Veyron-killing Porsche convertible

[Landshark]

this is a good, funny article.

i want to drive it. BAAAAAAD!







http://cars.uk.msn.com/Reviews/artic...mentid=5448177

July 05 2007
What: 9ff TRC-91
Where: Dortmund, Germany
Price: £250,000
Available: Now
Key rivals: Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda F, Porsche Carrera GT, Harrier Jump Jet
Summary
Intimidating speed from the world’s fastest Cabriolet, but this is no 911
Likes: Crazy, rocket-ship performance, surprisingly smooth power delivery, the faces of frightened children.
Dislikes: ASBO exhaust, near dangerous acceleration, inevitable driving ban and prison.
GALLERY: Porsche 9ff
First impressions

Click images to enlarge, more below
At first glance this would appear a mildly tuned 911 Turbo Cabriolet: it isn’t. This is the 910bhp 9ff TRC-91, created by Jan Fatthauer’s company in Dortmund and it is destined to become the World’s fastest soft top as the 996 version cracked 236mph not so long ago. Driving that one led to police questioning, and this one is quicker. This is tuning gone mad, as the 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet, the softest car in the line-up, can now stay with a Veyron, Zonda and anything short of a Formula One car, but it is a weekend warrior rather than the every day sportscar it once was.

As the sumptuous looking 911 Cabriolet in a flip colour with dark purple at its core is rolled into the forecourt I’m absorbed by the details: the big rear wing designed to press the car to the deck, the floor-hugging splitter and the decals. It’s aggressive, but expertly finished and with no real hint of things to come. Then, after a few final checks, the engine explodes into life, sending flames gushing from the exhaust, shattering any lingering doubts that bystanders may have had as to whether this was merely a cosmetic makeover.

A blip on the detonator, or throttle as it is commonly called, sends an arc of fire like Icarus across the sky. There is no burble on the over-run, it’s a rifle crack, this will not be a normal test drive. It’s a customer’s car, too. The substantial Scot is waiting in a nearby hotel to take his car home to Marbella when we’re done. I am also the second person ever to drive the car, as the development engineer finished his final test drive as I rolled up for the morning’s fun.
Performance

A Porsche Turbo is fast, very fast, but this is a car with as near as makes no difference double the horsepower. So flattening the throttle at any speed, at any revs delivers a sledgehammer to the back as the whole car lurches towards the horizon as if someone has pressed Fast Forward on life. Only those that have driven the Veyron can understand. That 910bhp results in a 0-62mph figure in the 2.5s region, which is superbike fast and the sheer violence of the forward motion is the stuff that war books are made of.

The car bounces off the four-wheel drive system and traction control like an ADD-afflicted child off Starbucks’ walls and the electronic speedo flickers mercilessly on the upward scale. Within five seconds I have flown past 100mph, snatching second gear in a heartbeat thanks to a short-shift kit on the manual ‘box fitted with cables from the FIA GT racing car and a few moments later I lift off somewhere North of 150mph. Then I breathe, for the very first time, as the gun blast from the exhaust shocks my system into letting go. Quite how fast this car will go has yet to be ascertained, even the derestricted Autobahn is no place for such shenanigans.

Based on the 996 version’s 236mph top end, though, it’s fair to say there was 240mph+ underneath my right foot. That’s with the wind in your hair – although bugs would be like bullets at that speed. Mosquitoes may be the world’s most dangerous animals, but 9ff has made them killers even in Germany. Inevitably almost everything under the skin has been uprated, from the engine that has been bored out to four litres, to the beefed up clutch and the limited slip differentials applied to each wheel to contain the outrageous power. This car is a mobile science lesson and the only original part in the engine is the block itself.
Ride and handling

Considering the sheer, mind-numbing speed on offer, this machine is a bone fide miracle round town. Fitted with standard seats it’s remarkably comfortable and it’s simple to keep the violence to a bare minimum with the gentlest touch on the hair-trigger throttle. Beneath 3000rpm it’s user-friendly, when treated with the utmost respect. Porsche’s adjustable suspension (PASM) has been left unaffected and the car can ride high or hunker down for the hardcore thrills. But while it never actually hurt me the threat of pain was ever-present.

It’s like twirling a hand grenade by the pin - even a sneeze could spell big trouble. Handling, though, is impeccable. It’s lower than the Porsche, fitted with monster tyres and comes with one of the world’s best four-wheel drive systems modified to cope with the ponies. Take care, drive it well and 9ff’s Frankenstein will leave almost anything on a winding road. It might punish clumsiness, but with the power on tap the natural control of the chassis is simply phenomenal.
Interior

Inside, this is a Porsche 911, nothing more, nothing less. It’s clean, simple, a little drab for a beast that can create this kind of mayhem, but then everything you’ll ever need is at your fingertips and stitched together so well plastic surgeons could take lessons. Some tuners will try and sell interior packs with everything from gold lame seat covers to drinks cabinets, but 9ff exists to make Porsches faster and has no interest in cosmetics for their own sake.
Economy
Forget it. Fatthauer doesn’t worry too much about such things, but bank on less than 10mpg on a combined cycle and maybe 3 if you’re pushing it. As for the emissions, simply don’t tell the Carbon Trust and everything will be OK.
Practicality & safety

Blessed with the 911’s shell, this car has been crash-tested a million times and come up trumps. It’s practical too, in some ways. A little space has been lost at the front to bigger pumps, but not much and there’s still a lot of luggage space. But then the noise comes into things, and the non-existent economy, and the fact that this engine is tuned to race car levels. The company is proud of the fact that its cars use no more oil than the original 911 and some owners do 10,000 miles or more in a year. But this is no Mondeo and constant short trips would do it no good, it’s a weekend warrior and it’s pointless pretending otherwise.
The MSN Cars verdict: 5/5