Intermeccanica in "Excellence"

If you have access to a September 2003 copy of "Excellence" (the Porsche magazine) be sure and read the very nice article they wrote about Intermeccanica, especially if you are thinking about buying a new Porsche replica. Henry's cars are as good as it gets.

George,
Look down 6 posts.
JL

Duh. Yeah. Also, the August 2003 issue of "Excellence" has an article on Dean Polopolus's SOHC 911 four cylinder engine.

I've ordered the kit from Dean for a 2004 engine project. Gotta decide if it's gonna be a turbo or Weber 48 IDA version. The turbo version is tempting (stone reliable 300 BHP engine) but the Weber version would be more of a "classic" approach (but only 200 to 220 BHP).

George, I too have wondered about the turbocharger option, it seems like a fairly inexpensive way to get a lot of hp. What in general would be the drawbacks???? I have been led to believe that a 140hp engine can be 280 with the turbo charging option. It really sounds to good to be true

Drawbacks to a turbo are that you MUST use premium parts (forged chrome-moly crankshaft and rods, forged pistons) properly blanced and correctly assembled with an ignition system that is set up for forced induction (retard on boost). Additional cooling will probably be required and premium fuel is a must. Best approach for a street (as opposed to race) car is usually a semi-mild engine build with around 8.0 to 1 compression running seven to eight pounds maximum boost. Power increase will normally be in the 50% range; for instance , if you build a 140 BHP engine and turbo it max power on boost will probably be around 230 BHP with a corresponding increase in torque.

It's important to build the engine correctly (camshaft and turbo size) to get the best all-around performance with little or no "turbo lag". Note that fuel injection works best with turbos, and "suck through" carburetor installations are less hassle than "blow through" installations. One problem with a replica is that there isn't much room for an air-to-air intercooler unless you fabricate a "whale tail" unit.

So when you see an option for FI and Turbo such as IM offers would I expect these items you mentioned to be a part of the price or do I need to do some of the thinking and specifications myself

Steven, Pat Downs at CB Performance builds Henry's turbo engines; Pat has built quite a few turbo type 1 engines for both racers and street cars. Thus any turbo engine you get as an option with a new IM should be correctly built and as reliable as possible for the given power output.

Longevity will depend on how you drive and service it but in any event a turbo engine will require some rebuild service before most normally aspirated performance engines.

Ok, I finally got around to reading the article in Excellence. First impression? It was great to have journalists with an open attitude to replicas. This article puts IM in a favorable light, one that is deserved. It also benefits all of us in our CMC, Beck, JPS, and VS REplica Speedsters.

One line I really liked was: "What do you call it? I call it a Speedster".

They seemed impressed with Down's CB 2110! But that slate grey cover car is on my mind, 24/7 now. Synchronicity, I think we have ALL seen that car in our dreams!

A keeper.

Jim Ward