Nick Jeffery Harold Gan

Surrey, UK @npjeffery @npjeffery

Regular readers will know my 997.1 GT3 led a pampered life in storage for much of the two years prior to my ownership. It was stored in a ‘carcoon’ and left on trickle charge, with regular exercise up and down a long driveway to the storage yard’s premises. I have no record of when the car’s battery was last changed or how old it is. Having covered c.1,500 miles since I purchased the car in mid November 2019, I have not experienced any issues starting the car, the longest gap being three weeks without use, so I have not felt the need to use the Banner trickle charger that came with the car. That is until the second week of ‘lockdown’ when I went to start the car only to hear a starter motor sounding like a machine gun from the rear of the vehicle and the engine failing to turn over…

Initial investigation revealed a replacement RAC Exide battery but no indication of age. It was difficult to read the LED to see whether the battery was truly shot, so I placed the car on trickle charge for two days and the charger recorded the battery being fully charged and in maintenance mode. So, I tried again, but still the car would not turn over. Clearly, the battery was dead.

While most battery suppliers were open for online click & collect business, most were only supplying to key workers and were not retailing items to the general public. In fact, only Halfords were open for the latter. So, I opted for a Yuasa Silver 5000 HSB096 with a five-year guarantee, which is apparently good for 50,000 starts. With a 10% discount courtesy of my English Heritage Membership, it came in at a very reasonable £109.80.

The Yuasa battery is slightly smaller in length and taller than the RAC Exide it replaced (which is the same size as the Bosch S4010). But I am pleased to report it fits perfectly by adjusting the retaining bracket using a 13mm socket into the next available slot, by moving the battery towards the driver’s side of a RHD car. It is important to remember to remove the negative lead from the battery terminal first then remove the positive lead from the battery (both using a 10mm socket). You then replace the leads in reverse order, so positive first then negative. It is also worth noting there are no codes to reset on a 997-generation car. Once the battery is secured in place and the engine fires for the first time, you have warnings on the central dashboard highlighting both traction control and PASM ‘failure’, but these quickly reset themselves once you drive off in the car.

Perth and Sydney, Australia @drivenbytaste

Continuing my catch-up with Peter Fitzgerald, one of Australia’s most prolific and longstanding professional race drivers, we pick up with the transition when Fitzgerald finally became a true part of Porsche

DNA in Australia with the setup of Fitzgerald Racing Services, the de facto race arm of Porsche in Australia.

By 1995 with the introduction of the 993 RS, and to remain on the cutting edge of technology, the Falken Team took delivery of a new 993 RSCS part way through the season. Fitzgerald was back in the 911 fold. The renamed 1995 Australian GT Production Car Series saw Peter Fitzgerald and Jim Richards battle it out for top honours in a combination of their new 993s all prepared by Fitzgerald Racing Services, and their outgoing

968s, with Richards claiming victory over Fitzgerald ahead of luminaries such as Alan Jones, Dick Johnson and John Bowe.

1996 saw another rebranding of the race series into the Australian GT Production Car Championship with Fitzgerald again securing 2nd, along with 2nd at the Eastern Creek 12 Hour. In addition to this, Fitzgerald entered the 1996 Targa Tasmania with the 968 CS, where a puncture had put him into 164th position before a charge by Fitzgerald and his navigator saw them reclaim significant ground to end overall 5th in that year’s Targa event.

1997 saw an outright win in the Australian GT Production Car Championship, followed by a 2nd in both 1998 and 1999 still driving his trusty

993 RSCS. In addition to this, 1999 also proved to be a year of amends for

Fitzgerald when he returned to Targa Tasmania, this time vindicating his bad luck from the flat tyre in 1996, winning the Targa Tasmania, breaking Jim Richards’ record winning streak in, of all things, Richards’ ex Targa 993 TT.

In 2000, the Australian Nations

Cup Championship replaced the GT Production Car Championship. As the public moved their attention towards the high-end exotics that were becoming more popular in motoring literature, the new generation of race followers were no longer just interested in the big V8 homegrown muscle cars. Accordingly, a new race series was created to cater to this changing demographic, featuring only exotic production GT cars for the first time. Porsche also ushered in a new era with the introduction of a water-cooled system 911 range to keep abreast of new regulations. The culmination of this development resulted in the introduction of the 996 GT3 in 1999, coinciding with the changed Racing Department philosophy under Roland Kussmaul who had replaced the godfather of the 911 GT1, Norbert Singer. Kussmaul, who had worked alongside Singer on the 956 and 962 in addition to being the creator of the 959 and 961 programs, was tasked with the goal of creating a race version of the brand-new water-cooled 996 that would be able to be used across a smorgasbord of differing race series in both Europe and the US as their key target markets.

Not since the original 911 RS and

RSR models of the 1970s was a road 911 tasked with the duty of being the one base model to be adapted by its owners for use in the Carrera Cup, American Le Mans Series, 24 hours of Le Mans in Europe through to the Rolex Grand-am Championships in the US. This made the 996 GT3 the most prolific competition

911 in the history of Porsche. The Falken Team ordered one for their 2000 Nations Cup campaign, with the car once again being entrusted to Fitzgerald Racing Services, obtaining CAMS competition approval on 7 March 2000. Fitzgerald managed to secure a 2nd outright, with the 2001 season resulting in a

3rd, succumbing to the brutal power advantage of the Lamborghini factory Clarion Team using the Diablo GTR of ex Formula One ace and Lamborghini factory driver Michele Alboreto. The Falken Team also entered the Sandown 500 on the weekend of 15 September 2001 and claimed a well-deserved 3rd position, once again proving the reliability of the Porsche over distance races.

The end of the 2001 season saw the retiring of the 996.1 GT3 CS in favour of the 996.2-generation GT3 trackonly Cup Cars. This signalled an end to professional race drivers running roadregistered cars at top-level competition and with this, the true definition of a ‘race car for the road’ died. Fitzy would go on to race for another decade before finally calling it a day – and with that ended an over 40-year relationship between Fitzy and professional Porsche racing, making him the longest-standing Porsche race driver in Australian history, and earning him the nickname of Mr Porsche.

Aylesbury, UK @maxripcor

Even when I bought my 997 C2, in April 2012, my aspiration was to replace it with a 997 GT3 or GTS at some point. Unfortunately, in the years that followed, the market for Porsche GT cars moved away from me. Or you could argue, my professional achievements failed to keep up with the market for Porsche GT cars.

Long-term ownership of such a wonderful sports car is a joy and a privilege. However, in 2017, as my fifth anniversary approached, I began to consider something quite out of character for me – modifications. This was never with the intention of disappearing down a ‘Gt3-chasing rabbit hole’ that would involve spending the equivalent of GT3 money, but I reasoned that a few choice mods could potentially enhance the car without compromising its usability. By this time I was running an E61 BMW 525d Touring too, for mundane miles and family motoring.

I blame Total 911 for setting me on such a path with issue 144, which included a feature about the best modifications for M96 and M97-engined 911s. In this article, Pete from Paragon talked about a combination of IPD high-flow plenum chamber, BMC air filter and Paragon remap. Remapping normally aspirated engines isn’t about chasing big horsepower gains to my mind, it’s about making the most of what you have.

So for my fifth annual service and MOT visit to Paragon I decided to mark the occasion by having those mods done, as well as the 20K mile service, replacement of both AC condensers, and the addition of mesh grilles! I was always careful to clear the detritus from around the condensers, but they still bit the dust.

I didn’t dyno the car before or afterwards, but what I’ve ended up with is a 997 that feels more urgent and athletic than it did before. It punches harder through the midrange, for example out of 30 and 50mph limits. Also, when comparing it to the 996.2 C2 and 997.1

C4S it feels faster. It sounds better too, from the intake changes and already lovely PSE exhaust.

Cosmetically, over the next two years I replaced the sidelight/indicator units which made a big difference (fortunately at £250 each), and also had the wheels powder coated (plus new centres) and brake calipers painted. I don’t get the fashion for entirely black wheels, with the exception of GTS Porsches. I think you lose the impact of the wheel design against the tyre, so there was never any question they’d be anything other than stock silver. For the brake calipers I asked for stock black, but Pete at Paragon made an executive decision to use a slightly less glossy black finish. I was so pleased with the results – well worth the £1,200 all-in spend.

I’ve also spent a long time wondering whether I should make any changes to the suspension, but took the plunge recently. More next month.

Sandbanks, UK @joewilliamsuk Road to Redline

So we’re still in lockdown at the time of writing here in the UK. Having not been out much, I thought I’d share a little thought on some time I spent in a Carrera T recently. For those that haven’t followed it, this is essentially a slightly lighter, stripped-down base model that Porsche put out as being a bit of a driver’s car. I think when it first launched there was a bit of a frenzy around the T, which meant it was making slightly over list price. But that seems to have definitely pulled back, to the extent that they seem to have been forgotten in the last year or so.

The ideal T in my opinion needs to be a manual car with relatively few options – no sunroofs, no comfort leather seats, and definitely no PDK! I’m a big fan of the T-spec interior in Sportex fabric too. Couple that with the Gt-style door pulls and some Alcantara on the wheel and shifter, and you’re away! The T makes an awesome sound: where Porsche has ditched some sound deadening and the back seats, you hear so much more. With all the pops, bangs and overrun noise it’s a really fun place to be.

I think when the Carrera T first came out I discounted it because it only shipped with PDK or the seven-speed manual, which I really struggled with on the 991.2 cars. I just couldn’t get used to the gate layout and kept hitting the bridge between third and fifth. I can only think that where Porsche has given it a short shift and literally shortened the gear lever, it helps the throw and positioning also, as this felt like it had well and truly fixed the problem for me.

In all, I think the Carrera T is a cracking model, and one that I might start to keep an eye out for myself. It’s a little bit different, and quite purist in its delivery. Although they are pretty unloved right now in the marketplace and certainly not ‘GT’ special, I think they could be good news going forward as this little driver’s 911 really does deserve to make the line-up for desirable future classics.

In other news, having a bit of extra time on my hands has meant a little more browsing for the little 912. I’ve actually been looking at some slightly different Fuchs wheel options – a little bit Singer inspired, in terms of width and finish. So that’s on the shortlist at the moment. Oh, and a quick shoutout for the podcast too: we had a great interview with Greg from IPD Plenums in one of our latest episodes. I run one of these on my, ahem, 987 Cayman track car, so can certainly vouch for the product. Look us up on your preferred podcast platform.