Gunther Werks Turbo Review: Performance & Verdict — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:02] open the bonnet, you're not greeted to a normal 911 boot. Instead, you have these remote dampers here, and you can alter the rebound and compression damping when you're in track mode. It's also got blue tinged incanel exhaust, just like a

[00:16] Formula 1 car. And the air flax turbocharged engine sounds like this.

[00:30] mechanism for the six-speed manual gearbox. It's nice and tight. There's also this special button here which allows you to vary the power output from start off in comfort mode and apparently

[00:42] I have 550 horsepower. So, I am now going to launch it.

[01:02] What's he going to do over the half mile? This is fast. Let's have a look at the numbers. Going so fast. I was concentrating. I can see him pop up. Right. What we got? N 60 in 3.9 seconds. We have the quarter mile in

[01:14] 3.9 seconds. We have the quarter mile in 12.25 seconds and the half mile in 19.09 12.25 seconds and the half mile in 19.09 seconds with a trap speed of 141 mph. seconds with a trap speed of 141 mph. Now, let's go into sport mode.

[01:30] Oh god. Right there. The brakes. Okay, we got a problem. I've just pushed the brake pedal to the floor and I've got nothing. It's like the brakes have lost all compression. Like something's just burst from the brakes.

[01:45] I'm glad that didn't happen on that run. This sort of freak failure can happen on any car, especially development prototypes like this one. They're spots. So, gun to works can make the customer cars even tougher. I guess I

[01:58] Unfortunately, this meant I had to get the car fixed before I could do any more testing. And that brings you on to some annoying things about the Gunther Works pack, which includes this rear wing, you then can't open the engine cover fully

[02:12] to really show off your engine. Look, Nick, check out my engine. It's amazing. there. Just get in there. There we go. There we are. You can see it now. >> Yeah. Go on. you get. It's not ideal. >> This bit here is supposed to be wireless

[02:25] charging for your mobile phone, but we tried it. Various phones, put them in, and it doesn't seem to work. Also, when Nick did it when he removed his phone pulled it like that. He ended up cracking his screen. Oh, dear Nick. You

[02:39] the only storage area you really get in the car is this here. And you notice, look, look, we've got racing harnesses built into the car. Clearly, that's supposed to hold a helmet. So my crash helmet here, but you can't can't get it

[02:55] past the blooming roll cage. Really, it's only good for look just a rock sack for one person. You can actually run the air conditioning That's because it's not powered by the engine. It's actually powered by the

[03:10] you forget to turn it off, you're going to end up with a flat battery. And that before. Not ideal. Another annoying thing about this car is that we couldn't fix the brakes that day on location. So, it had to be shipped off again, get

[03:24] fixed, and here we are two weeks later. Giving it another go. The problem was a damaged brake line, which to be fair can happen to any car, especially one that's driven hard like this has been. Now though, I am going to drive it hard

[03:37] performance testing. But before then, you need to know what this car is all about. The Gunther Works Turbo is a bit like the hit album Autobarn by Craft Work, which has been digitally remastered in Dolby Atmos. It's as

[03:51] studio, re-recorded with a huge orchestra, then pressed out only 75 copies in gold instead of vinyl. The way this works is simple. You go and find yourself an old Porsche 911 993 generation. And then you hand it over to

[04:06] generation. And then you hand it over to Gunther Works along with 1.7 million and they turn it into this pack. The biggest change on this car is to the engine. So Gunther Works takes the 993s 3.6 L natural aspirated flat 6. Then they bore

[04:21] it out to 4 L, change all the internals. They fit it with two great big turbochargers which have these lovely water to air intercoolers on them. They also give it a new aircooled fan. Instead of it being mounted vertically

[04:34] like on the normal car, it's mounted horizontally like on Porsche's's old racing cars. I mean, just look at the engine bay is exquisite and the of which, let's continue with the performance testing. Right, so launch it

[04:48] quarter mile and over the half mile. This is what it did in comfort mode when turn the dial into sports mode. So, we now have 650 horsepower. Here we go.

[05:07] gears. Launch 63.45 seconds. Whoa. What's the quart mile going to be? 11.82. Keep going. The half mile.

[05:25] 18.3. Woo. Definitely quicker to 60. What was my truck speed? 151 miles an hour through the half mile. Now finally turn the dial all the way to the right. Go to track. I've got an

[05:40] extra 200 horsepower. 850 the maximum. What will happen now? Good launch. Whoa. 3.3 to 60.

[06:06] 17.25. Wa. And interestingly, I think it kind of run out of gears. What was the drop speed? Let's have a look. 162.7 mph. If

[06:18] performance figures side by side in each mode, then pause the video now to check the figures are so impressive for a car that is rear wheel drive is because as well as being very powerful, it's also remarkably light. So, it weighs in at

[06:32] 1,225 kg, which is 150 kg less than the donor 993. Obviously, that gives it a good power to weight ratio. In fact, it's got 700 brake horsepower per ton there or thereabouts. And this is how that

[06:45] compares to some other normal super cars. Impressive. Now, question is with braking. But does it? Let's find out. Right. So, I'm going to do a brake test run from 60 mph. Normal cars do about 35 m. Special sporty ones, maybe

[07:00] about 31, 32. Let's see what this does. You ready? brake pedal. You really have to use all your force. Okay, so 34 m. It's decent.

[07:16] was racing driver sand doing the that's what this car is about. It's about feels. It's about rawness. It's also about the way it makes you feel when you look at it. This car is

[07:29] absolutely stunning. I love it. Underneath the skin, you got your normal 993 steel chassis, but Gunther Works has widened the track front and rear. So, it matches that of a Porsche 911 993 turbo racing car. It's got so much presence

[07:43] done though is covered it in all new carbon fiber body panels. Just look at it. Everything is carbon fiber. Got proper carbon fiber arrow down here as well. Huge vent in there for the radiators. But fortunately, unlike the

[07:56] 93, you got modern headlights in it as well, so you'll be able to see well at night. Moving down the sides, you got thicker, wider tires than on a normal 93. You got magnesium wheels. This car has the upgraded carbon ceramic brakes.

[08:09] and everything, they're all real. There's no fakery. We have intricate sure what's going on with this. It looks like this one's and it's weathered a little bit. The one on the other side is actually fine. H. Anyhow, moving down

[08:23] the side. Well, I say every body panel is all new and carbon fiber on this particular car cuz it's a a prototype they've used for testing. They left the doors steel. Apparently, customer cars will have carbon fiber

[08:35] that. They should keep the steel doors because you get that lovely old school Porsche clunk sound when you shut it. If it's a light carbon fiber door, you're not going to get that. Anyhow, here on the rear horns, unlike the normal 993

[08:51] there, you got this big scoop like on a 991 or a 992. And the hips on this car are just so sexy, aren't they? You can tell I love it. I probably won't have it duct tail spoiler, but here around the back, obviously, they've redone the tail

[09:06] lights as well. Just blends the old with the new perfectly. And the same applies bit about Gun the Works, you'll understand more about this car and what they've tried to go for. So, the founder, Peter Nam, owned a car

[09:20] accessory company that does things like alloy wheels and carbon fiber body bits Gunter Works to do projects such as this. And that's why they focus main on than like loads of leather, it's all about lots of carbon. And it is really

[09:36] nice quality carbon fiber that just looks so natural in this car. Now, as you can see, it looks like a normal 911, just modernized and new. So, you still look around the steering wheel to see. But the way it's been built with like

[09:49] the lovely leather, the lovely carbon fiber, these door paws, which obviously you didn't get on a normal 993, just feel so good, so well made, but suit the well with just flashes of gold here, such as on these dials here. the feel of

[10:03] the switches for the suspension control there where you can go from soft, medium or hard setting. Everything just feels lovely and oh the switch gear as well. Yeah, you have the the same mechanism for opening the glove box which is kind

[10:15] of funny. The normal design of the stereo here, but you got the latest Porsche communication system in it. They're retro design you can fit to any 993 or old aircooled car as well. I love the seats. I've got to say these seats

[10:28] are so comfy yet so supportive and they look brilliant. And I love this two-tone complaint I have with this car. And I've fault with it. And it's just here that just just that bit of stitching there

[10:40] seems to just wander in ever so slightly by a millimeter or two. But I guess this is a a pre-production car, isn't it? This is not a customer car. So probably excuse them that. But other than that, nothing. It's It's just so glorious.

[10:54] Yeah, it's a bit me this. But would you be better off spending this kind of money on something more modern rather than a resto mod like this? I don't know. Need to drive it to find out. I've got to say I do not feel like I'm

[11:08] million. And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean as a compliment negative way. I mean as a compliment because I'm in an old 911 small compact car. I'm not intimidated. Just feel like free to enjoy it because actually when

[11:21] you think about it, everything about this does feel expensive. The gear shift feels expensive. The engine, the way it pulls feels expensive. Everything you touch and look at feels expensive. It really is quite a a bit of a mind

[11:37] all of that, you're just like, I'm just going to get on and enjoy it. And because it's small and compact, you really can have some fun in this car. The steering, it's meaty and feelsome and lovely. It's really handy being able

[11:52] to separate out the suspension from the driving modes. With the suspension in supple over bumps. And even when you not overly bumpy, but it does just make the car feel sharper. Things are quite

[12:05] loud in here because of the engine and all the carbon fiber and the noise just like reverberates around it like a sandbox. But it's an experience. You get feels from this car. And it's easy. It's familiar yet also unique. And really,

[12:19] this whole thing is such a beautiful blend of old and new. I can see why people love Retro Mods, cuz I love this thing. And, you know, with 550 horsepower, it's it's fast enough. I'll be happy with it like this. But, it's a

[12:32] bonus that I can turn the dial and go to sport and you feel just an extra bit of kick, especially when you put your foot down out of corner, you're on boost. Speaking of which, the engine has really good pickup. It's smooth. It's not laggy

[12:47] and it flies. The gearing's nice and short. So, you really feel the benefit of all the power unlike modern Porsches and their long gearing.

[13:02] 911. That's the benefit of old school 911s. That's the benefit of old school 911s. They're hit different. Whoa, it's wild. Right, that's sports mode. What happens

[13:15] if you're going to track this? Yeah, I don't think you need track for the road, but if you want it, you want to go wild, you can do it's just that little bit more in every

[13:29] department. Yeah, for the road. I actually quite like comfort. It just does it for me. In fact, this whole car just does it for me. I never thought I'd say this, but if I was the kind of person that, you know,

[13:41] could afford this kind of car or a hyper car, any kind of hyper car, this is a bit of me rather than some Bugatti or maybe some Koig said, well, I love those cars and I appreciate them. I've got a feeling that just going for a drive and

[13:53] going out and about, I will get more use out of this. I will get more miles out of it and so therefore more smiles out of it. And then it becomes between think the difference between this is it's just got a sportier edge because of

[14:08] racy. It's got a different vibe to it. Whereas a Singer is a bit more all about the aesthetic. It's like if Pagani did a 911. But this in some ways is more in 911. But this in some ways is more in keeping with a 911 which is functional,

[14:22] wellbuilt, and just pure driving thrills. comfort. Sport is where it's at. It's a sweet spot. You notice it actually when

[14:37] turn it, you can feel the pickup. Turn it again. You feel the pickup when you go to the different modes. That's wild. Yeah. Sport. Sport's the one for me. FYI, if you buy one of these cars, see, I always like to give useful consumer

[14:50] advice, even when dealing with things that cost 1.7 million. Obviously, this Gunther Works Turbo is completely unobtainable, but you can get a modern 911 for similar money to a brand new electric SUV because here on CarWow, I

[15:04] electric SUV because here on CarWow, I found a 92 generation Porsche 911 for £80,000 with just 20,000 mi on the clock. Obviously, if you're buying a to do a history check to make sure it hasn't got a dodgy past. And that's why

[15:17] I recommend using car vertical because here's a car vertical history check which has come back um with a bad report on another Porsche 911. Look, it's been probably wouldn't want to buy that car, would you? So, if you're buying a used

[15:31] car, make sure you do a car vertical history check and use the code car wow for 20% off. There's a link in the description of this video. So, then Works Turbo? Should you avoid it? Should you consider it? Should you shortlist

[15:43] and buy it? Well, if you got a couple of million to spend on a car and you want that you're super loaded and very, very wealthy, I wouldn't buy this. But if you want a car that you're going to look at yourself and think that looks gorgeous,

[15:57] I'm so glad I own it. And it's an absolute joy and a thrill and easy to drive, I say go right ahead and buy it. Well, of course, they've all sold out. verdict? If you had that kind of money to spend, would you buy one of these?

[16:12] Let me know in the comments. Also, if you'd like to see how this car's bigger brother, the Gunther Works F26, which has a 1000 horsepower, phases in a drag race, click on the video window to watch that video now. It'll blow your mind.

[16:24] make sure you subscribe to this channel if you haven't done so already and give if you haven't done so already and give us a like as well. See you next time.