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I was debating if i should share this here. ByDesign Stage 4's are so damn common here, i thought it would be a bit redundant to post, but too bad, i'm going to post anyway... LOL.
To bore you with the details... purpose of this build was to own my version of the ultimate daily driver. Something that's quicker than all production cars and most modified vehicles in Hawaii, all while blasting my Burmester stereo and basking in comfort with the 18 ways and air cooled seats. I think we succeeded. I saw the car on eBay, a private party seller from Rancho Palos Verde, CA. Paid for the car and sent her straight to World Motorsports in Torrance for installation and Sam at ByDesign for final tuning. Did all this before driving her a single time or even setting eyes on her in person. Crazy, i know... After the mods were almost done, i flew up to Los Angeles to witness the final tuning and dyno session and have some awesome BBQ with the boys at Lucilles BBQ in Torrance. Maybe my Hawaiian tongue doesn't know good BBQ, but that food was freaking amazing. Burnt ends and hot link sausage. After everything was wrapped up, i had chance to take her for a week. Did some long distance/hot weather/city stop-n-go/high speed testing while i was there. Overall, the vehicle passed all tests with flying colors other than a tiny hiccup. We'll get to that later. I'm equipped with three maps, map #1 good for 580hp (pump no meth), map #2 620hp (pump with meth), and map #3 760hp (100oct with meth). I've only tried the first two. I was too chicken to try 760hp, nor did i want to get impounded in foreign territory.
Standard ByDesign components were used, but we decided to step up to the new 5.1 intercoolers and dual 76mm (3") Kline Race stainless steel exhaust rather than the 4.5" and 70mm. I wanted the Inconel bling, but couldn't justify it and would rather use the funds for wheels and aero. From what i'm told, the titanium cans of the Kline race exhaust gives her a nice high pitched hum at wide open throttle, and i can confirm. She has a wail similar to a GT3. Not exactly like a GT3, but you can tell it's in the family. If i were to make a comparison, it like the lead signers of old Journey, Steve Perry... and new Journey, Arnel Pineda. If you listen closely, Steve Perry has a slightly broader "tessitura" AKA vocal range. He can hit lows slightly better and highs noticeably better than Arnel Pineda. The Steve/Arnel comparison is a much closer comparison and almost biting nails for most people but you get the point. During normal driving, she's perfect for someone who wants an aftermarket exhaust. Very minimal drone around 1500-2000 which is understandable with a dual 3" exhaust. But she's surprisingly civil. To give you a perspective, my 997 Turbo had a 65mm or 70mm Kline exhaust (I don't rememeber, perhaps Sam can check records and report back). During startup and very low RPM cruise, my 991 76mm is a little louder. But during highway cruise, she's actually a little quieter. If you're not looking for an aftermarket exhaust, get the Kline 70mm anyway. I refer to it as "OEM+", just a bit louder under regular driving, absolutely no drone, and screams like she should at WOT. There were two other brands of exhaust i was considering, Boost Logic and Unobtanium. Unobtanium has never made a 991 Turbo exhaust and does not have the jigs, so no go with them. And from what i've heard via online video, Boost Logic sounds pretty exotic and looks cool. But at its fairly low price point (priced similarly to SS exhausts) and titanium construction with labor intensive pie cut radiuses, i was suspicious it's a mass produced piece. I could be wrong, but i was suspicious and in the end i'm extremely happy with my 76mm Kline Race.
During my week with the car, it was like a honeymoon in Capri Island, Italy. I hugged her, i kissed her, i sat in her staring into the smog filled sunset, we even raced around in the canyons with a bunch of Corvette Z06 guys like the little buses racing around Capri Island. i drove about 1200 miles, so i had the opportunity to put her in every scenario i would ever see in Hawaii x2. And she performed virtually flawlessly. I also did a road trip to and from Las Vegas in 9 hours, that's 600 miles in one sitting. In Vegas, i stopped at Sonic Drive-Thru and ate in my 18 ways and i walked around aimlessly for 1 hour to catch a break from driving. While she baked in the 108 degree Las Vegas heat, my Snow Performance methanol controller stopped working. So for the drive back, i switched to map #1, no meth, to be safe. The entire drive back, it wouldn't turn back on. When i arrived at my destination back in Los Angeles, my knees we hating me but my baby kept purring, but with no meth. Later that evening, the meth controller woke up from hibernation. It doesn't get nearly at hot in Hawaii, but it does get hot. I'll be reporting back regarding this. I know people run this in the middle east, so i'm not too concerned. Another issue i had was a hesitation shifting from first to second at full tilt. It would bounce off the redline for what seemed like a full second before shifting to second. Yikes! I did it maybe 3 or 4 times, and there was so much adrenaline (keep in mind, map #2 is the quickest i've ever been aside from being on a sport bike), i didn't know what to think. Then i thought, maybe i was in manual mode and i just wasn't pulling the paddle shift hard enough, but it still did it. So i switched to auto mode and it did the same thing. I reported to Sam and he said the "high torque, aggressive PDK map" would solve that and it's caused from a variance of wheel spin from front and back tires. So since my car was in map #1 because of the hibernating meth controller, the lowest power setting, i tried a full throttle run again and it shifted fine. So the wheel spin explanation made sense. I'm not too worried as i'm around the 200th person with a ByDesign Stage 4 build and if this was a long term issue, it would be a common theme on the forum. Despite these two issues, i am overall extremely satisfied and confident the issues would be resolved. Soon thereafter, my honeymoon/rendezvous came to an end and i needed to get back to Hawaii. Reluctantly dropped her off at World Motorsports for Sam to do final tuning and tweaks. And after that, he will drop the vehicle off to Matson for me on the 22nd to ship back home to me.
Got busy typing and forgot to type the main part. This is my second time doing business with Sam which speaks volumes and i would highly recommend him for your Porsche upgrade needs. He's a very busy guy but he always tries his best to make things work which he did in this situation. One non-negotiable on this build was the Kline 76mm race exhaust. He got it done in the nick of time, custom built from east Europe, shipped, arrived the morning of my arrival, and installed when i arrived. My 997 Turbo Kline (65 or 70mm?) left me wanting more, but this was just perfect.
World Motorsport was also awesome. Craig, the owner and Arthur, their mechanic have tons of experience from purpose built drag race cars to fine details like making sure everything is installed properly and small annoyances like your hose clamp doesn't pop off. The ~18,000sq/ft facility was absolutely top notch. Something this island boy has never experienced before. I'm sure there's other awesome shops too in California, but this one gotta be up there in know-how and capability.
The whole one month time from when i bought the car until the day i arrived, i was second guessing things since it's the most i've spent on a car. I could've bought a used GT-R with the same power for half the price, or a used 991.1 GT3 for the same price as the Turbo S and save the money on mods but after driving her for a week, i am so damn glad i didn't settle. I have never driven a stock 991 TTS, but this just takes the cake with what i was aiming to do, my version of the ultimate daily driven vehicle.
On top of the Stage 4 installation, i also asked World to install a set of Eibach Pro-Kit springs and a DSC Sport. I know there's not a lot of information/pictures on the Eibachs. The side profile shot above is one day after installation and sitting on the ground for others to reference. I'll get better shots when she's in Hawaii. I choose them anyway because they advertise the least amount of drop 0.8" front and 0.4" rear, to accommodate the steep and narrow driveways of Honolulu. It drives great and how i assume stock would be, but i've never driven a stock 991 TTS before. I knew the Pro-Kits would give my car a little rake, but i was hoping for a little less rake. Hopefully the rear will settle just a tiny bit since most of the weight is out back. Or who knows, maybe the Eibach engineers know a thing or two and designed the rake to shift some of the rear engine weight forward? Combined with the DSC Sport, it handles awesome. The second full day of driving took me around Mulholland with a bunch of really quick and experienced canyon carvers. I was probably driving at 8 or 9/10ths which would probably be a 7/10ths to them. Kinda scary on a car that's brand new to me, but the setup was very confidence inspiring. I feel like the stock Pirelli P-Zero's did fairly well up until the first 1/2 of the drive before really heating up way too much and turned to mush with tire pressures up to 50psi. They kept going so i didn't have an opportunity to adjust tire pressures.
Which brings up mods for the near future. I intend to install either Michelin Pilot Sport 4S' or Toyo R888R's all around. It just depends on how much i will tolerate as a daily driver. I'm still warming up to the plastic intake tubing and would really prefer a set of aluminum tubing pre and post turbo to match everything else and match have it Cerakoted gold to match the heat stained exhaust. I'm also considering an intake from Boost Logic or Agency Power mostly for the bling factor if i ever take my rear bumper off for a Cars and Coffee or... I know you guys are cringing at this, but with the deck lid intake slats right next to the air filters, i don't think heat soak is an issue. And since i'm on meth, it's definitely not an issue. Or maybe the AWE carbon intake box with Champion Motorsport carbon intake tube? And lastly (for now), a set of wheels. As much as i would want a set of HRE R101LW's or Champion Motorsport RS74's, i don't know if i can justify spending so much on a set of wheels. Since performance is already overwhelmingly great, i feel like i can sacrifice a little bit of weight for style. I might cheap out on a set of stylish but cheaper Rotiforms since the subtle 991 exterior needs a little bit of flair. Perhaps a set of Rotiform two-piece SLC or three-piece DAB? And after that, in the distant future (we're talking two years out), possibly a PDK clutch upgrade and hopefully by then there's a fueling upgrade that won't involve changing the entire intake manifold and adding a set of port injectors, perhaps 991.2 TTS injectors?
Nice write up, minus the personal feelings for your car, JK. Sam and the World Motorsport guys are fantastic, as you said Craig and his team have a great shop, and just could not be easier to work with, and the results have been super
I can get 94 octane fuel all over Ontario. So I was right, 620whp with whatever crappy "premium" fuel you can find in North America sounds pretty good to me. But here in Ontario, I could do quite a lot better between the 94 fuel and the cooler temps, which I will take full advantage of once I begin my build.
And lastly (for now), a set of wheels. As much as i would want a set of HRE R101LW's or Champion Motorsport RS74's, i don't know if i can justify spending so much on a set of wheels. Since performance is already overwhelmingly great, i feel like i can sacrifice a little bit of weight for style. I might cheap out on a set of stylish but cheaper Rotiforms since the subtle 991 exterior needs a little bit of flair. Perhaps a set of Rotiform two-piece SLC or three-piece DAB? And after that, in the distant future (we're talking two years out), possibly a PDK clutch upgrade and hopefully by then there's a fueling upgrade that won't involve changing the entire intake manifold and adding a set of port injectors, perhaps 991.2 TTS injectors?
Out of those two Rotiform choices I think the SLC's would be the better wheel. The DAB looks a lot like the HRE 540 that we spoke about and that 540 is HRE's most affordable 3-piece wheel so in terms of bang for the buck the HRE's would top that. Please PM me some more so that we can discuss these Rotiform options and get a quote going for ya.
I can get 94 octane fuel all over Ontario. So I was right, 620whp with whatever crappy "premium" fuel you can find in North America sounds pretty good to me. But here in Ontario, I could do quite a lot better between the 94 fuel and the cooler temps, which I will take full advantage of once I begin my build.
Originally Posted by SamboTT@ByDesign
Yeah it's interesting with petrol Canada. I have seen logs where 94 looks like 91 and at the same time i have seen it in parts of Canada where it's awesome! the beauty of custom tuning and logging!
Alex decisions decisions!
Yup, Cobb specifically mentions in their map database for Canadian 94 users to use a US 91 map. I would think a methanol injection system would benefit you greatly.
And with the lower horsepower maps #1 & 2, i specifically told Sam this may be a long term car for me and it'll be daily driven. I've never kept a car longer than 1 year before my 997 Turbo, and i doubled that time with that. Ideally i'd like to keep this one 4+ years and put on 40k+ miles. So i stressed long term reliability. Who knows, maybe i'll go nuts and keep her on map #3 and drive year round with 100 octane??? In that case, you'll be seeing me a lot sooner for a PDK upgrade, Sam. LOL!
Congrats and welcome to the club! With regard to some of the things you’ve mentioned in your thread, I’m actually having a Eibach Pro kit installed next week and also swapping out my rear PS4S with 315 R888s out back (PS4s will remain up front). As far as my map goes, I alternate between 730-770whp maps (dyno dependent). Fuel is always Sunoco 260GT (100 octane) with meth set at 25. I also have the PDK software and am using the most aggressive map to prevent clutch slippage.
As it can see, she moves out (I was on 730 map, but temps and humidity were dreadful that night, so I was probably closer to 700whp):
08-15-2018, 02:16 AM
