Innehållsförteckning för No. 150 från Total 911

Lord March is already gearing up for the 25th rendition of the Festival of Speed, held on the grounds of his beautiful Goodwood estate, by announcing the weekend’s theme for 2017. Dubbed ‘Peaks of performance – motorsport’s gamechangers’, the Festival will honour “racing machines that were so fast, powerful, expensive or complicated that the rules had to be changed to rein them in.” You can therefore expect to see a heightened Porsche presence once again at the Festival, with former racing greats taking to the famous 1.16-mile hillclimb, while new 911 machinery will be on display for visitors to get up close to. The 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed will take place between 29 June and 2 July, and tickets are on sale now via goodwood.com or by calling the ticket…

Successful IMSA season opener for Porsche 911s at Daytona 991 RSR finishes second in GTLM debut, while GT3 R victorious in GTD The 24 Hours of Daytona proved a successful start to the 2017 season for Porsche in the US. Starting from fifth and eighth in the GTLM class, the 991 RSR ran a mechanically trouble-free race first time out during the incident-packed 55th running of the famous race. Competition was fierce throughout, with nose-to-tail racing and plenty of changes for the lead. When the chequered flag came down at the Daytona Speedway, the no. 911 Porsche, driven by Patrick Pilet, Dirk Werner and Frédéric Makowiecki, was just 2.9 seconds behind the class-winning Ford. Despite Ford’s one-two-three dominance early in the race, the formation was soon broken as Ferrari and…

MOMO Motorsport £330 / 350mm 1 This genuine Porsche MOMO Motorsport steering wheel has a sharper concave over the Prototipo, with an Alcantara-lined rim featuring the 12 o’clock – or dead straight – yellow marker as featured on the most hardcore 911 race cars. It has rather more blatant motorsport intentions than the timeless Prototipo but still exudes Italian style and quality. Available for Type 964, 993 and 996 cars, the lightweight Motorsport wheel features the Porsche logo, stamped on the right spoke, for an additional splash of Weissach feel. rpmtechnik.co.uk/shop MOMO Prototipo £155.99 / 350mm 2 MOMO’s Prototipo is one of the most iconic wheels of all time, highly regarded among Porsche fans for the factory’s decision to run them on many of its 1970s race cars. That former…

The glittering array of 911s at the 2016 New Zealand Porsche Festival inspired Brent Jones to sell his 964-based 2.7 RS race car and replace it with a more authentic 911 racer. The result is a perfect replica of the factory’s 1973 RSR ‘R7’, a car that took to the tarmac at the Targa Florio, Le Mans and the Nürburgring among others. The RSR project had faltered under its previous owner so, with a keen eye for accuracy, Jones took it on and turned the car into an R7 double, complete with the characteristic Mary Stuart collar. A famous aerodynamic aid, the Mary Stuart collar represents the transition from 2.8 RSR ducktail to fully-fledged 3.0 RSR whaletail, manifested in the 1974 IROC 3.0 RSs, and is perhaps the standout feature…

LOCATION: Dartmoor, Devon COORDINATES: 50.5524, -4.1223 TOTAL LENGTH OF DRIVE: 20 miles POINTS OF INTEREST: Dartmoor walks and history; Dartmoor ponies; Wistman’s Wood; Dartmoor Zoological Park; Becky Falls; Widecombe Fair (September) FOOD AND ACCOMMODATION: Two Bridges Hotel, Two Bridges www.twobridges.co.uk; Ilsington Country House Hotel, Ilsington www.ilsington.co.uk/Home The Cornish Arms, Tavistock www.thecornisharmstavistock.co.uk One of the joys of Great Roads is in highlighting those tucked off the beaten track. Just take a look at our map on Total911.com and you’ll see roads clustered out of the towns and spread all over the world. Yet there are still gaps, like the southwest of the UK. This month we right that, and offer up the B3357 in Devon. Since 1951, Dartmoor has been a National Park. A walk there can take in everything…

We’ve been asking the question for years now, but chatting to Porsche insiders on the 911 GTS launch in South Africa saw them confirming the arrival of the next-generation widowmaker. The GT2, the first model to wear that iconic badge in the 991 series, will deliver 650hp from a development of the existing Turbo S’s 9A1 3.8-litre biturbo flat six. Our sources admit that as much as 700hp is possible, but 650hp is able to be achieved within Porsche’s expectations for reliability. The GT2 will retain its rear-wheel-drive chassis, though the previously three-pedal, six-speed manual transmission will make way for a seven-speed PDK automatic. Manual fans can take solace in the fact that Porsche has confirmed, still unofficially, that the second-generation GT3 will be offered with either a six-speed manual…

The 911 Turbo has for years been considered the most capable everyday supercar on the market, with blistering performance and astute handling all part of the Turbo’s impressive resumé. However, a Total 911 criticism often levied at Porsche’s flagship turbocharged car is its guttural exhaust sound, made notable by its absence. A muted exhaust note on factory systems means owners will need to turn to aftermarket tuners to properly unlock the car’s acoustic potential, such as the latest offering from AWE. Built for the 997.2 Turbo, AWE Tuning’s Touring Exhaust consists of three-inch tubing and a H-pipe design developed for optimal gas flow, with German-made 200-cell HJS HD metal catalysts guaranteeing operation free of a ‘check engine light’ message on the dash. Total 911 has been quoted performance gains of…

In praise of the 997 Dear Sir, There has been plenty of affection in the media for the Porsche 996 Carrera, which has enjoyed something of a renaissance of late from those who covet 911 ownership, but I still believe the better car is the 997. We all know the 997 improved on the 996’s shabby interior and a few well-placed tweaks means it offers a better drive too (not to mention offering more power than the 996). I truly believe that going forward as an investment, the 997 is going to be a future classic: it’s the last of the truly rear-engined 911s, with mechanical power steering rather than the 991’s electric, which dilutes the experience somewhat. Inside, the cabin is still proper 911 stuff, all cosy and without…

The room before us is utterly cavernous in its layout. Tall, wide and stretching back almost as far as the eye can see, the vast space is filled with row upon row of pristine Porsche metal, some hidden under soft cloth covers, others fully exposed. Major gangways dictate a sensible path in which to walk and, following it, we soon come to an opening that leads into another room stacked to the ceiling – literally – with yet more Porsche vehicles. This labyrinth of Zuffenhausen’s finest sports cars is not an elaborate showroom, nor is it the factory floor. For while there are new cars here, they are joined by examples of just about every conceivable production Porsche ever built, along with prototypes, notable racing cars and, better still, some…

A builder of racing as well as production cars, Porsche also made factory upgrades for the 356, even though its main competition offering was the potent ‘Fuhrmann’ four-cam flat four. In the 1960s, Porsche even built a handful of customer-order flat-eight Carreras. Once Porsche 911 production was underway, its sporting prowess opened the way for a more comprehensive tuning offer. Even before the launch of the 911S in late 1966, the 911 was already being raced extensively and once the range had extended to include the 911T, Porsche devised the Powerkit’s precursor, the Sportpaket. Until 1970, under FIA rules it was possible to homologate one body shape with different engines so Porsche took full advantage and registered the 911 and 911L in Group 2 (modified touring cars), and the 911T…

Rival auction houses RM Sotheby’s and Gooding & Company will once again do battle for the 2017 Amelia Island Concours week with a variety of rare Porsche cars set to go under the hammer. The highlight of RM Sotheby’s offering, spread over two days at the Ritz-Carlton, is undoubtedly the 58-strong collection of Orin Smith on 10 March, much of which is said to be offered without reserve. However, 911 aficionados will have to wait for the traditional auction of 11 March for their Porsche fix, headlined by a 964 Turbo 3.6 offered without reserve. The 1991 Turbo in Guards red has just 8,950 miles on the clock and boasts a comprehensive service history, and follows a 1989 Speedster, also in Guards red, to be offered with no reserve. A…

Total 911’s spies have spotted a series of test mules for Porsche’s eighth-generation Neunelfer out winter testing – and, for the first time, they’re bereft of any significant camouflage. As you can see, the mules appear noticeably wider at both the front and rear wheel arches, with rumours suggesting this increase in track width could be the biggest indication yet that Porsche is testing hybrid technology on its road-going 911. Another noticeable point of interest lies at the rear of the cars in our pictures, Porsche’s test mules sporting an active rear wing that extends across the full width of the 992’s rear humps. The styling of the rear lights looks set to follow a design parallel with that of the newly-released Panamera, a trend we’re likely to see extend to the…

1977 Geneva Show launch for Porsche 928 Although the Porsche 911 already had a sibling in terms of the cheaper and less potent 924, the 928 was both better specified and more powerful than the 911. If it represented a threat to the 911, this was the intention of Porsche CEO and genitor of the 928, Ernst Fuhrmann. Conceived in the early 1970s when the future of the 911 in Porsche’s vital US market was somewhat unclear, the 928 sought to be a world beating GT, conventionally engineered with the engine at the front, but sophisticated in design with its light-alloy V8, its gearbox (either manual or automatic) combined with the rear axle. The 928’s smooth coachwork with its deformable bumpers was equally advanced and in winning the 1978 Car…

“The GTS has to be the purest, simplest choice from a driving perspective, and that’s a manual Coupe with rear-wheel drive” Palm Springs, USA, 2010: at the 997 GTS launch an engineer admitted that the only true GTS was the C2 Coupe, with manual transmission. The same discussion was had at the 991.1 GTS launch, and last night, the conversation followed the familiar route. “So, GTS? The only real one is the Carrera Coupe manual, right?” I asked. “For sure,” came the predictable answer. Not the fastest, admittedly – you’ll need a PDK if you want to achieve the best times – but we’d forgo bragging rights for engagement and so, it seems, would a lot of you. The British contingent on a press launch are always a demanding bunch,…

If you’re as passionate about the Porsche 911 as we are, it’s more than likely that you too get hot under the collar when someone expresses the opinion that “all 911s are the same.” It is often doubly irksome when the people who make this nonsensical statement claim to be so-called motoring enthusiasts. That’s because the variety of 911s produced during the past 54 years is unlike those of any other series-production sports car. Distinctive body shapes, with vastly different engine/transmission combinations, constitute a long and storied lineage of cars that offer an immense array of driving experiences. Depending on your budget, there is an abundance of 911s to choose from in the classifieds and from specialists when you take mileage, condition and age into account. This is proven by…