Porsche first offered the 911 in hard-core GT3 RS guise in the first-generation water-cooled model, designated 996. Gunther Werks apparently wondered what a GT3 RS built off the 911 generation immediately before the 996—you know, the 993, the last air-cooled 911—would be like. After seeing their answer, the 400R, we’re thinking there really should have been a 993 GT3 RS.
Gunther Werks had 400R serial number 00 on display at the 2017 SEMA show, noting that it plans to build another 25 for customers. Here’s what those lucky few will get, after either providing a 993 Carrera 2 of their own or paying GW to find one to start with (and paying at least $525,000 for the finished product):
The car is stripped down to its steel body shell and its engine removed. Gunther Werks then squares up the track width front and rear to mitigate what it describes as the 993’s signature understeer, using stock front-suspension mounting locations 1.2 inches outboard of the factory setting used by Porsche race teams. It then crafts new carbon-fiber fenders, primary bodywork, bumpers, hood, rear decklid and spoiler, and roof panel around the wider platform. The doors remain steel, as they incorporate the stock side-impact beams.
Beyond the lightweight bodywork, Gunther Works goes to town on the 911’s air-cooled flat-six and transmission—again inspired by Porsche’s modern-day GT3 RS treatment. Only the crankcase is retained, as the engine gains all-new heads, Mahle pistons, a water-cooled 4.0-liter flat-six’s crankshaft, Camillo rods, and a GT3 oil pump. To cut horsepower losses to the stock accessory drives powering the hydraulic power-steering pump and the air-conditioning compressor, those two drives are yanked from the engine bay; GW switches both pumps to electric units and relocates them to the front of the car. The result is extra displacement (a full 4.0 liters, just like today’s car), a 7800-rpm redline, and, in the car’s custom-tuned Sport mode, 431 horsepower and 315 lb-ft of torque. A Quiet mode lops 30 horsepower from that figure and switches the borrowed 997-generation GT3 RS’s dual-mode exhaust to its more muffled setting.
Other enhancements include an additional oil cooler, a carbon-fiber intake plenum modeled after a later water-cooled GT3 RS unit, and new gear ratios for the six-speed manual transmission. Due to the extra power, Gunther Werks actually raises the first-gear ratio and tightens up the remaining five forward gear ratios; sixth gear is slightly shorter than stock, falling between the stock car’s fifth and sixth. Performance, as you might expect, is said to be as breathtaking as the car’s sound. At only 2670 pounds, the 400R has an insane power-to-weight ratio. There are also several modern touches, among them a front-axle lift feature for clearing steep driveways, the aforementioned Sport mode—which didn’t exist on the original 993—and newer suspension components.
The car on display at SEMA is, overall, incredible, skipping the pretty-thing pretense of Singer’s intricately detailed restomod 911s for a focus on balls-out performance inspired by a car that never existed. This car, based on a 1995 Porsche 911, is for GW’s own development and fun time. Only 25 more will be built to individual customers’ specifications. If you have half a million dollars and a spare 993 sitting around, this seems like a great way to combine the two.
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