Opinions wanted: Which model is "the essence of Porsche?"

Huh? Guess which car was in Paris-Dakar?
I guess you are right about the anti-thesis part.

 

1994 Porsche 911 3.6 Turbo. Raw, fast, fun and still modern enough to not have to worry about taking it on those 30+ hour road trips.

 

yasir...i thought i recognized that beast!!! welcome to this board as well.

yasir is also a great contributor a the 911turboclub chat where hot rods like his and mine seem the norm! and of course there the really hot 930's the have power to rotate the earth on its' axis under acceleration...ah the 930 will always be the king! btw...yasir, mine now has electramotive tech3 efi!
what a rocket.

i still remember the time magazine issue that where i first the two page add for the 930 in 1976. a silver car that kept me from properly focusing on school for a long time!

 

Lemme one-up that: how about the 3.6 Turbo S Flachbau (Flatnose)?

 

RS, with honerable mention to the late model GT3's. All the cars in that list are winners.

 

That car was a derivitive of the 959. In fact, to call it a 959 would be in err. It was a type 953. *** The Paris Darkar vehicles were only 'assisted' by Porsche. They were backed by Rothman's (which did all of the 944 turbo cup racing as well in that era)

There are two models of the 959 that were for sale. One was a 'sport'. They are both notorious for being soft and numb. They are both the ultimate luxary 'anybody can drive me fast' cruisers. They even had tire pressure sensors in each wheel (which cost $1,800 apeice).

The ideas behind using this chassis for the Paris Dakar and the road car couldn't be further apart. For Darkar, they wanted the AW driveline (which pales in comparison to the 993's if you ask me). As a former SCCA rallly competitor, I totally understand why. Imagine having the first Porsche with AWD to compete in! But, for the road car; Porsche wanted a something that they didn't really get until the 996 turbo's. They were developing something that would banish the 911 pendulum (trailing throttle oversteer) reputation. They wanted a fool proof no brainer supercar. If you notice, the 996 was the first generation of turbo's to utilize the tiptronic gearbox. The tiptronic and the 'carrera 4' systems were developed together in 1988 (89 model year, as the intro of the 964 bodystyle)

If you'd like some reading material, get a copy of 'Classic and sports car', June 2000. Derek Bell, drives a nice group of supercars from all eras (countache, miura,f40, 959) Ironically, he shares a similar opinion with me. Or check out "excellence" Issue #100. This was the big 911 turbo shoot out. the 959 is compared directly to the 996 turbo tiptronic. Of course the fastest laps were in the 996 turbo tiptronic (they didn't even both finding a manual for such a large event..... Pretty telling of Porsche's plans).

I'm probably one of the biggest Porsche fans around. I am a fan of the 959, but it is no f40. The f40 is known for it's crudeness and razor sharp responsiveness (not for floaty handeling and a $10,000 tire pressure monitoring system for long cruises). I can only imagine the skill and concentration it would take to get the most out of an f40.......The f40 is a work of art. The 959 on the otherhand is more like a hodge podge of existing cars to showcase the begining of the end.** ?how could anybody compare this car to the 959?

Porsche's f40 to me would be a road going 934 or 935. Porsche's f50 would be one of the street 962 cars!

**most cars started their lives as two 911sc's. Most of the engine components were shared with the 924/44 and audi. The drive line is basically the early audi quattro with the air lockers (very similar to the audi 4000's that you can pick up for $1000; albeit a GREAT car!)

***(refrence Porsche legends, history of the epic cars ISBN0 7603 0241 3)

 

THAT is beuatiful!

 

yeah luke...but what car did you vote for?

 

I voted for the 1967 911 s

But for turbo cars, I'd vote for the 91-92 3.3 930's

 

ah yes...two great picks.

you are a purist w/ good taste, as i too voted for the 9-3-0.

 

Thanks Ferraripete. I hope my Puristic views didn't offend anybody :|

 

Pretty difficult.
The 73 RS2.7 is obviously right up there. As well as perhaps the 993RS or 993GT.
In my book, a Porsche has a flat6, air-cooled, right at the back.
I'd vote for a RUF CTR2, if there was such choice too. The 959 of the 911s.

 

I'm with you on that. Everything I've read said its great. I've never driven one let alone sat in one but from what I've read and heard its special.
So the 2.7 RS gets my vote.

 

'
The CRT2 and the yellowbird are so dang cool!

 

Well, there you go. How many flatnoses did they produce? 30? 50? Very rare car. The first one I saw was the red one they introduced at the Detroit Auto Show. It was a crowd stopper. Actually was drawing more attention than the white and yellow Lotus Esprit S4s.

 

Thanks for the discussion so far. My shallow understanding of Porsches became apparent when I put 3.2L instead of 2.7 for the RS and didn't know the 930 was only single turbo ...

I voted for the '73 myself, but that's just from "magazine racing." Like Gus, I've read plenty of articles that describe the experience and it seemed to fit my ideas of the Porsche image. Even then, I've never been in a Porsche with the engine on.

 

The fire breathing, earth destroying, 1000+ horsepower 917 is the essence of Porsche.

Or a 550 Spyder. Or a 930.

 

Oh ya! The 917-30!

 

I was only thinking street cars, really - I didn't put the 917, 935 and 962 for that reason. Mind you, I think getting a Dauer 962 would be great (for $600k less than they are charging).

 

had it been offered in the list, it would be the 917k w/o rival!!!

what a machine!!

 

Hey Pete, have you posted a complete list of the mods you have on your 930?

 

87 930, 24 k miles, marine blue w/ light grey (factory calls it silver), stock appearing w/ the exception of lowering and wheel spacing.

rsr coil overs, 3 pc sway bars (heim jointed), fr and rear strut tower braces, big brake upgrade.

k-29 turbo, andial cams, full b and b headers and pipe, 962 billet waste gate, kokelin intercooler, andial fuel enrichment, airtec carbon air box conersion, polished and ported heads, and extrudehoned fi plenums and runners (andial), cockpit adjustable boost, electromotive tec 3 efi and crankfire ignition (the newest mod).

i have owned this car for a number of years and think they are just the signiture porsche and with mods as i have done, they remain lovely to look at and will literally run away from a viper! pretty cool!

ryan, thank you for talking time and interest in asking about my little porsche.

 

Voted for the 930! A Raw and Serious car.