Alright folks….UPDATE TIME! So, getting this project across the finish line took a little longer than expected, and had a few ups and downs, but the car is now home and I’m ready to share my impressions. But first, the final backstory (sorry)!



After the engine was re-installed John put some easy break in miles on it for a few weeks to ensure everything was mechanically sound and properly bedded in. He then did the break-in oil change, at which point the tuning process began using the EVOMS base file they had already developed for the few 996 gt3’s that sharkwerks had already done. For some reason, however, the evoms file kept crashing the ECU (something about “check sums”). But eventually they got the base file in, ran it on the dyno, sent the files out for some tuning tweaks, ran it on the dyno again, and the process continued to make sure everything was perfect. Per John the car felt great when he did the last road test before the “final” tune from EVOMS so when the last file came in he loaded it up, he parked the car, and told me it was ready for pickup. During one road test he noted an engine compartment fan error message on the dash, but it went away so he didn’t think anything of it.

After getting John’s message last Friday I excitedly dropped everything at work and went to go pick up the car. Of course, I was heading out of town with the family for the long weekend in a few hours, so my plan to put hundreds of miles on it in the first two days of getting it back evaporated, but I didn’t care as I was just so happy to get the car back and sample the new driving experience. However, I had to keep things reasonable for a while longer as John recommended a few hundred more “less than redline” and varied rpm driving before really romping on it, and plus it was 112 degrees with monsoon-level humidity, so I figured I’d better take it a bit easy.

I could literally feel my heart rate pick up in my neck (I should get that checked out) as I approached my baby for the first time in just about 6 months. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. However, my excitement was also mixed with a healthy does of nervous anxiety. “Was it going to be what I expected”? “Was I going to be happy with the new driving experience?” “Will the character of the motor which I love so much be drastically different?” “Is it going to blow up lol?” There was only one way to find out, so I nervously turned the key for the first time and immediately I could tell things definitely “felt” different. There was a new pronounced bark to the engine, and the idle was definitely more “lopey” (likely due to the re-worked, more aggressive cams). As I pulled out to the adjoining busy street I could tell that there was clearly more low-down torque. Not big power Porsche turbo torque, but definitely more than any mezger gt3 I had driven. So far so good! Unfortunately I was awash in pre-holiday weekend “Friday traffic, so there was not much room to open her up as I slowly made my way to the nearest freeway on-ramp. About this time I also got an engine compartment fan error on the cluster, but I had that once before in a prior gt3 and it was just a fuse, so I pulled away making sure to monitor engine temps as I drove. About 10 excruciating stop-and-go minutes later in 112 degree temps, I finally made it to the on-ramp, which mercifully featured a little bit of “headroom” in front of me, so I decided to take her up to about 6k rpm “just to taste” the new-found (hopefully) power.

As I got on the throttle I felt a rush of excitement with the new-found torque, but as the revs climbed, something very unexpected also else entered the picture: a bit of disappointment. The car did not feel all that “eager” above 5k rpm, the very area in the rpm range where these cars always shined. It didn’t feel “bad” per se, just not great, and definitely not what I was expecting. So I did it again, and same feeling doused my excitement like the proverbial wet blanket. It just felt “lazy,” lazier in fact than what I recalled from the stock, 75k mile engine I had gotten used to and was so fond of. It felt like the car never came “on cam,” like what one experiences in an e36 m3 with a bad vanos or a 996 carrera with a malfunctioning variocam. I just couldn't shake the feeling that it had lackluster top end pull. Yet low end grunt was an obvious and not-subtle improvement, and there were no bad noises, high temps, or other outward indications of an issue (other than the lack of high rpm power and the stupid blower failure warning flashing back at me).

By this point my mind started to race. “Is the engine still “tight” from the rebuild? “Is it just too hot out right now? “Is timing getting pulled for some reason?” “Is the throttle body not opening up all the way or is there a problem with the intake resonance flap?” “Could it possibly be that the 1/4 tank of gas in the tank is comprised of the remnants of the full tank I left in the car six months ago?” “Was I just expecting too much, like the movie that gets played up by your friends but then feels like a disappointment when you finally see it?” “Had I just forgotten what the “old” car felt like and gotten too used to driving around with the 520hp 8500 redline lump in the 430 scud?” And most distressing was the following question: “Is it possible this is what it is supposed to feel like and I just wasted a crap ton of money on a very mediocre “upgrade” that at the same time changed the character of the engine for the worse?” So I got it home and decided that although I didn’t want to be “that guy” that complains, I figured I’d better call John and tell him what I was feeling. His response was both re-assuring but at the same time concerning. He noted that although he didn’t road test it after the final tune was loaded, earlier road tests did not indicate low power at all, and that what I was describing was definitely not what he felt. Crud. Maybe my expectations were simply too high. So we decided to get the car back to him on Wednesday after I was back in town so he could take a look. In the meantime, that pesky engine compartment fan seemed to be blowing non-stop, almost like the sensor was indicating that the engine was still too hot, even though it clearly wasn't. He said he would look at that issue too.

So when I got back into town late on Monday night, and decided to give it another test drive after obsessively ruminating on everything for the entire Labor Day weekend (and ruining my mini-vacation in the process), I was met with another unwelcome surprise. A completely dead battery. As in, so dead I couldn’t even open the frunk. So I replaced it with a good “used” battery I had on hand and took it for a late night drive, only to have the compartment fan kick on within 30 seconds followed with the same fan error message, and of course lackluster upper end kick. I got back home and decided I shouldn’t drive the car any more until John looked at it, and after parking it noticed the blower stayed on for another 40 minutes before shutting off. Definitely not normal operation for my car. Of course, the next day my “new” battery was also dead, so I surmised that the fan was likely running down the battery after engine shut down. Crap.

Then on Wednesday, before I brought it back to John, I got a great bit of news. John was troubled by my call and the divergence of our impressions of the car’s performance, so he started doing some checking and confirmed that instead of sending the “final” tune for my car, EVOMS had mistakenly sent back the STOCK 3.6l tune, which is what John had uploaded before I picked up the car. Soooo, I was driving around with increased displacement and hotter cams on a stock tune, which explained why I didn’t feel the car was performing all that great. Moreover, John thought there was a chance that the fan issue was a temperature sensor problem and that the engine could be pulling a bit of timing to keep things safe. So we ordered a new relay and sensor, I drove the car gingerly to the shop, and watched as they uploaded the correct file, swapped the new sensor and ensured all the wiring was good (not easy to do with the engine in), and listened eagerly as John drove away with his computer logging data in the passenger seat to road test the new tune and sorted temperature sensor. As I sat there in the lobby hoping and praying that everything would be well when he returned, I heard John pull up to the front door of the shop and I walked outside to greet him just as he looked at me, and through a sly grin and a nod, said nothing more than “get in.” So I did, and with his computer in my lap, I proceeded to nearly soil myself at the first hard, up-to-redline pull.

The car was literally TRANSFORMED. It bore no resemblance to the “meh” gt3 I took home just a few day earlier. It was an absolute monster up top, and the low down torque was better too. John scared the crap out of me as he took it up to redline in 2nd and 3rd. The car flat out ripped. We were both quiet until John said “is that better”? I could hardly speak, but managed to get out a meager “yeah, very, very, much so” which prompted chuckles from both of us! John felt bad about the mix up but we were both happy that the car was now performing like it should, and I couldn’t wait to get it home and give it a spin after temps dipped down below 100 degrees! John also indicated we should get the car back for a final dyno run after the weather cools off a bit, as he suspected the 440 brake hp he got on the dyno before the “final but not final” tune was loaded was a bit low and that it would likely show even more power now that everything was “final” and in good working order.

I’ve now put another 100 miles on it since it got sorted, and I could not be happier. It is significantly quicker than it was before, with much more useable torque. Cruising on the freeway in sixth gear no longer requires a downshift to pass with authority. Better yet, the character of the engine, the most endearing feature of these cars, has only been enhanced, with no discernible drawbacks whatsoever aside from possibly worse gas mileage and more tickets! It is now, somehow, even more eager to rev, and that absolute kick in the shorts above 5k rpm to redline is now even more violent and exciting. And I’ve yet to drive it in less than 100 degree weather, and have not even kissed the redline! Per John, I would also be well-advised to ditch the stock 400 cell cats. Apparently the stock 997 cat/header combo is well designed, but 400 cell is still 400 cell and there is at least 10-15hp in a good set of high flow headers, so that will be on the list after my wife forgets about how much all of this has cost! It is also clear that the motor has now greatly exceeded the capabilities of my “mostly stock” 996 suspension/chassis, and that a more sophisticated coil-over set up is in order as the car now demands MUCH more attention when accelerating flat out through the gears. At full song its actually a bit sketchy (even with my new guards diff), and I never once had that impression with the stock 3.6.

I try to be objective with this kind of stuff and be on guard for placebo effect/confirmation bias and the like, but man, it sure feels to me that this is the best gt3 I have ever driven. It honestly feels significantly quicker than the 3.8 997.2 rs cars I have sampled, and even faster than the two built 997 4.0’s I’ve driven (which may be partly due to the total package on my car, which includes a lwfw, shorter 3.89 ring and pinion, and weight reduction bringing it down to 3,017lbs). But at the end of the day, I don’t really care about how much power it is making or if it is faster than such and such other car, as the one thing I care about—the feel of the car and how it makes me feel—is an absolute home run.

So with all that said, here is an open invitation to any of my rennlist friends: If you are ever in town and want to feel this thing for yourself, shoot me a pm and I’ll be happy to let you give it a go behind the wheel…this thing is too much fun not to share! (see below for gratuitous bad pick of the car in the parking garage at work today, as well as one from last night showing 77,777 on the odo (so I had to go 77mph as well). Give me some time and I’ll post dyno sheets in the next couple months as well!

Happy motoring!