Porsche 968

Porsche 968 is basically the successor of the Porsche 944. It has a low nose and wide wheel arches that helps accentuating the beautiful lines of this classic shape that in a Porsche Guards Red is a real head turner.  It has also the classic GT front engine, rear wheel drive layout with the added advantage of a rear transaxle giving almost perfect weight distribution.

Instead of the hidden headlights of the 944, the 968 has visible pop up headlights, similar to the Porsche 928. This brings the look of the car inline with the new Porsche 997-911. This change has also a practical advantage: the headlights can be washed along with the rest of the car instead of having to pop them up to wash them.

As for the interior, it remains the same as produced in the 944, keeping the famous “oval dash”. The designers used the same robust materials which have given all Porsche owners many years of trouble free motoring.

The exterior has a few differences: the door mirrors have been streamlined with the tear drop effect and the wheels have 5 spoke Cup design alloys. The rear bumper is more blended and with integral rear light clusters, making it almost indistinguishable from the bodywork. All these bodywork changes made the 968 look a lot like the 928, and added the engine heritage, some people have referred to it as “the daughter of 928”.

The engine is a version of the one first used on the 944 S2: it is a 4 cylinder, 3 liter, 16 valve unit. And they added VarioCam for optimum power throughout the speed range. It has 240 HP at 6200 rpm and a torque of 305 Nm at 4100 rpm, given by the improved combustion chamber and inlet manifold design.  At the time of production, it was a remarkable engine, having the highest displacement per cylinder of any car engine and also the highest torque output of any unblown 3 liter engine. Clearly, the result of Porsches investment in this engine paid off.

The rear-mounted gearbox is a 6-speed manual or 4 speed tiptronic. It is the first ever mounted on a production car. The chassis has almost perfect weight distribution and very stiff characteristics.

Usually, most cars start to fail when it comes to breaks and the reason is that it doesn’t matter how fast the car is in a straight line if you can’t take a bend (turn) at the right safe speed. But Porsche brakes have always been the envy of most road sports car manufacturers. You will notice little or no or no discernable fatigue even under harsh use of Porsche 968. ABS adds even more safety to the already excellent braking system. Also, what makes the brakes so effective is that the wheels themselves are designed to prevent the tire from coming off the rim in the event of a sudden pressure loss.

Porsche 977 bodyshell

A new Porsche 911 is always fascinating because it’s interesting to see how after more than 40 years of development the Porsche team still manages to bring changes and improvements to this icon model. 

The new 997 body shell combines the sleek modern looks of the 996 series with the popular retro styling cues from older 911s. The front end is completed with round lights and separate parking/fog/indicator lights. This change, combined with wider hips echoes the last of the air-cooled 911s, the 993. Other changes in the body shell are the new door handles, wing mirrors and the stylish cut of the rear wings into the bumper/lights.

Even if the 997 looks a lot like the previous model, the 996, the new car is actually 38mm wider which creates a more aggressive appearance. With each new model introduced, Porsche has aimed to reduce the drag co-efficient helping the 911 slide through the air more effectively, and so aiding performance. The same thing has been done with the new car, and if we compare the 993 Cd of 0.34 to the 997`s 0.28 we can see how far the aerodynamic game has moved on. The latest body shell and rear wing combine with new under body paneling to also offer increased levels of down force for this latest evolution of Porsche's finest.

The latest Porsche model is the best handling 911 ever. Improving a car's rigidity helps ensure the suspension can work more effectively and while not making such a quantum leap as the team did with the 996. Porsche improved torsional rigidity by 8% and added as much as 40% more flexural strength.

For the new car, Porsche wanted to improve crash safety so they added two new air bags located in the side of each front seat back-rest, designed to protect the thorax. They kept the previous two front and two side airbags, which means that now there are six in total. For the same reason, crash safety, the reinforced body shell features further protection such as a more extensive use of super high strength steel.

The latest model is also 50 kg heavier than the 996. The reason is that modern crash safety regulations kind of force the new cars to come with increased weight, despite the usage of a large range of weight saving measures, including an aluminum bonnet.

Aside from the crash safety improvements, much of the additional weight can be attributed to the higher standard specification of the new cars. Power to weight is similar with the latest car offering 233 bhp per tone against it’s predecessors 238  and the new models improved aerodynamics must help it post Porsches claimed performance figures, which are identical to the 996. 

2005 Porsche Carrera GT

Unofficially, the Porsche Carrera GT is a racecar, a racecar built for the street. What makes it a racecar is not necessarily the huge power produced by its V10 engine or the carbon fiber construction that keeps everything very lightweight – although these features surely make it a fast car. It’s more the sum of its parts that make this car worth every bit of its $440,000 price tag.

The Porsche Carrera GT was introduced as a 2004 model and until 2005 there were already a few changes in order to make the Carrera GT the new Porsche super car. These were minor updates in order to make it a little more street friendly. Between the supplemental bar hoops is now mounted a glass screen. The seats height is adjusted along with the additional bolstering in the thigh area. The Carrera GT is easy recognizable, as it’s a low, sleek, lightweight roadster, very beautiful on the outside as it is on the inside. Two removable panels that can be stored in the front trunk make the foul weather protection available.

The car has unique features, among which are: 5.7 liter, 605 horsepower V10 engine, monocoque chassis with Porsche-patented engine and transmission mounts made of carbon-reinforced plastic and the first use of a ceramic composite clutch in a production car. A very important aspect is that The Carrera is safe and stable at speeds up to 205 mph, thanks to its aerodynamic and race-bred suspension package.

The design of the suspension is so sophisticated that the shape of its components improves the Carrera GT`s aerodynamics.The designers used lightweight materials such as magnesium for the car’s substantial wheels and the frames of its special sport seats, the result being a faster and safer car. To prove so, The Carrera GT accelerates from a standing start to 62 mph (100km/h) in only 3.9 seconds reaches 100 mph (160 km/h) in less than seven seconds, 125 mph (200 km/h) in less than 10 seconds, and can achieve a top test-track speed of 205 mph (330 km/h).

What makes this car have these impressive results is it’s 5.5 liter, normally aspirated V10 engine for racing created in the development center in Weissach, Germany. That engine’s bores have been enlarged to displace 5.7 liters in the Carrera GT. It has a very low center of gravity, a 68-degree V angle and four valves-per-cylinder heads. Since the block, crankshaft and camshafts are all made of light alloys, the engine weights only 472 pounds (214 kg).

To stop this “monster” Porsche`s team used a high-tech braking system. Developed for demanding motorsports applications, ceramic brakes are the first to work for on-road use. The massive 15 inch ventilated discs and six-piston calipers have the amazing capacity of bringing the car to a sure and safe stop, matched only by the stunning acceleration of Carrera GT.

Porsche Carrera GT is definitely a exotic appearance, a  car that can do it all: fascinate you with its good looks, astound  you with its performance and abilities on the race track.

Porsche 64

Many consider the Porsche 64 (also known as the VW Aerocoupe, Type 64 and Type 64K10) as being the first automobile by Porsche. It was built mainly from parts from the Model 64 VW Beetle and there comes the model number. Its flat-four engine produced 50 bhp and gave a top speed of 160 km/h.

Porsche Burro designed the body after wind tunnel tests made for the Type 114, a V10 sports car that was never produced. Dr. Porsche wanted to enter the car in the 1939 Berlin-Rome race. The bodywork company Reutter built three cars in shaped aluminium. Out of the three, one was crashed in the early World War II by a Kraft durch Freude (Volkswagen) bureaucrat. The two remaining were used by the Porsche family. Later on, they put one of them in the storage and used only one. In May 1945 American troops discovered the one put in storage, cut the roof off and used it for joyriding for a few weeks until the engine gave up and it was scrapped. Pinin Farina restored the remaining Porsche 64 in 1947, as it was owned and driven by Ferry Porsche. In 1949, the Austrian racer Otto Matte bought it and won the Alpine Rally in 1950 in it.

Porsche Approved

When a pre-owned Porsche meets the high quality standards set by the brand, it will receive the name Porsche Approved. So if you want a Porsche but you can’t afford a brand new one, a Approved vehicle is your best choice since you can be sure that it will meet your expectations.

But what is the difference between a Porsche Approved certified vehicle from a conventional pre-owned vehicle?

First of all, the Porsche Approved cars are inspected by factory trained technicians and if they find any faults, repairs are carried out in line with the strict Porsche quality criteria.Secondly, every Porsche Approved vehicle comes with a comprehensive Warranty:

• If sold while under the new car warranty, Coverage is up to 6 years or 100,000m/160,000km total, whichever comes first
• If sold once the new vehicle warranty has expired, Coverage is 2 years from the date of sale or up to 100,000m/160,000km, whichever comes first.

And last but not least, you will get membership in Porsche Road Assistance that offers exclusive support server & security. The result of owing a Porsche Approved is that you will enjoy driving a safe, quality value which really cannot be described as a pre-owned vehicle.

Porsche Boxter built in Valmet

In 1998, Porsche realized that if they wanted to sell more Boxsters, they needed to produce more cars. To do so, they contracted with a plant in Finland called Valmet because the plant in Zuffenhausen couldn’t handle the increased production.

The initial plan was for Boxster to be produced in Finland for only two years. Everybody thought that by that time the demand in Zuffenhausen would decrease so that plant could handle all production. But the Boxster demand remains high, and so does the one for 996, so against all expectations the plant will remain busy for the foreseeable future. Zuffenhausen can assemble 30,000 cars per year, so the only way the Boxster would be moved entirely to Finland is if Porsche could sell the better part of that many 996s. In the short term, that isn’t likely to happen though.  Most of the cars destined for North America are built in Valmet.

Now it became impossible to specify where a car was built. Even ordering Tourist Delivery doesn't force a Stuttgart build. Apparently some cars are shipped from Finland to Stuttgart for Tourist Delivery.

Porsche Boxter

The Porsche Boxster and Boxster S are fast, powerful cars and most of all the best-handling production roadsters on the planet. Introduced in 1996, it remained essentially unchanged, other than moderate horsepower and interior-options tweaks. That’s what Porsche usually does with the successful models: it retains car look and configuration for ages.
   
A more powerful second-generation Boxster was introduced in 2005 and it keeps Porsche’s conservative evolutionary path. Like its precedent, it is a mid-engine, six-cylinder two-seater that looks like Porsche Spyder.  Still, over half of Boxster`s structure and electronics are borrowed from the 911 Carrera.
   
The 2005 Boxster looks sprightlier than its 2004 equivalent, thanks to the revision of the torque and the 15 added hp and the extra power coming on strongly between 2000rpm and 4000 rpm. The 2005 Boxster S virtually equals the acceleration and top-speed performance of Porsche's expensive 911 Carrera. The Boxster exhaust has been tuned to play a distinctive tromboning wail like no other car. This is a amazing thing thinking that both engines are smaller versions of the six-cylinder in the Carrera.

The transmission for base Boxters is five-speed manual but the optional variant offers a six-speed.  Both models can also be fitted with a five-speed Tiptronic, the superb Porsche-designed automatic transmission that began the trend toward manually shifted automatics.

The bodywork and the interior of the Boxster are of high quality, but considering that there’s noting tricky or purely decorative, we can definitely say that these are not opulent cars. Still, the interior has been improved since the old car was often criticized for being to cheap-looking. The center console has been upgraded with revised switch-gear and titanium look paneling. The seats are more supportive and body-shaped in the new version, making them look absolutely superb. Unlike other roadsters, the Boxster has no problem swallowing luggage for a long trip: it has two trunks, a small one in the rear and an amply deep one under the front hood.

One of The Boxster`s best qualities is the powered convertible top, very quick to retract or re-erect. In the new Boxster, the top can be operated at speeds up to 30 mph. The triple-layer padded cloth tops (with a heated-glass rear window) is as weather-tight and quiet as most metal roofs.

The Boxster is called a mid engine-car. The reason is that the sweet six-cylinder engine is mounted behind the seats, just fore of the rear axle. So if you wand to see what’s under the hood once in while, well…you can’t do that with The Boxster. The only way to see the engine is from underneath or by meticulously removing body panels, which mechanics must do to service the engine. But, the good news is that having the engine mounted closer to the center of the car makes for better weight distribution. And that’s what makes the car handle so well.