The way Adam Carolla idolizes Paul Newman is nothing new to fans of his CarCast program. That reverence, as well as a sizable wallet, pushed the former host of The Man Show to purchase Newman’s red 935 a couple years ago for nearly $5,000,000, and he’s been racing it regularly ever since. The Porsche which took Newman to a class victory at Le Mans ’79 is now Carolla’s regular steed in vintage racing events, and unlike some collectors, he actually drives the 935 quite hard.
For the red-blooded Carolla, this Hawaiian-Tropic liveried 935 is not an expensive ornament to pootle around on racetracks with; he drives his Porsche quite competitively considering the star-studded history—and his performance at Laguna Seca last year is testament to that. Say what you will about Carolla, but he’s no charlatan.
To ensure he remains at the sharp end of the pack, he recently took the 935 to the dyno for a check-up. According to his latest CarCast, Carolla wanted to inspect the 935 after driving it at Laguna Seca, where it felt like it was down on power. The segment which begins at 22:30 describes the tuning process; the plugs, the distributor cap, wires, and rotor were replaced before finding the sweet spot in regard to boost pressure. With nineteen pounds, the engine made 589 horsepower and 437 lb-ft of torque! More surprisingly, the archetypal twin-turbo engine makes power quite progressively considering its age—not too spiky for a motor nearing its fortieth birthday!
Considering its vintage, the twin-turbo mill makes power very smoothly.