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New Decade, New Motor - My 4.5l DeMan Motorsport Build
This past Friday my buddy ‘twentyseven’ and I made a quick trip down to DeMan Motorsport to check out the 4.5l builds. I’ve been considering taking the plunge and wanted to make the call on if I was going to do it vs. upgrade to a GT3T. And then if this was the right choice I’d have to decide what spec to build (given there are so many combinations available).
Before we touch on anything else let’s acknowledge the people. Rick, Meaghan, and their doggo were incredibly accommodating throughout our visit. We spent a few hours there and they opened up everything for us. Cars, doors, boxes, you name it. Never did we feel rushed or pitched. Everything was an open book and fun conversation. It gave me instant peace of mind for who I’d potentially be entrusting my beloved GT4 to. After we left, the biggest takeaway was the genuine desire to be a part of their family. A squad of knowledgeable folks with amazing built cars and a love of Porsches (plus all the other things we found out we had in common!)
Now I have to tell you guys - Rick’s facility is also out of control. It’s like a Costco with nothing but Porsche parts. There are stacks of shelves to the ceiling filled with rare parts and a shop floor loaded with race cars, heavily modified streetcars, dyno area, engine room, paint booth, secondary storage area for cars etc. The place is legit. Rick keeps things pretty low key on the forums and social media, so this was a real eye opener. It’s not a fly-by-night operation. It’s a heck of a secret, but someone eventually had to post up about it ☺
OK, the cars. Well they absolutely rip it up. It is not often when you think about a modification at this level where you get to sample several versions back to back after a deep dive into the parts that make them up. Rick has it all and has it down to a very serious science. Chart after chart after chart of the gearing options and effects of other options on the dyno plots. His knowledge of the builds and the potential options and outcomes is staggering. Based on what you’re using the car for, driving style, location, etc he can recommend the optimal 4.5l setup for your car. A lot of homework has been done to get this RIGHT.
Over the visit we tested out 3 combinations:
Yellow striped car - 4.5l motor kit, 2-5 gears shortened, headers, GT3 exhaust (titanium I believe), and the sound symposer retrofitted.
Red striped car - 4.5l motor kit, stock gears, headers, and GT3 exhaust (steel I think)
Yellow/black - 4.5l motor kit, 2-5 gears shortened, headers and OEM exhaust
What it really boiled down to after driving all three was no longer the debate to build the motor or not, everyone should do the motor, it's less than half the price of upgrading to a GT3T. Shortening up the gears are what everyone thinks solve the cars’ biggest hamstring, but its all about the motors actual power delivery. Smoothing out the power and torque bands and giving the car a true GT feel from the seat of the pants is a game-changer physically and mentally. The dyno charts overlaying a stock GT4 against a 4.5l prove it out.
Ironically gearing is up for debate. Depending on the use of the car I could see someone opting to leave things stock, just do 3-5, do 3-6, throw shortening 2 in the mix, or some combination. All of them felt fun in their own way because the motor shined the brightest.
While we were in the area we were also able to meet up and chat with 'ajw45'. He hooked us up by getting us into the Classic Car Club of Manhattan where we shared some drinks and Porsche talk. He’s got one of the earlier 4.0l builds and is considering the 4.5l upgrade. It’s always fun to finally meet a forum friend in person and feel the passion for the same nonsensical addictions.
And of course great to see 'og_amer' as well, in our 3rd city together since randomly meeting on our GT4 European delivery 3 years ago.
So where did this all end up? After a few days thinking it over and a quick call to Rick, transport showed up on NYE to take my car down to the shop and start the build. Rick and I will keep things updated over the next few weeks as the build unfolds.
My current spec for the build is as follows:
4.5l motor
2-5 gears shortened up (Guards gearing and mainshaft)
Headers (Rick has these custom developed)
Clutch/flywheel upgrade
Cobb Tuning port
Leaving the OEM muffler
New decade, new motor, new feel to the car. Giddy up!
Now that I’m nearly 400 miles into driving it today (I literally can’t stop taking it out ), let’s talk about it.
Overall
This thing absolutely f’ing rips. If you went from a stock GT4 and then into this you’d be hard pressed to believe that the two cars are related. What’s neat about it is that it’s not one single thing that blows you away, all of the bits and pieces of the build added up to create a package that works together flawlessly. Unfortunately for my wallet (or so I originally thought) the longer the car sat there the more pieces I added to the build pushing the cost up a bit, but I’m glad I did every one of them. Had I not I would have missed out on such a cohesive experience. The best way to talk about it this is to break those pieces down so here we go.
4.5L Motor + DeMan Motorsport Tune
The car feels like it just got thrown a high revving V8 into it. It’s insta-torque in every gear at every throttle application across the board. It really doesn’t take much throttle for the car to get up and boogie at a serious pace, and when you decide to punch the pedal to the floor you get real pushback into the seat. The most relatable feeling for me was being in a friends modified 996 GT2. It's got a bunch of that warp speed effect to it at certain times, almost like being shot out of a cannon. It's so good, I've had a s%*t eating grin all day about it.
It feels special, now you can feel, hear, and see just how much these things got hamstrung from the factory. It’s a GT car with a GT motor, finally.
Flat spots? What flat spots? Wait GT4's have flat spots?
Where did we land exactly power wise? 540hp/424tq at the crank and 488hp/388tq at the wheels. Hard to complain about that...and I may even be wrong since we had a handful of dyno sheets Rick's likely going to post up some thoughts and final numbers at some point.
Most people won't care, but for me this matters. To know nothing really changes from a normal maintenance routine perspective is awesome. Oil changes and filters stay the same according to factory settings and the same for filter replacements etc. Maybe I'm getting old, but that weirdly excites me.
Guards 2nd-5th Gearing by DeMan Motorsport
REALLY glad about two things here. The first is that I decided to do the gears in general. The second is that Rick convinced me to wait for the newly minted ratios he designed. About 3 months into the build I was getting a little ancy (which made no sense given it was March in the Northeast), but Rick convinced me to hang tight and that it would be worth it. Just another situation where he was right…..insanely right. When I first went to the shop I test drove the Guards 2-5 setup and it was sweet, clearly the winner in my eyes given what I would be using the car for the most. If there was a way to improve upon that then giddy up.
Rick's custom spec to align with the motor is perfection. He got the RPM drop in an ideal spot in the range in every gear like you’d have with a PDK…but in a manual. It’s absurd how good it is.
2nd gear being too long is a thing of very distant past. It feels good to row some gears again, reminds me of my 996 GT3 which I adored that gearing setup from a mph perspective. Cruising around town now, I found myself in 4th or even 5th where I’d normally cruise in 3rd. But man when you’re on the throttle it’s just BANG BANG BANG through the gears. It’s perfect. PDK perfect, but with a manual, who knew it was possible
Keeping 6th gear stock for highway cruising was worth it. The gas mileage for the 215 miles home from CT was as if the car had never been modified (except for when I would do 2nd-4th gear pulls and I was watching the fuel range drop by 10 miles each time ).
Stock PSE + DeMan Motorsport Headers (catless) Combo
I love it, there’s no way I’d want anything louder. Sound is great, volume is great, and most importantly ZERO drone anywhere. Highway cruising was perfect, around town perfect, and if you want to be subtle just hit the exhaust button.
Speaking of the exhaust button, it actually does something now. At stock setup I always estimated about a 20% reduction in noise, this is probably more like a 50-60% reduction with the motor and headers now installed. Burbles are drastically reduced and the noise is mostly motor. It’s really neat to toggle between the two. With the button pushed EVERYONE knows you’re coming, with it off only about 60% of the crowd hears you from ¼ mile away. Ok maybe half mile.
We programmed the burbles to be about 0.5s , it’s more than enough, arguably could go a touch shorter.
Clutch and Flywheel Upgrade
This was another one of my concerns from the get go, I liked the factory clutch since it was so well mated to the shift throw. Not too heavy, but also not too light. Happy to report that the upgraded setup Rick recommends with the build hadn't crossed my mind the entire day as not being a factory setup. And as for the flywheel, what's interesting is that often times if you do these one off they spin up so fast its almost out of character compared to the rest of the car, but here it slots in perfectly. Again, forgot I even had it all day today.
Guards LSD
Great addition, so happy I added this towards the end of the build, great value for money and given everything else I did seemed stupid not to do it. The car has a lot more mechanical grip now that you can feel at all speeds. It needs a little break-in though, but that’s fine, I’ll just go do some figure 8’s in a parking lot early tomorrow morning to finish that process off.
DSC Sport Module
As crazy as it sounds, some of the best money I’ve ever spent on the car. This little $1,300 part is SO GOOD. Car feels great over bumps at high speed and around town. It takes certain things like highway expansion joints being jarring to comfortable. A few times on the highway over some construction areas I caught myself doing the oh **** wince and cringe face (you know you know what I mean) only to find myself thinking wow that was a barely noticeable hit to the car. We left the settings as they come from the DSC guys.
The best way I’ve heard it phrased is that its like the movie Limitless for your shocks. They’ve now gone from using 25% of their brain to 85%. That’s hilariously accurate.
Suspension Tweaks
All we did was lower the factory suspension a bit and re-align it. 15mm drop in the rear and 5mm in the front. The car looks light years better and my god that alignment came out good. It’s as if the wheel gap is gone, but the car itself doesn’t look lower. I love it.
Working w/ Rick
Over the years in the car hobby and other places in my life I’ve dealt with a lot of folks on some pretty financially consequential projects and I consider this project one of them. Everyone is a good sales person and wants to sell you the world to get the cash in the door, so you end up with high expectations and often pretty big disappointments.
As it pertains to Rick and the shop, those high expectations were consistently delivered on. Nothing was hidden, nothing was a surprise, and every single piece of advice he gave during the build ended up spot on (I call him the GT4 whisperer). What made it great was it felt like Rick and I were a team trying to build the best car possible and making decisions together that related to the finished product being as good as it could be and not just taking a larger share of my wallet.
Communication was consistent (through 5 months mind you), enthusiastic, and fun. At this point after all this time I 100% consider Rick a friend. I had a lot of fun joking around with him and sorting through everything as we went. Also, as bizarre as it sounds it’s an amazing feeling to get an invoice on a big project and have it be down to the $1 what you were quoted. That says a lot.
The same can be said for timing, Rick estimated 2 months for the build which had the gearing option not arisen would have been the exact time frame for it. Not often these kind of things go as planned on that front, again another pleasant surprise.
If anyone is even on the fence about a 4.5L build or just needs some work done on their Porsche you’d be a bit nuts to not send it to Rick and the guys at DeMan Motorsports. Great place to visit, even greater place to spend some hard earned $’s.
Woohoo! That's so exciting, congrats! Few people get the chance to drive a built engine in a properly scary powerful GT4 and words don't really do it justice. The torque of the 4.5L makes the GT3 feel like an s2000
Rick has been sorting out my car since day 1, over 16k miles now on my 4L engine (26k miles total) running the same stroke as the 4.5L @ over 8k rpm and it's been perfect. Your car is in good hands, can't wait to see it when it's done! That thing is going to be a beast, we should organize a drive when you pick it up!
I'm glad you chose to do the gearing too. The engine is such a hammer it's everything, but the gearing makes it a complete package.... and you can spin the wheels in 3rd!
I'm def doing the 4.5L, it's just a matter of timing. I should at least get a job first..... maybe.... or maybe Rick will give us an off season discount on two, my car can be there tomorrow.....
Woohoo! That's so exciting, congrats! Few people get the chance to drive a built engine in a properly scary powerful GT4 and words don't really do it justice. The torque of the 4.5L makes the GT3 feel like an s2000
Rick has been sorting out my car since day 1, over 16k miles now on my 4L engine (26k miles total) running the same stroke as the 4.5L @ over 8k rpm and it's been perfect. Your car is in good hands, can't wait to see it when it's done! That thing is going to be a beast, we should organize a drive when you pick it up!
I'm glad you chose to do the gearing too. The engine is such a hammer it's everything, but the gearing makes it a complete package.... and you can spin the wheels in 3rd!
I'm def doing the 4.5L, it's just a matter of timing. I should at least get a job first..... maybe.... or maybe Rick will give us an off season discount on two, my car can be there tomorrow.....
Echoing BealeAss here! I had a great time going down to meet Rick and getting the tour. I once worked in a well-known Porsche shop years ago so it was really nice & reassuring to see an operation of this caliber behind the project.
Rick was also very generous in letting me have a go in the yellow-striped car too and I can say it absolutely delivers on all of the hyperbole we've all read about.
As a mere student of engine tuning through a friend who is an actual professional tuner/engine builder, I am familiar with what it takes to get a stock DME to play nice with all of the integrated systems and maintain factory drivability. This was really what stuck out for me the most because of how difficult and time-consuming it is. I told Rick that a 10 minute test drive worth of praise really doesn't do the effort justice because to get it THAT good surely takes a year+ worth of work at the very least. Then when you compound the fact that he has dialed it in for basically every configuration (various intakes, exhausts, etc) you really start to get an appreciation for the attention to detail and expertise that has gone into this program. Over the years i've seen so many hack tuners get peak numbers out of cars that create fanfare but they neglect the actual drivability. And nothing can ruin a car like stumbles, hiccups, and compromises that the less discerning just deem acceptable... and let's not even think about the ones who blow up motors and then feed you bs about why it's not their fault.
So I spent the majority of the drive in traffic and just sampling the cars' behavior below the curve and I really couldn't find any faults. It's easy to get in a car and get jaded by how fast it is at WOT -and this thing f**king rips- but that's not how you drive most of the time. Doing a few 30-80 pulls in different gears really highlight the midrange punch this thing has now. And the new ratios are so well judged. For reference I used to have a 981 Spyder and a 991.1 GT3RS so my curiosity was strong with this one. Part of me wondered if the motor would feel a little less eager and just more V8ish because you're spinning larger internals, but can say with certainty this thing zings like a GT motor should. It has that explosive spool of the 991 motor while still delivering turbo-like torque. And from the outside it sounds like a full blown cup car. I'm not a diehard Mezger purist but i've been lucky enough to drive a 997.2 Sharkwerks 4.1 car as well and this just feels like it takes that up a notch (which is really saying something). The stock powerband of the 9A1 in my Spyder and BealeAss' car just always annoyed me and felt like unnecessary punishment for this type of car and especially at it's original price point. Outright numbers aren't my priority but to be honest paying $100k always bugged me for such a crappy delivery of only 385hp. The engine in my E46 M3 was more fun despite being slower. And the higher price vs. marginal HP increase of the 982 doesn't make the argument any better either. I absolutely love PDK but there were days in the RS I simply missed driving a manual.. rear engined or not. So while this 'fix' isn't cheap, it turns a fun car into a serious car and I really can't imagine wanting a GT3 more than one of these. Porsche moved the ball down the field by finally giving us a 911 motor in a Cayman but DeMan carries the ball to the end zone for the touchdown. It's a group of passionate purists that you just can't help but want to be a part of. Meeting ajw45 for drinks after and making a new friend immediately was just further proof of this path being bigger than just the displacement of the engine itself.
Maybe the guys that can have bigger garages won't see the value in doubling down on a 981, but if you are limited by space/funds/wives/crotchgoblins or are just a more advanced driver wanting more from the platform then i'd say this is absolute deal if you look at it from a value proposition. It will stomp on a GT3 and dare I say is overkill?
But then again my dad always told me: "too much power is just enough."
01-01-2020, 05:37 PM
New Decade, New Motor - My 4.5l DeMan Motorsport Build
), let’s talk about it.
Rick's likely going to post up some thoughts and final numbers at some point.
