Little known Porsche model features and facts

[Wozy68]

TB993tt said:

dugsud said:

The spare wheel in the front luggage compartment of air-cooled 911's is part of the crash structure so don't remove it.....even if the tyre hasn't seen air for 30 years!

This much touted nugget doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Firstly do we think that Porsche would be allowed to sell a car which when driving with space saver attached has a compromised crash structure ?

Secondly the 996 Carrera 4 and Turbo had similar (to the 993) space savers but the GT2 and GT3 versions didn't have them (to save weight) so again does that mean the GT2 and 3 996s have compromised crash structures

The front crash zone on the 993 was so designed that in unison with the spare tyre, helped to protect the occupants if a frontal crash arose.

[mollytherocker]

EricE said:

Little known Porsche fact: the 996 GT2 and GT3 are aircooled?

Eh?

[Mario149]

EricE said:

dugsud said:

The spare wheel in the front luggage compartment of air-cooled 911's is part of the crash structure so don't remove it.....even if the tyre hasn't seen air for 30 years!

Interesting! The additional weight in the front also improves high speed stability and handling.

In fact Porsche fitted very heavy cast iron weights in the front bumper of early (66-68 I believe) 911s to improve handling.
Later on in 1969 the weights were removed and replaced by a second 12V battery and a longer wheelbase.

Filling up from an empty tank to full in the middle of a 100mph+ autobahn tour is always a real eye opener.

Interesting, we did exactly that in Germany the other day and I didn't really notice any postitive (or negative) difference. That said, we had a completely full boot anyway and it's a Cab so even with the roof up the aero is prob not the same as a carrera. Also, we're on Bilsteins/Eibachs at RS+10mm which likely makes far more difference than the first 2 issues! We did notice however that the car seemed to be affected quite strongly by crosswinds and doing 120mph genuinely felt very fast which is nice as you can get your rocks off without doing silly speeds when we're on the autobahn in the 550, 125mph feels like 85 does in the 993

[996TT02]

EricE said:

Little known Porsche fact: the 996 GT2 and GT3 are aircooled?

Obviously. Where does the radiator heat go to?

[uktrailmonster]

TB993tt said:

This much touted nugget doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Firstly do we think that Porsche would be allowed to sell a car which when driving with space saver attached has a compromised crash structure ?

Secondly the 996 Carrera 4 and Turbo had similar (to the 993) space savers but the GT2 and GT3 versions didn't have them (to save weight) so again does that mean the GT2 and 3 996s have compromised crash structures

If the original mini (death trap) was allowed to be sold I don't think a 911 would have been an issue regardless of whether or not the spare wheel was really in tendered to be part of the crash structure. Don't forget that crash safety has improved massively across the board over the last 20 years. 996 shell is completely different to the earlier air-cooled cars so that's not a valid comparison at all. Still, I don't know if the rumour is actually true, but I think it's certainly feasible that the spare wheel does improve the front crash safety to some extent on the old cars. It's certainly in the crumple zone.

[FunkySon]

uktrailmonster said:

TB993tt said:

This much touted nugget doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Firstly do we think that Porsche would be allowed to sell a car which when driving with space saver attached has a compromised crash structure ?

Secondly the 996 Carrera 4 and Turbo had similar (to the 993) space savers but the GT2 and GT3 versions didn't have them (to save weight) so again does that mean the GT2 and 3 996s have compromised crash structures

If the original mini (death trap) was allowed to be sold I don't think a 911 would have been an issue regardless of whether or not the spare wheel was really in tendered to be part of the crash structure. Don't forget that crash safety has improved massively across the board over the last 20 years. 996 shell is completely different to the earlier air-cooled cars so that's not a valid comparison at all. Still, I don't know if the rumour is actually true, but I think it's certainly feasible that the spare wheel does improve the front crash safety to some extent on the old cars. It's certainly in the crumple zone.

I read something similar to this probably more than 10 years ago on, I think, rennlist. If I remember it correctly it was in response to someone wanting to lighten their car for track use. The point that was made was that the spare wheel was in place when the model was crash tested. As true as that may be, you certainly can't use it to infer that the spare wheel was intended to be part of the crash structure.

[pork911]

TB993tt said:

dugsud said:

The spare wheel in the front luggage compartment of air-cooled 911's is part of the crash structure so don't remove it.....even if the tyre hasn't seen air for 30 years!

This much touted nugget doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Firstly do we think that Porsche would be allowed to sell a car which when driving with space saver attached has a compromised crash structure ?

Secondly the 996 Carrera 4 and Turbo had similar (to the 993) space savers but the GT2 and GT3 versions didn't have them (to save weight) so again does that mean the GT2 and 3 996s have compromised crash structures

they're all compromised - since legs are also part of the crash structure

[Hungrymc]

996TT02 said:

Surely this can't be right.

Otherwise the gauge would only work on the way down.

If you were near empty and you filled up to less than half a tank, the gauge would not register as it would have no means of knowing that you had filled up, and by how much.

When I run mine to very low levels (the last 20 miles of range), the fuel gauge and the range in the computer won't register any more fuel unless I fill it to over half full.... I thought I had a sticking sensor.

[IknowJoseph]

mollytherocker said:

EricE said:

Little known Porsche fact: the 996 GT2 and GT3 are aircooled?

Eh?

See above statement that aircooled 911s have the spare wheel as part of the crash structure. TB993tt said this couldn't be true as the 996 GT cars didn't have spare wheels - i.e. according to TB9966tt the 996 GT cars are aircooled.

Edited by IknowJoseph on Tuesday 29th July 14:36

Edited by IknowJoseph on Tuesday 29th July 15:41

[Sexual Chocolate]

They are air cooled. Air gets into the coolers and cools the water.

[TB993tt]

uktrailmonster said:

996 shell is completely different to the earlier air-cooled cars so that's not a valid comparison at all. .

I didn't realise that the 996 spare has different orientation to 993 (just googled it), it would have to be a pretty big crash for the 996 one to become part of the crash structure I guess !

uktrailmonster said:

Still, I don't know if the rumour is actually true, but I think it's certainly feasible that the spare wheel does improve the front crash safety to some extent on the old cars. It's certainly in the crumple zone

It must have some affect of course, I removed mine from my 993 following advice by some German engineers who know a lot about these cars, they said it wasn't part of the crash structure. One a similar note I always feel much safer with my Rimowa in situ in the front of the 997

[HONEYMON57ER]

A 19" space saver for a Cayenne does not fit in the wheel well of a 2007 S. How do I know this?
I just purchased one of each.

[Bodo]

The 917, by the way designed by Ferdinand Piëch, had an aircooled 180°-V12 where the air fan used 17 of its 520PS.

[Martian O]

mollytherocker said:

What about the classic rumour that pulling the handbrake onto its first click in a 997 turbo makes it 2 wheel drive?

Can anybody confirm this finally?

Nope, it doesn't work and is always 4WD.

Edit - On a 997.1 anyway!

Edited by Martian O on Sunday 21st September 13:41

[Fish]

One click on a gen 2 C4S will make it 2wd not sure about the turbo though.. Does not work on gen 1 as they are mechanically linked. gen 2 is electronically operated.

[mollytherocker]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It was a flat 12 not a V.

[Bodo]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That leads us to another little known fact, albeit more universal than Porsche related:
In the German language there is no single umbrella term to flat engines in the English language. Either Boxer or V-Motor is used, as 180° is deemed an applicable angle for V-Motore.

[Bodo]

Er, actually, I just learned that this is the same in English.

Wikipedia/Flat engine said:

True boxers have each crankpin controlling only one piston/cylinder while 180° engines, which superficially appear very similar, share crankpins. The 180° engine is considered to be a type of V engine. The boxer engine has corresponding pistons reaching top dead centre (TDC) simultaneously.[11]

Flat engines is the umbrella term; Boxer and 180° V are used to distinguish between them.
Both, the Porsche 917 and 911 have flat engines, more specifically, the 911 has a boxer, the 917 has a 180° V.

[SkinnyP]

Fish said:

One click on a gen 2 C4S will make it 2wd not sure about the turbo though.. Does not work on gen 1 as they are mechanically linked. gen 2 is electronically operated.

Does it make it 100% front wheel drive?

[GC8]

SkinnyP said:

Fish said:

One click on a gen 2 C4S will make it 2wd not sure about the turbo though.. Does not work on gen 1 as they are mechanically linked. gen 2 is electronically operated.

Does it make it 100% front wheel drive?

Really?