Hey guys just an update on the car now that I have it back. I'm fully enjoying it, and this was definitely the right purchase for me

Car was at GMG for about 3/4 weeks as the following was done..

1) SMOG The biggest pain so fair with the ownership of this vehicle was getting it to pass the California smog standards.. I mistakingly took it in hoping for a quick smog when I 1st got the car.. Long story short, it failed.. was flagged in the system, and it made things a little more difficult to get things passed after..
Fortunately for me, GMG had a stock 996TT exhaust/cat set up in the back of the their parts bin. They swapped in the stock parts, and one of the owners (good friend of mine) took the car to get smogged from a "buddy" of his.. They then swapped all of my parts back on the car after passing the smog test.. This was not a cheap process, but I guess it was the price of admission to have my car sounding and feeling as beautiful as it does now.. Hoping that things will be a lot easier/cheaper next time around..

2) RADIATOR DUCTING The biggest hold up on getting the car back was the ordering of all the GT2 ducting and shrouds to properly vent/duct the radiators with the RUF bumper.. I of course wanted me CSF 3-piece radiator set-up on the car as it is being used as a company demo vehicle, so when it came time to put the radiators in, I definitely wanted it done the right way.. Without my discount, the total cost of the parts + labor came out to about $2,100 - This does not include the price of the radiators which I obviously supplied at no cost.. There was a delay in getting the parts ordered from Germany as they were not available from any place in the US as this was a special order item.. The parts are about $1000 to do this correctly.. This delayed me getting the car back by about 10 business days.

3) BREAKS The car had Pagid racing break pads which I did not find suitable for street driving (squeaky as hell).. I felt it was better to take these off the car, and then save them for any future track days that I might be headed out to this spring/summer.. After discussing with GMG, we opted for Endless MX 72 pads in the front and rear.. These aren't cheap pads, but my god do these pads feel amazing!!! I am loving how great this car feels with these pads, and I highly reccomend to anyone looking for a high end daily driver/street upgrade.. Cost of the pads (without my discount) were about $850.. Also the blue color really works well with the yellow breaks / blue paint..

4) Oil change - Was time for an oil change - got this done.. Free of charge

5) Got a full inspection of the car from front to back.. This was really important since I did not opt for a PPI locally in Chicago when I bought the car.. Everything came back in tip/top shape and 911-AL + previous owners had been doing a great job maintaining the car.. A very very slight leak from one of the front Moton shocks, but was taken care of... Might do a full calibration/refresh of these later in the year..

6) Finally got the car registered.. Had to bend over with the 8% California sales tax.. (Thankfully AL and I worked something out on this )
- I still dumbfounded that we have to pay sales tax on something that had already been paid for.. But whatever, it's all part of the scheme.. Got it done at AAA instead of going to the DMV.. One of the best experiences I've ever had.. I was in and out with plates and registration in 15 mins.. Now just waiting on my personalized plated..

SINCE THEN

Been driving the car like I STOLE IT!!

This car is just screaming California cool as I cruise down PCH through Newport Beach and Laguna Beach.. Top seed in it has been about 135MPH ( I want faster)... Took this up a hill (Newport Coast) at about 120MPH on an empty stretch, and this thing was just planted on the road zooming up the hill with lane changing.. Put the biggest smile on my face, and I truly realized the magic of owning a Porsche at that point..

It's been displayed at the GMG open house as well as a couple of C&C meets.. I've had no less than 10 people make offer on my rims, and it's 100% doing the job as a company demo car.. I can't go anywhere without people turning heads and asking questions about the car.. The RUF upgrades are a real talking point for many..

Currently is discussion with 2 Porsche magazine, and a large online car culture website to feature the car..Hoping to have some good news in the next few weeks

Going to be parking it in the garage for the next two weeks as I'll be on a business trip.. Trying to put as few miles as possible, but that's been close to impossible since I got it back...

Some updated pictures below of the car..

Cheers everyone..

 

^^

Love your car, looks classy and monstrous at the same time . One of the cleanest examples today.

 

^+1, gorgeous car/perfect colour...sounds like you're fully-enjoying it Ravi!
Cheers,
Rob

 

Lovely looking car! looking forward to more pics and updates

 

car looks great. glad you got the smog issues sorted. some of are as cagey as can be with that whole process. mine just went as well as it ever could.


..and i see that you've been driving your car at laguna seca as thats the only place we can safely hit those speeds. i'd be mindful of sharing specifics and exploits particularly with a car that identifiable. because surely you meant laguna seca and not laguna canyon ( its nice there ) as that is a public road lol.


have fun and be careful. cheers. that is one helluva specimen. i always wondered who was gonna pay al's price, and congrats on stepping up.. and on it lol

 

how did you get all the gt2 ducting and center radiator brackets for 1000$? its over 5000$ in parts . the ducts are 400 each the brackets are 400 each the fender well liners are about 150 each the list goes on and on. didn't RUF supply you with the 2 side ducts and the center duct to route the air with the bumper?

 

steve.. didn't 911-al do all this stuff? we've been looking at that car for years! lol

 

the pics 911-al sent me were 3 ducts up front. maybe the o/p has pics of what he had done

 

My Rturbo was built by RUF and has the factory RUF bumper that is on the OPs car. The ducting on my car that is used with that bumper are all RUF parts with RUF specific part numbers. The ducts are NOT OEM Porsche..

 

Not sure what GMG was speaking to but here is all of the RUF ducting which replaced the OEM turbo ducting mounted prior to the bumper install. Maybe it was an up sell

 

so which "gt2" parts is he waiting for? and is the gt2 ducting what IS used by ruf for their full front end conversion?! so the last owner had the ruf front fascia withOUT the proper ducting?!

that seems odd. given all the work to make it a ruf550 ! or maybe i'm missing something here.

 

and there ya have it 911 comes thru with a perfectly logical explanation lol
notice he still cant stay away from "his" former car

cant say as i blame him!

 

You're right that I can't stay away. Ravi is really enjoying this thing where it belongs... On the open California road. Most of the world turns it's nose up at the 996 generation but the truth is that I recently "upgraded" to an air cooled car but I now realize how much I had with the 996 Turbo platform. Keep your cars boys, there's a bubble brewing....

 

aint NOBODY has more fun than me with my ol beater up in these socal mountains... daily lol. i bet ya miss the hell outa it

 

I'd say that GMG milked the OP out of a $1000 worth of GT2 ducting that is not supposed to go on the car. The RUF bumper uses RUF ducting. The part number of each duct starts with "R96xxxx". If you look at the duct past the opening screen you will be able to read the RUF part numbers in the corner.