The vehicle you’re looking at here is a 1991 Porsche 911 (964 series) Carrera
RS. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it. The ’91 Carrera RS is a very rare
beast in Australia and - as its RS name suggests - it's something of a racing
special. In stock form, these vehicles are dynamite performers on the racetrack
– so you can only imagine what it’s like with about 30 percent more power than
factory. With an experienced driver at the wheel, this 10+ year old Carrera RS
has proven capable of kicking current Porsche GT3 butt!
The ’91 Carrera RS was built as a limited edition – and it comes with very
limited features! In the name of keeping weight to a minimum, the RS model
received only meagre sound deadening, lightened door trims, thin side glass, an
aluminium bonnet and lightweight Recaro seats. Interestingly, it is rumoured
that the body also came fully seam-welded to improve rigidity. All up, the
964-series Carrera RS tips the scales at just over 1200kg - pretty light
considering the 260hp (191kW) factory output...
The RS’s standard engine is a horizontally opposed air-cooled 6-cylinder that
displaces 3.6-litres. Its 260hp output arrives at 6100 rpm and there’s up to
325Nm of torque on tap at 4800 rpm. Not a bad effort – but there’s always room
for a racecar to have more grunt!
Owned and raced by Count Desmond Oppenheimer, this 911 Carerra RS has been
given a big injection of steroids thanks to Peter Fitzgerald (of Peter
Fitzgerald Racing). Peter says, "The biggest change to the engine is a set of
high-compression pistons and large-bore barrels from Germany." These aftermarket
barrels increase the standard 100mm bore diameter enough to achieve a 0.2-litre
capacity increase. Crankshaft stroke, incidentally, is just 76.4mm – this is one
massively oversquare engine.
With a larger swept capacity, the restriction of the existing intake and
exhaust systems became critical. Peter Fitzgerald Racing addressed this with a
FED Performance airflow meter conversion and a sophisticated induction kit.
Interestingly, this involves converting from the standard vane airflow meter to
a hot-wire type together with an exchange ECU. Peter has also added a UniChip
interceptor for maximum tuning flexibility.
With a relatively short-length exhaust system, 911 Porsches are difficult
vehicles to keep quiet - but this is one of the more civilised ones. Peter
Fitzgerald Racing ripped off the factory manifolds and pipework and whacked on
FED tuned-length extractors with high-flow cats and fatter pipes. Give it a rev
and this thing sounds s-w-e-e-t!
Power? Well, Peter claims the car is making around 330hp at the flywheel,
which is almost 30 percent more than stock. Equally important is the greater
torque all the way through the revs – punch it out of a corner and there’s the
grunt to send you hurtling towards the next corner at a very impressive rate of
knots.
The standard M64/03 gearbox and clutch remain in service with drive
channelled, of course, to the rear. The factory 255/40 17 rear tyre size is
retained but grippy Bridgestone RE540s are employed for track work. The
suspension is stock Carrera RS, which is 40mm lower and stiffer than a normal
911’s.
Open the doors and you’ll appreciate the stripped-out nature of the interior.
There’s no back seat and Count Oppenheimer laughs that even the ashtray has been
removed to shed as much weight as possible. A full roll-cage, fire extinguisher
and harnesses have been thrown in for safety. It’s all very welcome when you’re
watching the speedo needle touch nearly 300 km/h...
Count Oppenheimer is a busy man but, when he gets time, he relishes the
opportunity to pedal his RS as fast as he can. Having previously owned some
other modified Porsches he’s very familiar with the marque but the RS is a real
standout. "It has a colossal power-to-weight ratio and it has great handling
balance," he says.
Amid some of the monster feature cars we’ve run in AutoSpeed it’d be easy for
you to fall into the trap of thinking this Porsche isn’t modified enough to make
it a real giant killer. Guess again! The combination of fine chassis balance,
lightweight and ample torque make this RS a real challenge to keep up with – let
alone to get past... To prove the point, Peter Fitzgerald drove the car in a pair
of sprint laps of the 2003 Dutton’s Rally and obliterated every other piece of
hi-po machinery within sight! It was only in the second sprint lap the RS was
pipped by a fully track prep’d Porsche GT3. "There’s definitely a lot of speed
left in the car," says Peter. "It’s still on the standard suspension and the
diff should be tightened up a bit – I think these changes would make a huge
difference."
Those glamour-boy GT3s will really need to watch out next time
‘round!
Contact:
Fitzgerald Racing Services +61 3 9897 1555
|