RESTO MAD!

Re-engineering a 996 Carrera with a 991 engine and a chassis to match made no financial sense whatsoever, and Jethro Bovingdon couldn't be happier

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IT STARTED WITH A LITTLE MISFIRE. My Porsche 996 was in daily service at the time and it idled beautifully, delivered strong mid-range torque, didn't burn a drop of oil and sounded great. But at about 6500rpm it would stutter and go flat, then labour to the red line. I changed coil packs, lambda sensors and all the easy, little stuff. The misfire lessened slightly but it was still there. It was annoying but not disastrous. So I soldiered on for a few busy weeks and several hundred miles, a sense of dread hanging over me but optimism, too. How could it pull like a train in the mid-range if there was something seriously wrong?

Of course, there was something seriously wrong. Something that would require a strip-down to fully diagnose. At which point you're into a rebuild and the slippery slope to financial ruin. But then options open up, and so many of them for 996 owners thanks to the entire industry that's grown up around repairing some of the maladies of the M96 engine. The most prolific engineering company repairing, enlarging and improving these engines is Hartech, based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. A 3.7-litre upgrade with Nikasil cylinder liners seemed a good plan. Then I decided the impossibly rare 3.4-litre M96 with the optional X51 Powerkit would suit my needs more. Less torque but more revs. Porsche Classic could help... but the price was eye-watering.