Innehållsförteckning för No. 137 från Total 911

EBS Racing – the US parts specialist with a combined 65 years of Porsche spares experience – has launched a new ‘under-drive’ crankshaft pulley for M96 and M97-engined Porsches. The revised design uses a smaller diameter pulley than the OEM item in order to reduce the strain placed on the engine by various accessories, such as the power steering pump and A/C compressor. Offered in a black anodised finish and utilising a lightweight aluminium construction, EBS’s under-drive pulley increases the horsepower at the wheels by reducing the above parasitic losses. For Porsche 996 and 997 Carrera owners who do a lot of track work, the new pulley will help to protect engine accessories from being over-driven at high speeds, increasing component life. The kit includes a drive belt for cars…

Let’s face it: the 911 Carrera has never been far away from a controversy or two. Right from launch as a non-Rennsport model in 1974, the Carrera headlined a sizeable shake-up for Porsche’s darling 911, as the adoption of impact bumpers changed the car’s silhouette for the first time after more than a decade of design perpetuance. It was an episode that would go on to become something of a trend for the model. Fifteen years later, it was the Carrera that introduced all-wheel drive to the 911 legend, a full year before Porsche’s traditional sports car setup was then revealed in 964 C2 form. Then, just before the turn of the century, the 996 Carrera heralded a change from air-cooled to water-cooled flat six engines in the biggest and…

“On the whole we tend to avoid Gen1 ‘S’ engine cars because of the potential for well-documented engine dramas, but the 3.6 with the right options is very popular and we’ll always seek them out. The Gen2 is good news for us and are sought-after by buyers wanting a very useable 997, and as well as being reliable they represent a lot of car for the money, so appeal to a wide market. People also like the wide body look of the C4S, and a Coupe with a manual gearbox is a particularly popular combination indeed.”…

Putting aside issues of market value for the moment, the interesting conundrum is, which of these 993s is a genuine RS, and why is it not obvious at first glance? We’ve arrived at Specialist Cars of Malton in North East Yorkshire where both cars grace the showroom. Both have RS badges on their engine lids, identical BBS split-rim wheels and the same tyre specifications. The leery Speed yellow car has a roll cage and the aggressive stance of a track day pugilist. Could that one be the pretender? The other is innocuous in Midnight blue, so if it were merely a question of attitude you’d go with the yellow car. Anyway, keep an open mind for now. The 993 Carrera RS debuted in February 1995 as the last of the…

993 Turbo v Turbo S Is the Exclusive-built Turbo S worth its hefty premium over the standard 993 Turbo? 911L ON ROAD AND TRACK With only 1,603 examples built in two years, what’s the appeal behind the Lux? STORY OF THE 934 RACE CAR The incredible history of this 934 with its famous Jägermeister livery 911S AT 50: THE EARLY YEARS A look at the first ten years of the ‘Special’ 911’s historical significance Contents may be subject to change…

Porsche’s Kyalami Racing Circuit played host to the recent launch of the 991.2 Turbo and C4S (which you can read about beginning on page 20) and, after speaking with officials from the circuit, Total 911 can reveal there are plans in place to return the venue to the very top of the motorsporting calendar. Purchased at an auction in July 2014 by Porsche South Africa CEO and entrepreneur, Toby Venter, a total refurbishment of the facility and track commenced in May 2015, and is set to be finished by the end of May 2016, with a variety of new buildings and upgraded facilities already evident. The fully resurfaced track itself is wider in some areas, with a longer straight, and run-off areas have been greatly improved – all in line…

Gooding & Co has pulled off something of a coup with the news the esteemed US auction house has been chosen to put 16 Porsches from the famous Jerry Seinfeld Collection under the hammer at the Amelia Island sale on 11 March. Comedian, Seinfeld is one of the most well known Porsche collectors in the world, however, the exact details regarding the cars in his collection (rumoured to be around 50-strong) have, until now, remained relatively secret. Among the Zuffenhausen metal on offer from the Seinfeld Collection, which includes a 1955 550 Spyder (expected to realise £3.4-4.1 million), a 917/30 and a Carrera GT prototype, there are a number of significant Porsche 911s set for the sale at Amelia Island. From Total 911’s perspective, the most interesting of these from…

Porsche North America Racing achieve podiums at Daytona No.912 car of Bamber, Makowiecki and Christensen take third as Tandy’s no.911 car falters at the 54th Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Porsche North America Racing started the 2016 WeatherTech United SportsCar Championship with a third place finish in the GTLM class at the 54th Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. The no.912 Porsche 911 RSR of Earl Bamber, Frédéric Makowiecki and Michael Christensen battled through an unusually attritional race to take the final step on the podium, although it was nearly so much more for the factory Porsche squad. A wet qualifying session on the Thursday, disrupted by torrential rain, saw the no.911 and no.912 Porsches lock out the front row of the grid in the hands of Nick Tandy and Makowiecki…

DS935 project in the making Dear Sir, Like many car magazine buffs, I occasionally wonder what became of the interesting and individual cars tested by the likes of CAR, Performance Car, Top Car magazines and others. One of the cars that I have often wondered about is the Dage Sport DS935, which was built for John Greasley, boss of Dage – better known as renowned UK Porsche specialist, G Force Motorsport. When tested for the May 1988 issue of Performance Carmagazine it proved to be the fastest road car they had ever tested, while exhibiting that most telling of 911 Turbo characteristics: total tractability under normal road conditions. A couple of months back, following a conversation with Tony Wright at Wrightune in Wallingford (who had been involved in the build…

“The first Rennsport turned the 911 into an immortal entity and immediately cemented the ‘Carrera RS’ moniker into the stuff of legend” King Juan Carlos I, the man bequeathed with the Spanish throne by the infamous General Francisco Franco, is an unabashed enthusiast of all things with an engine. You may have spotted the now former King of Spain at his native Formula One Grand Prix over the years, mingling on the grid with the drivers and presenting trophies on the podium. As well as his well-publicised interest in motorsport, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias (to give him his full name) is also known to be an avid motorcycle rider and, during the 1970s and 1980s, would apparently evade his security detail at the Palacio…

The dramatic scenes in 2014 when two brand new 991 GT3s caught fire are the kind of events that manufacturers hate. The experience is even more painful for a high profile brand like Porsche, especially when smartphone footage ensures the grisly details are there for the entire world to see on the news websites. Any mishap involving a Porsche is a favourite of popular media so the ‘spontaneous combustion’ of those 991s was an absolute gift. Inevitably, the affair generated much uninformed comment, which rather obscured the normally banal realities of recalls. In just one year, approaching 80 million vehicles are manufactured worldwide and millions will be recalled to dealerships. Some recalls make headlines such as the faulty deployment of Takata airbags, a safety issue potentially affecting millions of cars…

Essential info LOCATION: Penrith, Cumbria COORDINATES: 54.770284, -2.550888 TOTAL LENGTH OF DRIVE: 20.9 miles POINTS OF INTEREST: Lowther Castle and Gardens, Lake District National Park; North Penines Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty; Coast to Coast Cycle Route FOOD AND ACCOMMODATION: Hartside Top Cafe, www.transportcafe.co.uk/truckstops/a-b-roads/256-hartside-top Sharrow Bay Hotel, www.sharrowbay.co.uk It isn’t often that we’re in the overcrowded South East of England for Great Roads, and with good reason. To find our typical fodder, one thing we don’t need is lots of people. Instead, Total 911’s intrepid team of researchers regularly head out away from the vast swathes of the commuter belts to open country, and hopefully, space. It is a trick that turned up our latest Great Road, the A686, starting in Cumbria. The North West of England has its own…

Racing into the spotlight for 2016 After claiming the Carrera Cup GB crown last year, 2016 is already presenting new challenges There are a number of people that don’t realise I’ve actually been car racing since 2009. They seem to think I just appeared out of nowhere a couple of years ago. The truth is, in my first car race (a British Formula Ford meeting), I qualified second and finished on the podium. For my second race I started on pole complete with a ‘novice’ cross on the rear. You have to go back to 1980-something to find the last person in the record books to have a similar start to their car racing career in British Formula Ford. Despite this, there have been times in my career where I…

“The engine’s more linear delivery changes the 911’s character slightly, but for the majority of drivers it’s a more usable, real-world sports car as a result” There is a 930 3.0-litre parked in the presentation room for the 911 Turbo and Carrera 4, 4S and Targa 4 launch. Immaculate, as you’d expect, the white, whaletailed monster is attracting huge interest from the assembled motoring press. Appealing as it is, its performance, however frightful back when it was the main event in the late 1970s, pales in comparison to even the standard Carreras of today. The 930 driver wouldn’t see which way a 991 went, however hard they tried or skilled they were. Progress is an inevitability, and the 930’s 260bhp looks meagre today. Its 5.5-second 0-62mph time is merely quick,…

“The Gen2 received some significant changes, not least the direct fuel injection and VarioCam Plus” Despite having done much to boost Porsche’s coffers during a difficult period, the 996 generation endured something of a torrid time. The necessary change to water cooling had divided opinion and loyalty, and some high profile engine problems had dented the company’s reputation for peerless engineering. The commotion eventually died down, of course, and by the time the 997 arrived in September 2004, things were on a much stronger footing. Highly regarded today, it was joined a year later by the four-wheel drive variants but what we’re interested in here is the Gen2 that was launched for the 2009 model year – and specifically the hugely capable C4S. We’ll start beneath the engine lid where…

John Spiller originally grew up in North Wales into a family heavily involved with the motor trade. Spiller became an active member of a local motor club where he met fellow rally navigator David Richards, who helped Spiller to enter national and international rallies through his business, Prodrive. By the late 1970s, Richards was organising the embryonic Rothmans Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) and developing the sport in the region. As a result, Spiller found himself in the series for the first time, co-driving with Tariq Al Wazzan in the Kuwait Rally in a BMW 320i in 1978, finishing in second place. In 1982 as co-driver with Saeed Al Hajri, they won the Gulf Challenge series in an Opel Ascona. The following year the pair entered seven rallies in the…

There’s a saying that less is more, only with cars many of us don’t always believe it to be true. We usually want more power, more performance, more comfort and equipment all in one as-near-as-complete package. Today, though, I’ve got the chance to find out if that old adage might actually contain a grain of truth. How so? Well, because a rather dank and wet Hertfordshire sees me about to get behind the wheel of Porsche’s 912E, and while here at Total 911 we consider ourselves a broad church when it comes to the Neunelfer, this is almost certainly one of the least powerful and slowest Porsches ever to grace these pages. Whether that would matter, and whether I’m to come away from the experience feeling staunchly dissatisfied, were issues…

Company profile • Founders: Alex Ross, Joan Wood and James Hendry • First opened: 2005 • Location: Fremont, California, USA • Area of expertise: Tuning any water-cooled 911 • Craziest 911 build: “The most used and abused car is our GT2 (featured in issue 134). It’s turned out to be a bit of a swiss army knife but our hearts belong to the blue 4.1 RS. Intense, nutty, gnarly and with 2.5 years of R&D, set-backs, humbling experiences, breakthroughs and overall an emotional roller-coaster!” It is incredible to think that SharkWerks is only just over a decade old. Already a household name in the international Porsche industry, their tuned cars and products regularly reach as far afield as Europe, the Middle East and Australia – and what’s even more phenomenal…