Table of contents for No. 213 in Total 911

From a new 911 perspective, 2022 has the potential to be a very exciting year indeed. It’s hard to believe the 992-generation 911 has been with us for four years already but, while we’ve had great fun getting to know the car and watch its model lineup flourish, the time will soon be upon us to witness the arrival of the second-generation 992, bringing with it a host of new technology – starting with, for the first time, a hybrid powertrain. Before all that, though, we are ‘due’ a GT3 Rennsport for the current generation, as is tradition, plus I find it hard to believe Porsche won’t roll out a 992-spec Carrera T (with manual gearbox), such is the expansion of the ‘T’ moniker into other Porsche sports cars in…

Porsche has featured on the Gran Turismo video game series since 2017, but for the launch of the game’s seventh iteration, Porsche has, for the first time, developed a vehicle purely for the virtual world. The Porsche Vision Gran Turismo has been created in collaboration with Polyphony Digital Inc and will be available exclusively in Gran Turismo 7, set for release in March 2022 for PlayStation 4 and 5. The car features what Porsche calls ‘future-oriented versions of familiar Porsche design elements’. The project freed designers from the constraints of developing vehicles for series production, allowing them to put their ideas for a concept car into practice.…

993 C2S: 3.5 or 4 stars? Dear Sir, As the proud owner of a 1997 993 C2S I noticed that of late you have reduced the star rating in the Data File to three and a half. This wonderful car has traditionally enjoyed four stars and some wonderful reviews in Total 911. Has there been a shift in sentiment or is this a type-setting issue? I assume the latter as these are awesome machines. My car has been with me for five years and for me it's the full five stars! David Fisher We have adjusted the ratings on our Data File as the previous ratings were in place from many years ago, and we felt they needed a refresh. We asked our team of writers for their own, individual…

“You need to drive the Coupe again.” That was Peter Nam’s response when I got in touch to request a drive in the forthcoming Gunther Werks Speedster. Who am I to argue? After all, it’s been four years since Total 911 was first to sample the 400R, and a lot has happened since. That car was a prototype, it affectionately referred to as ‘the red car’, and I can remember driving it like I did so yesterday. Nam’s promising it’s changed, and for the better. It’s not just the car that’s changed either, as Gunther Werks HQ has, too. They’re still located in Huntington Beach, California, but the production of the cars necessitated a move to new premises, both bigger and better suited to the work it does. Which, to…

HISTORY AND TECH In a magazine interview in late 1987, Tony Lapine suggested that it was really Ernst Fuhrmann, not Butzi, who ‘made’ the 911. The ruling Porsche and Piëch families were appalled at this heresy and Lapine, who subsequently suffered a heart attack, would never return to the company. But in a sense, he was right. In 1974 the 911 was a brilliant, unsurpassed sports car, the default choice of the keen driver, but its wider public reputation would come about thanks to the Turbo, the car with bodywork as outrageous as its acceleration, the sportscar that the stars wanted to be seen in: the Porsche Turbo broke all the rules. A turbocharged Porsche was not a new idea: Piëch had had Valentin Schäffer carry out some experiments in…

It feels weird. I’m driving a 911 on a gravel road… and at some speed! In 15 years of driving these cars, this has never happened. 911s are about grip and handling, but when the tarmac ended and I hit the gravel, in this car I could just nonchalantly continue driving. I quickly realise how much fun it is, as well as how practical a car such as this one can be. The owner of this 911 is Douw Raimondo. He hails from Bloemfontein, the capital city of the Free State province, right in the heart of South Africa. His journey with Porsche 911s has taken many turns over the years, and many cars came and went. In recent years he has actually moved away from only owning original 911s…

Max Newman Aylesbury, UK @maxripcor 9WERKS Radio Model 991.1 CARRERA S Year 2013 Acquired SEPTEMBER 2020 There’s clearly a financial element to buying your first 911 – savings, windfall, or an income that will cover the monthlies – but sometimes there’s another catalyst. For me it was a trip to Italy and my friend David Walter. David is actually my friend’s Dad and some 25 years my senior, but with age comes wisdom, right? Time spent together on an annual boys’ food pilgrimage to Alba in Italy revealed my car nerd credentials and the desire I harboured to own a Porsche 911. David, a serial BMW M-car owner, was in no doubt that given my age at the time, my marital status, manageable mortgage, and financial position, I should be…

Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur – the official personalisation arm of Porsche – is expanding its range of special exterior colours for the 911 with its new Paint to Sample and Paint to Sample Plus options. Cult classic Porsche colours from days gone by are being added to the range of standard and special colour options, bringing the total number of off-the-peg shades available to 160. The move comes in response to increased demand for custom-painted Porsche in recent years, and has resulted in a brand-new colour-mixing bench being installed at the main plant in Zuffenhausen. Here, Porsche paint specialists blend ingredients down to the final milligram to achieve the desired colour. Paint to Sample is the new name for Porsche Custom Colour, which is being expanded to include comebacks for iconic…

Schadenfreude – pleasure at the misfortune of others. Strangely, this human if rather reprehensible trait has no word to describe it in English and the language has to resort to a foreign word to convey the sense. And that human trait was evident in February 2014 when reports appeared of engine fires in Porsche’s latest flagship, the 991 GT3, released only the previous autumn. Plastered across social media and on the inside pages of what we used to call the popular press was a picture of a brand-new 911, a GT3 no less, blazing itself to destruction. For several days, the newsfeeds poked fun in that slightly sneering way that they seem to reserve for Porsche drivers. But this tabloid entertainment hid a serious problem which would rumble on inside…

Data file Full specs, ratings and market values of every Porsche 911 model, including the 3.2 Carrera generation, can be found beginning on page 76 Plus Showroom Looking for a new 911? The classifieds from our independent specialist partners are the first place you should start your search Servicing & tuning Get the very best from your Porsche 911 with the help of our selected performance and maintenance specialists Porsche lifestyle Helping you make the right lifestyle choices to complement you and your 911. Don’t just drive Porsche, live the brand Insurance & finance Get your Porsche covered with the best insurance deals for road and track to ensure happy, safe motoring…

There was once, believe it or not, a time when early 911s were forgotten, underappreciated and, well, almost apologised for, as just old Porsches. Water cooling came in and – for a while – the peculiarities of the earliest 911s were seen as negatives. Today is a different time, and those early long-bonnet models have become hot Porsche property over the last seven or eight years, with values skyrocketing almost overnight. But prices have softened lately; is their appeal on the wane? Is their fanbase, traditionally seen as older, dying out? Jonathan Aucott of Avantgarde Classics thinks that’s a misconception. Whilst there may be a perception of a fall in interest with prices dropping, values of the long-bonnet cars are actually creeping up again. “The correction is probably a reflection…

Ask any owner of a classic Porsche and they will likely tell you its greatest appeal is its rudimentary approach to the sports car concept, offering a driving purity that’s vastly removed from the technological creep (or is it override?) prevalent in contemporary rivals today. Juxtaposed to this notion of unfiltered driving purity though is the need for connectivity on the move: it is simply a must-have in our modern world. Whether in a modern or classic Porsche, we rely on technology to help navigate us on the road, communicate safely with friends, and listen to our favourite media, be it a podcast, playlist, or radio. While new 911s of course have this covered as part of its factory specification, Porsche Classic has, since 2018, sought to bring similar levels…

A 993 Carrera 4S described as an ‘outstanding example’ has broken auction world records for the model with a winning bid of $270,000 (£204,000). The 1997 Speed yellow example was offered for sale through online auction platform, Collecting Cars, and was said to be in original condition showing just 1,126 miles from new on its odometer. One of just 1,752 examples built for the US market, the car in question included sought-after options such as the Porsche Aerokit, Sport seats, and engine sound package. According to the listing, in May 2021 the car was treated to a full inspection and recommissioning by a Porsche specialist in Connecticut, receiving a new fuel pump and pump relay, new lower valve covers and gaskets, front ABS sensors, front suspension struts and a fresh…

Porsche Digital has expanded its range of products with the Porsche VIN Art Configurator. Users can enter a vehicle identification number (VIN) or a Porsche code to create individual works of art. And you don’t need to own a Porsche to use the system, as VIN Art creates portraits based on cars specified in the Porsche configurator too. The artwork is printed on a thin aluminium plate, available in a range of sizes and for wall or stand mounting. VIN Art portraits can be ordered via www.vinart.digital for Porsche vehicles from 2016 onwards.…

We’ve all done it, right? In my case, regularly, Porsche’s configurator being a frequent, immersive visit. There’s so much choice (too much choice?) with no less than 21 different versions of the 911 to pick from, and that’s before you fall down the wormhole of options and the resultant specification juggling, where a few option ticks make the next model up more appealing. That’s theoretically rather than with real intent – in my case, at least. That choice has increased recently too, the 992 GTS’s introduction adding a tempting crust on the top of the Carrera pie, before you take the step to a GT3 or, indeed, the Turbo. But which one? Rest assured, there are no bad choices in the 911 line-up, just different ones and, depending on what…

911s in the data file are organised in rows according to release date, beginning with the very first model in 1964. Many models were available in Coupe, Targa and Cabriolet forms, with the option of automatic transmission. Here, data has been provided from the Coupe variants unless stated. All data here has been compiled, where possible, from Porsche’s own figures. General valuations This reflects the general market trend for a model’s used value compared to the previous financial quarter. The review for 2022 Q2 will be April. The review for 2022 Q1 was January. Ratings Each model is rated out of five in our half-star system according to their performance, handling, appearance and desirability.…

An engine needs two ingredients to run: fuel and air. In sports cars such as the 911 where performance is the ultimate focus, you’d expect to simply turn up the wick to increase fuel, and hey presto, instant performance, right? Wrong. The combination of air and fuel is set to a fine balance, the so-called stoichiometric mixture of 14.7:1. For more fuel, the air must increase to match, but ambient air pressure dictates the amount of fuel needed to balance with 14.7 parts of atmosphere. That’s where the turbo comes in. In simple terms it is a turbine, which forces compressed air – sourced from the exhaust gases – back into the engine intake. More air at greater pressure means more oxygen, so fuelling can be increased. The extra oxygen…

This gathering of Porsche engineering top brass was not as might be expected at Le Mans or any other major race, but a purely internal get-together. The venue is the Weissach test track on a summer morning in 1984 and the initiative came from Helmuth Bott who was keen to settle an argument about whether Porsche’s current Group C car, the 956, was as fast as the 917/30 Turbo of the previous decade. Senior engineer and 956 team manager Norbert Singer was quietly confident what the outcome would be, but he was not going to contradict Bott openly, content to see the board member for engineering find out for himself. Works driver Derek Bell was engaged to assess both cars and the photo shows him discoursing on the 917/30, which…