Liberty Walk has no qualms about cutting up new, six-figure exotic sports cars to restyle their bodies. Their latest creative remake is their first-ever Liberty Walk Porsche, the product of a collaboration among BBI Autosport, CSF Cooling, and Liberty Walk for the 2014 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show to prove that Liberty Walk cars can impress with performance as well as appearance. The Porsche 997 was perfect for the collaboration. BBI builds and tunes some of the fastest, and the 997 is the latest high-end European sports car to get the LW treatment. Add CSF racing for cooling support for a splendid construction.
A Straightforward Remake
Some SEMA Show projects involve lots of trials and errors, but this one was fairly straightforward. BBI tuning can claim some credit for that result. A standard 997 Turbo is no car to despise, but BBI knows how to make the best even better, and this project is now a model for future endeavors.
Liberty Walk Porsche Performance Tuning
“We wanted to see how hard we could push this new engine, learn what our future of tuning this new breed of 911s would look like. Our biggest challenge was to de-tune the power and sneak up on possible limits in fuelling or weak links in hardware.”
BBI Autosport
In the end, the car sent 688 horsepower to the wheels and could send more, but the car design is for street use running stock parts, so BBI doesn’t aim yet looking to exceed 700.
Liberty Walk Porsche Body and Suspension
CSF’s job on the project was to assure reliability from their racing-specification, three-piece radiator kit custom designed for the 997. Not for the first time did BBI and CSF join forces at LW, where many projects have made use of CSF racing radiators. At SEMA, CSF made its fifth annual appearance in 2014 with the radical 997 project that symbolized the strongly cooperative relationship with BBI, which replaced the stock factory sunroof for more rigidity with a lighter carbon-fiber roof panel. BBI also installed a half-cage kit for additional body stiffness and passenger safety. Suspension is by a BBI Stage III package with adjustable dampers, Swift springs, BBI upper, and Porsche’s RennSport Rennwagen (RSR) lower control arms.
The Wide Body Arrives
While testing and tuning proceeded at BBI in Southern California, LW in Japan finished the wide body kit and sent the parts across the ocean for assembly in the USA. As LW had reached out to BBI for input on the kit’s looks and functions, the natural result was to fit the first kits on BBI project cars, including the Liberty Walk Porsche.
More to Come
Looks are always in the eyes of subjective beholders, but the widened fenders match very compatibly with the 997’s classically simple lines and very differently from the fits on the more complex contours of the LW Lamborghinis and Ferraris. The 997 Turbo design may be the most cohesive Liberty Walk car yet. Wheels and tires look good in filling the widened bodywork without sacrificing any of the traction that a 700-horsepower street and track machine needs. BBI took an extra step here by installing a Motorsport GT3 RSR center-lock hub conversion. The wheels measure 18 by 10.5 inches in front and 18 by 13 in the rear. The Liberty Walk Porsche has proven performance at 197 miles per hour at the Texas Mile, and BBI says expect more to come.
Get Yours Now
CSF produces world-leading Porsche radiators for many models. Check out our Porsche cooling solutions now and get your wheels outfitted with the coolest racing radiators on the planet. Hungry for more? Speedhunters did a great article on the Liberty Walk Porsche, as well as running through the dyno tests with us.
What did you think about our collaboration on the Liberty Walk Porsche? Let us know in the comments!
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