The Complete Book of Porsche 911
Page 12
Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, turbocharger, intercooler
FINAL DRIVE AXLE RATIO
4.22
TOP SPEED
170mph
PRODUCTION
14,476 total Turbo production 1978-1988; 948 Slant Nose
CHAPTER 4
THE SECOND GENERATION CONTINUES 1984–1989
1984-1986 911 CARRERA
1984-1986 911 CARRERA
1986-1988 TYP 959
1987-1989 911 CARRERA
1987 RUF CTR “YELLOW BIRD”
For its 1984 model year, Porsche introduced the Carrera 3.2, or simply the 911 Carrera, the E Program second-generation 911. The number referred to its new 3.2-liter (193.0-cubic-inch) engine. The Carrera name reminded customers of Porsche’s long history with the Mexican road race. That Peter Schutz and others inside Porsche decided to brand the entire new line with the name raised eyebrows and consternation inside the company and out. Carrera models had been the premium editions, cars with the highest performance capabilities. Was Porsche diluting the name? Or was the company sending another message?
Porsche sports cars always had been expensive. International currency exchanges affected prices and revenues at Porsche more than other carmakers, since half its production went to the United States. When the dollar held strength against the deutsche mark, prices did not change in Germany, but Porsches became a better bargain to American buyers. In the early 1980s, the deutsche mark gained strength over the dollar, and prices in U.S. dealerships crept up. Peter Schutz advocated the Carrera name as a way to tell customers not only that Porsche continued to offer the 911 but also that Porsche conceived and executed these cars at the Carrera-level of design, engineering, and performance.
The Porsche crest first appeared in 1952, but not on the nose of car until 1957. The family name runs across the top. Below is the background shield of the province of Wurttemberg where Stuttgart is located. In the center is the official badge of Stuttgart.
It started with the engine, now 3,164cc total displacement, the increase accomplished by adopting the longer stroke of the Turbo, at 74.4mm. Bore remained 95mm as it had been in the SC models. Bosch introduced its Digital Motor Electronics (DME) Motronics 2 engine management technology, coupled with the latest L-Jetronic injection system, to improve fuel economy, boost performance, and decrease exhaust emissions. The engine developed 231 DIN horsepower at 5,900 rpm. Exhaust emissions regulations in the United States and Japan influenced engine changes, which among other things reduced compression from 10:3 to 9.5:1 for these two markets. Running unleaded regular fuel, these engines developed 207 SAE net horsepower. The Bosch electronics for these engines utilized a heated oxygen sensor to regulate fuel-air mixture. Both 3.2-liter normally aspirated engines and 3.3-liter turbocharged ones incorporated new oil-fed camshaft drive tensioners.
The new 911 Carrera, introduced for 1984 model year, incorporated fog lamps into the lower valance as standard equipment. Porsche sold the coupe for 61,950DM at the factory and $31,960 in U.S. showrooms.
The 3.3-liter Turbo remained forbidden fruit to American and Japanese buyers. Both nations enacted emissions and impact-safety legislation that Porsche and other manufacturers chose not to meet on models they were carrying over. This opened another door to entrepreneurs. A “gray market,” catering to desires for the most desirable models, sprung up in 1980, soon after Porsche ceased Turbo exports to U.S. and Canadian buyers. A loophole (or shady interpretation of the regulations) encouraged mechanics and body shop operators to convert non-U.S.-specification models acquired as used cars throughout Europe. The most responsible of these operators fitted exhaust gas recirculators, air pumps, and catalytic converters to the engines. They removed European bumpers and mounted 5-mile-per-hour impact bumpers on the front and 2.5-mile-per-hour bumpers on the rear of the cars. Depending on the honesty and capability of the shop, and the desire and gullibility of the buyers, operators charged anywhere from $6,000 to $20,000, plus the cost of the car for the conversion. Sometimes the safety work was not done, and many of these cars ran poorly. (Porsche had no exclusive on these questionable conversions. Ferrari, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz buyers also suffered the sleight of hand of those with marginal skills and questionable motives.)
Few differences marked the 1983 911SC coupe interior from the new 1984 Carrera model. The new car weighed 1,160 kilograms, 2,552 pounds. European cars accelerated from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 6.1 seconds.
1985 Carrera Turbo Look
Optional at further cost, Carrera buyers could add the widened doorsills and rear fender ventilation available for M505 slant nose Turbos. Prices were the same as for the Turbo.
The clean lines of F. A. Porsche’s first 1964 901s still rang clear 20 years later although design chief Tony Lapine banished brushed aluminum and chrome, toning everything down with matte black.
The 3,164cc (193-cubic-inch) Typ 930/21 flat six developed 207 horsepower at 5,900 rpm for U.S., Canadian, and Japanese buyers and 231 horsepower for the rest of the world from the Typ 930/20 engine.
Inside the doors, new side-impact door beams protected driver and passenger in the event of accident. Turbo Look models remained popular in the United States because Porsche still did not sell them in America.
1986 Carrera Turbo Look
Porsche introduced new seats for 1985. These leather-covered Sport Seats provided independent electric front and rear height and angle adjustment. Seat backs adjusted manually.
The Turbo Look option not only made the Carrera look more aggressive, but it also greatly improved handling due to its wider stance. The company offered the option for Cabriolets and Targas beginning in 1985.
1986 Carrera Cabriolet
While not so much a consideration in desert environments, Porsche extended its rust warranty to 10 years beginning in 1986. It covered paint for three years and the overall vehicle for two years.
The company made the leather-wrapped four-spoke steering wheel standard equipment for 1985. Speedometers for American models returned to a more realistic top speed.
Larger fresh air vents filled the dashboard. Porsche lowered the seat 20mm (0.8 inches) to allow tall drivers more headroom. A new interior temperature sensor allowed even the Cabriolet to utilize automatic heat control.
Porsche made its sport shock absorbers available to Cabriolet buyers for the first time. The catalytic converter–equipped U.S. Carreras accelerated from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 6.5 seconds.
YEAR
1984-1986
DESIGNATION
911 Carrera
SPECIFICATIONS
MODEL AVAILABILITY
Coupe, Targa, Cabriolet
WHEELBASE
2272mm/89.4 inches
LENGTH
4291mm/168.9 inches
WIDTH
1775mm/69.9 inches
HEIGHT
1310mm/51.6 inches
WEIGHT
1210kg/2662 pounds
BASE PRICE
$31,175 coupe (1984)
$35,070 Turbo-look coupe (1984)
$34,609 Turbo-look coupe (1985)
$34,670 cabriolet (1986)
TRACK FRONT
1369mm/53.9 inches
TRACK REAR
1379mm/54.3 inches
WHEELS FRONT
7.0Jx16
WHEELS REAR
8.0Jx16
TIRES FRONT
205/55VR16
TIRES REAR
215/50VR16
CONSTRUCTION
Unitized welded steel
SUSPENSION FRONT
Independent, wishbones, MacPherson struts, longitudinal torsion bars, gas-filled double-action shock absorbers, anti-roll bar
SUSPENSION REAR
Independent, light alloy semi-trailing arms, transverse torsion bars, gas-filled double-action shock absorbers, anti-roll bar
BRAKES
Ventilated, drilled discs, 4-piston aluminum calipers
ENGINE TYPE
>
Horizontally opposed DOHC six-cylinder Typ 930/20
(930/21 for US, Canada, Japan)
ENGINE DISPLACEMENT
3164cccc/193.1CID
BORE AND STROKE
95x70.4mm/3.74x2.77 inches
HORSEPOWER
231@5900rpm (930/20)
207@5900rpm (930/21)
TORQUE
209lb-ft@4800rpm
(930/20)
192lb-ft@4800rpm
(930/21)
COMPRESSION
10.3:1 (930/20) – 9.5:1 (930/21)
FUEL DELIVERY
Bosch LE-Jetronic
fuel injection
FINAL DRIVE AXLE RATIO
3.875
TOP SPEED
152mph
PRODUCTION
35,571 coupes, 14,486 Targas, 19,987 Cabriolets all years
The Carrera’s soft top operated manually with a zip-in plastic rear window. Carrera Cabriolets sold for 82,000DM, $36,450 in the United States.
This was the view many competitors got of the 959s. In 1986, the rally saw 488 cars start and just 68 complete the 14,000-kilometer (8,700-mile) event 22 days later. The car weighed 1,260 kilograms (2,772 pounds.) Porsche produced just three of these racers.
1986-1988 TYP 959
During this time, Helmuth Bott and his staff were hard at work on what became the ultimate “not for U.S. buyers” Porsche. The company showed the design study, a widened and winged, startlingly pearlescent white, all-wheel drive coupe dubbed Gruppe B on its stand at Frankfurt in September 1983. It began life with the internal designation Typ 953 as a competition car for the 1984 season. Two years later, it had evolved into the limited-production masterpiece called the Typ 959.
If Bott believed all-wheel drive belonged under a Porsche 911, Schutz understood it from development, promotion, and sales perspectives.
As Norbert Singer’s 1978 Moby Dick had grown from carefully reading and interpreting FIA race car regulations, so did the competition Typ 953. The FIA’s new Gruppe B category, inaugurated in 1982, provided an umbrella under which manufacturers could create a race car prior to series production, rather than the reverse, in which homologation by creating production cars preceded racing legalization. This new category incorporated automobiles from the previous groups 4 through 7, which were closed two-seaters with at least 200 assembled during the previous 12 months.
Audi’s all-wheel-drive Quattros, which Ferdinand Piëch’s engineers had created for international rallies, regularly won individual events and season championships. They demonstrated the superiority of this technology. Porsche might create an entry, but it was venturing late into a field crowded with aggressive competitors. Worse, homologation required Porsche to manufacture many more of these all-wheel-drive cars than Bott or Schutz were ready to authorize. Another series, however, desert rallies, carried few rules and offered several advantages.
Porsche’s customer racing coordinator, Jürgen Barth, and other engineers in the Competition Department urged Bott to develop a mid-engine race car based on the 914 for Gruppe B. Barth knew that 80 percent of his customers raced on paved circuits but just 20 percent ran rallies. In 1982 Porsche had introduced its mid-engine Gruppe C race car, the Typ 956, which won its debut at Le Mans and took first again in 1983. So Bott disagreed.
“We do so many mid-engine cars. We cannot learn anything,” he explained. He worried about the competition: Was anyone else constructing a mid-engine Gruppe B car? If Porsche offered the sole mid-engine entry, would there even be a class?
“If you have to do a car,” Bott explained, “which you have to build two hundred times, you can also build one thousand times. If we build a Gruppe B car, let’s have a look at the future of the Nine Eleven.” In early January, he formalized his concept, starting with a pure competition version and then a series production model utilizing technology developed for racing but contained in a customer-friendly package.
The already legendary Paris–Dakar Rally seemed a suitable venue to test a new vehicle. “Rally” was the term organizers used for a high-speed race through the desert. Many-time Porsche racer Jacky Ickx had won the 1983 Paris–Dakar in a factory-prepared Mercedes-Benz 280GE Gelandewagen, a kind of all-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle. Ickx brought valuable experience to Porsche’s program. Bott completed his prototype all-wheel-drive 911 in late 1981. Engineers continually tested it and upgraded it. To prepare for the 1984 rally, they took the prototype to Africa for Ickx to test.
“After the second day,” Bott recalled, “one of the front axles broke.” Mechanics removed the other front axle, and Ickx ran it as a rear-wheel-drive car to the next stop. “And that was really a key thing,” Bott continued. “With four-wheel drive, the car handling was perfect. You could exactly drive between the dunes, allowing only fifteen centimeters [about 6 inches] clearance. And then when it became the rear-driven car, we had to allow two meters left and right. The center of gravity moved around all the time on the sand.” The next morning, mechanics installed replacement front axles. Ickx again was able to position the car precisely, driving much faster. “We thought, ‘if a car is so much better under bad conditions, then you must feel it on the dry road.’
There was nothing simple about the 959, even in the driver/navigator compartment. Computers and manual controls varied differential lock and traction control as well as calculated elapsed time and distance to the next checkpoint.
Porsche’s unsuccessful 1985 entry had used the same platform but a 3.2-liter 230-horsepower normally aspirated flat six. For 1986, the company returned with a sequential twin-turbocharged 2,849cc (173.8-cubic-inch) 400-horsepower computerized Typ 959/50 engine that put Porsches across the finish line first, second, and sixth.
Porsche assembled 113 of these coupes for 1986. Its 959/50 engine with 2,850cc (173.9-cubic-inch) displacement developed 450 horsepower at 6,500 rpm. Porsche quoted a top speed of 315 kilometers (197 miles) per hour.
“You see, our concept with the Nine Eleven has always been that it’s an all-around car. With very few changes you can drive a desert rally and then go to the racetrack at Le Mans. To show people, without changing the concept, this Nine Eleven is capable of completely different things.
“There is really a very big love from our customers for this Nine Eleven. So we thought, ‘let’s see if there is anything against our building this car for the next ten years, fifteen years.’ It was a goal, a task much greater than to build a race car.”
Schutz’s indelible marker line wrapping abruptly around the corner in Bott’s office had moved beyond gesture and statement. It inspired Porsche’s engineers and designers with a greater challenge: The new line suggested the 911 could go on seemingly forever. Bott wondered if it could and how it might evolve.
He appointed Manfred Bantle to direct the engineering staff as they pushed every technology available—electronics, tires, suspension hardware, engine fuel delivery, ignition, exhaust, transmissions. Yet Bott understood Porsche, the company: “While its head may look into the clouds, its feet remain on the ground. Our research department was not looking twenty or thirty years ahead,” he said. “In that time, things were changing so quickly. So what we do instead is to look ten years ahead. And what’s possible in ten we fulfill in two and we end up eight years ahead of the others. With our small numbers of production, we are able to do this. These are the secrets.”
Bott’s concept was typically broad: There would be a desert rally car, the Typ 959. He and Bantle would spin off a series of 20 cars as the road-racing Typ 960. Bott’s belief that if Porsche could assemble 200 then it could manufacture 1,000 took his concept to the next level, the Typ 961 next-generation Porsche Turbo. (Internal numbers shifted; the road race car became the Typ 961, and the Turbo went into development as the Typ 965.)
Bantle understood four-wheel drive. Porsche had acquired an English Jensen sports car in 1965. Four-wheel-drive pioneer Harry Ferguson had collaborated with Allan and Richard Jensen, mating Ferguson’s FF
all-wheel-drive system to Jensen’s C-V8 coupe. When the car arrived at Weissach, Bantle analyzed its engineering and estimated its potential.
The result, Porsche’s Typ 953, went straight to the winner’s circle in 1984, with René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne finishing the 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) event in first place. Bantle biased his all-wheel drive with 60 percent at the rear, 40 at the front. Drivers could change the proportions manually and lock the differential in or out as needed. Engineers fitted the car bodies with large Carrera flat wings and aluminum, Kevlar, or fiberglass panels for front and rear deck lids and doors. Side windows were Plexiglas. They drilled large holes in the thick Kevlar belly pan to reduce weight.
The 13,000-kilometer event in 1985 yielded the opposite results. None of the three cars finished. For 1986 Jacky Ickx, managing the Paris–Dakar team effort, went to the rally start well prepared, equipped, and supported. Bott and Bantle delivered three new 959s with single turbocharger engines tuned to develop 370 DIN horsepower at 6,500 rpm. These cars reached 210 kilometers (about 131 miles) per hour along the fastest stretches. A new front axle system electronically decreased oil pressure from the drive clutches on those high-speed rear-drive sessions. Touching the brake pedal instantly restored 19 atmospheres, or 275 (psi), to the clutches for engine braking through the front axles.