- A video showing a Porsche 996 with a Honda K24 engine is racking up views on YouTube.
- The tubocharged Honda motor makes over 500 hp and has the potential for more.
- Selling the working 996’s water-cooled flat-six helped the owner fund the conversion work.
You know that old maxim about Miata always being the answer for any car-buying conundrum? It’s starting to feel like K24 might always be the answer for engine swap questions. The Honda motors are finding their way into a ton of non-Honda vehicles, including the Porsche 911.
A recent video on The Drive’s YouTube channel showcased the results of one such swap involving an early 996-generation coupe. The owner, Ben Sipson, was so impressed with the K-swapped Smart (yes, really) his friends built, that he decided to embark on his own Honda heart transplant.
Related: Bizarro Porsche 911T Hotrod Has A Front-Mounted 6.75-Liter Bentley V8
Many engine swap projects start with a car with a blown engine, but not this one. The 911’s 3.4-liter, water-cooled flat six has a reputation for failure through bore scoring and intermediate shaft failures, but Sipson’s engine was still fully functional. So he pulled it out and sold it one of the many 996 owners who did need to replace a dead engine.
The funds raised from that sale helped pay for the build of the 2.4-liter inline four K24, which is by no means standard. It has a freshly machined block, Pulsar 6262G twin-scroll turbo, Haltech 1500 Elite ECU, IGN-1a race coils, BMW 335i intercoolers, home-built intake manifold, upgraded fuel pumps and all kinds of other goodies.
A Kennedy Engineering Products adapter plate, clutch and flywheel kit helps the Honda engine mate to the Porsche transmission, and a LSD ensures the power is but down cleanly. And there’s plenty of power.
Sipson had his 996 dyno’d before the swap and the car made 256 hp (260 PS) on its original Porsche motor. After the Honda switcheroo it was kicking out more than 500 hp (507 PS) and has the potential to make much more, and safely. Swappers love the K24 because they’re robust and tuneable, but also cheap to buy and build. If one does go bang it’s a hell of lot less expensive to redo than a tuned Porsche flat-six would be.
A fabricator by trade (check out baysidefabrication.com), Sipson created many of the components needed for the swap himself and now sells engine mount kits to help other 996 builders perform the same swap. Is the K24 your ideal 911 swap or would you prefer an LS V8 or some other engine?
