Porsche Carrera 4S

The Porsche has been known from new in 2002 when Matt’s father picked it up from the Steven’s Creek, CA dealership. The engine experienced catastrophic bore score in late 2018 at a PCA Autocross with 121k miles on it. The car was driving fine that day, but the first turn of the first run and all the dash lights lit up like a world war 2 bomber taking fire. Every piston skirt had signs of the coating flaking off and catching on the cylinder walls. What’s most interesting is that we had a Blackstone oil analysis done at 108k miles with everything showing normal wear. These M96 engines really do “pop”.

Fast forward to today and the car has been undergoing a major transformation to accept not only a GM Performance LS3, but drop the 4wd system in favor of RWD. I am also working to eliminate air-conditioning, the current fuel, cooling system and possibly swap to a carbon fiber roof panel. Why do all this, you ask? Weight savings and personal project ambitions. I feel the cooling system on the 996, even with a third radiator and upgraded radiators is too cumbersome and could benefit from designing for cooling optimization over passenger comfort (frunk space).

A Full suspension refresh with bushings and a limited slip differential unit added for greater cornering precision. The car was always very understeer happy and I’m hoping to shift the bias to a more neutral setup. The car will get black 19in BBS CH-R wheels on the factory Arctic Silver paint.

Thanks to Chavis Performance Engineering and the Porsche Swap community for your information and support with this project. I wouldn’t be lost, but I definitely wouldn’t be having as much fun with this project and learning as much as I am.