Paul Stephens

Porsche 911 3.5 Supersport Turbo - £44,995 

The 3.2 Carrera Supersport as standard is a handsome machine. It is the model that began Porsche's tradition of putting normally aspirated power plants into a Turbo body with Turbo suspension and brakes. 

Each version has gone on to be the most desirable of the normal series production NA 911s, from this car right up to the current 991 S. 

Porsche began experimenting with turbocharging technology on their race cars during the late 1960s, and in 1972 began development on a turbocharged version of the 911. Porsche originally needed to produce the car in order to comply with homologation regulations and had intended on marketing it as a street legal race vehicle like the 1973 Carrera 2.7 RS. 

When the homologation rules changed, Porsche continued to develop the car anyway, deciding to make it a fully equipped variant of the 911 that would top the model range and give Porsche a more direct competitor to vehicles from Ferrari and Lamborghini, which were more expensive and more exclusive than the standard 911. Although Porsche no longer needed the car to meet homologation requirements, it proved a viable platform for racing vehicles, and became the basis for the 934 and 935 race cars. Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche, who was running the company at the time, handed development of the vehicle over to Ernst Fuhrmann, who adapted the turbo-technology originally developed for the 917/30 CAN-AM car to the 3.0 litre flat-six from the Carrera RS 3.0, creating what Porsche internally dubbed as 930. Total output from the engine was 260 PS (191 kW; 256 hp), much more than the standard Carrera. In order to ensure that the platform could make the most of the higher power output, a revised suspension, larger brakes and stronger gearbox became part of the package, although some consumers were unhappy with Porsche's use of a 4-speed whilst a 5-speed manual was available in the "lesser" Carrera. A "Whale tail" rear spoiler was installed to help vent more air to the engine and help create more downforce at the rear of the vehicle, and wider rear wheels with upgraded tires combined with flared wheelarches were added to increase the 911's width and grip, making it more stable. 

Porsche made its first and most significant upgrades to the 930 for 1978, enlarging the engine to 3.3 litres and adding an air-to-air intercooler. By cooling the pressurised air charge, the intercooler helped increase power output to 300 hp (DIN); the rear 'whale tail' spoiler was re-profiled and raised slightly to make room for the intercooler. Porsche also upgraded the brakes to units similar to those found on the 917 racecar. 

A quick look at this car, as with all Supersport and now S models, can trick the eye into believing they are all Turbo's, with their bulbous arches and wider stance a Turbo badge added would confuse many. 

This car however began life as a humble Supersport model, it looked, cornered, rode and stopped like a Turbo, but accelerated like a regular Carrera. 

Early on in its life it was uprated with the addition of a Supercharger, this however never performed satisfactorily, so in 1996 it was presented to Bob Watson who said the only way forward to include reliability was by Turbocharging like in the 930.

By choosing Oxford based specialist Bob Watson to build this new engine, doors opened to further enhance and increase the performance of the factory 3.2 base unit. So much so it could now easily be built to reliably produce more Bhp than any 930.    

A mind boggling 600Bhp could be now be achieved, which was all well and good, but it had to be balanced with reliability so the middle road was taken to achieve an all round package. 

In effect the engine was fully blue printed, still based around the original matching numbers block many parts were renewed and uprated. 

A considerable amount of 930 hardware was added including crankcases, lightened and balanced crankshaft, conrods and oil pump. 

Mahle cylinder barrels and pistons were fitted, bringing capacity up to 3.5 litres, while the cylinder head ports were polished, the injectors upgraded to Bosch 550's, and a KKK 27/29 turbocharger giving 1.3 bar of boost was installed as was a 962 wastegate. The ECU and custom loom are from UK based MBC, the car is also fitted with 934 headers and a 935 electronically programmable boost gauge set to 0.9 bar.

A custom made intercooler and bespoke rear spoiler, finished off a comprehensive package meaning the car now produces a very healthy and reliable 477Bhp and 418lbft, just under 180bhp or 60 percent more power than a standard 3.3 930.

To harness all this new found power, the car was fitted with an RS clutch and flywheel, and the G50 5 speed gearbox was treated to a limited slip differential set to 60 percent. 

Hidden behind the lightweight RUF wheels are 930 Turbo spec brakes (Similar to those found on the 917)these were considered sufficient, but the suspension units were replaced with items from bilstein, an anti roll bar and front/rear torsion bar upgrades have transformed the handling and finished off the way this spectacular car now handles.

There are numerous other modifications that have been carried out during and since the initial conversion, in excess of £70,000 has been spent over the years creating this one off and rather special wide bodied 911.

The car is in stunning condition throughout and a testament to its previous owners, all backed up with a comprehensive service history, not to mention the stacks of bills and receipts detailing all of the upgrades. 

For further information about this and our other fine Porsche, please do feel free to contact us and discuss your next purchase. 

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