TPC Racing

We’ve been increasingly receiving more demands from 987.2 owners who wish to experience 500hp+ supercar-level performance from their mid-engine platform. In response to such demands, we decided to develop an engine program using the best available materials and methods to withstand these increased levels of boost.

The uncased 987 stock "9A1" engine prepped for the rebuild


To begin our ultimate 9A1/987.2 engine rebuild, we recoat the cylinder walls with a Nikasil-coated liner, used in the Metzger GT3/GT3 RS/GT3 Cup cars all the way up to Formula 1. The Nikasil lining helps reduce friction and eventual wear of the cylinder walls. This is particularly beneficial when introducing aggressive boost levels to this mid-engine vehicle.



The next phase of our engine rebuild is to address piston connecting rods. Here, we upgrade to the OEM 997 Turbo rods.



Finally, we address the pistons themselves by upgrading to premium forged pistons. Forged pistons are capable of withstanding more heat, higher rpms, higher boost, and higher temperatures.



When building engines, it's important to understand that the smallest details can have the largest impact with regards to engine performance. That is why we use nitrided ductile iron rings to increase wear resistance, durability, and engine longevity in performance and racing applications. Each ring is meticulously file fit by hand by TPC owner and engineer, Michael Levitas, who has been building engines for over 30 years.



In our constant quest to provide superior performance products, TPC Racing is offering this 9A1/987.2 engine rebuild as a kit. When fitting our turbo kits on stock 987.2 engines, we limit to the boost to 5psi for reliability purposes. However, with this engine build, we are able to provide 500hp+ and over 10psi to your mid-engine vehicle, creating the ultimate driving experience!

arena-RTR

Awesome post. Doesn't Porsche use Nikasil on all the current motors though?

TPC Racing

Since 2000 Porsche only uses Nikasil on Metzger/GT1-type engines. The M96/M97 engine types used a Lokasil lining. The 9A1-type engine in the 987.2 is produced using an Alusil lining. Out of the three materials, Nikasil has been found to be the most durable in racing and extreme performance applications. Nikasil is only in use today on the factory race cars.

arena-RTR

Excellent info- thank you.

The stuff is that expensive?

GTgears

What kind of compression ratio is this running?

TPC Racing

To meet the demands of the added boost to this particular engine, we've dropped the compression ratio to 10:1, mirroring the 9.8:1 compression ratio of the same-year 997 turbo.

TPC Racing

The engine rebuild is complete! Just about ready to put it back in the Cayman!



In the meantime, here are some product photos of the parts used for the engine rebuild:

Slim987

I presume this is the 3.4L and not the 2.9L?

TPC Racing

This rebuild kit is actually available for all 9A1 engines, including the 2.9L.

fhp911

What about the cats? I've heard that they have a hard time standing up to the excess heat of track use.

And speaking of heat, does the car need additional water or oil cooling?

TPC Racing

It has been our experience that the cats hold up for street and moderate track use. For severe track use race headers should be considered.

No additional cooling is necessary for street, but any improvements to the cooling system is welcomed even if its not required especially for track.

Zeus993

Very very cool post. Tku. This major mod can give us BHP beyond the new Spyder. Nice!

Question: How many have you built, how long in use etc... Any issues come up?

Tx!

TPC Racing

We are building the 3rd 9A1 engine with Nikasil plating since the beginning of June. The only issue we found was during the development the 9A1 type low-tension piston rings didn't seat well with Nikasil plating. Since then we have custom piston rings made from nitride ductile iron with ring tension consistent with factory GT Metzger engines. Beside the upgraded items we are using factory everything else including factory spec clearances so we don't expect any issues.

TPC Racing