Unlim 500+ people: Sergey Ignatko

Today we welcome Sergey Ignatko — Unlim 500+ regular participant and the owner of the fastest Porsche on our planet.

DT: Greetings, Sergey. I would like to start our conversation with a traditional question — how did your interest in cars begin?

Sergey: My passion for the motor world began in my childhood, though cars were not its first object. At the age of 8 I decided to engage in karting, gave it a try and liked it a lot, but unfortunately, as I was a child and wanted to try all and everything, I switched to other sports. I came back to my interest in cars only 7–8 years later, when I was already in my senior class. At that time my father had a rather fast car BMW M5 (E34) and I frequently borrowed it to take a ride. Later I entered a university in Moscow and my parents gave me an AUDI S4 Avant (B4) as a present. I used this car to master my skills in fast driving and sold it after a while. In 2004 I got a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. First thing I did, I went to Vorobyovy Gory (the area in Moscow with a racing circuit situated there) and started participating in different races. After a while I mastered quick start and gear shifting techniques and started winning. So it was here when my motor sport history began — in 2005 I decided to give a shot at the Russian Drag Racing Championship. I didn’t have enough money for some serious car tuning at that time, I just remember replacing the clutch for the reinforced version and it was only because I had burnt the stock one. My best time with the stock Evo 8 (265 hp) was 13.7 seconds but I wanted to drive faster and faster. It made me start customising my car the best I could and increase its power year after year. I took part in the competitions in 2006, 2007, 2008. By 2008 my car was producing about 600 hp and its “quarter mile” time reached 10.8 seconds. This result took me to the third place of the Russian Championship. At the same time I received Motorsports Master Degree. After that I put the races on pause for a while due to a big workload. And my Evo turned into a 1000-hp wheelbarrow which was breaking down more often than showing any good results. At some point I made a rule of thumb and sold the car. This was how my story with Evo ended. After selling it I bought a Porsche 911 Turbo 997 as it had been my dream car since childhood.

DT: Can you describe the contrast you felt after changing a budget Japanese sport sedan to a luxurious German sport car?

Sergey: It certainly felt not the same. Porsche is like a good jacket which suits any occasion. Though both of these cars have rear-wheel drive, they are utterly different. The rear-wheel drive of Porsche places more emphasis to the rear axle; its steering is different due to dissimilar engine arrangement. It would be inappropriate to make such comparison as those cars are in absolutely different price categories.

DT: Sergey, tell us please, for how long did you manage to restrain yourself from upgrading Porsche?

Sergey: I became the owner of a Porsche 911 in February 2011 and I was driving a stock car for about 3 months. I got used to it, started feeling the car and began customising it in summer of the same year as I wanted to participate in Unlim 500+ event. My first step was to remove the catalysts and reprogram the engine control unit with PP-Performance. This minor modification made the car change drastically. For instance, the stock version covered a ¼ mile distance in 11.6 seconds and was able to accelerate up to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds, but after the tuning the “quarter mile” time reduced to 11.0 seconds and a leap to 100 km/h came down to 3.2 seconds. I was pleased with the results and my next step was to install a complete Switzer Performance exhaust system. This modification allowed me covering the “quarter” in 10.8 seconds and accelerating up to 100 km/h in 3.0 seconds. During that season I also installed Switzer intercoolers, Y-pipe, plenum, throttles, but the car still had stock turbos. As a result of the above mentioned upgrades I managed to go a ¼ mile in 10.4 seconds reaching 218 km/h when crossing the finish line and the acceleration from 100 to 200 km/h was taking 6 seconds flat. But despite such preparations my car was still non-competitive at the Unlim events as the technical level of the cars there was much higher. Next year I started going further in car customising by ordering Tial Alpha 28 turbos with the potential of 800+ hp. I installed them on a stock engine and it got cranked during the very first race. As I had to dismantle the engine in any case, it was decided to reinforce it. After reinforcing and putting it back together I ordered Tial Alpha 30 turbos as the technical evolution performed by other Unlim participants was forging ahead. This turbo kit was intended for a 1000-hp engine. A stand in Moscow confirmed the car had 1020 hp at the flywheel. I was driving such “configuration” throughout the entire 2012 season. Best ¼ mile result was 9.9 seconds; acceleration from 100 to 200 km/h was performed in 4.2 seconds. The car demonstrated stable results, did not have any breakdowns but I still did not manage to win as more powerful GTRs were almost a second faster on 1 mile distance. By the end of 2012 I thought about installing larger turbos and decided in favour of Garret GTX3582. Also there appeared the fully customised Protomotive exhaust manifolds and the fuel system was upgraded. By the end of 2012 season I was able to go 1 mile in 24.5 seconds at 340 km/h when crossing the finish line and that summed up the season. In 2013 there were a few experiments with the turbos, leaving them the same but changing some of the “hot parts”. But the major problem concerned the factory installed control unit which was designed by Porsche to “play safe” and in case of any parameter overshooting it just rolled back the ignition decreasing the car’s power. A fundamental decision was made to switch to an independent SYVECS engine control unit. It was not easy at first but then I addressed Ryan, one of the engineers who worked on this “brain”. It all started working out after his arrival. Ryan helped in car adjustment, made it more balanced and forced it go the way it should. My best 1 mile result in 2013 season is 23.6 seconds with 370 km/h speed when crossing the finish line which is a world record for Porsche. Best quarter mile time is 9.6 seconds at 246 km/h.

DT: That is a very interesting story, Sergey. I suppose a lot of Porsche enthusiasts were following closely the success achieved by your car as you can be called a pioneer in the sphere of such high upgrading level. One more final question — what does Unlim 500+ mean to you?

Sergey: From the very first day Unlim has always been the major motivator for customising my Porsche. Thanks to this event I was able to achieve such high results. For me Unlim means not only racing and cars but first of all People with a capital “p” who are my friends and company. Of course, the sands are running out and I will certainly try to surprise everyone in the next 2014 season and pit my wits against GTRs and Lambos.

DT: Sergey, thank you very much for the interview, we are wishing you luck in the upcoming season and, of course, new records!

* estimated data

Engine:

Rods Carrillo H-Beam 1000+ HP
Head Studs ARP L19 1000+ HP
Camshafts Dbilas Dynamics for Porsche

Turbo:

2х Turbos Garret GTX3582 0.82 A/R
Wastegates Tial 044
AMS custom intercoolers with integrated Blow off Tial
Race Place custom intake system
Y-Pipe Switzer
Race Place custom straight exhaust

Transmission:

Modified Tiptronic by Racing Parts 1200+ HP
Modified TQ racing parts

ECU and ignition:

ECU Syvecs S911
Ignition ProEFI for 2000+ HP
Coils MSD
Spark plugs NGK 8
Lambdas NTK
EGT sensors Syvecs
MAP sensor ProEFI
Tuned by Ryan (Syvecs)

Fuel system:

Custom fuel system for 1500 HP by Total Race

Exterior:

Vorsteiner VR-T front bumper
Vorsteiner VR-T rear bumper
Vorsteiner VR-T carbon mirrors
Graphite Pro carbon side intakes
Rear taillights 997.2
Custom blue colour

Tires and rims:

Advan Racing RZ-DF 19x8,5 front with Hoosier R6 235/35/19
Advan Racing RZ-DF 19x11 rear with Hoosier R6 315/30/19
Custom 18x12 wheels with Hoosier Drag Radials 335-30-18 (for drag racing)