Innehållsförteckning för No. 175 från Total 911

Porsche’s decision to put on a 992 workshop for selected media was a wise one, chiefly because the upstep in technology is so great. I’m not just talking about engine and chassis gadgetry on the 992, either. With new apps and online services dedicated to road trips, restaurant ratings and even your environmental impact, this isn’t just a new car anymore, it’s a whole new lifestyle for the Porsche 911 driver. “The aim is to be a carbon neutral factory lead by humans, assisted by robots” First we visited the production line at Zuffenhausen to see how the 992 is made, with a notable emphasis on quality and sustainability. Quality has always been important to Porsche, but a £700 million investment in Zuffenhausen with a new paint shop, new engine…

Neel Jani revealed as first Porsche Formula E driver Works former LMP1 driver to begin testing early this year ahead of Weissach’s Formula E debut in December The long-time Porsche works driver, Neel Jani, has been unveiled by Weissach as the first official driver for its forthcoming debut campaign in Formula E. The Swiss will spearhead Porsche’s testing of its Formula E race car in the early part of this year as the manufacturer prepares to enter official competition of the fledgling all-electric motorsport discipline from December 2019. A 2016 Le Mans winner and World Endurance Champion, Jani has been a mainstay in the official works roster since 2013, and is looked on favourably by Fritz Enzinger, head of Porsche Motorsport. Jani’s announcement will be followed by others throughout the…

It’s a fine car, every bit as good looking as the two cars here. However, the combination of a normally aspirated engine, those large tyres and the additional grip of four-wheel drive conspires to make the C4S one of the less-than-stellar widebody 911s. Add in the additional weight of the four-wheel drive system and you have a car whose performance is a little blunted. If you’re not an enthusiastic driver and simply wish to own a wide body 993, then the C4S will be fine. If you’re coming from a background of lightweight, nimble 911s, then take a test drive before deciding.…

HISTORY AND SPEC Ever since the advent of the 930 way back in the middle of the 1970s, Porsche has become synonymous with turbocharged road cars, and the genre seemed to have reached something of a zenith with the launch of the 996 Turbo 26 years later. Improving on that car’s combination of mammoth power and brutal performance would take something special, so could the arrival of the first-generation 997 Turbo in 2006 move the game on? We’d have been more than a little surprised if it hadn’t, and Porsche duly delivered, improving the recipe in every way that mattered. While essentially a development of the 996’s Mezger (dry sumped) engine, the revised unit benefitted from a pair of Variable Turbine Geometry (VTG) blowers that upped power to 480hp and…

A road car. A race car. An engineer’s car. The 911, more than any other car, is a product of continual automotive evolution. Porsche’s enhancements have kept it relevant for the road, competitive on the track and have cemented its reputation as the enthusiast’s car of choice. That evolution isn’t just limited to Porsche itself; an entire industry out there takes 911s backwards and forwards in time, improving, re-imagining, personalising. The 911 is an eminently adaptable basis upon which owners can build the car they want from it. With this 964, that’s exactly what RPM Technik has done for its owner Ian Humphris. The idea was for a fast road car that could be track driven, adding contemporary performance while being respectful to the classic feel and engagement a 964…

While early Porsche 911s used carburettors to regulate the air/fuel mixture, changing emissions regulations at the end of the 1960s and the quest for greater power soon saw Zuffenhausen turn to mechanical fuel injection on its iconic rear-engined sports car. Originally introduced on the 906 sports racer, the MFI fuel pump, developed by Kugelfischer and later built by Bosch, was fitted to the 911R before making its road-going debut on the 2.0-litre Porsche 911S of 1969. Built in an age before electronic sensors and regulators, the MFI pump uses a series of mechanical ‘sensors’ to create an ever-changing fuel map based on throttle position, engine speed and barometric pressure. The bottom half of the Kugelfischer pump features a camshaft, phased to match the engine’s firing order, while in the top…

New dealer tracking system set for classic models Porsche Classic Vehicle Tracking System protects your assets Porsche Classic has unveiled an innovative vehicle tracking system specifically to protect its classic cars from the threat of thieves. Porsche Classic Vehicle Tracking System can be fitted at an official Porsche Dealer and features a hidden sensor package which communicates with a European-wide security network. The system is available for all cars under the Porsche Classic scheme, catering for 911s from 1964 right up to the 996. Alexander Fabig, head of Porsche Classic, says the system is intended to stop the company’s increasingly valuable classic cars from disappearing, “The new tracking system will allow us to offer our customers anti-theft functionality that will trigger an alarm for tracking the vehicle if someone tries…

We’ve been here before, right? A new 911, which among our fraternity will forever be known as the 992. In Porsche’s model line there’s nothing more significant, even if today 911 sales are a mere support act to the SUV bottom line. Simply put, the 911 remains the company’s icon, the car that defines the firm. The 911 represents success on road and track, a million-selling sports car that’s instantly recognisable; unique in the automotive world. Which is why replacing it is about as difficult a task as Porsche has. Time doesn’t stand still though, and the 911 has to evolve to work in the world it finds itself in. That evolution has unquestionably allowed it to endure and succeed, but the transitional points in its lifecycle will always be…

It’s fascinating, the changing fortunes of the 964 generation. For years it was the unloved 911 (before the arrival of the 996), lambasted at the time for its nannying driver technologies including power steering, ABS and, most prominently, all-wheel drive. Porsche launched the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 first in 1988, the traditional rear-driven Carrera 2 not arriving in 964 form until a year later in 1989. As we know, the C4 used a rendition of the 959’s complicated drivetrain, which maintained the 911’s rear-drive bias despite the introduction of power to all four wheels. 69 per cent of drive was therefore still sent to the rear, with 31 per cent being fed to the front. Chief engineer Helmuth Bott said at the time the goal of the 964 Carrera 4 was…

It’s just after midday and we find ourselves waiting outside a plain, nondescript building, its featureless, external monotony a brilliant contrast to the magic of what resides inside. That’s because within these walls you’ll find what is very likely the most astonishing, most unbelievable Porsche collection on the planet which, until very recently, has been kept a complete secret to everybody. You should prepare to be amazed. It’s a complicated process to get inside the building but, after sharing introductions with the rather secretive owner, we’re lead inside. Greeted by a maze of stairways and corridors at first, our eyes take a little time to adjust to the bleached-out haze of white floors, walls and ceilings, illuminated by brilliantly white lights. The connotations here are almost surgical – for a…

The name ‘Makellos Classics’ should not be alien to regular readers of this magazine. A few of the company’s cars have featured prominently in Total 911 over the past year, including a one-owner 1969T, a low-miles 993 Carrera S and, of course, the excellent SC safari cover star from issue 174. But away from the feature 911s, what else do we know about this SoCal specialist in Porsche? We’ll start with the name itself. “Makellos is a German word which simply means ‘flawless’,” owner Matt Kenyon says with a smile as he shows us around the company’s expansive workshops in Escondido, a small city outside of San Diego. A high standard is clearly ingrained within the company ethos, this evident in the quality of cars we’ve featured in recent months.…

The name of Hans-Heinrich ‘Rico’ Steinemann isn’t one that you hear as often as you should in Porsche circles, which is frankly a little surprising given the impact he had on its racing activities. Born in Zurich in 1939, he started his working life as a journalist, though his first foray into publishing with his magazine, Powerslide, wasn’t a roaring success, and the publication would last just a few years. Thankfully he had plenty of other talents, and they would soon be tested as 1969 saw the affable Rico become Porsche’s Motorsport team manager, succeeding Huschke von Hanstein. And, as if that responsibility wasn’t enough, he would also find time to play a leading role in the company’s press department, not that his journalistic skills went to waste in later…

Porsche 993 obsessed Dear Sir, I’ve been a Porsche enthusiast since 1995 when I bought my first 911, a 1984 915 3.2 Carrera that I stupidly decided to forward date to a 964-look with cheap fibreglass parts. That 3.2 was followed by other 911s in the following years as I began to chase the newer models, moving through every generation up to the 997 and finally culminating in a 997.1 GT3 RS. Through it all a 993 always stayed with me, with a C4S having now been in the garage coming on 15 years. To me it was always the perfect mix of old school air-cooled with the ability to be a true modern daily driver. Air con that worked enough for hot summer days, power steering for daily grinds,…

After all these years it shouldn’t smell like a new car inside. And yet it does. The gleaming Guards red paintwork of this 993 C2S is shining in the winter sun. As I slide down into the black leather seat the actual aroma of new Porsche meets me. Gripping the steering wheel, there’s absolutely no sign whatsoever of wear and tear. It’s crisp and fresh. The tread plates on the doors are similarly unmarked, none of the signs of feet climbing in and out, and the sides of the seat bolsters are also immaculate. The odometer says 9,400 miles. It could just as easily say 94. It’s as if someone had transported a 993 C2S from a dealer’s forecourt in 1997 through time and dropped it into 2018. 9,400 miles.…

911s in the data file are organised in rows according to release date, beginning with the very first model in 1964. Many models were available in Coupe, Targa and Cabriolet forms, with the option of automatic transmission. Here, data has been provided from the Coupe variants unless stated. All data here has been compiled, where possible, from Porsche’s own figures. General valuations This reflects the general market trend for a model’susedvaluecompared to the previous financial quarter. The review for 2019 Q2 will be April. The review for 2019 Q1 was January. Ratings Each model is rated out of five in ourhalf-starsystemaccording totheirperformance,handling, appearanceanddesirability.…

It’s no secret we’re huge fans of the 997.2 Carrera generation here at Total 911 – we view it as something of a sweet spot in terms of relatively modern performance and technology in a quintessentially classic 911 shell. Even better, as values of the 991.1-generation Carrera after it have depreciated, that’s pushed prices of the 997.2 down too, and you can now pick up an entry-level Carrera for £35k, with a Carrera S starting at £40k. We think that’s incredible value given the GTS, at the top of the 997.2 Carrera range, is still commanding a price tag of £60,000. But what do our experts think? Does the entry-level 997.2 Carrera represent a good buy right now, or is there better value out there for a semi-modern, daily driver…