Well folks, it has been a while since our last 718 GT4 update. It's been a busy summer! We have some updates to share on the aerodynamic testing, some fine tuning of the suspension setup, and we bid a fond farewell to the 718 GT4 to make room for the Lab Rat 2.0...

Psst.... there's a discount somewhere down below, so make sure to read the whole post carefully!





To do a quick recap of our previous installments:

We started by testing the car in stock trim on the track, on the dyno, and using CFD software to get a sense of what the car’s strengths and weaknesses were. The platform proved to be robust, as I’m sure many of you know. The 718 displayed similar handling characteristics of the 981, with a bit more balance, but still trending toward understeer. The car made much more power than we expected, putting down 400whp on our Dynapack chassis dyno!



We 3D-scanned the whole car and dove in. We added suspension arms with spherical bearings from E-Motion Engineering, 2-Way remote reservoir dampers and springs from Motion Control Suspension and uprated brakes from AP Racing in the form of their RADI-Cal kit.



The car was very potent with these first improvements. We took to the track to dial in the setup while the remaining parts were in development. After a few sessions, turning ***** and twisting dials, we had worked through the range on the dampers, played with the sway bars, and factory aero adjustments. It was reassuring to find that we could dial in the GT4’s behavior to suit whoever was driving. Want it loose and fast? We’ve got that. Want it stable and sweet? We’ve got that too.



The next outing saw the addition of our Street Header package. This replaced everything but the OE muffler, and gave us an excellent boost in performance and sound. The 30 wheel-horsepower we saw on the dyno was immediately noticeable on the track (right foot must be judicious!). We later tested the Inconel Megaphone Muffler Delete (“Crack Pretzel”) and found a subtle increase in power, and a ridiculous increase in noise (not for the faint of heart!). It sure makes an exotic, high-pitched wail though.





The dashed line is the 718 GT4 stock, the dotted is with our Street Header package.





The next step was to test fit and finalize the work from our friends at Verus Engineering. Using our 3D model, Verus worked up some designs that we dialed in on the car. We had initially tested the Swan Neck wing that we’ve had great success with on the 981 GT4. The wing bolted up perfectly, but the front end lacked the grip to retain a balanced platform.







The front-end construction on the 718 platform made building an effective splitter difficult. The location of the radiators limited the ability to add diffusers (our preferred method for creating front downforce). The “bolt-on” splitter looked great, but it had a minimal impact on the downforce, and the attachment was not robust enough for our liking. Making a splitter within all of those constraints would have been incredibly expensive and time consuming, so we pivoted to a simpler solution.







We arrived at a package that provides a nice bump in downforce and retains a great balance, but is much simpler and less expensive. The combination we settled on is Dual Dive Planes at the front of the car, and an adjustable, Bolt-On Carbon Fiber Rear Wing. The net result was a 50% increase in downforce at 100mph, and TONS of driver confidence.











This package is fun to drive, playful, and well-balanced. The net change in lap time at our local track was 5 seconds in the hands of our pro driver (1:49 in stock trim, 1:44 with all the go-fast pieces on it). The aero parts provide a huge boost in driver confidence, as well as improved pace on the track.

This lap was prior to final suspension adjustments and aero parts, still great to see how balanced the car is.



We do have a couple of other parts in R&D at this time (like a proper-sounding muffler!), but our 992 GT3 is inbound, so it was time for the 718 GT4 to move on to make some room. We bid the car adieu, and the new owner has already burned through a set of brake pads on the track ;-)



To put a wrap on this platform: the 718 GT4 is an incredible Porsche out of the box, with a very high performance ceiling. We let it off the leash a bit, and the GT3RS crowd needs to watch their mirrors! As a final splash for our GT4 owners out there, we have a special deal going through the month of October 2021: Buy a Bolt-On Carbon Wing and get a set of Dual Dive Planes for half off! Simply add the parts to your cart and the discount is automatic.



Give us a shout with any questions, and happy motoring!

 

Hi Ted...thanks for the recap on all the mods. When do you expect the muffler to be available? Could you share a bit of the design behind the muffler?

 

@jmartpr You bet. It was a fun journey to fine tune everything. We've gone around and around with the muffler (part of the reason it's taken so long) and we've had to start from scratch more than once. We don't have an ETA (especially with the 992 coming in hot), but the design is our best shot at maximizing volume (physical size to reduce the drone and noise level), proper mixing to create the "good" sound we all want, and balancing cost. It will have a full x-pipe, valves, and our standard lifetime warranty.

 

Good stuff Ted.

You still plan on offering your crack pretzel correct?

 

@Tay101 of course! New and pre-owned in stock right now ;-)