Goodbye 997 GTS, Hello Cayman GT4

Goodbye 997 GTS, Hello Cayman GT4

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chrisABP

Original Poster:

1,112 posts

147 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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After 2.5 years in my 997 GTS (coincidentally my first Porsche) and enjoying every minute of my boyhood dream of 911 ownership I was getting itchy feet and with the values still strong a decision was made over Christmas that I needed a change....

Whilst the standard 997 GTS is a great package with a wonderful engine, steering, interior (especially with the GTS alcantara, extended leather and painted centre console & seat backs) I always like to carry out a few mods to make it 'my car'. So I set about making my GTS into something that little bit better.

The exhaust was too quiet so after lots of research on went a Sharkwerks bypass pipe which released am almost GT3 like howl once higher up in the rev range with the valves open (which they always were!). As a business we have subsequently sold well over 60 of these bypass pipes in the UK so it wasn't just me disappointed with the sound track!

Next came a set of Zunsport front grills which not only stopped the leaves and other road crap from clogging the rads but also gave the car a much better 'finished' look and again hinted at 997 GT3 which have the mesh as standard.

Then a new genuine Porsche front aero-kit splitter which was painted in the same finish as the original GTS splitter - a dull matt black. This sat slightly lower, giving the front end a more purposeful stance, again harking back to the 997.2 GT3.

The ride height was always too high in my opinion so on went a set of 'GTS specific' H&R lowering springs which lowered the car by a perfect -20mm. Ride quality was actually improved as a consequence which was a bonus and the reduced height and body roll made the car not only look much better but also handle better also. The geometry was set-up at the same time.

Now the expensive one - the wheels!
I always thought that the GTS original centre-locks whilst a stunning design just looked the wrong offset, especially on the rear. I'm also not a fan of polished lips which helped me justify spending the cash I was about too. So after a lot of research I knew what I needed to find. Front 997.2 GT3 wheels are the same size but have an offset difference of 3mm which would push the wheel +3mm further out. The rears were more of a challenge as the GTS is a wide-body car so 997.2 GT3 wheels were the wrong offset. The rears I needed to find were from a 997.2 GT3 RS which are 1" wider (12" as opposed to OE GTS 11") and the offset difference would push the wheel out a perfect +15mm which would fill the GTS arches.
So after much searching I found 1 x rear wheel (RED) in Germany, the other rear in Istanbul(!) which was in silver. The GT3 fronts were more of a challenge as I could only find them for sale in sets of 4 and the rears were of no use to me... So I eventually agreed a deal on a set of 4 with a guy in TEXAS(!) and I shipped them in to the UK, these were platinum! Managed to sell the unwanted rears quite quickly which helped the pain of having to buy the set!
Then decided on a colour for the wheels which is a very wet-look anthracite, achieved by painting the wheel high gloss black and then it has 2 light coats of silver applied on top achieving a stunning finish. This work was carried out by Pristine Wheels in Milton Keynes who always do a super job.
Tyre choice was a simple one - Michelin Pilot Cup 2's N-rated. These are amazing in the dry and surprisingly good in the wet too.

Once fitted they made the GTS the perfect car in my opinion, the rear arches were finally filled as they should have been from the factory, the ride height was now perfect, the exhaust note amazing and the overall visual impact of the car improved massively. Along with greatly improved handling, grip and a slight BHP increase up to 420BHP with the bypass pipe smiles were achieved on every journey!

Alas, the GTS had to be sold and was put back to standard before agreeing a deal with Hexagon Classics in London who gave me more than I had paid for it 2.5 years ago! They were great to deal with, collected the car promptly and no hassle at all. I would have preferred to sell it back to Tom and the excellent team at 911 Virgin but even he agreed that the price offered by Hexagon was a very good one.

So I now had two jobs:
1) I needed to find a replacement
2) I need to sell a load of 997 GTS bits!

Job 1 came about very quickly as I managed to secure a great spec low mileage GT4 which hadn't been advertised and was being sold by a true enthusiast keen for the car to go to similar who wasn't looking to flip. We agreed a deal, shook hands, paid the money and the car was collected last night. Spec includes clubsport, PCCB, PDLS lights, leather, yellow stitching, 918 seats, cruise, body colour painted dash inserts, leather centre console, sport-chrono, black wing supports & wheels, PCM & Nav! It even still smells new with just 970 miles!

Too early to give a report on the GT4 other than the Dunlop Race Maxx tyres felt terrible on the wet drive home (!!!) compared with the Pilot Cup 2's on the GTS. Will be checking the geometry today and if nothing massively amiss the tyres will be getting changed to Michelin's quite quickly...
The car looks, feels & sounds great and i'm looking forward to getting to know it over the coming months. And the manual gearbox is a delight!

Here are some pics of the 997 and one of the GT4 before I spend some time cleaning it!



















Edited by chrisABP on Wednesday 18th January 10:25


Edited by chrisABP on Wednesday 18th January 10:29


Edited by chrisABP on Wednesday 18th January 10:45

RSVP911

8,192 posts

132 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Hi chris , hope that you are well ? Great post - no piccies though ? Let me know how you get on with the 4 smile

chrisABP

Original Poster:

1,112 posts

147 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
RSVP911 said:
Hi chris , hope that you are well ? Great post - no pixies though ? Let me know how you get on with the 4 smile
Hi Richard, very good thank you.

Pics now added!

Will do, was very tempted by the 981 Spyder but the GT4 got me in the end!

Chris

andyc11

326 posts

131 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Interesting. As a proud GTS owner myself a GT4 is becoming more and more tempting. At the risk of being rude, you willing to give an indication what Hexagon offered you for the GTS...as in did it begin with a 4 (which is what OPC offered me for a straight sale), a 5, or dare I even say a 6? Completely understand if you'd rather not divulge and congrats on the new purchase - great spec.

chrisABP

Original Poster:

1,112 posts

147 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
'Womans Logic'

So I arrived home last night excited after collecting my GT4 and went straight into a sketch from TopGear....

My wife asked the following:
So this one has only got 2 seats?
Yes
And this one has less power?
Yes
And this one doesn't have heated seats?
No
And this one has a gear lever?
Yes
Its not an automatic?
No
And it cost you £xxxxx more than the last one?
Yes

She looked confused, laughed and said 'right'! LOL

chrisABP

Original Poster:

1,112 posts

147 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
andyc11 said:
Interesting. As a proud GTS owner myself a GT4 is becoming more and more tempting. At the risk of being rude, you willing to give an indication what Hexagon offered you for the GTS...as in did it begin with a 4 (which is what OPC offered me for a straight sale), a 5, or dare I even say a 6? Completely understand if you'd rather not divulge and congrats on the new purchase - great spec.
Hi Andy

Will pm you. Very much dependant on spec, mileage etc. Mine was good spec and 24,500 miles.

Big E 118

2,408 posts

168 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Nice GT4 Chris!

I have the Dunlop Race maxx tyres on my RS Clio that I use for the daily commute, they really are not good in the cold but temps above 5-7C they improve a lot although I'm a big fan of the Cup 2's which I have on my GTS. I'd give the Dunlops a chance when the weather gets a bit warmer and see what you think.

So what mods are you looking at for the GT4? Centre muffler bypass again I presume?

hondansx

4,562 posts

224 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Congratulations Chris! I remember you saying you had to get the GTS due to the 4 seats so glad you worked out a solution; surely a raft of car options lay ahead of you in the future...

You did really nice job with GTS. I suppose there's not much to do (or can do) with the GT4, but i bet Sharkwerks would want you to do the exhaust and wing extensions.

chrisABP

Original Poster:

1,112 posts

147 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
hondansx said:
Congratulations Chris! I remember you saying you had to get the GTS due to the 4 seats so glad you worked out a solution; surely a raft of car options lay ahead of you in the future...

You did really nice job with GTS. I suppose there's not much to do (or can do) with the GT4, but i bet Sharkwerks would want you to do the exhaust and wing extensions.
Cheers Rob, my eldest boy is only 8 but the back of the 997 was too small as he's tall like me. As soon as that happened the selfish decision was made that Daddy's future cars will be 2-seaters! Now I could be spoilt for choice but the GT4 feels great, more so today after the geometry has been set-up which was all over the place before!

I think my GTS was a perfectly modified car and gave it so much more presence and soul, was a shame to revert to standard but that's life and now I can sell the bits to someone else.

Me and Alex at Sharkwerks will no doubt be talking soon...

jbaddeley

829 posts

204 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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My pal in stoke has recently bought a GTS and is after the bypass sharkworx exhaust or similar. I've sent him this post. He might be interested in the other bits aswell. Gt4 is special. Enjoy.

Allspark

4 posts

90 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Congratulation Chris. Very nice choice. It's a shame as I was hoping to come over in my GTS to compare notes . I'm only in Stoke. We've spoken briefly on Facebook and Adam with the Clio/mini GP knows me. I'd be interested to see what parts are now surplus .

Enjoy

Edited by Allspark on Wednesday 18th January 21:55

arcamalpha

1,073 posts

163 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Will you put a DSC PASM module in the GT4 Chris?

Shiverman

890 posts

108 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Hi Chris. Enjoy your GT4 it looks stunning in white.

I've been through a similar journey as you, 997GTS Manual then a GT4 with clubsport and buckets. Both great cars and I would have kept the GT4 but after paying significant overs and my mileage heading towards 8k after 6 months of ownership I thought I needed to bug out before I turned the bath I was about to take into a swimming pool! If I'd paid your price it would have been a no brainier to keep and put even more miles on. In fact I should have followed your lead and held onto the GTS for another 9 months as I'm sure it's worth more than I sold for in March.

I've swapped into a 991GTS PDK and must say I love it and it lets me have a daily car which is a bit more comfortable and quieter when I trawl the motorways, but when you hit the back roads you'll love the GT4, the handling, gearbox and those PCCB's (just a bit difficult to master H&T with them til you get used to the bite position).

Bargain buy of the year and I look forward to reading about your mods.

Hope your son approves.
Kevin

dopsonj

315 posts

119 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Looks fantastic on the GT3/RS wheels, great overall tweaks to really set it apart from the crowd without looking overly modified.

Enjoy the GT4 - Looking forward to the Shark!

RSVP911

8,192 posts

132 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
chrisABP said:
'Womans Logic'

So I arrived home last night excited after collecting my GT4 and went straight into a sketch from TopGear....

My wife asked the following:
So this one has only got 2 seats?
Yes
And this one has less power?
Yes
And this one doesn't have heated seats?
No
And this one has a gear lever?
Yes
Its not an automatic?
No
And it cost you £xxxxx more than the last one?
Yes

She looked confused, laughed and said 'right'! LOL
Got to love them !

GT4 looks epic - great in white with PCCB's - very nice - enjoy smile

SRT Hellcat

7,017 posts

216 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
Congratulation Chris. Great choice of weapon smile
Your story of the wife reminded me of my own when I bought a car back in November.
I was with a good mate at the dealer and the missus was with us.
We had done the deal and were chatting about the clutch and the gearbox.
The missus over hears and pipes up.
You mean to tell me the cars a bloody manual.
My mate had to spit his coffee back into his cup and calmly says.
Yep looks like he has just bought another car you cannot drive

Allspark

4 posts

90 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
Allspark said:
Congratulation Chris. Very nice choice. It's a shame as I was hoping to come over in my GTS to compare notes . I'm only in Stoke. We've spoken briefly on Facebook and Adam with the Clio/mini GP knows me. I'd be interested to see what parts are now surplus .

Enjoy

chrisABP

Original Poster:

1,112 posts

147 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
arcamalpha said:
Will you put a DSC PASM module in the GT4 Chris?
Was very close to buying one for the GTS so let's see how I get on with the GT4 before pulling the trigger on this...

chrisABP

Original Poster:

1,112 posts

147 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
Thanks for all the positive comments guys, appreciate the feedback.

The GT4 really does look superb in white with the PCCB, Clubsport etc. Very happy with the purchase!

Felt horrible last night on the way home so checked the car over today and found all tyre pressures down by 4psi and the geometry was all over the place (!). Camber and toe figures were massively uneven side to side and out of spec. Feels a lot better know it's been set up equally (side to side) and bang on Porsche spec. How do they come out of OPC when new so far out of spec!!??

Got some decals on order and will be changing the oil & filter on Friday now it's hit 1,000 miles.

Chris

jbaddeley

829 posts

204 months

Thursday 19th January 2017
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Allspark didn't waste anytime then! He'd better give me a go in it now! Lol.