The Porsche aftermarket is an interesting one. As a true sportscar brand, you’d think that there would be an abundance of tuners that want to put their particular spin on the classic Porsche design, but the majority of parts are still geared towards hardcore track prep and restoration, which makes some sense as these cars are more geared towards actual performance rather than show and display.
When I was building my 2002 Porsche 911/996 C2 in 2004 there were only a handful of companies that offered body kits and bolt-on parts; at this year's Rennsport Reunion, that market has grown, albeit still a small segment of the entire aftermarket.
One particular growth point for the Porsche aftermarket is the demand for full bespoke vehicles. To answer this call, companies like Singer and RWB have risen to challenge, and had vehicles here to show off their speciality.
Singer Porsches are truly something of beauty. I often joke that if you were to take a die-cast 1:18 car and exposed it to gamma rays, you would get a Singer car. The attention to detail and cleanliness of the build and parts used is something to marvel at.
With an old-school look, but modern amenities and excellent fabrication, Singer cars are well sought after by Porsche enthusiasts.
The "it" Porsche for the aftercooled/aftermarket "Super Street" generation is RWB (Rauh Welt Begriff), which is a JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) spin on European cool. These demo cars were a big hit with the Rennsport Reunion crowd.
The latest RWB project comes from Atlanta, and along with its Heritage Green paint are these gold Rotiforms that are reminiscent of an older OEM Lamborghini wheels.
The details on RWB's latest builds are really on point; check out the cool Akira Nakai (RWB's founder) signature emblem on the front fender.
Another signature detail of any RWB car are the bolt-on flares, shown on Mark Arcenal's illest "Pandora 1" 964 Version 3 and a 964 from LA that has an additional canard.
On its third rendition, this is by far Mark's best version of Pandora 1 since its debut at SEMA 2011.
Nothing says aftermarket more than a giant intercooler.
Well, except, maybe a giant spoiler...
Further linking the Japanese and German motorsport worlds together are these custom illest/Bride seats, perfect for the RWB enthusiast.
Sharkwerks, for those of you who dare to tinker with a Porsche's ECU, was there with an Urban Outlaw/Magnus Walker-inspired 997 GT2 and 997 GT3 RS.
Popular for flashing ECUs for the Porsche aftermarket, Sharkwerks knows their ish. Alex, aka "Sharky", is well-known for his work in the tech industry with video cards, so he definitely knows his software!
Is there any way to make a 918 and 991 GT3 RS any sexier? Of course, and HRE has the solution with its latest forged offerings, custom center-locking wheels.
The 991 GT3 RS has been a hot point for Porsche enthusiasts, already demanding prices $140K over MSRP! This white one sat on HRE's forged centerlock P101 wheels.
Right next to HRE was Akrapovic, a Slovenian-based company that hand-fabricates beautiful exhausts.
Akrapovic's 991 GT3 exhaust includes an ultra slick, lightweight, dry carbon fiber finisher.
In case you didn't know, Akrapovic is distributed in the US through HRE - it really is a match made in heaven for high-end, high-quality products.
Now here's a blast from the past: MOMO is making a comeback to the US aftermarket.
MOMO chose Rennsport Reunion V to make their return to the US aftermarket with a special edition Magnus Walker ProtoTipo steering wheel, which we highlighted last week HERE.
Based off the original, very popular Prototipo, the Magnus Walker version includes distressed leather, signature drills cutouts and thicker grip. Only 200 of these wheels will be available in both Silver and Black colorways.
MOMO's Road to Rennsport rally included this Liberty Walk Turbo 997, perhaps a clue to the future of MOMO as I hear they will be introducing forged wheels in the near future. For all of you old school JDM fans, would you love to get your hands on some Quasars or 5 Stars?
While the Porsche tuning community still caters largely to high-end bespoke builds or track prepped/OEM replacement types, the Rennsport Reunion proves there is plenty of room for performance improvements, and the cars here are shining examples.