On the surface, Switzer performance's Porsche 997 F900 is the kind of car that petron-heads and environmentalists will both fawn over; it's a low-emission, 900 horsepower, flex-fuel monster of a Porsche->ke1 that epitomizes the kind of esteem the Ohio-based tuner has earned in its years in the business.

But the 997 F900 wouldn't have been built were it not for another Switzer-tuned Porsche that ended up becoming the precursor for the 997 F900. This car was the Switzer Sledgehammer, a 1,000-horsepower, 997 Turbo that made its legend for nine-second passes and standing mile top speeds of close to 200 mph.

Impressive to say the least.

Eventually, the Sledgehammer gave way to a host of other specially-tuned Porsches, culminating in the 997 F900.

This 900-horsepower beast was born from the mind of one of Switzer's clients from Canada, who, incidentally, already had a Sledgehammer 997 in his hands. Maybe he wanted something different, or maybe he just woke up one day with a renewed sense of responsibility to Mother Nature, but this Canadian client had an idea - or maybe a new fascination - that he wanted Switzer to build.

Thus, the Porsche 997 F900 Turbo was born.

Find out more about the Porsche 997 F900 Turbo after the jump.

2011 Porsche 911/997 F900 by Switzer

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2011 Porsche 911/997 F900 by Switzer
  • Engine/Motor: inline-6
  • Horsepower: 900
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior and Interior

For all the intricate work and laborious hours spent in overhauling the Porsche 997's engine, there was a significant lack of attention in giving the car any exterior modifications. Not that it needed any, but the presence of a few decals are about the only hint you'll get to understand that this car isn't like any other Porsche you'll see on the streets.

Engine

This is where the 997 F900 makes its mark. For starters, the "F" in F900 stands for "Flex-Fuel" and was born from a confounding mix of some of Switzer's past projects, including the P800, the R911, and of course, the Sledgehammer.

The car itself features a host of state-of-the-art technology from the Ohio-based tuner, including it's very own MONSTER intercoolers, proprietary turbochargers, and a CNC-machined y-type intake.

The car also runs on ethanol, which Switzer initially used on the Nissan GT-R E900. Tym Switzer, the man behind the project, explains how ethanol fuel worked with the engine specs of the E900. “The E900s took advantage of some of Ethanol’s unique properties, like high octane equivalence and cooler burn, to make over 900 horsepower without relying on toxic race fuels,” he said.

“They were great cars to work on and dyno-test, actually, because they were so clean your eyes didn’t water the whole time you were running them. You could finally breathe in the shop with the dyno going.”

Seeing what ethanol did for the GT-R E900, the aforementioned Canadian client wanted to use the same technology on a Porsche, albeit with a slight wrinkle.

“Not just an ethanol Porsche,” Tym says. “ a flex-fuel Porsche."

"He didn’t want a race-gas package or a street gas package or an E85 package. He wanted a car that he could throw anything at. A real, usable, daily-drivable street machine that, at a moment’s notice, could pull up to an E85 station and rip off a pass in the low 10s. Or 9s, ideally.”

In order to accommodate the flex-fuel requirements of the customer and fit it into the car's complicated engine modifications, Switzer added a series of "specialized sensors that fed data back to a stand-alone ECU solution that adjusts injection and timing on the fly, ensuring an appropriate tune for whatever fuel is handy."

The end result is a true Switzer masterpiece, a car that may look like a stock model at first glance, but is actually fitted with a unique technology that keeps powering on past the capabilities of its own stock turbos. When you add ethanol into the equation?

"Once you get it on the ethanol, though, it really takes off," Switzer says. "Just like the race gas cars.”

Pricing

Should you wish to have this project done on your Porsche, you're going to have to contact Switzer for pricing and availability of the whole project.

Competition

Consider the car's "uniqueness" and it's easy to see how it lacks in notable 'competitors.' If there was one, you're going to have go back to the Switzer family and to the GT-R E900, a car that gained notoriety a few years ago for its unique set-up and sick performance capabilities.

Either car would be unique in the eyes of a lot of people, but where they share the same language is that no matter what set-up they're on, both the E900 and the F900 have the capabilities to blow even the most powerful of gas-powered cars out of the proverbial waters.