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Hi all. I made my way over to Rick's shop today with my brother in law, ostensibly for a quick diagnostic on some sound I've been hearing in my 981 GT4, which may or may not be only in my head and/or matter at all. In the back of my mind I knew that whatever the ailment was, it could easily be fixed by a simple rebuild into a 4.5 liter...
I've known about Rick since before i took delivery of my GT4 in 2016 and he helped me initially with a half cage, and some brake and suspension setup items. At that time he was early on in the 4.0L build, and amazingly enthusiastic about what he was doing. Everything everyone has said about Rick and the way he interacts with his enthusiast customers is spot on. He's such a great guy and legitimately passionate. Rick was nice enough to take me and a few other GT4 owners to Monticello for a day of lapping back in 2016 (photos below). Anyway, backstory here just to provide another testimonial to who Rick is.
But to the meat of it. Rick gave us the full tour of the motor build. Bored out block with Nikasil lining, custom spec'd everything, GT3 intake, custom headers (beautiful BTW), new transmission shafts, etc. Then we walked over to the dyno and he artfully explained how he now shames a GT3RS with his lowly GT4 engine. You've all seen the outputs previously. So outside we went to take a spin in the yellow-striped GT4.5. Firstly, the sound is impressive (video link at the bottom). It just sounds like so much more motor under there. He started up a customer car with catless headers first and that thing RIPPED. Before it sank back into the calmer post-warmup idle, it was wild sounding and some throttle blips were enough to give you goosebumps. Whoever is getting that one is in for a treat. Rick's car has his new catted headers and a GT3RS muffler, so it sounded different. Less spitting and anger but still tons of bass and great engine sound coming through. I love the different options.
The drive: As with many folks here, my GT4 is not the fastest car i've driven, but i'm telling you that this motor puts the car as close to that street-car pinnacle as makes any difference for me. Along with the revised gearing, it transforms the car, but it also doesn't. Forgive me as i just got home an hour ago and still processing. What i mean is that the car is now so much more about the engine with so much more power throughout the rev range. There is finally that need to row the shifter at street speeds. Third gear, fourth gear? My car won't beat a Camry pulling from 45mph in 4th. I was only a passenger, but Rick made sure I could feel the throttle response. It was there. Seemingly everywhere. And the outright shove that the new setup generates is amazing. I drove to the shop with my good friend in his new Ferrari. I'd have no issue going toe to toe in a drag race against him with the 4.5L. I'm usually the one making friends laugh when they go for a drive with me, but I had some giggle moments with Rick. The car is a beast. But what made me feel great was that it was still a GT4. The car isn't going to handle differently, and the balance and control of the car won't be wildly different, you'll just be able to control the car with the throttle so much more easily, and go a ton faster when space allows. On the street i can often put the pedal to the floor while carving up a road, and on the track, quite frequently. The chassis can clearly handle more than the engine delivers. 4.5L to the rescue.
If I have more lucid thoughts on this matter I'll follow up, but i guess the upshot here is that this thing is fantastic and sure makes a very strong value proposition. I'm sure my wife will understand...
Which one is mine again...? Three of us meeting early in the morning ahead of a day at Monticello.
Yes, thanks for the summary, and it's most appreciated. I look forward to additional details and thoughts when you have processed things more fully and you have more wheel time. I'm living vicariously through you 4.5 folks, ya know...
Hi all. I made my way over to Rick's shop today with my brother in law, ostensibly for a quick diagnostic on some sound I've been hearing in my 981 GT4, which may or may not be only in my head and/or matter at all. In the back of my mind I knew that whatever the ailment was, it could easily be fixed by a simple rebuild into a 4.5 liter...
I've known about Rick since before i took delivery of my GT4 in 2016 and he helped me initially with a half cage, and some brake and suspension setup items. At that time he was early on in the 4.0L build, and amazingly enthusiastic about what he was doing. Everything everyone has said about Rick and the way he interacts with his enthusiast customers is spot on. He's such a great guy and legitimately passionate. Rick was nice enough to take me and a few other GT4 owners to Monticello for a day of lapping back in 2016 (photos below). Anyway, backstory here just to provide another testimonial to who Rick is.
But to the meat of it. Rick gave us the full tour of the motor build. Bored out block with Nikasil lining, custom spec'd everything, GT3 intake, custom headers (beautiful BTW), new transmission shafts, etc. Then we walked over to the dyno and he artfully explained how he now shames a GT3RS with his lowly GT4 engine. You've all seen the outputs previously. So outside we went to take a spin in the yellow-striped GT4.5. Firstly, the sound is impressive (video link at the bottom). It just sounds like so much more motor under there. He started up a customer car with catless headers first and that thing RIPPED. Before it sank back into the calmer post-warmup idle, it was wild sounding and some throttle blips were enough to give you goosebumps. Whoever is getting that one is in for a treat. Rick's car has his new catted headers and a GT3RS muffler, so it sounded different. Less spitting and anger but still tons of bass and great engine sound coming through. I love the different options.
The drive: As with many folks here, my GT4 is not the fastest car i've driven, but i'm telling you that this motor puts the car as close to that street-car pinnacle as makes any difference for me. Along with the revised gearing, it transforms the car, but it also doesn't. Forgive me as i just got home an hour ago and still processing. What i mean is that the car is now so much more about the engine with so much more power throughout the rev range. There is finally that need to row the shifter at street speeds. Third gear, fourth gear? My car won't beat a Camry pulling from 45mph in 4th. I was only a passenger, but Rick made sure I could feel the throttle response. It was there. Seemingly everywhere. And the outright shove that the new setup generates is amazing. I drove to the shop with my good friend in his new Ferrari. I'd have no issue going toe to toe in a drag race against him with the 4.5L. I'm usually the one making friends laugh when they go for a drive with me, but I had some giggle moments with Rick. The car is a beast. But what made me feel great was that it was still a GT4. The car isn't going to handle differently, and the balance and control of the car won't be wildly different, you'll just be able to control the car with the throttle so much more easily, and go a ton faster when space allows. On the street i can often put the pedal to the floor while carving up a road, and on the track, quite frequently. The chassis can clearly handle more than the engine delivers. 4.5L to the rescue.
If I have more lucid thoughts on this matter I'll follow up, but i guess the upshot here is that this thing is fantastic and sure makes a very strong value proposition. I'm sure my wife will understand...
Which one is mine again...? Three of us meeting early in the morning ahead of a day at Monticello.
Well I can say with certainty that it’s not the one in the middle cause that’s my car! I was there that day too when Rick graciously hosted us at Monticello. It was my first time on a road course... in the rain... in October when it was 50deg... on Cup 2’s! What could be better. Rick took me for a spin in my car to show me the circuit... chatting away, wipers flying doing 140 down the long straight! Now I’m hooked!
Back to 4.5’s. I’m hoping my wife will understand too when I attempt to explain it’s more cost effective than a new car!
Thanks for the walk down memory lane... good times
Hi all. I made my way over to Rick's shop today with my brother in law, ostensibly for a quick diagnostic on some sound I've been hearing in my 981 GT4, which may or may not be only in my head and/or matter at all. In the back of my mind I knew that whatever the ailment was, it could easily be fixed by a simple rebuild into a 4.5 liter...
Well we all know how this ends up . A few of us were there the day before playing around with some exhaust/header combo's so I hear ya on the different sound choices and how they all rock
Ive seen the Gt4 4.5 smites a Gt3 RS video! Any Dragy thru the gears 60-130 times available yet. Awesome that this conversion is getting so much traction .
It's amazing how little hard data there is on the 4.5L builds. I have not seen a single independent before and after dyno result and the lack of Vbox (or similar) performance comparisons is really strange since most people have access to that level of tech these days if doing +$30k mods. When I was doing a lot of engine mods I posted on a thread with detailed data on each step forward (or backward). Come on guys, be fair and share some independent data.
Too busy driving 😉 (no I'm kidding—it's the buttcrack of winter in the northeast right now and it's been dumping snow for the past 24 hours…)
Originally Posted by jayely1
Also, how is the traction wit this much power?? I figured you'd just spin through 1st gear.
If spinning the rears is what you're after, it can definitely do that. Power is best managed by rolling on the throttle through the lower RPMs, then really getting on it once things are past 4000; 5000+ RPM is where these engines do the best work.
Originally Posted by jayely1
Also, i've only seen a couple video of the exhaust once done. 1 sounds, does anyone have any sound clips??
01-14-2021, 05:20 PM
. A few of us were there the day before playing around with some exhaust/header combo's so I hear ya on the different sound choices and how they all rock 
