8 minute read
PORSCHE NEWS
Porsche Service in Nanaimo?
Rumour has it that there will be a Porsche Service department in Nanaimo. The NanaimoNewsNow.com web site reported that approval has been given for a new dealership building. Some folk say that Subaru will get the new building and Porsche Service will take Subaru’s previous location. Time will tell. If you know anything about this, please email the Editor at newsletter@virpca.org
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In a GAIN staff shuffle. Tyson Johnson and Jason Mui of Porsche Centre Victoria have moved to Three Point Motors (Mercedes Benz).
“Porsche Centre Victoria Wins Prestigious Premier Dealer Program Award” “The passion for Porsche is embodied as strongly by the Porsche Centre Victoria team as it is by Porsche owners. We are honored to receive the coveted Premier Dealer Program award for 2022 in recognition of our ongoing excellence and commitment to the storied Porsche brand. Each year, only four of these awards are given to Porsche Centres across Canada. Most significantly, this is the first time our team has received the Premier Dealer Program award.”
New Macan T
In Porsche parlance, T means Touring and they have now brought out a T model of the 2022 Macan and it sits between the base and the S model. It has 265bhp from its 2 litre turbo, inline, 4-cylinder engine. It features PASM, PTM, Sports Chrono, Sport Response button and more.
Details are at Porsche’s web page for the Macan T
Suncoast Region Member, Pedro P. Bonilla
The 959 - Part 2
In the last issue we discussed the beginnings of the 959 as well as its technical advances and immediate racing successes. Now we’ll tell you the rest of the story. The 959 was never meant to be a street car and certainly not a California car to be driven on normal city roads. Two years after the Gruppe B appeared at the Frankfurt Auto Show (1983), Porsche announced the introduction of the 959 with a production of 200 cars to homologate the model for competition. Even at the price of $250,000 all of the cars were quickly spoken for. When the U.S. Department of Transportation requested 4 cars to crash-test, Porsche said no. Without approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) the 959 could not be sold nor driven on US soil.
Two of the first buyers of the 959 were Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen (pic below). News of the banning of the 959 in America was not well accepted by the pair who decided to ship their cars to the west coast anyway. Their contraband was soon discovered and impounded and reportedly confined to a California warehouse for more than a decade. With no way to lawfully enjoy their 959s at home, some wealthy US owners decided that changing the law was what they’d do. In 1990 a Seattle-based company called Vehicle Technologies Inc. launched an attempt to import the 959 and have it approved for the USA, an effort that was quickly thwarted. Several year later, a group called The Special Vehicle Coalition engaged discussions regarding proposed new legislation that would allow cars of note that were never sold new in the USA to be imported as individually owned show exhibits.
This costly and lengthy campaign finally paid off in 1998 with the arrival of the “Show and Display” (S&D) Law which permits significant cars such as the 959 to be driven on US roads for up to 2,500 miles per year. S&D however did not exempt the cars from having to be emissions compliant. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that vehicles less than 21 years old used on US roads need to meet air emissions standards for the year of manufacture. So, making a 959 compliant was not going to be easy, especially in California. For starters, the 959 never had catalytic converters nor was its Motronic’s brain programmed to recognize an oxygen sensor (although the car was built with the wiring harness and bung for a sensor). Reportedly a few factory retrofit kits were made available but it’s difficult to know if that’s true or not.
The first company to gain NHTSA and EPA approval for a Porsche 959 under the S&D legislation was G&K in Santa Ana, CA. They partnered with GIAC, a developer of vehicle software and the first 959 was certified on September 2001. It took almost $50,000 of work to do it.
But because the 959 had its engine derived from the 935/76 racecar which later also powered the 956 and 962C to victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there were those who hoped for more from the newly certified 959 than just clean/green performance. Enter Bruce Canepa, a California racer who became a Porsche fanatic. In 1988 he purchased a 959, which he thinks to this day, is one of the best – if not the best – all-around sports car ever made. He also believed that the 959 had some additional potential performance built-in. He figured that it was good for 600 hp so he set out to modify the 959 to make 600 hp while still hitting the EPA emissions targets.
Based in Scotts Valley, CA, Canepa Design changed their 959s from a sequential-turbo setup to a twin-turbo operation using Garrett turbochargers. They installed new engine manage-
ment systems and new exhausts which included catalytic converters. Two versions were prepared: A Phase 1 making 575 hp and a Phase 2 making 640 hp. They also offered a suspension package with tuned dampers and titanium coil springs plus a new clutch and pedal assembly to improve feel. The original wheels were modified to accommodate 245/45R17 front and 275/40R17 rear Michelin Pilot Sport2 rubber. Nowadays though, the 959 can be used in the USA with no certification other than the S&D Certificate. This is because the EPA requirements expired once the 959 turned 21 years old. A total of 337 cars were built before production shut down in 2009.
Most of the 959s in America were modified to comply with the existing regulations, but after 2010 a few factory-original 959s have come to America.
For more information on the Porsche 959 and more, please visit my website: www.PedrosGarage.com Happy Porsche’ing,
Pedro
© 2021 Technolab / PedrosGarage.com
VIR members can find VIR logo’d clothing range at our special PCA webstore here... www.pcawebstore.org/regions/VIS
VIR Zoom Presentation: Classic Car Panel Webinar
Thursday March 17th 2022, 7pm to 8:30pm Learn about what’s involved in owning a classic car. Classic car expert Paul Rossmo will chair a panel of VIR members: Ron Dempsey (356), John Clark (911), Klaus Kreye (944), and Wyman Lee (928) who will share their experiences and knowledge about their classic cars.
Please ensure you have installed Zoom on your system BEFORE the meeting and your system has the latest updates as they do change VERY frequently. Details and registration at msreg.com/2022-ClassicCarPanel
Klaus Wyman
Ron Paul John
There is always a Cars & Coffee meeting near you at weekends! Pop in, meet old friends and make plenty of new ones. You never know, VIR may even pay for your coffee occasionally too!
There are 3 locations across the Island to meet Club members regularly:-
Up Island
2nd Sat of month, 10am Crown Isle Plaza (next to Starbucks), 444 Lerwick Road, Courtenay
Mid Island
Sundays 10am, Serious Coffee, 9-1209 East, Island Hwy E, Parksville
South Island
Sundays 9am, Starbucks, Eagle Creek Village, 29 Helmcken Rd, Victoria
“It's not just the cars, it's the people!” (and dogs too!)
If you have received a discount from anywhere that you believe would be applicable to others in the Club, please advise us via email to newsletter@virpca.org and I’ll add to this list. Note: The discount details may change after publishing, if Porscher is not advised. Please mention that you saw their advert in PORSCHER if you visit/talk to these sponsors Where Discount Description
Lordco
Porsche Center Victoria Blast-It! Up to 30% Mention card) Porsche Club of America (show PCA Up to 15% 15% for in parts -house work, 10% over the counter 10% Confirm with owner first.
Pelican Parts 10% At checkout, use code Pelican-PCA2022- followed by your 10 digit PCA MEMBER ID (not login ID). Note: You can only use this code once.
Below are some Porsche related sites that Club members may find useful. If you know of any others please for ward them to the Editor. Zone 6 website zone6.pca.org
Best forum for 986 owners, run by Pelican Parts 986forum.com/forums PCA Boxster register, another great resource for Boxster owners boxsterregister.org
See the PCA site for other models www.pca.org/special-interest-groups
Macan Forum, everything related to Macans www.macanforum.com General car auction site https://bringatrailer.com
Pelican Parts forums and classifieds http://forums.pelicanparts.com/ Below are some USED parts web sites:- https://www.partsheaven.com http://rennlist.com/forums http://www.nineapart.com http://malahatautoparts.com/parts-search
