1996 Autothority Stage III 911 Turbo
Cool and confident, but geared for the autobahn

Most participants arrive at a supertuner shootout like this with a diesel dualie pickup pulling a big trailer outfitted like a Snap-on catalog and attended by a retinue of wrench turners. And those wrenches get used-sometimes a lot. Autothority, by contrast, simply put us in touch with a local owner, Melvin Baggs, who happily handed over the keys to his gorgeous 993-vin- tage 911 Turbo He joined us at the track-without tools or trailers or Autothority backup-just to watch and enjoy the heat and humidity. This "What, me worry?" attitude worked fine, as the 911 ran like a Zuffenhausen clock throughout the two-day event, garnering top scores In drivability and durability. This car felt truest to its roots (read: least compromised by its modifications). The donor car's appearance was virtually unchanged inside and out, and the mods simply amplified the character of the exuberant 400 hp that came in this 1996 air-cooled 911 Turbo.

Under the cramped rear hood, Autothority wedges GT2-style higher-capacity turbos, plus the attendant hardware and software upgrades to best exploit them. As we received it, the system was set up to deliver boost of 12.0 psi, although short bursts of additional pressure could be dialed up from the cockpit. A high-flow exhaust and a lightened flywheel round out the Stage III engine mods, but our test car also had the optional oversize intercoolers. The two 11-by-11-by-4.5-inch boxes fill nearly every cubic centimeter of air space between the stock wing and the engine and are said to be half as restrictive as the stock ones, boosting output from the Stage 111's 607 horsepower to a claimed 626.

The limited-slip rear differential was upgraded to GT-2 racing spec to manage the additional twist, and a Porsche Carrera Cup/GT-2 suspension kit comes packaged with the Stage III upgrade to ensure that the suspension can keep up with the engine. Beyond that,a simple upgrade to Porterfield brake pads pretty much rounds out this $158,630 package.

Among the eagles gathered for this festival of frantic driving, this was the one most of us would choose for a lunch run to Washington, D.C. The suspension mods sharpen the ride, and the adjustable camber plates at each comer were set up for best turn-in bite, which made the car a bit darty over some stretches,but it felt like the limo of the group. At the track, the 911's all-wheel drive proved peerless for launching on the rather slick asphalt, as evidenced by the 3.9-second O-to-60 time-best of the bunch. At the quarter-mile mark, however, the PFS RX-7 and the Lingenfelter Corvette were all hooked up and edging past the Porsche, and by the entrance to the road course the 911 was in third place. Nimble handling and all-wheel drive helped the 911 get out of the road course 2.8 seconds ahead of the muscle-bound Lingenfelter Corvette, but as Webster pointed its blocky bodywork into the 15-mph head wind and started climbing through its tall autobahn gearing, the race was over. (That wind probably explains why the stock 911 Turbo, tested on a calm day, kept pace with the Autothority car after the road course.) Top speed on the straightaway was just 130 mph, from which it came to a halt 593 feet later in fourth place overall. But as Pund put it in the logbook, "This is the only real car here." And real cars don't need constant wrenching.