Daily Slideshow: SharkWerks 964 Tweaks a Modern Classic

Sacred Heart

With its unique position as the penultimate air-cooled 911, and the final 911-looking 911 by virtue of it's presumably aerodynamically-compromised but oh-so-right headlight-to-fender treatment, the 964 stakes out a special place in the breast of Porsche aficionados. The folks at Singer aren't idiots and they know 964s are the 911s to use in order to combine the look of the first Carreras with the performance of modern Porsches—but not everyone has the budget for a Singer, and there are plenty of other tuners out there.

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Into the Breech

One such tuner is Freemont, California's SharkWerks, who've been purveying their "expertise in creating dialed-in, tweaked-out modern Porsches" since 2005. SharkWerks sells their own line of lightened flywheels, wheel spacer kits, and especially exhaust systems, and has had a couple of their builds featured on Jay Leno's Garage, including Magnus Walker's 2008 Porsche 997 GT2. The 24-years-young Porsche you see here is a more subdued and stealthy update than a rolling billboard, as we'll see in a minute.

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The Move

But first, we need to talk about Kevin the headlight bezels. Hey, we get what they are trying to do, it's cool to be different and to add a little polish, but on this particular 911 those trim rings stand out like a gold chain worn over a business suit. Even worse, they clash with the blacked-out window-trim treatment Porsche gave the car for their color/absence of color scheme. Maybe SharkWerks had substituted chromed/polished window frames, added polished Fuchs, or even a retro-style shiny metal bumper treatment to continue the theme... but as it sits this 964 looks like it tried on a flashy pair of glasses and forgot to take them off.

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The Build

Turning to tuning, SharkWerks coaxed 35 additional horsepower from the flat-six through the use of an SCS Delta ECU in place of the original unit, and with the help of Stewart Taylor of ST Systems, who was enlisted to help on this project. The ECU reportedly helps get the 964 off the line with ease, despite the lightened flywheel affixed to the 964's crankshaft. Other goodies include SharkWerk's semi-solid RS-style engine mounts and Brembo brake calipers. 

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The Experience

Twenty-four years is a long time, and although the 964 is a fine handling automobile, even today, a little lowering and slight stiffening weren't unwelcome. Towards those ends, SharkWerks traded the stock suspension pieces for adjustable Bilstein PSS10 coil-overs and beefier adjustable sway bars that also reportedly yield improved feel out on the road. SharkWerks again called for assistance on the suspension tune, this time recruiting Tony from Campbell, California's TC Design, an outfit known for their on-track efforts. From the pilot's position, in recovered Recaros, the feel of the 964 is still very much Porsche, albeit an updated version for today's drivers. SharkWerks shows what they can do in an enhanced daily-driver—just check your headlights before you drive it home.

>>Join the conversation about this Sharkwerks 964 right here in the Rennlist Forum!

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