2007 997 GT3RS SharkWerks Project ZKERMIT 3.9L HRE C-21 Wheels

SharkWerks took delivery of a green 2007 997 GT3RS project car in the summer of 2007 and ever since then has gone on to be known as "ZKERMIT" and featured in several magazines as well as on TV. We got this RS with the full intent of tweaking what is already one of the purest modern-day Porsches. We weren't happy with the weight and sound of the stock exhaust so we fabricated our own bypass system which we now sell as a fully-fledged product. We also worked closely with HRE to custom-build some light weight C-21 19 inch wheels and changed the offsets to remove the factory spacers. We also went on to build the motor from a 3.6L to a 3.8L with our RS460 kit and more recently to a 500hp 3.9L Spec Engine.





Here she is featured on Speed Channel at Infineon Raceway:



Day 1 as she sits at our favorite local Porsche dealership (Carlsen)


A somewhat sad day as we roll in one project car only to release our trusty 996 project car...


There she is on the lift with an orange RS underneath also awaiting surgery after having gotten a fully-custom pretective film wrap from our good friends at Premier.

Off comes that rear bumper exposing the factory center exhaust section.


Here is the stock center section removed and side-by-side with our Muffler Bypass System below it. We managed to save 18 pounds and make the car sound more aggressive in the process albeit without any annoying resonance.


We installed our system using factory mounts.


Now over to the front as the front bumper cover gets removed as we vacuum out all of the road debris collected into the front radiator sections.


Using Cargraphic's radiator screen kit we now stop larger debris from entering and/or possibly from damaging the radiators themselves.


After working with HRE we saved about 5 pounds of weight per corner compared to the stock wheels and also changed the offsets to negate the factory spacer.


A shot from the rear! Custom satin black inside and out with a Pin-Stripe effect thanks to the boys at West Coast Choppers!


We also painted our rear intake shrouds in black.


The finished article (for now) from the outside.


In goes the SharkWerks fire extinguisher kit in "matching" green.


Here she is on display at our car show at the 2007 Danville D\'Elegance Car Show at the SharkWers/Premier booth.


And on her way to Santana Row where she regularily struts her stuff at the local car meet.

During the shoot for Speed Channel's Super Cars Exposed TV show:



Front cover shoot with SharkWerks 997GT3RS customer cars (Fred and James):


Dyno of ZKERMIT with 3.6L vs 3.8L SharkWerks motor build:


Perhaps the most famous shot (and wallpaper for many car lovers!) of any RS in the US thanks to Mike Maez from MLE:


And as you see her monthly magazines as the official "SharkWerks" advertisement:


A compilation video of ZKERMIT's amazing journey:


On the cover of Modified Luxury & Exotics:


On the cover of European Car Magazine:


On the cover of Excellence Magazine:

Kermit has been upgraded again. This time, a 3.9L motor upgrade complete with custom exhaust and intake camshafts has been assembled by SharkWerks.















You can see the complete motor removal and upgrade guide here.

TechArt Noselift Kit installed on SharkWerks GT3RS

Hey guys, I thought this was an interesting upgrade that many would be interested in. My biggest struggle with driving the RS and other GT3s is probably shared by many others: the car sits low enough that entering/exiting driveways takes a lot of time (sometimes requiring you to stop traffic or risk danger), and the front lip is so easy to destroy in the process. Regardless of your approach angle and speed, sometimes you simply have no choice but to just grit your teeth and listen to the plastic bits be sheered away. The 2010s have this option, but the 997.1s do not.

We recently installed the TechArt noselift kit on the car to remedy this problem:

Stock suspension before removal:


Here's the kit (this was actually for a 997 Turbo we did, I don't think we snapped a picture of the GT3 kit but it has yellow springs instead):


The hydraulic pump and battery tray (also from the Turbo):


Front suspension removed from one side of the car:


Switched out to the TechArt spring and hydraulic lift:



And installed on the car:



The rear suspension also includes new TechArt springs:


The hydraulic distribution block:


The steel braided lines installed under the car, inside the belly pan:



Installing the pump and battery tray:


And finally the switch is installed:



Pic from Turbo install, hence the sunroof button.

The result:


Not the best photo to demonstrate, but the difference in height at the front of the car is about 2-inches. The videos are a better demonstration:



Video showing the kit on a 997TT:


Driving the car became a whole lot more practical. When approaching a driveway, you click the button on your home link (near your dome light) and within a few seconds your car is ready to drive in with an extra 2-inches of clearance. We recently had a 750 mile road trip with a stock GT3RS and the nose lift-equipped Kermit. The random gas stations along the Mojave desert, mini-marts for snacks, hotel entrance and so-on were covered with ease on Kermit but were often a challenge with the stock car.

We also had the car hot-lapped by Cort Wagner around Willow Springs for a few hours, and he commented that it actually felt a bit stiffer and settled than the factory GT3 RS that he drives/owns. He observed no adverse effects to having the kit installed (our car is lowered slightly over factory by about 1/2").