Thinking of pimping out my C4 996/3.4l

Hey all, I've had my 996 C4 3.4l for about 4 yrs now and it's an old 2001 model. In the past I've liked to keep the look as simple, clean, and "original" as much as possible but now that even the 997's got it's Gen2 out, I'm thinking maybe it's time to start pimping out my car. For the moment I'm having a new 3rd party aero kit fitted out to it (can't wait till next week when I get it back and dying to show off the pics to you lot here ). My next step was to look at CF-ing the outside. Already bought a CF gas cover but haven't swapped it out yet but was asking your thoughts on the CF hood. There are two brands that caught my eye :- 1) VIS (with different models I can't tell teh difference aside from price) a) VIS OEM Grade A b) VIS Dry c) Turbina UV Clear - what's the diff between the models aside from the price!? 2) KKO Carbon - seems cheaper - I like the sliver CF option Aside from this, I don't know much about CF hoods. Does anyone have any recommendations? Anything I should look out for? Both manufacturers seem to say that their hoods are "plug 'n play". Can anyone advice me please? Thanks! Sean

Hey Sean, that sounds great, good for you! Look forward to seeing pics of your car with the aero kit. Love to see some pics with local Tokyo or mountain background.... I don't have an opinion on the carbon fiber, we would probably first spend the $$ on wheels or suspension or motor. Have fun!

This is what it's like with Fuji in the background (I can't be bothered to blank out my rego plate) :- http://www.anakchan.com/gallery/Misc...i/D83V5891.jpg Here's what it's like with the 19" rims :- http://www.anakchan.com/gallery/Hobb...e/SANY0007.JPG P.S. sorry the site may be a little slow. Hosted by GoDaddy with Gallery2 s/w. Not the fastest thing in the world :-(

Check out the Gemballa Carbon Kevlar Aero Hood.

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Hi Meister! I've got the aerokit installed now (ok no nice background of Fuji-san or anything yet but one day when I do get out of Tokyo) :- https://rennlist.com/forums/6309690-post1.html

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Is that a US 996? It's left hand drive??? Isn't Japan right hand drive? Maybe I'm thinking of Hong Kong........

Japan's RHD like HK, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, UK. However, for some reason Japan loves to import LHD European cars and sadly "prestige" has taken precedence over safety. So there's lots of LHD Porsches, MB's, BMW's, etc. You can find RHD European cars too but unfortunately LHD are more popular. I picked up my car 2nd hand and insisted on a stick - didn't have a choice :-(.

Sorry to revive an old thread but as yet I still haven't gotten my CF hood. With the strong yen, I think it's time for me to give this a shot again however don't really know much about CF hoods and why they vary so much in price. Sorry Gemballa Kevlar Aero is -way- out of my price range. I see prices ranging from $600 -> $1700 and think my limit is around the $1200-$1400 mark. But why such a varying difference? Also what's the difference between "wet" and "dry" CF? I've also heard flush fitting is a problem. Does anyone have any experience on this? Unfortunately I'm buying online therefore I don't get the opportunity to walk into a shop for a little touch 'n feel. Edit: And to add DeftRacing has a 996 CF hood Grade A supposedly for $420!

Buying a CF hood online? I can imagine anything scarier. CF parts vary widely quality wise. Even the ultra expensive Porsche OE parts are very poor quality as they crack and fade horribly bad. Why not just get the parts you want wrapped. You don't have to worry about the fit and it can be undone when you tire of it.

Thank you for your response nick49. Wrapping my existing hood would mean same (or adding a little more weight) instead of shaving it? I must say I've not investigated this idea for hoods.

wrapping is a very good idea. weight, yeah ok you'll gain a couple of kgs, nothing you will feel on the street, but think of it this way. 1) fully reversible 2) 1/10th the cost 3) will protect your original paint 4) you can do the whole car if you want. it's eyepopping in person, member "himself" did it to his gt3, whole car, looks great. search for post by him and wrap or carbon

I just searched and saw Himself's GT3. Think my jaw dropped!! I'll have to see if there's such an offering in Japan (and at what cost). Cheers for the tip! Back on the original thread I got a response Deft and it seems all Deft, Seibon, and VIS are basically the same of CF overlayed on a fibreglass core. The Dry process is a somewhat more expensive and helps shave a further 4-6 pounds. I read somewhere else that SpeedGallery does a 100% CF (??!??). So supposedly around 6-7lb. But I wonder how rigid it'll be. Edit: Seems no Skinzwraps in Japan :-(

Becareful you dont wanna shed to much weight from the front of these cars. What about uypdating the exhuast or suspension?

Your best bet if you really want to loose weight would be: light weight wheels, back seat delete, light weight battery, light weight full exhaust, and gt3 front seats. As FTY said, if you drop to much weight out of the front, you will mess up the balance of the car. If you want to get extreme you can gut the interior and put in lexan windows.

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Sean, that kits looks great. Who makes it?

FTY & ohdavey6286: Thanks for the tip, that was something I didn't consider. I'll have to do more digging around. The initial thoughts was to focus on external and internal next. I don't have the budget to do a complete change yet. Down South: That kit was a custom from a garage in Tokyo called PRO Archive. Unfortunately I don't think they have an online presence and I found them in a Japanese Porsche magazine called 911Days. The bodykit gives the older 996-3.4l more of the newer 996-3.6l look. This this photo, I've got CF mirror housings and CF gas access cover. My next budget allows me to either have a CF hood to compliment the look (which my GF doesn't like!) or going for a DCTMS 3 spoke CF steeering wheel.

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Too bad. Thanks, Sean!

ohdavey6286 & fty, Cheers for the tip on the weight. With no science behind my thoughts, I didn't realise that weight savings on the hood (from 31lb stock to 15/16 of CF/FRP or 7lb 100% CF), was going to throw off the balance that much that it'll affect the performance of the car. I must say that my priority was looks first and weight savings second. Doing further research, it seems CF comes with it's baggage and it seems every CF hood, regardless of how well it's constructed are susceptible to cracks and yellowing. And it's merely a matter of time that differentiates between the better (and more expensive??) constructed vs the lower (cheaper?) quality hoods. This has deterred me from researching about CF hoods any further, making the SkinzWraps option more enticing - just a pity they don't have that in Japan. I may look into CF for the interior instead, where the CF pieces are smaller and although still may crack, but hopefully not so visible/obvious. P.S. So a few hours ago (27th Oct) I've just placed an order with DCTMS on a CF steering wheel! I'll post pics up here when I've received and installed it.

Finally I received my DCMTS wheel a few days ago and had it installed. Here it is! :-