SEMA 2019: BBi Porsche GT2 RS Paints the Road in Black Fire
Packing a pair of bolt-on turbos, BBi Autosport’s Porsche is the fastest 991-era 911 around at over 226 mph.
It’s wild to think that just a week ago, we were all in Las Vegas for one of the greatest happenings in the automotive world, the SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Where else can you see every builder’s vision for McLarens, Audis, Ferraris, and more in one place during a time when everyone’s already putting up their Christmas trees?
Thus, it’s only our pleasure to bring you the coolest rides we happened upon while combing the floor of SEMA 2019, like this Porsche 911 GT2 RS parked in front of the Optima Batteries display, one of two built by Betim Berisha and his crew at BBi Autosport in Huntington Beach, California.
Known for their Pikes Peak-conquering Porsche GT3 Cup 911s, including the one they brought to SEMA this year that was built with The Hoonigans in just a month from a rolling shell to race up to the clouds, BBi’s take on this 991-era 911 GT2 RS — dubbed the BBi VMax GT2 RS Porsche — was built to breath black fire upon the open road with as little intrusive modification to the car as possible.
The purpose of this Porsche build by BBi was to leave a blaze of glory upon the 3.2 miles of closed highway in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in Idaho, during the second annual Sun Valley Tour de Force was held in July 2019.
Thus, along with a 3D-printed exhaust system, upgrades to the suspension, and ECU tuning, the Porsche received a major boost in power to its 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six. Good for 690 horses out of the box, BBi swapped out the stock turbos for a pair of their own big, plug-and-play units with variable turbine geometry, developed by German turbo masters The Turbo Engineers. This upgrade allows the Porsche to run normally while travelling to and from the track, while also being able to go wide-open when it’s time to go.
And go it did. The BBi 911 recorded a top speed of 226.95 mph on Phantom Hill, nearly 30 mph slower than the record-setting Bugatti Chiron’s 253.01 mph. And it was all accomplished with an excellent foundation, and a pair of bolt-on turbos upon an otherwise unmodded flat-six. We can only wonder what BBi will do next.
Photos by Derin Richardson for Team Speed
