UPDATE: Rarest of all Porsche 9ff GT9-R is the prototype, which 9ff has just listed for sale on JamesList for $1,128,647.
Porsche 9ff GT9 R
Speed is the name of the game for the custom-car specialists at Dortmund-based 9ff headed by Jan Fatthauer. Their latest target is no less than the world speed record for a series-produced vehicle approved for the road. To this end, 9ff has developed a new superfast sports car with an engine boasting 1,120 BHP and 1,050 Nm – the 9ff GT9-R.
Porsche 9ff GT9R is the antithesis to the perfectly mannered Bugatti Veyron. With flames coming from its twin-turbo 1,120-horsepower engine, the rear-wheel-drive 9ff GT9R could be the Veyron’s drunken, bar-brawling cousin. It judders at low revs, spits, snarls and jumps through town and slides without a moment’s warning. And yet despite its lack of finesse, the GT9R will smash through the 60 mph mark in 2.9 seconds, reach 186 mph in 15.8 seconds and blast past a Veyron with ease.
Porsche 9ff GT9 R
The whole bodywork is made of carbon and kevlar fibre with a roof in transparent carbon fibre. Visually, the 9ff GT9-R parts from the GT9 at the front with features such as broader air intakes and a new front spoiler, with modified air intakes appearing to the side and more intakes towards the front of the wing. Other than that, 9ff has integrated the fins and tail pipe of the new side-pipe exhausts into the side skirts.
The front structure of the GT9R comes from a Porsche 911 GT3. This is mated to a space-frame chassis inspired by Porsche’s 1995 GT1 racing car, and it’s far from the stretched GT3 that other reports have suggested. The engine starts out as the block of a 996-model 911 Turbo, then it’s bored out to four liters, the cylinder bores are plasma-coated and finally forged pistons are fitted. Twin Garrett T35 turbochargers complete the package. Four engines detonated during testing to find the right mixture of Nikasil and carbon for the cylinder coating, but such a thing seems inevitable when the stress of 300 hp per liter is involved.
Porsche 9ff GT9 R
The roof is a key element in the GT9R’s slippery aerodynamics, and it’s a single piece of carbon-fiber right down to the pillars. It’s ironic that the whole platform sits on a floor of plywood. Fatthauer simply couldn’t match the strength, light weight and pure functionality of wood even with exotic carbon-fiber, and it’s refreshing to see someone admit that high tech isn’t always the best solution.
Porsche 9ff GT9 R
The interior of the GT9R still needs some updating, as the 996-model 911 dashboard that sits in this car simply isn’t good enough. Fatthauer has developed a cleaner, Cayman-style dash with an electronic control screen that should sit far better, and the customers will, of course, be able to specify every level of fit and finish — from pure luxury to a stripped-out racing cockpit clad in carbon-fiber that should save 110 pounds off the overall weight of 3,086 pounds.
Although intended for use on a race track, the GT9-R (like the marginally less extreme GT9 before it) is fully street legal (in Europe, at least), and will cost nearly $980,000 in its most expensive form. Make sure you’ve got enough left over for gas and tires.
Porsche 9ff GT9 R
Porsche 9ff GT9 R
Porsche 9ff GT9 R
