Making the 718 GT4 Faster: Part 5

Well folks, it has been a while since our last 718 GT4 update. It's been a busy summer! We have some updates to share on the aerodynamic testing, some fine tuning of the suspension setup, and we bid a fond farewell to the 718 GT4 to make room for the Lab Rat 2.0...

Psst.... there's a discount somewhere down below, so make sure to read the whole post carefully!

To do a quick recap of our previous installments:

We started by testing the car in stock trim on the track, on the dyno, and using CFD software to get a sense of what the car’s strengths and weaknesses were. The platform proved to be robust, as I’m sure many of you know. The 718 displayed similar handling characteristics of the 981, with a bit more balance, but still trending toward understeer. The car made much more power than we expected, putting down 400whp on our Dynapack chassis dyno!

We 3D-scanned the whole car and dove in. We added suspension arms with spherical bearings from E-Motion Engineering, 2-Way remote reservoir dampers and springs from Motion Control Suspension and uprated brakes from AP Racing in the form of their RADI-Cal kit.

The car was very potent with these first improvements. We took to the track to dial in the setup while the remaining parts were in development. After a few sessions, turning knobs and twisting dials, we had worked through the range on the dampers, played with the sway bars, and factory aero adjustments. It was reassuring to find that we could dial in the GT4’s behavior to suit whoever was driving. Want it loose and fast? We’ve got that. Want it stable and sweet? We’ve got that too. 

The next outing saw the addition of our Street Header package. This replaced everything but the OE muffler, and gave us an excellent boost in performance and sound. The 30 wheel-horsepower we saw on the dyno was immediately noticeable on the track (right foot must be judicious!). We later tested the Inconel Megaphone Muffler Delete (“Crack Pretzel”) and found a subtle increase in power, and a ridiculous increase in noise (not for the faint of heart!). It sure makes an exotic, high-pitched wail though.

 The dashed line is the 718 GT4 stock, the dotted is with our Street Header package.

The next step was to test fit and finalize the work from our friends at Verus Engineering. Using our 3D model, Verus worked up some designs that we dialed in on the car. We had initially tested the Swan Neck wing that we’ve had great success with on the 981 GT4. The wing bolted up perfectly, but the front end lacked the grip to retain a balanced platform.