April 2011 www.911porscheworld.com
964 JUBILEE, 3.2 CARRERA SSE, 993 C4S
THE WIDE ONES RELATIVE VALUES 996 TURBO V 997 TURBO S
PROJECT GT3 ON TRACK DRIVER TRAINING GETS RESULTS
944S2 BUYERS’ GUIDE FRONT ENGINED COUPE STILL CUTS IT
996 FUEL PIPE FIX REPLACING ROTTEN FUEL PIPES
TUNED
O TUPERCB IAL S
No.205 www.911porscheworld.com
AMAZING 210+MPH, 800BHP DAILY DRIVER 996 TURBO WITH 85,000 MILES ON THE CLOCK
£4.50 US$9.99 CANADA $12.95
VEYRON-BASHING 996 TURB0
RelativeVALUES Separated by £100,000 they may be, but the 996 Turbo and 997 Turbo S are a lot closer in terms of performance, which makes the former a bargain Words: Adam Towler Photography: Antony Fraser
W
hen it was launched, the 996 Turbo redefined the high performance car. Its birth marked the beginning of a new era where genuine 190mph performance would be allied with the kind of safety, comfort and sheer usability that meant such cars could be an everyday proposition for drivers of any ability. The 996 Turbo was the kind of car you could lap the Nürburgring convincingly in one day, and then let your Nan drive it to the shops the next. Sure, these days most very high performance cars have the requisite safety nets via sophisticated electronics, but even just over ten years ago such things were still in their infancy. Taking the by then two-year-old 996 body shell as its base, the Turbo continued the all-wheel drive theme established with the 993 version but added in a new water-cooled engine, electronic aides and the all-round modernity of the ‘new series’ cars. Like the GT3
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launched the previous year, it used a different engine to the regular Carrera, based on the GT1 racing car that had won Le Mans in 1998. As the subsequent years have proved, this was much stronger than the standard M96, and has gone a long way to creating a reputation for hardiness. Thanks to a much lower red line, the Turbo engine could afford to use less exotic steel rods unlike the titanium items in the GT3, but with the aide of Variocam Plus – controlling both valve lift and duration – and a maximum boost pressure of 0.85 bar, the engine delivered 414bhp at 6,000rpm and 413lb ft between 2,700 and 4,600rpm. Once again, the four-wheel drive system made use of a viscous coupling, this time the unit hung from the back of the front differential, creating basically a rearwheel drive car unless slip or cornering style forced drive to the front wheels. The gearbox was a six-speed G96/51 type, developed from the G50/53 used in the
996 TURBO V 997 TURBO S 993 GT2 and more than up to handling the torque in question. I remember well the first time I drove one, especially as, rather perversely, my 911 experience could be counted on the fingers of one hand at the time. Talk about going in at the top: it was finished in Speed Yellow, fitted with the 450hp ‘X50’ upgrade and wore that ‘911 HUL’ number plate so closely associated with the type in the UK. Approaching the car for the first time the knot of excitable tension in my gut was so tangible, I imagined if you’d x-rayed my intestine you would have seen the fleshy contortion in all its gruesome detail. This was the mother of all Porsches, the X-wing waiting in dock for its pilot, the ultimate all-weather interceptor that feared no foe on the road. The weight of responsibility I felt by holding that key in my palm gave me a massive hit of adrenalin-fuelled energy. Naturally, I just couldn’t believe how fast it was. Just couldn’t fathom it. And like any of us would do, I didn’t want to stop driving it. I knew the clock was ticking as soon as I carefully pulled the door shut behind me, and I was determined to make every minute count. As it was, the job in question involved visiting a remote part of Norfolk, which meant not only an early start, but also a late night drive home of considerable distance. What an evening it was, the yellow streak of Turbo smeared across the pitch black Thetford forest, the squat and steam catapult effect out of every roundabout, the ability to overtake almost anything, almost anywhere – and I have to say, somewhat guiltily, I did. But today isn’t about personal reminiscing. We’re approaching that time when an ‘all-new’ 911 is waiting in the wings, the 997 due to reach its production conclusion this year when the 998, or 991, or whatever it
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION PORSCHE 996 TURBO ENGINE: POWER: TORQUE: TRANSMISSION: TOP SPEED: 0–62MPH:
3.6-litre flat-six, twin KKK turbochargers 414bhp @ 6000rpm 413lbs/ft @ 2700-4600rpm 6-speed manual gearbox, 4WD 190mph 4.2s
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION PORSCHE 997 TURBO S ENGINE: POWER: TORQUE: TRANSMISSION: TOP SPEED: 0–62MPH:
3.8-litre flat-six,twin KKK turbochargers 523bhp @6000rpm 516lbs/ft @ 2100-4700rpm PDK 7-speed, 4WD 199mph 3.9s
will be called will make its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show. As such, the current ‘Gen2’ 997 Turbo will probably be the ultimate expression of the Turbo for this iteration of 911, especially in recently introduced ‘S’ form. And with the new 911 expected to be a bigger car, and potentially a more grown up ‘GT’ kind of machine, the 996 and 997 may well come to define a certain type of 911 in the future. So today we’re book ending this era with the original version of the water-cooled Turbo, and what will probably be the last. Our early Turbo is exactly that, a 2000 ‘X’ registration example with a manual gearbox and the standard 414bhp engine. Although the very earliest cars were registered on a 2000yr ‘W’, this Ocean Blue car is early enough for our purposes today. I’ve driven down to Ray Northway Porsche (where this 996 Turbo was for sale)
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FORCES
This stealthy-looking 996 Turbo is one of the quickest cars we’ve tested in the UK. It’s got 85,000 miles on the clock and will do 0–200mph time and time again Words: Steve Bennett Photography: Antony Fraser
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NINE EXCELLENCE 996 TURBO Nine Excellence 996 Turbo 0-205mph figures Speed 10mph: 0.67secs 20mph: 1.28secs 30mph: 1.84secs 40mph: 2.37secs 50mph: 3.06secs 60mph: 3.66secs 70mph: 4.29secs 80mph: 5.03secs 90mph: 5.89secs 100mph: 6.80secs 110mph: 7.80secs 120mph:8.97secs 130mph:10.31secs 140mph:11.82secs 150mph:13.49secs 160mph:15.39secs 170mph:17.71secs 180mph:20.52secs 190mph:23.93secs 200mph:28.25secs 205mph:
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ruth be told, Ken Napier’s 996 Turbo doesn’t look anything special as we arrive at Bruntingthorpe on a surprisingly temperate February morning. Covered in the grime of an early-morning motorway trip, it just looks, er black and, well, filthy. Appearances are deceptive, though, and a few hours later we would be well and truly blown away by this v-max inspired machine. Brunters, Bruntingthorpe, that two-mile straight in Leicestershire, call it what you will, but it is an industry standard for straight-line, maximum-speed testing. Why? Well, for the most part because it’s accessible. Most magazines, manufacturers and even private individuals (not to mention TV) can use it with the right insurance. Once you’re there, it’s like being in another world. Old jet fighters litter the perimeter. Inside one of the hangars the world’s only flying Vulcan resides. A 747 is slowly decomposing halfway up the main straight. Oh, and there’s a great greasy spoon café, too. I mean, seriously, what more could you want? This place is heaven, despite its often bleak airfield climate. Because it is so widely used for v-max testing, Bruntingthorpe has become a reliable benchmark venue for the purposes of comparison. Until recently, obtaining these figures was complicated and expensive, but with the arrival of affordable GPS you can virtually do it with an iPhone. A few hundred quid will get
you the sort of kit that was the preserve of F1 teams not that long ago and these days anyone can figure their own car and compare it with times set over the years by the mags and manufacturers, knowing that, give or take some atmospheric variations, the information is accurate and comparable. Bruntingthorpe has played host to some seminal tests over the years, and some of the figures achieved here are revered, cast in stone, verifiable and quoted as the benchmark. The McLaren F1, as tested by Autocar back in 1994, still makes for gob-smacking reading. Zero to sixty in 3.2 secs; 0–200 in 28.25secs. Remarkable then and remarkable now. The Bugatti Veyron as tested at Brunters couldn’t quite match the Macca’s pace, hitting 200mph in 28.85 secs. These are the leviathans of the art of going flat out fast, and I’m sure you can see where we’re going with this… But not yet. Back to Ken and his 10-year-old 996 Turbo. Now, we know that this car has been hitting some big figures. We know that, unassuming or not, it’s got an 800bhp punch and that Ken’s been developing it for some time. He’s got the v-max bug in a big way, but it’s not so much the headline figure that interests him, but how quickly he can get from 0–300kph. It’s also his first Porsche. “I’ve had all sorts of quick cars over the years and I’ve always modified them, it’s just part of the fun.
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WIDE BOYS
Puffed up poseurs? Niche opportunism? Or is there engineering merit in Porsche’s Turbo-bodied, normally-aspirated 911s? Words: Johnny Tipler Photography: Antony Fraser
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WIDEBODY 911 GROUP TEST
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f you’re thinking of giving these cars a berth, be sure to make it a wide one! There, I’ve said it – damned a trio of fine looking cars without so much as driving them. Why? Call it logic if you like – three 911s wearing wide bodywork but without the turbo thrust they’d ordinarily have to push those extra inches through the air, it just doesn’t float my boat. If lesson were needed, look at how Ruf’s narrow-body Yellowbird blew off the broad bessies at Ehra Lessien with 211mph in the Road & Track shoot out – twin turbo’d, I know, but it was the slender frame that worked the magic – less bodywork equals less wind resistance. So the opposite side to the Yellowbird coin are the factory-built Turbo-look cars – wide-bodies but no turbochargers, and we’ve got three from different generations to play with: 3.2 Carrera Special Sports Equipment, 964 Jubilee, and 993 Carrera 4S. How better to confront my prejudice than a max-out blast at Bruntingthorpe proving ground in Leicestershire – home to the 200mph main runway where once Vulcan delta-wing bombers cleft the air, and host to a few magnificent flat-to-the-floor corners. I’ve arrived in the black 3.2 Carrera Special Sports Equipment generously lent by connoisseur Paul Stephens; driven it over from Essex. Sam at PS gives the low-down: ‘by the early ’80s a lot of 911 owners were retro-fitting Turbo arches and wheels so Porsche decided to cash in. At first the Turbo-look cars were called Special Sports Equipment, marketed with the M491 option code, then from 1986, simply Super Sport.’ In fact Porsche wasn’t just exploiting a craze; between 1980 and 1986 federal emissions legislation ousted the 930 Turbo in the States, so there was a market across the pond for the Turbo look-alike. It didn’t please everybody though: doyen of Porsche historians Paul Frère said dismissively in his definitive Porsche Story (page 174), ‘How foolish some people are is indicated by the fact that there was a bigger demand for a normal 911 looking like a
Turbo, even at the expense of power and economy, than for a 3.3 turbocharged engine in a normal 911 body.’ Born in the white heat of mid-’80s boom, when market traders became stockmarket dealers, swapping dungarees for red braces, and Porsche became the badge of wonga, 911 ownership was all about status rather than race-bred engineering excellence, and it’s easy to dismiss the SSE as a mere niche filler – as much of a wide boy as the wheeler-dealer, ducker-and-diver who bought it. ‘Wide boys, delightfully unpleasant with our foxy adolescent sneers,’ sang Ultravox back in the day. But in fact the Turbo-look Carrera predated the UK stockmarket boom, launched in 1984 and available from September 1985. Not only did you get the 930’s flared front and rear wheelarches – 123mm wider all told than the regular 3.2 Carrera – extended front spoiler and tea-tray rear wing (though you could specify no spoilers), but also the Turbo’s suspension - stiffer rear torsion bars and softer rear anti-roll bar - and ventilated brakes with the much vaunted 917 calipers, plus wider 7in and 9in Fuchs wheels, were included in the package. Oddly, the car was fitted with non-Turbo tierods, though some owners have replaced these with pukka 930 items to good effect. Ride height was half-aninch lower and, of course, tyres commensurately wider. There was a porker downside, as the additional hardware brought a weight gain of 154lb (70kg), so top speed was 12mph lower and acceleration was also marginally compromised. From 1986 the Targa and Cabrio versions of the Turbo-look 3.2 went on sale alongside the coupé, known as the Carrera SSE (for Special Sports Equipment) and, later in the year, as Carrera Super Sport or SS. Cabin upholstery was either leather and cloth or leather throughout. The following year the 915 gearbox was replaced by the G50 and hydraulic clutch, and our test car ran a very compliant, more delicate version of the earlier transmission. What it didn’t have was the sheer, backshoving grunt of the 930, though the brakes were every
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Issue 205 www.911porscheworld.com
800BHP 996 VEYRON-BAITING
TURBO STREET LEGAL 996 TURBO HITS 0-200MPH IN 28 SECS
www.911porscheworld.com
US$9.99 CANADA $12.95
No.205
RELATIVE VALUES 996 TURBO V 997 TURBO S
944S2 BUYERS’ GUIDE FRONT-ENGINED COUPE STILL CUTS IT
CAYENNE HYBRID DRIVEN EAST TO WEST IN GREEN PORSCHE
WIDE ONES STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE? WIDEBODY 964, CARRERA 3.2 SE AND 993 C4S GO HEAD-TO-HEAD