10 Porsche Tuner Shops and Why You Should Care
1. Singer Vehicle Design
Singer Vehicle Design began restoring Porsches back in 2009, specializing in air-cooled models from 1989 to 1994 to act as their canvas. Every car that comes through the Southern California facility takes around eight months from start to finish before it's ready to hit the streets reborn. Singer accepts 964s in all conditions with the production manager proudly declaring, "the rougher the better."
Aside from all the great performance modifications that get added to the car, really neat museum-quality pieces are added in nickel-plated trim that makes your model look as special as it drives. Praises are sung over and over for the cars that Singer produces, including this great segment that comes courtesy of Top Gear.
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2. RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF
RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF or RWB, as people more commonly refer to the shop, comes all the way from Japan. They take elements of Japan plus Euro tuning and putting them into a really unique widebody chassis. This body style has really blown up and can be seen on so many different cars over the last year and a half. Nakai-san hand builds each car once the customer has the plan of what they want and have received their kit parts. That means that WHEREVER you are in the world, Nakai-san goes to you in order to build your car.
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3. Gemballa GmbH
Gemballa comes from Germany, and while the company has modified other cars, their bread and butter is tuning Porsches. This company also takes things a step further than just performance modifications by giving the exterior of the vehicles a makeover as well with body kits and alternative parts. Some models had used cameras in lieu of mirrors way before anyone had dared to put them on a production car. The cars they are currently working on range from the Avalanche (997), to the Mirage GT (Carrera GT), to the Gemballa GT (991).
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4. Sharkwerks
If you have a manual transmission GT3 car, California-based Sharkwerks is the place for you to go visit. Since 2005, they have been servicing the Porsche community to deliver performance for water-cooled Porsches. The shop enjoys that they have the distinction of being one of the few in the U.S. that can open, rebuild, and strengthen the GT3 engine. Here is a video from the time they stopped by Jay Leno's garage with a 997 for Jay to take for a drive.
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5. TechArt
In 1987, Thomas Behringer wanted to build cars that would blend art and cutting edge tech features to make the ultimate sports car. Behringer sums the company up with five words: Quality, Durability, Premium, Passion, and Lifestyle. With more than 70 on staff, they interact with customers and stay up on new car development in order to push the cars further and further and make something special. Unfortunately, for the time being, there is no word on what kind of performance modifications they will do with respect to alternative fuel vehicles such as electric and hydrogen. TechArt has locations in Germany and Newport Beach to service Porsche Enthusiasts.
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6. RUF GmbH
RUF began life in 1939 Germany as a service garage that changed into a full-service gas station, and then in 1974 focused on Porsche modifications. The first completed model to be produced was a tuned 1977 930 with a non-turbo 911 SCR a year later. Since then, RUF has put out model after model that were powerful and exceptional, bringing praises from the automotive world and owners alike. In 2008 RUF produced an all-electric sports car that had a range from 250 kilometers to 320 kilometers from a 96-cell lithium-ion battery pack.
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7. Edo Competition
Edo, the founder, started the company in Germany after learning the trade of dealing with high-performance cars at Ferrari and various different racing teams. In 2001, Edo set about building a 996 GT3-R using a 99th cup Carrera as a basis, and thus creating individual customer's cars was born. Edo employs a team of specialists and engineers to create performance-enhanced vehicles with the best dynamic components, complete with interior upgrades to make your Porsche stand out whether you are inside or outside of it.
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8. Magnus Walker
The life of Magnus Walker is a really interesting story that you should check out if you have the time. After making his fortune on personalizing and crafting clothing, he took that keen eye of modification and combined it with his other passion: Porsches. He then found himself restoring and modifying 911s to suit the market of well-heeled hot rod racers while giving cars a personal touch such as sewing plaid seat covers. For some models, he'd strip them down and then rebuild them; Others he'd rework in a performance focused direction. He and his shop can be found in sun-soaked Los Angeles, where he tells everyone his signature phrase: Get Out and Drive!
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9. Hamann-Motorsports
Started by racing driver Richard Hamann back in 1986, this company looks to high performance in a refined manner. Providing unique body modifications along with performance to boot, Hamann relishes in punching vehicles up to stand out from the crowd and actively 'wow' those on the street seeing the car as well as the passengers inside. You can bring in your "vanilla" Porsche and be outfitted with everything you'll need as the facility located in Philadelphia is a one-stop location, outfitting vehicles from wheels to roof. Hamann modifies various luxury cars as well, but they hold the Porsche in special regard.
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10. AWE
If you're looking for no-frills performance modifications for your Porsche, then AWE is one of the manufacturers you want to go see. Suspension, turbos, software maps, and other go-fast bits can be found here and integrated in a way to push your Porsche further than you could ever want. Started back in 1991 in Pennsylvania, AWE has been about performance and performance only with a team of engineers, researchers, and a state-of-the-art facility. In fact, you can take a tour of the place right here.
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