INTRODUCING the New GUNTHER WERKS GWR! First Look

Welcome to Huntington Beach, California. Today I'm at the home of Guntherwerks and the reason we're here is to take a first look at the car beneath these covers, the new Guntherwerks GWR. In fact, to give you a very sneak peek, because I'm actually here ahead of the global debut of this car during Monterey Car Week, it is if you take a 993 and imagine a car that never existed, a GT3 RS meets 911 cup car for the road with the finest of details, a 9000 rpm 4 litre flat 6, naturally aspirated, combined with carbon fibre bodywork and all of the details that Guntherwerks have created in their 1 of 40 new model. So let's not waste any further time, let's get this cover back. Hi guys, I'm Shmee, hello and welcome back to the channel. Let's take a first look at the new Guntherwerks GWR. Before we begin, there is something I'd like to show you here. It's actually my first time ever visiting the Guntherwerks HQ and in the corridor here there are some images of the earlier cars, including the Winchester Commission, which belongs to a friend of mine and I actually spent a few months living at my garage. My first experience driving a Guntherwerks 993 was with that car and in fact I've also seen the one that is represented here but we are of course here to see the next chapter. After the 993 original coupe from Guntherwerks, the reimagined 911 of that generation, followed by the Speedster and most recently the Turbo, which you might take a look at later on as well, this is what's next, the GWR. So let me pull back this lovely velvet cover to reveal the car that is beneath and we will take a proper look around it and you'll start taking the extraordinary details of this amazing thing. Just look at these shapes as they start to be revealed beneath this. It is a truly phenomenal and lovely thing. There are so many elements we need to run through. We're talking 9,000 rpm. Look at the bodywork. Carbon fibre used extensively. It weighs only 2,400 pounds, a little over 1,000 kilos, makes 500 horsepower. You can see all of the cutaways in the bodywork, the aerodiscs that feature on the wheels. We're going to be taking a look at the interior that features the new third generation carbon fibre seat. We're going to be taking a look at the engine bay as well. This is very much using modern technology, modern equipment, modern materials to transform the 993 generation of the 911 into something that is going to blow your mind. GWR, the name. Guntherwerks race, effectively taking the earlier naturally aspirated platform and dialing it even further, raising the red line from 7,800 to 9,000 as I said, increasing power output and crucially taking out a lot of weight. In fact, we're going to be spoiled to take a look at some of the components that actually go into the new car. But at first glance, you can tell this is something special. It has that charm and character of a 993, but very clearly a modern vehicle, very clearly something that's built up. And effectively, the way that's done is by receiving the earlier models, keeping the chassis, retaining a number of the components, but effectively building a new machine. And the idea here was to take the widest possible wheel and tyre configuration and create the rest of the car almost around that, stripping out as much weight as I mentioned. Obviously a 911, so the engine sits overhanging at the back. There are components, for example, like the exhaust tailpipes, which are actually 3D printed titanium to create those, keeping weight down. The design and styling of the tail lamps, these new wheels, as I mentioned, that feature the aero disc with 24 blades to help with airflow, aerodynamics, and to give it even more of a race-inspired feel. If we take a quick look inside, and we will take a thorough look through this a little bit later on, as I mentioned, we've got this new carbon fibre bucket seat, a new steering wheel as well, manual gearbox. This car also has a roll cage right behind the seats, and everything has so much attention to detail, the carbon fibre dashboard, the inlays, the trims. There's so much about it that is really quite something. And I'm lucky to be here today, actually ahead of this introduction, so I can release this video to you to take a first look around this, the cutaways and the bodywork. In fact, come in a little bit closer to look at the design of the mirrors here, very race-inspired, the way these are installed and fitted to have this aero blade, aero foil on the underside of them as well, louvres over the top, the S-duct through the front. So unlike in the turbo, where that design and the shape of the hood is actually used for the cooling, in the case of this, it's completely clear all the way through to manage the airflow, to help with aerodynamics. This is really that GT3 RS mentality, naturally aspirated flat six, combined with a lot of aerodynamics, combined with a lot of performance, and I'd rather imagine 500 horsepower with the weight of this, the power-to-weight ratio, is going to make for quite a thrilling drive. I'd like to show you around the design a little bit more closely, the updates, new features, new components, so let's dive fully into it. Let's have a more detailed walk and talk going around the GWR, starting at the very front. Now I mentioned, of course, the S-duct, and particularly from here, you can see how large that opening is to help guide the airflow through the front bumper and over the top of the car, to give you more downforce, to keep the front end more planted. With the light that's currently shining through it, you can see quite how much that's emphasised. Either side are additional openings for further coolers that you find behind, and of course, the fairly aggressive splitter that sits below. Come round towards the sides, and we notice new lights. Not only are the older 993 style lights replaced with the new LED running light beneath, but also the headlights, which is a brand new introduction for this model, with the continuous design all the way around, and an X, a cross shape effectively, both reminiscent of the original Porsche style used on the more modern cars, but also bringing in the GW, the Guntherwerks logo. Within, you can see the titanium components. They're actually made and manufactured just a few yards away from where I'm currently standing. All of this car effectively being built and put together here in-house, in the assembly hall that you see behind. As we come around, notice how wide the arches are. As I mentioned, incredibly wide tyres sitting within. The design and styling is that very much of race car, and houses up front 295 wide wheels and tyres. The wheel design itself, we're going to go and take a look at. It's optional to order it with the aerodisc, and the wheels themselves are fantastically light. I'll show you more of that as well. Come past more of the carbon fibre bodywork, and notice the cutaways and shapes here. The aggressive, sporty race car style that you have with the design, and these very wide side skirts that sit beneath the full carbon fibre doors. Those are so light, it's quite frankly amazing. The door mirrors, as I mentioned as well, and then these very, very wide hips at the back, housing 335 wide tyres back here, with more cutaways to the bodywork. New also, are these additional openings here for airflow being managed out beside the tail lamps, and then look down towards the back as well, and you can basically see straight through at everything that's happening within with the exhaust system, and the new diffuser that has been created again for aerodynamics for downforce back here, working in tandem with the ducktail spoiler that sits above the flat six, itself offering even further cooling. And I mean, just take in that view. The carbon fibre inside, the roll cage, which of course could be painted as well. There are so many different options, and bespoke unique specification elements you can consider, and in fact, we will pop over there shortly to go and talk about some of those options that you can actually choose on this car. Obviously, we need to talk about the power plant. There aren't all that many cars that still exist that offer a naturally aspirated engine with a manual gearbox, and when you see what lies beneath this engine bay cover, it is a stunning thing to behold. Created in partnership with Rothsport, this is now the fourth generation of the Gunther Works motor, but let me pull a lever just here in the driver's doorway to reveal what's under this carbon fibre engine cover. Take a look at the beauty of this. The fourth gen, four litre, naturally aspirated flat six. It's a quad cam, twin valve setup. We've got over 500 brake horsepower, 340 pounds foot of torque, revs, as I said, to 9,000 rpm. It's an incredibly lightweight car, equipped with the manual gearbox. I can only begin to imagine how that feel is going to be when you're on it, but not only that, just come and look at it for a moment. Look at the way this is set up. New sliding throttle bodies to evenly distribute the power, new software map as well, but the way this is presented, the plaque that you have worn up on the top as well, it is a work of art. You almost want to just stand in a garage looking at this with the engine bay cover open to take it all in. Not only that, of course, back here, the air-cooled fan setup. We've also got manually adjustable dampers. You can see even more of that down below, so you can set the car to your desired ride style. In here, this is just something to stare at, to look at in awe. It is a work of art what they have done back there with the engine bay of this. I absolutely must show you more through the inside of the GWR, starting with the door sills. GWR define your limits by going beyond them. There are some amazing evolutions to the interior of the car. For example, the new carbon fibre door card that you see here now featuring this X shape, something that runs very much as a theme through the car. This is a new finish as well, anodised for some of the hard points within the door handles that we have here. Come inside, this car features the full carbon fibre dashboard. It could be leather, should you prefer. Look around as well, as I mentioned, and back behind, lots of carbon fibre. The storage bucket spaces that you have available and the half cage that sits behind these new seats. Notice the inlays of this new generation seat, the multi-layered alcantara that's used again to bring that X design and shape through. Think of all the possibilities and options that you can do with different colours, specifications and trims. I'm going to very delicately though, take a seat inside to show you a little bit more, including the driver's zone in front of us. Look at this. It's a new steering wheel design, the way it's shaped. These toggles here, I have got to say, the work and hours that went into these, the feel of them, the weighting and the pressure and the sound, and of course, gold plated as well. That's changing your driving modes between comfort, sport and track. And then the matching rev counter as well with the gold plating now going to 9k rpm. The familiar five dial display of the Porsche dashboard, the alcantara steering wheel. We're going to take a better look at some of these parts as well in just a moment over there. Also new over to the passenger side is this single piece carbon fibre for the whole dashboard trim. This was previously a number of different parts. We've got the plaque over towards there as well and the Porsche infotainment system that they now offer for some of the cars, very much in keeping with the style and the design. But a big part of this, of course, it's what you have right here, the manual shifter and the feel of that. Long live the manual. Let's save it as absolutely long as we possibly can. Also now is a new storage system here. You can place your phone just inside this part up in front and we've got some cup holders available between the seats behind as well. But there's a wealth of carbon fibre in here. It is simply stunning. It's one of those experiences where everything you touch, whether it's the shifter, whether it's the toggles are all truly wonderful, yet still with the character and charm of the original car, the feel of the original car, the 993 generation. But even here, we've got some further toggles and your key inserted to the left of the dashboard as well. Very much modern meets retro in a completely stripped out, yet still comfortable Porsche 911. The first thing I want to talk about here is the door. Now, normally a door on a car like this would be about 20 kilos, 45 pounds. This door weighs four and a bit kilos, 10 pounds. And I want to tell you what, this is absolutely ludicrous. This is absurdly lightweight. Of course, think of the amount of weight savings that doing something like that does for the car overall. Not only that, let's touch on the wheels that we have here so that you can see the actual wheel design. As I mentioned, this is all made in house. Obviously, the shapes are done to reduce the weight as well. One piece magnesium wheel. These weigh, again, only six or so kilos for a wheel, which is quite frankly, absolutely nothing. Take some of the other parts like the steering wheel that we have here and the barrel that you have behind. Look at the way this is created. All of these parts are actually made in-house as well. Again, gold-plated should you prefer. The door handles are a new design as well. Also saving about 40% of the weight, or rather I should say only weighing 40% of that you had from the previous ones. There are so many different materials that you can think of. Every car is bespoke. Every car is unique, whether it's the Alcantaras, the paint colors. In fact, there are so many different options. Look at this, for example, the blue underlayer that you have here. Again, with that design that we've been looking at and talking about. I haven't actually mentioned, these are your keys, the way these are presented in the box. Again, with that X shape, that cross that you have on them also. This is really what it's about, the journey to discover with the customer. The customer who can come here and spec up their car and can choose between many different options. Run through on the configurator as well and build a dream GWR. One of the 40 that are going to be built in total of these. While here at Guntherworks HQ, there are a few other things I'd like to show you. A bit of a tour as we take a look around. Things that stand out and particularly where we are right now. In this clean room, this is where components like the headlamps, the tail lamps, and other parts are actually assembled on site. Because what's unusual here is that these types of things would normally be outsourced to a third party, yet they make them all right here. Take, for example, the three parts of the tail lamp. The components that you can see at each level, the lenses ready to be being installed. We actually have a demonstration of that up top. The lights power just to show what they look like. We've got different components of a mirror from the Speedster model, I believe. But everything coming through this particular room and actually with the steering wheel here as well. Take a look at this, look at the design. Even taking those cutaways in the steering wheel spokes helps reduce some weight. It's really going to that ultimate degree to take as much weight as possible out of everything to ultimately have this super lightweight experience. Because if your car is very light, a smaller amount of power that's really usable and enjoyable actually gives you the same type of reward. Coming through, and please accept my apologies for the noise in the background, of course customer cars are currently being built right here. So we've breezed past engineering. This is where they're creating all of these lightweight components, and it's really fascinating to see what they get up to. Here we have some parts for an upcoming turbo, in fact polishing being done right now, and some of the parts that have been painted as well. Because this is where they have the paint shop, and we'll talk a little bit more about it because I don't think I've ever really seen paints to the level that they're doing it here, and the ideas that they're trying. Of course something being painted literally in the booth right now behind us. Let's continue on through. Continuing on the theme of doing things here that you might not expect, the equipment that you see around here is actually to do with making the wheels. So what arrives on site are these. I've never really seen this process before. You originally have your larger material that then goes into the first machine here, which is currently working away in the background, and creates these discs effectively, the pancakes that go on to become the new wheel. And this is all done with the milling machine right here alongside us to create these wheels exactly here. And the benefit of doing all of this is that if something needs to be adjusted or changed in development, it can literally be made right now and a new one created instantly, rather than having to wait months and months and months for a supplier to make those changes. This is where there is quite a lot to see in the assembly area. In fact we have all three of the previous Guntherwerks models here, including the speedster at the end, that whiskey colored car that I'm going to show you a little bit more closely, because it is quite remarkable. But these are your four assembly stations where the cars take shape. At the moment all hands are on deck to present the cars, to have this turbo for example ready for Quail and the other events of Monterey Car Week. But we have all of the different models here. This was the first, remastered 911, the first Guntherwerks 993. This car is here for after sales, so some servicing and the like. But that's effectively where it all began, before next up was the introduction of the speedster, as you can see right here. And in fact, note the mirrors we saw the fabrication of a little bit earlier on. But each and every one of these cars is completely unique in their different specifications and the ultimate presentation and styling. You can see the earlier door card design here and how that's all evolving and changing. The trims are beautiful in there. But I need to come and show you this, because what's being created with this car, firstly as you can see, this dark brown exposed carbon fibre, which is simply beautiful. It goes beyond that. Come here, take a look at this. The way the paintwork goes from that metallic whisky at the front, through to the exposed carbon down the bodywork. The nose of the car is the full paint, the tail is the visible carbon fibre. And it is a work of art, quite literally. That attention to detail and the skill required to do this is really quite something. And also a new wheel design you can spot here as well for the multi-piece wheels that are used on this. The brown and cream interior combo, that is really, really, really beautiful. Come back through though, because after those first two models came along the turbo, almost a GT2 RS, you could say of the 993, boasting about 300-odd horsepower more even than the GWR, absolutely gorgeous again. The paintwork here and the effect that's been done to create this, this diamond-style paintwork. Look at the metallic fleck in that paint. Have you seen anything like that? Just a demonstration, an example of what Guntherwerks can do here. The team have very kindly lowered this car back onto its own wheels, the one of 75, Guntherwerks Turbo. And this is truly breathtaking. So in addition to the original remastered 993 and the Speedster, Turbo came third and now GWR has come fourth, just looking over there in the showroom area. But this is again a masterpiece. 75 cars, as I said, the four-litre flat six, twin turbo, boasting 700 brake horsepower. For this, elements like the magnesium wheels were introduced. In this particular case, the very pale gold of those wheels matching with the detailing for the Porsche stripe down the side. Really, really work. Different design in terms of the bodywork, the exhaust tailpipes around towards the back, the openings here. In fact, take a look through there, the turbos that sit either side from the engine. If I come around to show you inside the car here, you have the intakes just sitting on the front of the arches. This is truly magnificent. I'm going to pop this because I think it would be wrong not to take a look. You've got additional cooling here, that turbo style design and shape. Wow, wow, wow. The horizontal fan sitting back here, the bespoke plenum that was designed. Lots of changes from the engine that was found in Speedster before this. But again, look at this, look at the carbon fibre, look at the style and design of it all. This is unbelievable. This is absolutely stunning. As we click that back down and the paint as I walk around it, the colours. I don't really know what else to say. This is really, really something special. I love the specification that they went for on that particular car. Back to the car here then, the GWR, the car that we came to see today, and actually the third really interesting paint finish of today, the diamond effect in the turbo, the fade from paint towards the exposed carbon on the Speedster. And this colour as well, this is a flat colour, non-metallic, but the way it's made with pearlescent, I suspect the camera probably can't quite see it as the human eye does, but it almost looks, and they call it ice, because it's like there's a deeper level of paint beneath the surface, like there's a layer that's over the top of it. And it's really quite pretty to behold. Of course, this particular car is in a bold statement colour, Marina Bay, named after the famous racetrack in Singapore. I haven't touched on a couple of other things, the suspension, you've got a double wishbone up front, you've also got JLZ electric suspension, so a nose lift as well should you need, because something like this, of course, is very low down towards the ground. You can order it without the aerodisc should you prefer a slightly less overstated look, but I think the idea of this is to incorporate things that link to Porsche Motorsport as well, right, the styling, the design, things like the mirrors, but offer the ultimate road experience. It's a road car, it's something that's incredibly limited, with only 40 to be built in total. I've historically not been the biggest fan of older Porsches, I'm the first to confess, but I tell you what, my experience driving the Winchester Commission a couple of years ago was one that I haven't forgotten until now, it really took me by surprise, and knowing where this has evolved to, things like, for example, additional strengthening that comes from a new support brace, 150% stiffer than the first generation, but still with the damping that comes from the setup, as we've seen, that's adjustable. In the front, under the front trunk, there is a small amount of storage space as well, perhaps not for taking a two-week road trip, but plenty to be able to use the car along with the space that's available behind the seats back there underneath the roll cage. I love the modernization and design of things like the running lights that you have here, and I've always appreciated the engineering and technology, so some of the components that we've seen, for example, the wheels, the different elements that have been on display over here, but combine all of that as well with the S-duct, and to be honest, I don't think I've ever seen on a road car such a large opening for airflow to go through, this is literally completely open and connected around the back, with all sorts of other elements added on top of it, so it takes that look of the 993 generation, of the 911s, and obviously introduces this wild, cool styling that offers an immense amount of bespoke configurability, an immense amount of things that customers can choose and can spec, whether it's down to the logos and scripts, the paint colours, different finishes, like I said, wheels, carbon dash, interior options, and it's been really exciting to see what they do here at Guntherwerks, to come for the first time to visit and understand not only how much is actually made here in-house, but also the extremes that they can go to in terms of offering something that is very, very, very unique, so I tell you what, I've been really quite impressed with this, what an amazing day to see the GWR, which you can now of course see probably just about everywhere as it will head to different events in the future, having been unveiled at the Quail during Monterey Car Week, very special day, a big thank you to the team for the opportunity, and I hope you've enjoyed this first look at the new Guntherwerks GWR and a visit here also to the facility where we've been able to take a look around. That is of course it for today though, thank you very much for watching as always guys, I appreciate your support an awful lot, and I shall see you again very soon. Cheers!