50 Years of 911s No.4---The 9ff GT9---Terrifying Monster.

‘Terrifyingly Fast.’ There really is no other way to describe it. The 9ff GT9 is a car that’s all about numbers, and what kind of numbers? I’ll tell you. 0-60 mph? 4.2 seconds(3.1 in VMAX form). 0-186, 17.6 seconds, or nearly a Second quicker than a Veyron. And from 120-186? How much quicker was it than a Bugatti Bloody Veyron? 2.6 seconds. In Chris Harris’ Own Words: ‘I’ve driven a Veyron before. That’s not possible. It’s not possible for a machine to be that much quicker!’ Top speed? In VMAX form, a breath-taking 271.54 MPH. That makes the VMAX the 24th fastest car in the world to 60mph, has the fourth best performance to weight ratio and is currently one of the fastest cars ever made. And has made the Holy Trinity look pointless. And guess what? Underneath, its a 911. The GT9 then, is a veritable table of massive numbers, a car that’ll happily redefine your expectations of what is even possible, and then some.

But you are probably wondering: How did this start? Well, I’m also here to answer that.

The story starts with a Man named Jan Fatthauer. Ever since he was a kid, he’s loved Porsches, not unlike Alois Ruf of Ruf Automobiles fame, and Out of that love grew the dream to build the fastest car in the world. But rather than just dreaming about it like most of us would, he’s gone all out to make that dream into a reality. And 9ff is really the reflection of that pursuit.
After training at Hamburg University as an engineer specialising in cars, engines and gearboxes, Jan worked at a few other notable German tuning companies, namely Brabus and RUF, before leaving to set up 9ff in 2001. Right from the very beginning, the vision for the company was to still make cars that looked like a 911. Ever since it started, its really specialized in tuning Porsche’s, quite like Gemballa or Ruf. But now, we have to move on to the car itself.

Its based on the 997 GT3. The engine is heavily modified, Twin-Turbocharged 4.0-Litre Flat-Six that, depending on configuration, produces anything from an already-spine-chilling 987 bhp, to an even more spine-chilling, 1120 bhp.

In its ‘normal’ GT9-spec, the 4.0 Flat-Six outputs, in Stage 1 tune, 738 bhp, in Stage 2, 987 bhp, and in Stage 3, a massive, 1120 bhp. But it isn’t just a quick ‘Turbos-To-Maximum-Pressure’ kind of tune, since it goes much, much deeper than that. A huge amount of strengthening work has gone into the engine. The block has been reinforced and internally polished, the forged pistons have a strengthening structure at their bases and the conrods are titanium. The valve-train has been beefed up, new camshafts and forged aluminium cylinder heads have been made in-house and the liquid-cooled turbochargers are fitted with what are really the finest bearings known to man. All that colossal energetic force is then transmitted to the soon-to-be-tortured rear 325/30 19-inch Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyres via a GT2 gearbox (fitted upside down) with race-car internals and a limited-slip diff. Front Tires? That’d be 235/35 ZR19’s. Or 19-inch, 235-section fronts. You’d think that the mentalists at 9ff would have left the engine in the back, but Oh no, they’ve placed in in the middle now, much like a 911 GT1 would have its engine placed, too. So, all you (manic) purists can sit right back down now, since it isn’t just rearranged for funzies.

The body itself? Its made of Carbon-Kevlar, and is stretched over spaceframe tubing. Otherwise, the Wheelbase is a whole Foot longer than usual, and the roofline has dropped some 12 centimetres. The whole car itself now weighs something like 1450 kilos(Fully-loaded, I think). Weight is also distributed 48:52, front and back respectively, which seems typical enough.

Its all well and good having that kind of power, but eventually you’ll need to stop. Never fear, as that’d be handled by what I’d assume to be Carbon Ceramics, with a 380mm front diameter, and a 350mm rear diameter, along with 6-piston calipers(All round , possibly), and ABS too. All this results in a top speed of around 254 mph. Faster than the original Veyron, but slower than the SSC Ultimate Aero TT, and the Veyron SuperSport. Already a good effort, though.

The interior of the car was been stripped out for less weight, and thus was very basic compared to a standard 911 Turbo. But, in some twist of fate, All GT9s had blue leather, square patterned trim, with a roll cage for safety.
9ff stated that only 150 GT9s would be produced, and only 20 of those would have the most powerful engine. Prices ranged between £150,000 and £540,000 depending on engine and options,with all of them already sold.

The figures of this are already insane: Take note, these are Evo UK’s figures:

0-60 takes 4.2 seconds.
0-100 takes 8.5.
0-120 is 10.3.
But the most shocking one? 0-200, takes 24.02 seconds, or two tenths faster than a Original Veyron.

But apparently that wasn’t enough for 9ff. They then brought out the GT9-R. Over the original, it has a new front splitter and rear diffuser, and looks a bit less like a dangerous bar of soap. Owners of the plain GT9 could have the ‘R’ package (which also includes an uprated cooling arrangement and a side-outlet exhaust system) retro fitted, and, should they find it all a bit too extreme, removed again. Also, somehow, someway, the mad engineers seem to have used the Stage 3 tune, which gives 1120 bhp and 774 lb-ft out of that same 4.0 Twin-Turbo Flat-Six that already has more than enough power in Any guise. It really seems as though 9ff caters to people who don’t quite comprehend the meaning of the word ‘enough’, doesn’t it? 9ff also claimed a 2.9 second 0-60, and a 260 mph top speed. 0-186 mph, would be done in something under 16 seconds, they also claimed. Only 20 of these Terrifying monsters were ever made.

But now, there’s one more I might need to cover. The GT9-CS, or GT9-ClubSport. A One-Off made for a customer that wanted a GT9 with good looks and the ability to hold its own out-on-track, it used the Stage 1, 3.6-litre Twin-Turbo, 738 bhp set-up instead of the Stage 2 or 3 Tunes.

Somehow, someway, the mentalists at 9ff somehow managed to decrease the CS’s weight by 86 kilos over the original’s already-not-porky-1450-ish-kilos. Judging by the pictures, this seems to be down to the fact that they stripped the car out even more, having changed the dash, deleted the centre console, and pretty much all the leather. Otherwise, there was a new rear wing, revised splitters and diffusers, and also a revised set of air intakes. Compared with the original, it also has even-wider bodywork, and an even wider set of tyres, with rears measuring at 345/30 Michelin Pilot Sport cups. Basically, the tyres are wider by 20 mm. Each. End. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the way the CS looks. I’d love to buy one.

But there’s still the VMAX. I’m saying it here, this is instantly one of the most insane 911s I have ever, ever laid eyes on. I thought Ruf’s CTR3 was already insane enough, but this is just on a whole new level. The 4.0 engine has been injected with another dose of Automotive Steroids, as power is now peaking at 1381 bhp, though that’s also courtesy of the fact that it’s been bored out to 4.2 litres. The open rear end of earlier GT9 cars was replaced with some sculptural, curving tail with a lip spoiler, with the body’s aero refined in the Audi wind tunnel to bring the drag coefficient down to 0.265. The wheels have also been redesigned, specially designed and constructed for the VMAX for maximum aero efficiency; the rims are a solid-looking 9″×19″ at the front.At the rears? 12.5″×20″. The boots themselves are bespoke items from Continental, measuring 255-section at the front, and 335 at the rear. The interior isn’t as stripped as the CS, but still, its been put on a crash diet, for sure. Now, it has a kerbweight of 1340 kilos. The Garrett Turbos themselves, though not enormous, are already producing 2 bars worth of boost. As a result, they deliver maximum power at 7,950rpm and maximum torque at 5,600 rpm.

But the figures? They’re bloody insane:
0-60 mph takes 3.1 seconds.
0-120 takes 6.8 seconds.
0-186 takes 13 seconds, Dead.
And top speed? 271.54 mph. The figures, are just insane.

Originally revealed at 2012’s Essen Motor Show, pretty much the same place Jan reveals ever single 9ff GT9, it was advertised at 540 000 Euros. I don’t know how many were made, and where they/it(Only if they made one, of course) went, but hopefully, they went to people who’d actually drive them. And hard.

….And that’s about it. All I have for the 9ff GT9. To me, this now stands as the most insane 911, and will remain so for quite some time to come. Hell, this might become my favorite 911-based car soon enough. This is, if I remember correctly, as of today, 23rd of April, 2017, the single-most insane car I have ever covered. And might remain so for some time to come.

….Anyways, Feel free to leave more information, overlooked details, your thoughts on this Monster, suggestions for the next article down in the comments below, and I hoped you enjoyed it.

See you at the next one.

[Writers’ Note: If you’re here, then again, thanks for sticking around. The support all of you have shown is….Insane, to say the least. No matter how you’ve contributed, be it upvoting, commenting or otherwise, thank you for giving me the motivation to make all of these articles.

Now, the 9ff. This came as a suggestion from one of CT’s best story writers so far, VroomVroom. Right after I posted on the Koenig Specials 930, in either the WhatsApp CTzens Unite group, or in the comments, he asked me to cover it as the next installment of this series. Of course, I accepted. And now, here we are. After nearly 2 hours of writing and research, finding pictures and the like, my completed article. Honestly, one of the three cars in my ideal 3-car garage has just changed.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next article, Leave whatever I’ve mentioned earlier down in the comments if needed, and if you’ll excuse me, I need to study for my upcoming tests.
Hoped you Enjoyed it, and I’ll see you at the next one.

Thanks Again—-Joel.]