FAhmed

Made my way over to DeMan Motorsport yesterday to check in on my brother's newly completed 4.5L 718 Spyder. My brother @JAhmed lives in Chicago and had asked me to check in on his car (since I am local to the shop) to see if the admittedly hefty price tag of the 4.5L treatment was "worth it". He opted for nearly the complete package including 4.5L motor, headers (200 cell cats), light weight flywheel, short gears, and kept his Drexler differential and SOUL OAPs/exhaust which had been installed previously. Rick @DeMan Motorsport had been super helpful throughout the process, answering any and all questions, and the turn around time felt quick as well (about 6 weeks).

On to the test drive. I took the car out with Rick, and for starters, it is pretty loud. This motor coupled with the SOUL exhaust system is not for the faint of heart. That being said, as someone who was underwhelmed with the stock 718 sound, it's a dramatic improvement and sounds much more exotic and in keeping with the appearance of the car. The clutch pedal is significantly firmer than stock, which happens to be my preference as it feels like it belongs in this kind of performance car. The difference in speed is night and day. While the stock GT4/Spyder can feel pretty lethargic in higher gears and lower in the rev range, this 4.5L motor mated to the short gears does NOT have that problem. It felt like a coiled spring, it was ready to go in any gear, any rpm, any time. If you floor it from 3000 rpm in 5th, the torque is still enough to push your head back into the headrest. The shorter gearing had me rowing through 2-4 gears often, and allowed me to actually enjoy the manual gearbox. My two points of comparison are a 991 3RS and a Ferrari 458, and it felt every bit as fast and as exciting as those cars. This modification has transformed the car into what I wish it could have been like from the factory, both in terms of sound and speed. All in all, I was blown away by the experience in the car, and thankful to Rick for joining me on our extended test drive. The price tag is still a big one to swallow, but in my opinion completely worth it as it increases the enjoyability of car so much, putting it on par with more expensive cars as stated above.

I had a slow, depressing ride home in my mostly stock GT4 afterwards (boo-hoo), but at least my car still looks better than his....


Thanks again to Rick (and Tony) and the other guys at DeMan for always being welcoming and awesome to deal with!

JAhmed

Thanks Faraz, and a big thank you to @DeMan Motorsport for getting this done in an impressive time frame and accommodating my younger brother along the way.

@SpeedySpidey and some others were asking for my complete build so here is the rundown...I will try and add more details as I can/if people have questions.

2020 718 Spyder - factory buckets, CCB, PECLA delivery
DeMan 4.5L
DeMan catted headers
Soul Resonated RACE exhaust
DeMan 2-5 gearset
Numeric Racing shifter/cables
Drexler 50/60 diff
E-Motion Engineering suspension package (every component available, including KW Clubsport 3 way dampers)
E-Motion Engineering/SONOFCOBRA underbody aero
Forgeline GA3R wheels
Shaved 3rd brake light/XM antenna
Full paint correction/PPF/Ceramic/the works by Glistening Perfection

While I'd love to say the project is now complete, we all know that something like this is never "done". Custom made carbon composite body panels, center-lock hub conversion and integration of a Clubsport airbox are some ideas swirling around in my head...

sonystyle02

Congrats to @JAhmed on the new build! This is such a tempting offering as I've combing (torturing myself) through the 4.5L thread in the 981 forums.

If there are any 4.5L SoCal cars, I'd love a ride-along to push me over the edge

JAhmed

I may ship the car back to SoCal this summer as part of an adventure...will let you know if it happens.

tigerhonaker

Have you posted the cost of this project ???
Especially the engine and the short gearing ???

If your NOT suppose to post these prices No-Worries at all.

Terry

nothingman

Amazing build, @JAhmed , congrats!!

I've been up to @DeMan Motorsport a couple of times and Rick has been very gracious every time; patiently answering my questions and even taking me for a ride in 981 GT4 4.25L upgrade. I've been trying to time it right so I stop by when he has a 718 4.5L to check out - but it's hit or miss. I'm sure they get countless tire kickers randomly stopping by without notice (as I did) and his willingness to take time with me when I can tell he has a million things going on is both appreciated and an indication he takes great care of his customers.

I would be all over this upgrade if I didn't have an unlimited mileage drivetrain warranty for 8 years on my GT4 because of the ConRod engine swap fiasco last year. Jeopardizing that warranty is a tough pill to swallow. Maybe it's in my best interest they don't have a 718 4.5L on-hand when I stop by, as that would probably be the impetuous needed to push me over the edge!

colnagoG60

~ $30k - motor
~ $9k - re-gear (2-5)
~ $6 (exhaust bits), give or take
~ ? Diff

All prices can be confirmed/corrected at Rick's shop.

FAhmed

It would be interesting to drive/get a ride in a car with stock motor and 2-5 regear.

colnagoG60

I'm trying to get it done.

FAhmed

awesome...give me a ride! haha

nothingman

I'm hopeful DeMan will be able to incorporate the shorter PDK gearing from the GT4-RS into future builds (and hopefully it won't be cost prohibitive).

cooler2442

Wish Deman did a redline increase on the cars to 8500. After driving the 9k rpm GT3 motor its hard to want to stick with the GT4.

skeeter714

Rick DeMan

Drop yours off for the gear install then drive it home 2 days later.. Perfect comparison!

SLATETT

All - my '20 GT4 6MT (bought used last Nov w/450 miles and ~ w/1,025 miles now) has been at DeMan since mid-Dec and assembly will begin mid next week - 4.5L, 2-5 gears, LSD, LW clutch, OAP and catted headers .. will be reusing the OEM PSE ... more to come ..