Scaramanga is back and fitted with MOTEC "Plus 1" - Page 2 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Domster should right now be on his way to the 'ring if you two manage to bump into each other and he gets a ride, I would not bet against the Baron finding its way opp north quite soon after!!

What car has he got again (I mean instead of the RS)?

Peter, you say it's quicker than anything you've been in except the GT2. I expect you mean around a track, not in a straight line, sheer oomph kind of way. Have you ever been in a 993TT also? Just asking as I know a standard 964RS is the same pace as a boxter. I'd be suprised if this was *that* much faster with NA.

Well, a 993TT is quick but a GT2 is quicker and, no, I haven't been in one. Or a 996TT. I'm sure there's plenty of straight-line monsters that would do better - maybe even ones from Blackpool, I don't know - but on a track the GT2 is one of the few cars I've been in that approaches or exceeds the speed of the RS. Still waiting for a ride in a Radical, mind you! Best not play the "my car is faster than yours" game. Suffice to say it feels really, really quick in a non-turbo-slingshot kind of way. And certainly much quicker an more driveable than std.

Blimey Roadrunner, that Boxster must have been ing fast...or the RS very slow....

Well it came from Domster I seem to remember. Apparently a standard 964RS is very similar to a Boxter S in terms of speed. Sounded fair enough to me, considering near identical outputs and mass. Boxter is easier to drive quicker too, isn't it? Can't be much in it either way in unmodified form.

993TT Gt2 forget this is a 964 RS...there is nothing faster,handles better or appreciates quite like one. Peter only messing,your car sounds even more fun than before have fun at the ring.

Apologies for the oversights Peter, I hope they do not detract too much from your +1 Spa/Ring experience. To be honest, I was so focussed on getting your engine and the next +1 #3 built that I did not think to double check the order for the other parts, so slap on wrist accepted. Now, for me the fact that you have 332 with the cat is nothing more than good news since your car has more power at the top end than +1 #1. This means that it must be breathing better at 6250-7000rpm that the other engine, and since decatting it will pull up the torque more I think we should easily see the same results as #1. By the time you get back from the jaunt we should have tested #3 without the cat and thus will be able to transfer the data directly #2's (I am a name, not a number - Scaramanga) ecu for an instant hop-up. Glad you like the dollops of smooth though, it makes the months of effort worthwhile to know that we have improved on a few 1,000,000Dm of Porsche development budget. I'll keep you posted on #3.

Tsk tsk tsk Consider my finger firmly wagged. But only tongue in cheek as I'm ever so pleased with it. Tried to cold start it this evening after work, just to make sure. Good news is it started. So I shouldn't get any unexpected dead car moments when I'm in the middle of Europe! Might need a touch more work on the cold start engine map though, just a touch rougher than of old. Tomorrow night's task is to clean all the road gunk off, and try waxing the inside of the windows to counteract the steaming up, if it rains en route. Otherwise I think I'll need to text my fellow travellers when bombing along the autoroute to see if it's OK to pull out or not!

Sounds like Rain-X on the inside to me Peter..

Peter did you manage to use the extra power at the ring? Surely the car was in it's element,suprising standard RS models....

Er...no. Because it fell apart even before I left Blighty. Colin is coming down this morning to trailer it away. OK, so it was driveable, but mysteriously down on power - easily outgunned by a friend in a bog std RS in a 3rd gear roll on test on the motorway, or even another mate in a Boxster S - blowing smoke, engine and wheelarches covered in oil, part of the exhaust fell off and damaged the rear bumper and tyre (!), bits of blue paper towel left behind in the engine bay wrapped around the fan and sucked into the ventilation system - so I drove there and back and managed a pitiful few laps of both circuits before it got so bad that I decided to just let it sit there for the journey home and took p-rides with other people. Bah. Obviously p*ssed off at the ruined holiday (at least I met Domster doing a Bono with his yellow sunglasses), it's due a second full engine rebuild to diagnose what went wrong, dyno & mapping as well as being loved and hugged back into pristine health. Watch this space..........

I am very sorry to hear that tale,not only your pride & joy being molested,but such an amazing driving weekend being ruined.. This is not a response you should have had cause to post,lets hope things get sorted out quickly with suitable recompense....chin up Peter,,,I am sure the old girl will be back better than ever,soon.

Yeah, well..... we'll see what happens next. Question: is Scaramanga a girl or a boy? I've sort of skirted around the issue, preferring to refer to it as an "it" since Scaramanga is a boy's name but we tend to refer to cars using female pronouns.

Know how you feel Peter. Engine in my 993rs went pop yesterday, looks like it's seized. Jim

A touch of bad luck there guys. Are you looking at a couple of k for a rebuild?

A couple of K for an engine rebuild? Please say you were not trying to be funny.. Sorry to hear about your bad luck Murray,if ever there was a car worth repairing it has to be the RS,,maybe a good excuse to put a piston/barrel kit in to extract a few more horses. I am suprised to hear this,I thought those engines were close to bomb proof.were you trying very hard at the time??

Sad to hear about the engine Jim. How many miles did you have on your RS? Hope it doesn't cost *too* much to sort out. All the best Zubin

Had just picked the car up after some work had been done on it (re-mapping to sort out MoT emissions problem and an oil change). Had done about 35 miles on dual carriageway, in sixth doing 80 and something went pop. Car had done 72000km. Jim

Jim I'm sorry about the engine. My RS went through 88888km on a drive around the countryside this morning. It would be good to get together when your car is fixed up - these are the track days I am attending... Sat 5 Jul - Goodwood easytrack Sat 26 Jul - Bedford RMA Mon 28 Jul - Goodwood bookatrack Thy 7 Aug - Castle Combe RMA Sat 4 Oct - Bruntingthorpe easytrack Sat 18 Oct - Bedford RMA I am provisionally booked on the following, but have not paid for anything: Sat 2 Aug - Folembray (France) easytrack - very unlikely to attend Wed 6 Aug - Brands GP easytrack - very unlikely to attend - I've got Castle Combe next day Sat 23 Aug - Goodwood easytrack Tue 2 Sep - Brands GP bookatrack Mon 29 Sep - Tue 30 Sep - Spa autotrack / easytrack Sat 25 Oct - Goodwood easytrack Thu 6 Nov - Brands Indy easytrack Tue 11 Nov Donnington bookatrack Mon 17 Nov Goodwood easytrack Thu 4 Dec - Brands Indy easytrack If your car gets fixed up, let me know if you are interested in any of these. Zubin

Zubin, Hopefully I'll hear over the next few days what the damage is and how long to repair. Since I've moved to Devon I'm not doing as many trackdays as most of the decent circuits involve an overnight stay. How do you mangage to get the car on at Goodwood and Combe ? I tried Goodwood last year but failed the noise testing by a significant margin. Combe I wouldn't even try after failing there in my old 3.2 Carrera. What are the noise limits like at Bedford ? Jim

>>How do you mangage to get the car on at Goodwood and Combe ? Car generally comes in at 98-100dB. Both Goodwood and Combe let me in no probs, but the trick is: 1. Be very polite! 2. Make sure the engine is v. hot 3. Keep the clutch in (and g/box in neutral) when they do the test 4. Try not to rev it to where they ask you, but usually you have to! The limits at Bedford are a static one and a drive by. I've been there about 2-3 times in the RS and had no problems (unlike the chap who brought his F40 with competition exhausts!). Zubin

Hi Peter, Is this a picture of you from that weekend at the Ring? www.finestphotos.co.uk/Photo%20Pages/25thMayCars/pages/IMG_7879.htm E

Yes! Although I'm surprised there's no smoke coming out of the back of it. Must have been one of the earlier laps.

That RS looks the business. Always loved black wheels too.

Peter any news on scaramanga - has the third nipple been sorted??

It's on the way, bigger and better. Because of the unexpected problems Peter had to endure we have decided to give Scaramanga a bonus and install the pistons with our new thermal barrier and low friction coating: reflective ceramic on the top, heat dispersant ceramic on the underside and low friction coatings to the skirts. We reckon that this should be good for a few more bhp and also run the engine much cooler, so since I had a set of pistons lined up for the treatment to go into my own engine I thought that it would be a good idea to let someone else benefit.

For those that are interested in the MOTEC “plus 1” conversion from 9m, of which Scaramanga is (I believe) conversion number 2. I’m due to scoot off to the ‘ring and Spa on Saturday and picked Scaramanga up from Colin only last night. A knackering 3 hour drive back through pouring rain in the dark on greasy motorways with a now massively torquey engine and worn part-slick Michelin Pilot Cup Sports later and I’m somewhat bleary-eyed this morning for some reason but able to post a few initial comments on the conversion. I’ll know more after the trip overseas in aggressive track conditions and will post again when I get back too! I’ll gloss over some of the disappointments L, like forgetting to fit a cat bypass, forgetting to fix the heater (which, combined with the rain and dark on the motorways meant I use a constant supply of Holts Screenies to wipe away the mist. Anyone would think I had a small rain forest in the car, the way it kept steaming up), 9m’s paintmeister wandering off on holiday with my nipple so forcing Colin to fit a metal and rubber item that looks like a small stubby aerial is poking up out of the bonnet (see the car and you’ll understand why it’s called Scaramanga), and not having a proper dyno plot due to the dyno handset being screwed. No, despite the waiting and travelling and dark and gloomy roads, O and the bill as well (had to go to the toilet immediately after writing the cheque as the sight of the invoice loosened my bowels somewhat) I’m thrilled, because it works and it’s brilliant. By converting to Motec “Plus 1” I’ve had the new injectors and Motec unit, plus cams, porting, rod bolts, valve springs and some 9m magic weaved around it all. The car is now dynoed at 332bhp. Pre-Motec it was dynoed at 293bhp, mostly due to the fact that I had a Cup ECU fitted by the previous owner and didn’t know it (incidentally, if anyone wants to offer me some dosh for it, let me know… I’m going to stick it on eBay when I get back) as well as a Cup bypass pipe and airbox. Had 9m remembered to fit a cat bypass as planned… I’m sure I’d be at 340+! I can’t wait to fit one myself and experience the additional shove in the back it’s bound to bring. Anyway, after driving back down the motorway last night for three and a bit hours in the rain and the dark, I can tell you that what Motec “plus 1” gives you is two new engines. Engine Number 1 is the standard RS engine, but more of the same wonderfulness. No drawbacks, just more oomph, more revs, more growl, more edge, more passion….. it’s just like the beautiful engine I used to have, but smoother and with noticeably more power. OK, it’s not snapping my head back into the seat like someone lit the blue touch paper on the solid fuel booster rocket, but it’s faster than anything I’ve been in except someone’s tweaked GT2…… Engine Number 2 is the more impressive engine in some respects. This is the torquey engine that surreptitiously shovels speed onto the car at lowish (circa 3.5 to 4k) revs and higher gears. You really have to watch the speedo to protect your licence. You also have to watch the back end in the wet on worn tyres – it *will* step out!!! I’m sure it’s as torquey as the supercharger conversion, albeit the supercharger would come in lower down, but you get Engine Number 1 into the bargain and none of the loss of character the supercharger allegedly produces. Combine the two engines and it feels like I now have a four litre RS engine that revs well and really squirts the car forward, whatever gear you’re in. Definitely recommended.