We’re currently at point with the Porsche 996 (it won’t last forever) where engine swaps are becoming more common. Usually it’s related to an IMS issue. And – the 996 is just at the bottom of its depreciation curve, where the cost of rebuilding the flat-6 Porsche engine doesn’t “make sense” for some. So – creative enthusiasts are turning towards swaps. Usually – it’s an LS swap, or even a Honda K. But this car is different… for 2 reasons. 

1) This Porsche 996 was running just fine when Tall Kyle decided to swap it…

He didn’t settle on the swap route because the engine failed. Rather, he chose the swap because he wanted MORE out of his Porsche 996. Proving – you can take the boy out of the Honda scene… but you just can’t take the Honda scene out of the boy (myself included lol). As car lovers though, Tall Kyle’s scenario struck me as particularly curious, because the Porsche 911 was BUILT to be a a sports car. Perhaps THE sports car. It’s the sports car all other sports cars are compared to. And it has been for practically all our lifetimes. Yet Tall Kyle said, “Ya know what… hold my beer for a second.” 

2) The swap Tall Kyle chose for his Porsche 996 isn’t as common… 

I was expecting an LS swap. Or a boosted K24 – which is something Kyle might have already had in the garage. But nope – Kyle went with an Audi 2.7 with a custom twin-turbo setup. Sheesh man! There’s a story leading up to it though…

Hondas were the drug of choice for Tall Kyle back in the day… 

In fact, his rowdy k-swapped CRX graced the cover of S3 Magazine (above). From there, he spilled into to RWD JDM stuff. R32 GTRs, that sort of thing. He had a brief VIP stage, then got back into Hondas & built an exact ITR clone. He even caught the drift bug, and built an RB25-powered S14 for Gridlife. But then, due to life circumstances, the cars got sold, normality set in, and the fun stopped. Pretty soon, he realized he’d turned into a ‘normal guy’ with the ‘used to’ conversations…. where everything was past tense.  That depressed Tall Kyle, so he started building newer Volkswagens (daily-type cars). And that’s where everything got weird. His Golf R led into a Porsche Macan Turbo of all things. And the Macan ownership sparked a niche performance business with a friend called Radhaus Performance. Radhaus specializes in Macans, but they’re growing into other models because eventually Tall Kyle realized… “I wanna buy a gosh-darn 911!”

Kyle found this 1999 Porsche 996… 

It’s a Carrara 4 (AWD) narrow-body car. And it had a GT2 bumper, turbo twists, and the adjustable taco wing. Tall Kyle shared some mutual friends with the seller, so he felt pretty solid about it… plus the deal was sweet. This was the window he’d been looking for. 

The Porsche Flat-6 3.4-liter comes alive over 4000rpm…

And it’s absolutely an iconic driving experience. But Tall Kyle’s never been the purist type, and he wanted more. He thought about turbocharging the 3.4… but he knew it’d explode. Obviously an LS swap came up… but naaaaaaah… that’s basically a Vette with extra steps. Finally, Tall Kyle heard Renn27 had developed a 2.7 Audi swap from the B5 S4. Now to some of y’all, that may sound like swapping-in an un-pinned hand grenade. But the Audi guys will tell ya – once you remove all the junk, that engine has good bones. So…

Tall Kyle pulled the running engine out of his Porsche…

And sold it… plus a kei truck he had. And that yielded enough funds to pay for the entire 2.7 swap. First, he bought a surprisingly clean & running 2005 Audi Allroad with the 2.7 for just $1000. He actually felt pretty bad about dismantling that car (just for its engine, harness, and ECU), but it had to be done. Next was the swap kit from Renn27. 

Renn27 swap kit for the Porsche 996… 

Renn27 has simplified the 2.7 Audi swap. They’ve adapted the 2.7 to the Porsche transmission. The engine bolts in without having to cut any of the chassis, and no wires need to be cut on the 996. You can even still use the Porsche gauges. The cost is roughly 14-grand for the full swap with turbo. But in Tall Kyle’s case – he’s a fabricator/welder/builder/etc & wanted to put his own touch on it. So Renn27 sold him their kit without the turbo-related parts. That saved him considerable cash AND let him make a custom single-turbo kit. Tall Kyle later went to twins, which I’ll explain now. 

The twins…

With the single turbo setup on the 2.7 Audi swap, the car made 450hp. 450hp in a 996 is not slow… it boogied. But Tall Kyle wasn’t in love with the way it sounded. He’s nit-picky about things like that. So he pulled the single turbo kit, and started working on a kit for twins. Tall Kyle designed a mirrored twin-turbo setup using a couple G25-550 clones (AKA: Wuhan war-whistles), along with 3.5” divided exhaust. Now this Porsche 996 is making roughly 530hp & delivers top-shelf noises… flat-6 or not!

Closing Notes…

Tall Kyle basically dailies this 996 anytime the weather permits (he’s up in Michigan so sometimes that’s just not in the cards). The 2.7 is 50lbs lighter than the 3.4 flat-6, and 4-inches closer to the rear transaxle. 

Photos by Luisd.media

1999 Porsche 996 – Carrera 4 6-speed

ENGINE

2.7 Audi V6 from a 2005 Audi Allroad 

Freshened up with new timing belt, water pump, etc… but stock internally w/ 150,000 miles. 

Renn27 swap kit 

Radhaus (ie: made by Tall Kyle) twin-turbo kit 

Mirrored “g25-550” VS Racing turbos 

3.5” divided exhaust 

Electric AC – provides cabin AC and also chills air-intake temps

Electric power steering – the factory 2.7 power steering is deleted 

Tuned by Aaron Walizer (STUKLR Tuning) using stock Audi ECU on 24psi

EXTERIOR

GT2 style bumper

Porsche optional aero skirts

Adjustable taco wing

Rial 2-piece 19in wheels (19×8.5 +50 front & 19×11 +45 rear)

Tires – 235/35 front & 275/35 rear

SUSPENSION

Feals coilovers

Adjustable lower rear control arms

SS brake lines

INTERIOR

NRG Prisma seats on low rails

Suede-wrapped interior pieces

NRG quick-release with hold-fast wheel

AEM boost and wideband gauges

Pioneer old-school ‘dolphin’ CD player (modded for Bluetooth) 

THANKS TO… 

Carlton at Renn27 for helping me create something truly amazing & unique. Charles Fickle for turning my ‘paper napkin drawings’ into CAD files for development of this turbo kit. GAS (Garage Auto Sport) for help/guidance with the 2.7.