When Porsche’s GT1 race cars needed more power, Hanz Mezger delivered a masterpiece. Not only did he design the original engine for the Porsche 911, his revolutionary water-cooled flat six began life on the track and ended up on the street. That is why he was tapped to be a consultant on the latest project from Singer Vehicle Design. Rob Dickinson founded Singer to bring classic 1989 to 1994 (Porsche 964 series 911) cars into the modern era. The name is a nod to Norbert Singer, who led Porsche to 16 overall victories. If you haven’t seen a Singer 911 restoration in person, you are missing out on a masterpiece.
Every aspect of the cars is perfected. Instead of steel, the body is formed of carbon fiber, with power coming from a resto-modded 911 air-cooled engine. The original dimensions of the block and cylinders are good for 400 horsepower all day long. One of their return customers is 911 collector Scott Blattner, and he asked for something more. Considering the GT3 RS makes 500 naturally aspirated horsepower, Singer turned to Hanz Mezger and Williams for something new.
The new engine is 4.0 liters of perfection. Starting at the top, Mezger and Williams devised a carbon fiber intake that will replace the quarter windows. The tuned-length runners and resonators are designed for massive torque in the mid-range, and they work in conjunction with tuned headers made of Inconel. A perfect mix of fuel is provided by twin injectors. One fuel rail is aimed at the back of the intake valves and the other is upstream in the trumpet. This allows for efficiency and a perfect air/fuel ratio at all speeds.
Inside the crankcase, you will find titanium rods, priority oiling with twin feed circuits, four valves per cylinder and no water. The air-cooled beast makes 500 horsepower with a red line above 9,000 rpm. Computational Fluid Dynamics were used to create the perfect cooling fan to keep the beast reliable. No mention of price was made, but we suspect our publisher might be interested in retiring a certain leaky 2.4 liter in the Targa downstairs. Be sure to stay with us for all your Porsche news, and more updates from Singer Vehicle Design.