Innehållsförteckning för No. 204 från Total 911

Spring is here, which means the sun is shining, temperatures are lifting and, in the UK at least, optimism is in the air, boosted by the easing of long and restrictive coronavirus curbs. Life might be attempting to return back to normal, but our collective scars from the pandemic will be worn for years. A positive to come from the pandemic though is a reminder that life is indeed short and precious, and as such there’s no point hanging around when it comes to owning the 911 legend, particularly if it’s a goal or aspiration that you’ve been harbouring for a while. “A whopping 90% of Porsches are being bought blind currently” Better still, the market is buoyant, with lots of examples for sale. However, many dealers are saying that…

911: then and now Dear Sir, I have a 2004 996 Carrera 4, which I have owned for the last 16 years. I am told that the Porsche Switchable Exhaust is coming to the end of its life (it is the original…) and I was interested in any thoughts you had on a replacement exhaust. I quite like the theory of having the switch on dash, but I have only used it a handful of times over the last 16 years (I like leaving the house at 03:00am and trying not to wake people). I would be interested in any thoughts on third party vs Porsche exhaust and what third party exhaust you would recommend (if I am honest, I would want the exhaust to be a little louder than…

Travel. Remember that? The world hasn’t stopped though, and RS-Werks has kept itself busy completing this 964 R build through what’s been one of the world’s most difficult years. We’d love to say we jumped on a plane to meet them, but Zoom it is, for now at least, to discuss what promises to be one of the most interesting takes on the 964 this year. Even through a screen the infectious enthusiasm of the team is obvious. Scott McKeown, Nick Dunlop and Bob Craig are all here, McKeown the lead builder, Craig’s the man with the camera skills, and Dunlop keeps the business wheels turning, all adding to a staff headcount of about 12 at Pennsylvania-based RS-Werks. The team met while driving, which is something core to the RS-Werks…

Total 911: Mike, you got yourself on the racing grid in the ’70s without a big pot of money. How did you manage that? Mike Wilds: It was down to a garage in Chiswick, West London. As a school boy, my brother raced motorbikes and that’s where I got the racing bug from. I’d passed a garage called the ‘Checkered Flag’ and pressed my nose against the window. There was always a range of different cars in there from Lotus Elites to D-Type Jaguars and they fascinated me. I was drawn to four wheels rather than two. I eventually got a Saturday job there washing the cars and it stemmed from there. They had a racing team and asked me to a race meeting, and that was it. I decided…

Data file Full specs, ratings and market values of every Porsche 911 model, including the 964, seen here with Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, left, and his father Ferry, right, can be found beginning on page 76 Plus Showroom Looking for a new 911? The classifieds from our independent specialist partners are the first place you should start your search Servicing & tuning Get the very best from your Porsche 911 with the help of our selected performance and maintenance specialists Porsche lifestyle Helping you make the right lifestyle choices to complement you and your 911. Don’t just drive Porsche, live the brand Insurance & finance Get your Porsche covered with the best insurance deals for road and track to ensure happy, safe motoring…

992 GT3 RS breaks cover First public sighting of next Rennsport on road Total 911’s spies have captured the 992 GT3 RS on public roads for the first time as part of its preproduction testing. The mule, on its way to the Nürburgring Nordschleife for a development run on the Green Hell, features an outrageously proportioned rear wing, which is of the swan neck design as debuted on the 992 GT3 earlier this year. The 992 Rennsport’s wing features large, squared-off end plates, which will likely be masking a pointier end plate for production cars. The wing appears to have manual adjustability in terms of angle positioning like that of its recent Rennsport predecessors. That outlandish rear wing hints at a major aerodynamic upgrade for the 992 GT3 RS over…

HISTORY AND TECH The first-generation 997 inherited its engines from the 996. However, from the outset in 1999, for the first time since the original 930 the 911 Turbo did not use a blown version of the naturally aspirated 911 flat six, but what was almost a bespoke engine. Porsche’s engineers knew the M96 of the 996 would not be suitable for circuit racing as oil starvation occurred above lateral forces of 0.7g, speeds readily attained with competition tyres. Yet a production 911 that could not go racing was unthinkable. The Motorsport department thus developed a specific engine for GT3 competition. This was a hybrid unit which took the seven-bearing alloy crankcase of the 964-993 and used a water-cooled head which was derived from the 959 and the GT1. Making…

On 7 November 1970 at the tender age of ten, Tim Abbot is swept up in the aura of the Porsche 917, splattered in luminous yellow and red, doing battle over nine hours at Kyalami in South Africa. He is completely mesmerised, and the moment leaves an indelible mark on him. The duo of Jo Siffert and Kurt Ahrens piloting the 917 could only achieve 2nd on that memorable day, but Abbot would be inexplicably linked to the ‘hippie’ Porsche from that moment onwards. He would go on to work with his father John Abbot at the family business, Abbot Cars, which has become one of the foremost independent classic Porsche specialists in South Africa, with Tim at the helm today. The other great influence in Abbot’s life as a…

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’s used value compared to the previous financial quarter. The review for 2021 Q3 will be July. The review for 2021 Q2 was April. Ratings Each model is rated out of five in our half-star system according to their performance, handling, appearance and desirability.…

Last issue we focused on how Porsche has developed what is now its third generation of PDK gearbox for the 992, after the technology originally debuted on the 911 back in 2009. Alongside the introduction of PDK for the 997.2, Porsche also brought in a new flat six engine boasting direct fuel injection (DFI) which, in principle, still remains in the 911 today. However, much like that PDK transmission, much has changed in the 12 years since. The biggest change was perhaps the adoption of turbocharging for the 991.2 in 2016, with a reduction in capacity to 3.0 litres for both the Carrera and S variants (mapping rather than capacity now determining the power difference between the two). This was now coded the 9A2 engine rather than 9A1. The 9A2…

One hundred and forty three thousand, five hundred and eighty. The number of times you’ve heard about IMS issues with the 996? Unlikely, even if sometimes it seems otherwise. Pity the 996, for its place in history will always be clouded by one technical issue. It’s not the first 911 to suffer serious mechanical maladies either, but it’s unquestionably the one that’s had to suffer the consequences of its failings in perpetuity. Perhaps a victim of an increasingly connected world, where information (and misinformation) was more easily spread, or its circumstance, where it had the difficult task of replacing a much-loved run of air-cooled cars. Throw in the fact it shared its looks with its cheaper Boxster relation, and history was always going to be hard on the 996. History…

997.2 Turbo (PDK only) £58,000 nets a higher-mileage 997.2 Turbo. The Gen2 was visually almost unchanged, but Porsche had worked on the spring rates as well as replacing the ‘Mezger’ engine with a turbocharged version of the new 3.8 of the 997 C2S. 991.1 Carrera S The 991, larger in all dimensions and its plush cabin a distinct step-up from the 997’s, is a very different animal. It's a smoother, extremely rapid GT, with 400bhp on tap, but a less visceral experience than a 997 Turbo. On a steeper depreciation curve than the 997. 991.2 Carrera Stretching the budget a little buys a 2016 Cabrio on offer at Northway for £61,495. This manual transmission, 9,000-mile example offers an almost new 911 in its latest turbocharged guise. The cheapest 911 to…

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the future looks bleak for 911 enthusiasts: our revered Mezger engine is now a decade out of production; in a push to reduce global carbon dioxide levels, legislation means the EV revolution is being forced upon us; and the timer is slowly counting down on new internal combustion engines, especially the high-revving, naturally aspirated units we historically favour and adore. What’s more, even the very fuel we use is now changing, containing increasing amounts of ethanol. The problem there? It isn’t as efficient as unleaded (so needs more fuel for the same bang, basically), it doesn’t store as well as unleaded, but most concerningly can cause damage to rubber, metal and plastics used in fuel systems on any pre-996 911. But help may be…

Peter Wilson Adelaide, Australia @peterwilson_oz Model 930 3.3 Year 1980 Acquired 2011 At last, the stars aligned and I had a perfect Sunday when beautiful weather and a Porsche Club SA coincided with having some free time. To cap it all off it was my birthday! The day started with a very diverse ‘coffee and cars’ event at a local shopping centre. It was already packed by the time we arrived and we had to park in the overflow area, but it was great to see modern Japanese performance cars alongside European exotica with even a few vintage cars thrown in. There was something for every car enthusiast to enjoy. Then it was off to the beach suburb of Glenelg, where the Porsche Club was holding its annual concours and…

It was a political saga which dragged on for years, but Brexit is now very much a reality, with consequences for both the UK and Europe. So how has this affected the used Porsche market, which historically has been impervious to geographical boundaries? “At the top of the market, Carrera GTs and exotic 911s coming into the UK from Europe, or vice versa, are now subject to VAT at 20%, which effectively means cars in the UK are trapped here for now, and likewise with examples in Europe,” says Ed Lovett, founder of Collecting Cars. “It’s narrowed the market significantly, though I couldn’t tell you if that will have a positive or negative affect on their value.” While not a 911, the Carrera GT serves as an example of the…

There are more than 5,750 miles between the home of the 911 and the home of our latest Porsche icon, but Bruce Canepa’s influence over the history of our sports car cannot be underestimated. Canepa is the quintessential petrolhead, with fuel running through his veins. Under the guidance of his father, who ran a successful car dealership, Canepa could drive “almost anything” by the age of 12, citing a 1929 Model ‘A’ Ford to a ten-wheel diesel truck. His childhood infatuation with the motor vehicle stemmed beyond the driver’s seat too: growing up, Canepa was fully immersed in the family business at the dealership, learning mechanical, fabrication, body and paint, and it would certainly stand him in good stead going forward. Canepa began racing from a young age, eventually finding…