SPORTEC SPR1 M - Porsche 997 Turbo Rebuilt From Ground Up for 858 HP
This summer was “The Summer of Porsche”. Every day the internet was blowing up with a new gaggle of Porsche tuners. For years we only knew about the big fish: Gemballa, RUF,TechArt. But the autocratic reign of these 3 is over. Shops like Evolution Motorsports, Switzer, SharkWerks and Oakley Designs all build highly-modified Porsches with incredible attention to detail and quality. However, one stood out this summer, the Sportec SPR1-M. The bar hasn't been raised so much as permanently embedded into the moon.
What strikes you when you first look at the SPR1 T80 is how stock it appears. It has some bigger-looking rims, and a larger spoiler, but aside from that its looks are standard Porsche. There's no wild paint scheme, or a front end that looks like it scrapes the tarmac and eats children. It's fairly humble looking. It is anything but...
This Porsche 997 Turbo turned Swedish gladiator holds an engine making 858HP and 648 ft. lbs of tq. The racing seats aren't to show off in a parking lot, they're required to keep your spine aligned when you are propelled from 0-60MPH in 3 seconds flat. Even more terrifying is the mid-range power. It will go from 60-160 in 10.3 seconds, almost 1 full second faster than a Bugatti Veyron. Hold the big pedal and you're on your way to 236+MPH.
The process is just as impressive. Donate your Porsche 911 Turbo to Sportec, plus $798,025, and they will immediately strip the entire car. The engine gets the works; F1 titanium rods, forged internals and 2 injectors per cylinder. The gears are replaced with those from the GT2, coupled with a new limited slip differential. The body is widened, using new rear fenders made of carbon fiber. The hood, doors, door panels, rear wing and front fascia are also built from carbon fiber.
The internal roll cage is bonded to the body, as is the chassis. Usually this is a process saved for cars named “Zonda” or “McClaren.” It all works to make this car 30% more rigid. The fully modified Porsche 911 Turbo weighs only 3000lbs. With the devil now living in the engine bay, you have a vehicle making 593hp per ton. More than an Enzo, McLaren F1, or Bugatti....you get the point.
There's more... Bilstein developed a new suspension system that keeps the car perfectly planted. The handling is no longer a weak link; EVO Magazine said it's better than a GT3. Lightweight, wider Sportec rims are shod with sticky rubber, and the entire interior takes an Alcantara bath.
More amazing yet, is that Sportec has only 19 employees. They dyno-tune, computer program, CAD design as well as build differentials, engine blocks and transmissions. They even sculpt the one-off carbon fiber body panels. Sportec will work on anything from a Skoda to a Fiat. These are my kind of over-achievers.
Sometimes people get ambitious and accidentally ruin a good thing, like a putting random suspension on a Ferrari just for looks and then wind up with the handling of an ice rink. Sportec didn't ruin anything, they just took all the things that are great and made them even better. Power, weight, handling, comfort and looks, all improved.
Sportec took one of the world's best daily-driven sports cars, and condensed everything that's wonderful about it, and the result is the fastest, sickest, and best looking Porsche 911 I've ever seen. The downside is the $1M price tag. That's the cost of a Reventon which is a lot considering it doesn't have the mystique usually attained for this kind of money. Perhaps that's another great thing about this car. If you love driving a Zonda, but in a car that is civil and unassuming, get the Sportec SPR1 M.
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