V

I remember reading somewhere that Andial, eventhough they are still in business, is not what it used to be. Firms are made out of people and the people within the firms will change over time. There are some highly recognized tuners in North America and each tuner have their own speciality areas ofcourse. Now to my question: Which is the "best" independant Porsche tuner specializing in turbo engines in North America?

Some of the ones I think would be candidates are:

Andial (Perhaps not anymore?)
S-CAR-GO Racing (Could not find a homepage?)
Promotive (Protosport in NJ?)
...?

If you would hand your 964 turbo to a tuner in NA, who would you trust to do the work?

Secondly, do engines reworked (tuned) by one of these tuners command a premuim over a stock engine? One example of engines that do are the RUF engines but I don't know if any of the North American tuners qualifies to the same extent when it comes to resale value?

Appreciate your input.

Flachbau

All of the ALMS Porsche teams are tuners ... I would start there ... like GMG and TRG. They are all the best tuners in NA period.

Metal Guru

Check out Turbokraft in Az www.turbokraft.com (no affiliation). Lots of experience tuning 930s and 965s.
It's hard to say if these cars command a premium when they come up for sale since there are so few of them and they seem to change hands by word of mouth.

Check out this thread over on Pelicanparts: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-9...d-odyssey.html

cobalt

I use Protosport in NJ, Can't say if they are the best in the country but they are the best in the area and know their stuff.

Y65MPH

I would say Protomotive is the best tuner in the country. All of the top builds have Todd Knightons (owner of Protomotive) hands involved. He is one of the few individuals capable of writing Motronic code. Most tuners out there may build the hardware side of the engine but the software side is usually Protomotive. There is also EVOMS but they are more of a water cooled shop. Best know for their bolt on "GT" kits.

S-Car-Go and Protosport are Protomotive dealers. Both shops are excellent and responsible for turning out some of the most powerful Porsches out there. My 964T engine was built by Protosport and software done by Protomotive. S-Car-Go is in Northern California, Protomotive is in NJ and Protomotive is in Arkansas. I think Protosport builds the finest engine out of all of them.

If Ruf is your choice, you will need to crate the engine up and send it to Germany. They will build a strong engine for you with a Ruf pedigree but grab your ankles when it comes to pricing.

Either way, if you are going to build an engine from the case up be prepared for a 30K bill.

Also, dont waste your money on changing turbos on the CIS system. The gains are marginal. Throw in a 1 bar spring and lose the CAT and call it a day. Maxing out a CIS system is asking for trouble and frankly you are just wasting money. Build a proper EFI engine capable of big HP that is super reliable. The 3.3/3.6 block can take a huge amount of power. It is very strong.

How about SpezialMotorer Engine Development in Sweden. I hear Micke Svens build some serious engines. Like 1000 HP 3.3 liter flat fans for street use.

Craig

V

Protosport get a lot of good feedback that's for sure. Todd Knighton seems to really know his stuff. What I like also is that they offer complete kits for our cars (whether it be 993 or 964) and they make their own exhaust system and they do their own ECU programing to match the hardware.

It's not so much if RUF is my choice. I already have a RUF turboR (conversion done last spring) and I have good connections with RUF. It's more of a hypothetical question (also X-post on the 993TT board) out of curiosity. RUF has concentrated their resources on the newer models (naturally). For the 964 their most appealing package is the RCT EVO setup. It's around 420hp and still very driveable. But I imagine it's still based on "older technology" since the packge is more or less unchanged now for many years.

It also seems that Andial has a great reputation in the US and they have truly had some amazing achievements over the years. As far as I know, Andial doesn't tune engines anymore unless you are lucky enough to know them personally and have very good connections with them..?

I did some searching in the archives and it looks like Y65MPH has pretty much "been there and done that" when it comes to 964 turbo tuning. I also understand that the CIS stock system has it's limits. EFI is certainly compelling but you need to know what you are getting into.

Micke Svens is a great guy with which I spoke to in great depth prior to my decision to go with RUF. He is a great guy and really knows his way around the older single turbo engines (930 etc.). He can make a monster engine for sure.

tjangi

Don't forget DeMan Motorsport. I had the pleasure of dealing first hand with both Protosport and Rick DeMan. Don't have the facts on whether they are the best in the country, but for sure in the NJ/NY/CT area.

ChristianR

Pat Williams is my choice. Bob Holcombe knows his stuff as well