Driftworks – Phil Morrison’s Porsche 964 Turbo
Phil Morrison, one of the most successful drifters in the UK and owner of Driftworks, came to Zircotec for heat management.
Phil Morrison, the founder of Driftworks, a specialist street and race-car parts shop. It all started in Phil’s tiny spare room back in 2004, and the rest is history. In their spare time, Phil and the team have built some incredible drift and road cars including:
- DW86 – drift build that is extensively modified whilst keeping the AE86 original stlying at 720bhp, with a 7.5L LSX V8
- V10 E46 M3 – which used to be the very first S85 V10 swapped cars on the planet.
- E30 M3 Track Car with an S65 V8 – which is currently in progress.
- GT1 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 – A road car inspired by the legendary Reiter Engineering R-GT GT1 race car. Basically, an absolute monster of a car that’s turned into a behemoth with bodywork for days!
We were very excited when were asked to work on Phil’s widebody Porsche 964, originally built in Japan by Promodet and RWB. When Phil first bought the car around 3 years ago, there were a few issues which had to be repaired prior to adding tonne of modifications! Before any modifications, this was originally a 1992 Porsche 911 Turbo, with
- Promodet built engine
- HKS T04S Turbo and External Wasteate
- Promodet hand-formed Titanium Headers & Exhaust
- Greddy Intercooler
- Throttle body conversion
- Motec M4
- Zeal Endless Coilovers
- Work Brombacher Wheels
- Brembo Brakes
- Recaro SPG seats
- Nardi deep corn steering wheel
Since then, Phil had worked on rebuilding its engine, replacing the turbos, pistons, itnercooler, gearbox, suspension, wheel, brakes and more, all to improve its driveability and performance as well as making the aesthetics to his own, read more on its updated vehicle specifications here.
As part of improving its performance, Phil was aiming to get his 964 Turbo up to the 600hp mark, however it goes without saying that more power leads to more heat! That’s where Zircotec’s expertise came into play.
Heat Management can sometime become overlooked when modifying cars, but generating more heat in the process of generating power is an inevitable side effect that needs addressing. Phil was worrying about the potential heat issues as the lines going to the waste gate and boost reference lines that go up to solenoid are RIGHT ABOVE the exhaust! He decided to ceramic coat the Promodet custom-made headers as it was very low on the car. Along with the thermal barrier properties of our ceramic coating options, it’s also an extremely lightweight and thin solution that’s perfect for use in confined spaces. To prevent the heat soak and reduce intake temperatures, Phil decided to opt in for our Zircotec Performance Graphite™ ceramic coating for his exhaust system.
10 days before Phil was going to map the car, he decided to pull the manifolds off and send them to Zircotec to get it ceramic coated, he was very pleased with the fast turnaround time. Phil opted in for Performance Graphite™, which is one of 14 colour options from our Performance Colours™ Range to match with the colour of his 964. Our Performance Colours™ Range can reduce surface temperatures by up to 33% and has been proven to improve performance as our coating aids in retaining the hot gases within the exhaust system.
After installing the coated manifolds, it was time for the Porsche to be put through its paces on the dyno. Mid-way through the dyno run, the spring on the wastegate needed adjusting, which is situated near the newly coated exhaust manifold. Phil’s long-time friend and mechanic, Jay accidentally touched the exhaust with his face as he was working on the wastegate and said: “this coating is magic, because I’ve touched my face on it and I’ve still got skin!”. Although the coating helped in safeguarding Jay as he was working underneath the car, we don’t recommend anyone tries this themselves, and we were very glad to see Jay came out unscathed thanks to our thermal barrier ceramic coating technology. We’re very proud to form part of one of his many unique builds, and help the car to reach 579hp (hub) on the dyno.
We checked in with Phil recently to see how the ceramic coating is holding up after having the headers coated almost a whole year ago, he says, “Still looks like it did the day it was coated & still doing a great job of keeping temps down.“
Get in touch to find out more about our ceramic coating solutions, and how we could help manage heat as well as improve the performance of your car/ bike!