Sexy styling, good practicality, excellent comfort and great
on-road (and track) performance ensure the Boxster a proud place in the history
of Porsche. The everyday Boxster offers enough performance for the majority of
buyers, but for those with a real passion for speed, the hardcore Boxster S
is the way to go. A 185kW 3.2-litre flat-six pushes the sub-1300kg S version to
100 km/h in the 5-second range and is just the machine to enjoy on the street
Monday to Friday and on the racetrack Saturday and Sunday.
But as is always the case, there are ways of
improving things. This 3.4-litre Porsche 996 engine'd Boxster is proof of
that!
This car was built and is owned by Peter Fitzgerald, one of
Australia's most awarded drivers of the last 25 years. Peter has won three
national titles and various categories in Targa Tasmania. He has tillered
everything from Mitsubishi Starions, Toyota Supra Turbos and, of course, a
number of Porsches. Peter's business - Fitzgerald Racing Services - was
established in 1993 and specialises in Porsches of all shapes and sizes.
Servicing to racecar preparation... Peter can do it!
The car you can see is a 1999 Boxster that was originally
purchased as something of a promo car. Like all stock 1999 2.5 Boxsters, the car
began with around 106kW at the wheels on Peter's in-house Dyno Dynamics chassis
dyno. The standard Boxster is factory rated at 155 kilowatts," says Peter, "and
that matches the at the wheels figure fairly closely." From there, a
supercharger kit was installed and the ante was upped to about 128kW at the
treads - a 20 percent gain.
But, motivated by customer requests, Peter decided to rip off
the supercharger system and turn attention to converting to Porsche 996 power.
The architecture of the Boxster 2.5 and 996 3.4-litre engines is fairly similar,
but Peter tells us the conversion took a bit of effort - about a week of steady
work.
"Part of the difficulty is that the 996 engine goes in the other way
around," he says.
The dual-plenum 996 engine also needed to be mounted low on
its mounts in order to clear the engine cover. Then there's the usual mucking
around with air conditioning, hoses, cables, etc.
In
this instance the 996 motor also kicks out a bit more power than standard. Fitment into the Boxster requires a custom set of equal length
headers, which help achieve an at-the-wheels output of 140 - 145kW. This
configuration is known as Stage 1, but if you add a pair of sports cats, a
high-flow muffler, high-flow induction system and a UniChip, you're talkin'
Stage 2 - and up to 170kW at the wheels! This comes with a very flat, useable
torque spread that makes the car deceptively quick. Note that the Stage 1
3.4-litre conversion costs around AUD$41,000 while Stage 2 adds about AUD$8000 -
a brand new engine is used in either instance.
The 996 motor bolts straight up to the standard Boxster 5-speed
gearbox, which Peter has equipped with a short-shift kit and a Quaife LSD to
help get the 996's grunt to the road. The engine's naturally flat torque curve
helps in this respect.
The car was always going to hit the track so Peter invested in
an oil catch tank. This works in conjunction with a factory option 996
anti-surge kit, which doesn't perform as it should when the engine is mounted
the opposite way in the Boxster. The biggest oil surge problems were discovered
during hard braking.
The MacPherson strut suspension has been improved with Ohlins
double adjustable dampers working with Eibach 25mm lowered springs. The track
has also been widened using a 15mm front and 21mm rear wheel spacer. The rims
are recognisable as Porsche GT3 18 x 8s and 18 x 10s.
Peer behind those 18-inch rims and you'll find a GT3 brake
upgrade sourced from Germany. This sees huge 355mm discs and twin-pot calipers
at the front, with 330mm discs and twin-pot calipers at the rear. These are
truly humungous anchors for a car that probably still scapes in at just under
1300kg.
Aside from the big rims and brakes and the aftermarket
tailpipes, this Boxster is distinguished by a TechArt body kit comprising a
2-piece front spoiler, side skirts, a rear spoiler and air intakes. It's all
quite subtle but park a standard Boxster alongside and you'll soon appreciate
the difference.
Inside, Peter has added further touches of class. Fitzgerald
Racing Services (FRS) scuff plates, and aluminium pedals complement the arctic
silver highlights on the armrests, dashboard, console, handbrake lever, etc.
Peter has also opted for white-face dials to add further appeal.
"This car has pretty well everything," says Peter. "We built it
as a display case for the business and, all together, it has around AUD$95,000
of modifications and options." But it hasn't gone purely in the direction of
racetrack performance - as it's all too easy to get caught up in. "With the
suspension and engine as it is, the car is a great road and club level
compromise," says Peter. There is a slight tendency to understeer (a
characteristic of the Boxster) but Peter has managed to lap the Philip Island
circuit in an amazing 1:48.7 using worn out targa tyres. "That's faster than
most Porsche 993 RS CSs", says Peter. "A RS CS would need to be well tricked and
well driven to go faster."
Talk about a heavy-hitting Boxster!
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You
Want It?
Peter
is currently offering his beautiful Stage 2 3.4-litre Boxster for sale. The
asking price is AUD$119,900, which - as Peter points out - isn't too bad when
you consider the retained value of Boxsters and the value of mods. "If nobody
wants it as it is I'll just have to take it back to standard and sell it," says
Peter.
Please,
please, don't let that happen!
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Contact:
Fitzgerald Racing Services +61 3 9897 1555
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