Located in a commercial area in the suburbs of Ontario, in the greater Los Angeles area, is “Turbo-god” Bisi Ezerioha’s company Bisimoto Engineering. We had a very special encounter there. We met two Porsches. Two very special Porsches. Two Porsche 935.
The silver-grey 935 with its bright pink decals and Brixton rims is a very special project for Bisi himself. For the second Porsche, Bisi took care of the technical support for a good friend of his.
While the left “Porsche 935 replica” is a barn-find, which is based on a rebuild from the early 90s, Bisi’s Porsche is not a Porsche at all anymore. Instead of the familiar air-cooled boxer sound, in Bisi’s “Electric-935” only fans and coolers that hum there for battery cooling.
An old saying is that art can be almost anything, and the Porsche 935 with its eye-catching pop-art paint job is a true work of art. A work of art that embraces two worlds and came to California via detours through Sweden and England.
Basically, an old, air-cooled Porsche 911 is already a work of art, and the legendary Porsche 935 based on the Porsche 911 Turbo (930) is iconic in the motorsport world. Even after decades, the fame of bygone days has not faded for Porsche enthusiasts. In 2018 even Porsche Motorsport launched a small run of 77 units of the legendary Porsche 935 based on the Porsche 911 GT2 RS (991).
Rod Chong, owner of the Swedish-born Porsche, has been addicted to the 935 for decades. “When I was a child, I saw them live at the track and on TV,” he recalls. Porsche turbo racing cars dominated touring car racing in the late 70s. For instance, with the 935 racing cars, Porsche won the world championship four years in a row.
When Rod visited the Gatebil Festival in the Norwegian-Swedish border area, he discovered his own Porsche 935. In the paddock there was an old turbo with Kremer “935 aerodynamics.”. As it turned out, the 935 had been sitting in a barn for over 20 years, and the Swedish owner wanted to get rid of the old Porsche. Rod bought it without further ado.
“I was based in Sweden until 2014 and then moved to the UK. From there I went to the U.S.” The Porsche was always moving with Rod, but he never got a chance to drive or restore it during this time. In Los Angeles, Rod, who is one of the founders of Speedhunters.com, works for the automotive agency Race Service.
During its first stage of development, the Porsche 935x was created and presented to the American Porsche community at the “Porsche Luftgekühlt Event.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/9I1utX9vogY?feature=oembed
Afterwards, the 935x was taken to Bisimoto Engineering to give the technology a boost. Eventually, the SEMA Show 2019 was just around the corner and the old Porsche was simply old. “It’s not a Restomod with servo or air conditioning, basically only the 17 and 19-inch Rotiform rims, tires, KW Clubsport Coilover kit and turbochargers are modern, and the paint job is new,” Rod understates.
The mighty rear wing is already a new production with carbon parts from APR. Of course, the arrangement of the turbochargers on the air-cooled 3.3-liter six-cylinder boxer engine has nothing in common with the series production turbos of that time. While the turbo version of the Porsche 911 Turbo (930) offered from 1979 to 1989 had only one turbocharger and produced 300 hp, Bisi upgraded two Turbonetics 57 mm Turbos including Turbosmart Wastegates.https://www.youtube.com/embed/KdSdaMhAdN4?feature=oembed
For years, Bisi has been a fan of installing the turbochargers directly at the rear of Porsche models. Of course, this is always a topic of discussion and both variants have their advantages and disadvantages. However, Bisi has had positive experiences with this kind of turbo setup.
In addition, the entire fuel injection system has been modernized and the engine has been completely overhauled. “With a boost pressure of only 1.0 bar we have, 473 hp at the rear wheels with normal typical bad Californian gasoline of 91 octane,” Bisi tells us during the photoshoot. The intercooler is a custom-made product of Sparco USA.
The entire exhaust system is also custom-built. The intake manifold as well as the revised engine control and injection are sourced from AEM. The hand-painted car body tells its own story, and its artwork connects worlds.https://player.vimeo.com/video/388078372?dnt=1&app_id=122963SEMA 2019 Teaser
The 935x builds the bridge to augmented reality. If you view the 935x with a tablet, you can experience the Porsche as an arcade race car in a virtual environment that recalls the Disney movie TRON from the early 80s, complete with synthesizer sound of the late 70s and early 80s on the display.
While the 935x connects the past with the future in a certain way, the second “Flatnose” Porsche from Bisimoto Engineering is the future of the present.
This Porsche, which weighs “only” 1216 kilograms, is an electric vehicle. “With my 935 K3V, I wanted to show that electro-mobility is simply fun and that this drive concept has a lot of potential in urban areas,” says Bisi Ezerioha with a friendly smile.
Lightweight construction and electromobility are also not a big deal, according to Bisi Ezerioha. The entire removal of the engine, transmission, and auxiliary units has saved a lot of weight. Even with the batteries and the additional water-cooled induction electric motor, the 935 KV3, which is based on a 1986 911 SC, weighs less than a current Porsche 911 GT2 RS.
By the way, the maximum revolutions of the electric motor are 18,000 rpm and at one revolution, the water-cooled 403-volt unit already mobilizes 636 hp. Two additional electric motors act as brakes and recuperation, and there’s also a Stoptech brake system.
“We have a range of 260 miles and by having the LG batteries under the hood at the front and rear, we’re close to achieving the ideal 50:50 weight distribution.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/MvbBAbIBJTA?feature=oembed
Every Tuesday, Bisi streams live on his Instagram account (www.instagram.com/bisimoto), and answers technical questions from his more than 250,000 Instagram followers. The streams also appear on his YouTube channel.
A completely new wiring harness, including modern electronics and the drive-by-wire system, was installed in Bisi’s Porsche. The transmission has only one gear with a ratio of 9.73:1 (forward/reverse). Due to the electric motor, the car even has a kind of traction control …
The bucket seats in the electric Porsche are Momo bucket seats, and the cage is a welded Bisimoto safety cell.
KW Clubsport in both 935
Both Porsche 911s (G-model) are equipped with our KW Classic Clubsport coilover suspension. Plus, our special construction department upgraded the front axle with our KW Hydraulic Lift System (KW HLS).
For our KW Clubsport coilover suspension for classic Porsche models, we use shock absorbers made of a special aluminum alloy on the rear axle. On the front axle, however, the shock absorbers are galvanized yellow steel struts and designed as a kind of monotube damper.
For vintage Porsche enthusiasts who would like to continue to use the torsion bar springs of their classic Porsche 911 (F and G models), we have of course also developed a damper set. There’s no need to change damper cartridges; instead, we supply a ready-to-install complete solution including forged steering knuckles.
Rod’s Porsche is fitted with Rotiform rims. “The rim design is very similar to the drift-wheels of Mad Mike Whiddet’s drift cars,” says Rod. “With the 935x, I’m playing with a whole lot of styling, tuning, and motorsport influences.”
Bisi’s Porsche rims, on the other hand, come from Brixton and have the same dimensions as Rod’s Rotiform wheels: 17 x 10 inches and 19 x 12.5 inches. The Toyo Proxes tires measure 275/40-17 and 345/30-19. The Turbo-fans are of course removable and were manufactured in a 3D printer.
The aerodynamic package is a replica of a 935 K3 motorsport kit from Kremer Racing in Cologne.https://www.youtube.com/embed/VfRHud2W738?feature=oembed
But the most exciting question is, how does an electrified Porsche drive? Simply, it drives like a razor blade through butter. The thing is fast. Unbelievably fast, and when driving it sounds almost like a jet inside. Hard to believe, even without the air-cooled Porsche boxer sound, this car has a certain charm.https://www.youtube.com/embed/KLSEzb8al20?feature=oembed
The aftermarket industry in the U.S. is getting involved in the topic of electromobility, as more and more retrofit kits are being offered to convert even vintage cars and young classics into electric cars …
Images Automotiv, KW, Videos Hoonigan, Donut Media, RaceService, Words C. Schmidt