My 997 GTS, may divide opinion!

[Big E 118]

Hi all

A bit of history first. I went to buy a GTS about 2 and a half years ago but left the OPC with a 987 Boxster Spyder instead! The Spyder was a great fun car and excelled in summer trips to the south of France and Spain (it wasn't so practical at a very wet Le Mans Classic....).

I've been keeping a close eye on the 997 GTS market for a long time I've had a few ideas about when I found the right car how I could personalise it a bit. As the plan was to do some mods I didn't want to go to the top end of the market with OPC sourced cars and wasn't concerned about warranty.

So I picked up a GTS a couple of months back with 45k miles on the clock. Full OPC service history and 111 point OPC inspection pre purchase.

Spec wise it is a 2011 2wd with PDK, alcantara interior with extended leather. It has body coloured seat backs, transmission tunnel and dash trim which makes the interior a bit different.

So the mods, well I wanted a wide body rear wheel drive 997 with a bit of a retro look but I didn't want it to look like I was trying to copy a Sport Classic.

The changes to date all done by Parr in Crawley.

Wheels in satin Bronze (call it brown if you like!)
997.2 Aero front splitter
H&R lowering springs
Parr fast road geo
Cargraphic x-pipe
RPM Technik carbon duck tail
Parr front grill mesh
PORSCHE decals side and back in wheel colour
New rear disks and pads
New clear stone guards

Some photos below, not the best at the moment I'm afraid. There's a close up of the wheels as well which gives a better impression of the colour.

Thanks to Parr Motorsport who have been excellent and also thanks to PHer Chris ABP on here who has advised on some of the mods as he's already done them on his very nice GTS.

There's still a few bits to do so I'll update on further progress!

[Big E 118]

Adam B said:

hmmmm

are the decals brown to match the wheels? got any interior shots?

Yep, the decals match the wheels...in BRONZE...

No interior shots yet

[Big E 118]

Thanks for the positive comments so far! I really wanted to give a bit of a nod to the 2.7 RS's of the early 70's and hope that comes across.

Parr use a local paint shop rather than paint themselves. The wheel refurb and decals were outsourced as well but all managed by Parr.

[Big E 118]

S1MMA said:

Ok cool, how would you rate the quality of the paint work? I need a few bits doing in future so just figuring out who to use.

The only paintwork they have done is the ducktail, it looks a very good job to me.

[Big E 118]

Adam B said:

a curate's egg for me

Like the front spoiler and the ducktail, don't mind the BROWN wheels either

Never been a fan of PORSCHE being written down the side of Porsches, in case of passer-bys didn't realise the Porsche is a PORSCHE!! Decal on rear looks rather odd as curve doesn't match the shut lines or ducktail profile.

Car is crying out for body colour front lip and side sills IMVHO

Valid points.
I debated whether to go Carrera or Porsche on the side decals and personally just wasn't that keen on the Carrera script. I think the ducktail decal would look stranger being dead straight on a curved surface.

Again, I thought about body coloured sills and lip but I prefer the contrast. The GTS comes with black sills and splitter so I wanted to keep that look.

[Big E 118]

[zquote=chrisABP]Looks great Ian and I'm still very tempted by a ducktail on my GTS....

Get the side grills fitted in the front bumper (I've used Zunsport) and paint the washer jets as the chrome looks out of place on the GTS in my opinion.

Where did you buy the ducktail from in the end as I keep getting horrified by the price of genuine Sport Classic ones!


[/quote]

Thanks Chris

Ducktail is RPM Technik carbon one which is quite pricey but well made. Still a lot cheaper than the OEM one! Most ducktails on the market are for single intake cars so need to look specifically for ones moulded from the Sport Classic. Parr still needed to modify slightly as the intake sizes internally were a bit small.

I have the side grills but still have the "fins" in place. Will get some better photos next time I'm at home in daylight.

[Big E 118]

Heathrow said:

OP I had a nose round your car at Goodwood last Saturday and I have to say the pics do not do the paint/wheel/graphics combo justice. It looked absolutely perfect to my eyes in the metal. The wheels in particular are actually quite subtle but are perfectly matched to the paintwork. It's an unusual choice but really stood out in the morning sun. Nice work!

Thanks for the positive comments. I'm surprised anyone noticed it as I made the mistake of parking next to three 991 GT3 RS's!

It was a really good turn out and plenty of money raised for charity, did you get out on track?

[Big E 118]

A little update.

Well still no decent photos I'm afraid, I've barely seen the car in daylight! I was giving it a bit of a clean at the weekend and got some interior photos and a couple of the ducktail in a bit more detail.

The interior has body coloured trim and seat backs with alcantara seats, lower dash ,door trim and headlining and extended leather on all the other bits.




I'm really pleased with the ducktail, it was one of the few with the holes for dual intakes which the GTS needs and it needed a bit of tweaking by Parr, overall it's very nicely finished.

[Big E 118]

hondansx said:

I think you've done a great job. I think the 'pure' look would have worked really well in a manual car, if i was to be picky...

I can see that. I was open to either a manual or PDK and the rest of the spec/history/price point of this car matched what I wanted so I went for it.

[Big E 118]

Not sure to which he is referring, the 3.0 RS looks standard apart from maybe the spotlights and I bought the 997 to use and enjoy, don't care about residuals.

I can see the attractions of the 997 GTS but I can't ever see it being an investment car, too many and not as special as the modern RS's.