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22 Top six modified 911s: CSR
CSR
SPECIALISTS IN INVIGORATING THE 996 AND 997 CARRERAS
With Brewster
green, light-gold
HRE wheels and
an interior that’s
been trimmed
beautifully in a
combination of
green leather
and houndstooth cloth, RPM Technik’s 28th CSR
build looks sensational, the understated, refined
changes completely at odds with the Snakebite
moniker that’s been given to it. That name might
conjure up an awful concoction drunk by students, or
at least suggests something unpleasant, but the CSR
here is anything but.
Built from a Gen1 997 Carrera S, RPM has built it
for a customer, showcasing the best of its individual
options within its CSR build series. You can forget
that name, then – this is a very rational, considered
911, which enhances and improves, breathing new
life into an old favourite. The base car was enjoyed
too – there are over 100,000 miles on the odometer –
though RPM Technik’s fastidious, bare metal re-build
makes it feel like you could knock a zero off that in
this car, if not two.
We’re familiar with people personalising,
enhancing, back- or forward-dating their air-cooled
cars, but as yet, the water-cooled arena is one that’s
largely ignored. RPM’s CSRs fill that void, giving
owners the opportunity to modify their 996 or 997
to create the car they want. More often than not,
the brief is similar to that of this car, that being a
more engaging, visceral 911 that retains the Carrera’s
usability while pushing it closer to the focus of the
GT department’s models. Don’t think of it as a halfway
house though or a compromise car, instead it
very comfortably creates its own niche.
Philosophically, you could put it between a 997
Carrera GTS and a GT3, retaining the GTS’s core
Carrera attributes of daily usability yet gaining
some of the GT3’s focus. It’s a compelling offering,
particularly if you want to actually drive your car.
Buy a GTS or GT3 and you’ll likely park it up in
your garage for occasional use, with one eye on its
future value. The CSR usurps that by virtue of being
a car you’ll have built to your specifications and
requirements – it’s personal to you, and while there’ll
certainly be someone willing to take it off your hands
should you ever tire of it, the value here is in the
ownership, and use.
I’d like the customer who specified this car,
and so it seems would a lot of other people. While
we’re shooting it, I’m frequently approached by
people asking about it, the universal comment being
‘beautiful’ – the CSR attracting more attention, and
the right kind, than anything else I’ve driven in
recent memory. That might seem contradictory, as
in specification it’s a demonstration of restraint, but
that’s evidently a huge part of its appeal. Yes, there
are some more overtly sporting bumpers, front and
rear, punctured with vents and intakes, a ducktail
spoiler and those glorious, light-gold HRE alloy
wheels, but collectively it pulls off a convincing
whole, and one that looks factory rather than screams
modified. That’s an impressive balance to get right,
and one that’s undoubtedly helped here by the
Brewster green paintwork.
If the visual maturity defines the look outside, it’s
absolutely driven home when you get inside it. I’d go
as far as saying it’s the nicest 997 interior I’ve ever sat
in. Green leather, black Alcantara with contrasting
light-gold stitching and houndstooth fabric mix
beautifully in the cabin. It is a classic look, finished to
a standard that, like the exterior, looks like it’s come
from the factory.