A nice side view. The 18" BBS wheels (from a 996) are a very nice match for this car. You can also see that the rear spoiler, from a 924 turbo, is a little smaller than the 944 tail. It was installed by the previous owner, but I'll keep it that way for now because I think it creates a nice, refined look. Eventually I will be going to the 968 rear spoiler.
One of my favorite profiles of the car. It will look even better once I convert the side mirrors to the 968 version! Other planned enhancements that should make this profile even nicer are the 968 door handles and clear or smoked turn signal lenses.
You can get a good look at the front lower lip and the hood scoop. Not stock on a 951, this is a 924 turbo hood. The hood scoop is not directing air anywhere that important, but it is in the general vicinity of the exhaust so it should help keep the engine bay a little cooler.
Some nice fat rubber on the back, courtesy of 18x10 BBS wheels with 35mm H&R spacers.
951 with my standard twist wheels mounted, next to my 996 cab with the same wheels.
Mods Include:
Ground Control Suspension Package with double-adjustable Koni struts, adjustable shocks, Eibach 440# springs in front and coil-overs in back, height-adjustable strut and rear shock mounts, Ground Control rear eccentric bolts, and front strut camber plates.
NERP brake cooling, Pagid orange pads x4, stock Brembo calipers, Cryogenic front rotors, ATE Super Blue brake fluid
Russell Berry's 951MaxHP chipset
Bosch 3bar Fuel Pressure Regulator
InTun Boost Enhancer (still running stock Turbo, wastegate and Diverter)
Ansa Exhaust
BBS wheels (18x8 front, 18x10 rear), wearing Michelin Porsche Cup slicks when at the track. For the street I have a set of 17" Porsche twists wearing some very nice, grippy Nitto's.
K&N air filter (on the stock AFM - a SFR MAF is in the future, someday...)
Update 11/14/2008: At a track day at Laguna Seca on 11/10, I blew a head gasket halfway into the day, despite still having only stock boost and no indication of running hot on the temp gauge. Up to that point I was running great and enjoying some fantastic laps in the low 1:50's. No major damage or any serious problems, and this seems like a normal occurrence for 951's and 944 NA's that are tracked. Over the next few weeks she'll get new gaskets on the top end, new water pump, belts, and rollers, I'll reseal the Oil-Air separator and throttle body, and I'll install a Lindsey steam vent kit on the cylinder head. Hopefully it will be ready for my next track day on 12/4!
Update 12/1/2008: Finished the headgasket job and she started and runs like a dream! The headgasket was pretty bad - corrosion all around. The fire ring on cylinder #2 let go in part because the gasket material around it had corroded away.
Update 12/4/2008: Only had the car out on the road three times before taking it to the track today, but it was flawless. No problems, never picked up a wrench, set a new personal best lap time. This is what a day at the track is supposed to be like! The Michelin slicks I got from the IMSA GT3 series cars were not that great, looks like IMSA GT3 runs a very hard compound at Laguna Seca. At least they'll last a long time. Check out the pic of me and the Maserati MC12 in the corkscrew at Laguna Seca (and no, I did not just pass the MC12). He always passed me quickly, but that's fine, it's surreal to be wheel-to-wheel on a world class race track with a supercar like that. Anyone can do this, so long as you work up enough experience and skill to run in the highest advanced group. See the dirt & rocks on the inside of the corkscrew? Believe it or not, that's where Rossi first passed Stoner in the MotoGP race there in July 08.
Picture by Dito Milian, http://www.gotbluemilk.com/
Update 1/16/2009: Lately, I have been using the 944 turbo as a daily driver. Yesterday one of the injectors started leaking gas on the intake manifold and cam cover, but the problem was just a leaky o-ring going into the intake manifold. All four injectors got new o-rings as a result, wasn't too hard of a job.
