PROJECT CUSTOMS 820BHP 997 TURBO TIPTRONIC ACHIEVES 10.2-SEC QUARTER-MILE AT TEN OF THE BEST

Craig Cullingworth, owner of Leeds-based premium vehicle bodywork repair and restoration outfit, Project Customs, recently attended 2022’s Ten of the Best (TOTB) event to give his newly upgraded first-generation 997 Turbo a straight-line shakedown. Held at the former RAF base at Elvington in West Yorkshire, this year’s TOTB offered a whopping ten grand in prize money, attracting some of the hottest topspeed builds in Europe, each car’s owner hoping to conquer one of the various competitions TOTB hosted. Cullingworth set his sights on the quarter-mile sprint.

His 997 has recently undergone extensive surgery with the help of Stockportbased engine management and ECU recalibration service provider, Unicorn Motor Developments. Additionally, essential custom fabrication work was provided courtesy of Chris Minshull at CM Tuning in Leeds. The intention was to afford the car the opportunity to lay down seriously capable times in the quarter-mile. As such, the Tiptronic-equipped 911 now features dual Srm/borgwarner EFR 7163 turbochargers, billet intercoolers, 1,000cc high-flow fuel injectors and a raft of breathing upgrades, all tied together with bespoke ECU and TCU software developed by Ryszard ‘Rick’ Majchrzakowski, owner of Unicorn Motor Developments. Just ahead of the event, output figures on the rolling road made themselves known at a cool 820bhp and 738lb-ft of torque.

With countless flawless runs over TOTB’S two days, Cullingworth’s best official result was a time of 10.26 seconds at 140mph — a fine figure in itself, but one made all the more remarkable by the fact that, according to the Porsche’s on-board Dragy timing system (using highspeed GPS satellite connectivity to accurately measure a vehicle’s performance within 1/100th of a second, automatically charting slope on all resulting timeslips), there was a near three tenths of a second discrepancy in the venue’s timing gear, meaning the actual result could well have fallen into the nine-second category. Still boasting a full leather interior and road tyres, with only a handful of subtle exterior tweaks giving the game away, perhaps the most impressive part of the story is how Cullingworth was able to arrive and leave the venue in the same effortless comfort and style you’d expect from a standard 997 Turbo. The car looks the part, too, but then we’d expect nothing less from a company with Mclaren paint and structural approval to its name, as well as endorsements as a dealer for ABT Sportsline, Moshammer, AC Schnitzer, CT Carbon, Riviera and Carbon Factory.

Needless to say, these results are a great starting point for Cullingworth to continue fettling. In fact, in partnership with Unicorn Motor Developments, he’s already planning a return to the runway for on-the-ground tuning in a bid to officially break into the nine-second margin. We’ll keep you posted on his progress.

ON-THE-GROUND TUNING IN A BID TO OFFICIALLY BREAK INTO THE NINE-SECOND MARGIN