I'm doomed! I cannot stop spending money on the GTR and the money haemorrhage shows no sign of slowing. The parts on my shopping list from the last article were largely sensible for once, aiming to make my pride and joy that bit more reliable when used in anger. The trip to the 'Ring in September will test the cooling and lubrication so with that in mind I've invested in an Accusump oil pressure accumulator kit as used by Keith Cowie in his mega R32 GTR. Keith currently owns and runs Europe's quickest 4wd car so if it's good enough for him and his drag monster, it'll be good enough for my more modest car. I have also bought an upgraded water pump to help out as well. Of course, there is always a downside to being sensible and that normally means me crashing or buying something I'll never use. Well in this instance it's some new turbos with different internals. The standard GTR ones are ceramic to spool quickly reducing lag but they are renowned for waving the white flag when you give them more than one bar of boost. The repercussions of a turbo failing are potentially catastrophic and most owners either behave or upgrade, I chose to take option b! My new turbos have steel internals to handle higher boost and still spool up very quickly.

The car was due to go to my normal tuner but due to his workload and my changing circumstances I decided to try a local firm with a growing reputation. AP Tuning were contacted, I discussed the overall plans with Gary Hayward and my specific requirements for this work, a price was agreed and the GTR was booked in at short notice. It was really nice to have an in depth conversation with a tuner about the style of performance I wanted. Not just bolt it on and see what happens but a genuine effort to ensure that all modifications intended meet my requirements. I am intending to compete in next year's Time Attack, so my priority is one of balance- good response and handling are a must. The work was completed with a minimum of fuss and a rather serious oversight by a previous garage was corrected all within the time allowed and the budget agreed. Gary mentioned that there were a few minor things I should consider for my next visit but I'll be honest by that stage I was completely pre-occupied by the prospect of trying the new set up.

The first few miles whilst the oil got up to temperature were tantalising. The car was very obviously responding more sharply under the right foot and boost was building so much earlier and more strongly. I was starting to question whether I had left with the right car. After 15 minutes of the worst traffic Norwich could throw at me, I could see the derestricted sign about half of a mile ahead. I blipped the throttle and down shifted for morale; with the traffic thinning I checked ahead to try and gain an insight into an overtaking opportunity. I needn't have bothered; I can now overtake safely and easily in most gears. '991' now pulls with a strength that suggests that a much larger engine resides under the aluminium bonnet than a 2.6 litre. I am sure all of this is very subjective. I am equally sure that there are many high performance car owners that would smirk at my comments, what with my meagre 400 plus horsepower and similar torque. There will always be someone quicker or faster but my car in its current level of tune suits my purposes perfectly. I just need to learn to drive well enough to fully exploit it. I feel a period of driver development is in order before I tackle the Nordschliefe and all of her inherent threats. Next on the list are some more tweaks to the suspension, fitting the boring stuff described earlier and maybe, just maybe something rather special.