman costume that I needed Sean's help and he was there. Probably A welder for Halloween LOL!

Anyhow you get to look forward to the fun part now. We're going to dial her in and switch to 100 octane next. All you have to do now is roll the windows down or have one of the guys behind you record the Kline music. Glad you went with the additional decat!

Enjoy safely my friend and thank you

 

Sam is a great guy and stands by his products! I'm hoping to tackle my turbo install soon! Congrats!

 

Zip ties are killing me man! ;-) Thise straps are a real PITA to drill, killed a couple of bits.

 

Not super pretty but hey they work and no one one will see them. Nice work OP!! have fun!

 

Yeah, I got a bit lazy.

 

Did you dyno the car to verify the 650whp on pump fuel? I'm fairly certain these are the turbos I want to run next year, just haven't seen any dyno #'s, 1/4 trap speeds or 60-130 times from them.

 

I haven't done either as of yet as we are still working on the tune to hit the 650 bogey. Since my state does not offer 93 Sam nor I expect to hit the number, but I am confident Sam will get me close.

I am leary of dyno numbers as an accurate yardstick for measuring true peak horsepower. I find them to be useful for making comparisons between changes so long as the dyno calibration remains the same and the correction factor to STP is realistic. The track can be a bit misleading as well because one has to be able to launch the car properly and shift really well; and the track surface has to be prepped in such a way that the car stays planted and in a straight line through the entire run. Honestly, I'm not that good a driver.

One of the many neat features about the Cobb Accessport is it's ability to datalog in real time and publish results in a simple csv table. Of the multiple measurements that it outputs, one is injector time in ms. Assuming 20ms of total available injection time for the ID1000s and a B.S.F.C. of .63 we can approximate the horsepower at the flywheel based on the engine's fuel consumption using (1/(RPM/60))*2 to find total available injection time at the given RPM vs actual injection time at the injector. Granted, this is not taking into consideration any fuel that is deposited at the back of the intake valve after the intake valve closes. Again, it's not an exact number...but a fairly accurate approximation. Using my datalogs I calculate ~560hp at the flywheel based on actual injection time at peak RPMs. The turbos are currently only making about 1.0-1.1 bar and I have asked Sam to keep the car on the rich side. When properly tuned, and at my requested richer than ideal AFRs, I expect to see 1.2-1.3 bar which should take the engine to the 600-620FWHP number on pump.

Now that I'm done dorking out...Sam's A1668 turbos are arguably the best choice for a dual use 996tt. They come in hard and fast and pull to redline. They don't exhibit the characteristic lag that is common to larger turbos. While the larger turbos make more peak tq and hp, they tend to be lazy coming in and freight train on top. They're great for roll racing, but not the best choice for stoplight to stoplight, or trying to slingshot out of a corner. Again, using my logs, I am starting to make boost at 2000rpm, which by any measure, is remarkable for turbos that support 700+ hp. The car pulls like a big block V8. Power delivery is smooth, predictable, and instant. I can't imagine anybody looking to build a all around capable 996tt would be disappointed with the turbos.

I hope this helps and if you have any specific questions I urge to you reach out to Sam. He is very responsive and knowledgeable.

 

Forgot to add: Most injectors are measured at 43.5 psig rail pressure. I understand the 996tt has a static rail pressure of 3.5barg (~51psig) which, in effect, makes the 1000cc injector an 1175cc injector. Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable can confirm and also point out of the regulator has a boost index. (Increase of rail pressure by #:1 per psig of MAP)

 

Sam does give top notch service, have never used him myself but wouldn't hesitate.

 

Red, the stock fuel reg is set at 3.8bar under boost and there's a vacuum line from the intake coming into the top.

I see no issues approaching 650 crank on this set up even with crap 91. 1.3 will wake her up! Building slowly and safely. Gotta love ACN91!

Thanks guys

 

what's a1668? you mean k16 billet?

 

Yeah it's a 68mm Alpha HTA wheel upgrade with Tial spec re-build and balance. We can do it on a 16 or 24 depending on the customers goals. With good tuning the 1668's can make 650 crank hp on pump and 700 on race fuel without any let-up. From there (unless you have E85) we go up to the 24's. But on the stock motor it's a real sweet spot for 0-650/700ish hp and hard to beat.