Toward the end of the seventies, it seemed the 911's days were numbered. Due to legal embroilments and a largely unjustified reputation, the rear-engined marvel was becoming feared by many, and the company was turning their attentions to a front-engined successor with a sweeter disposition. The technologically advanced 928 arrived in 1977 with …
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Recent Posts from: Porsche Factoids
The Appeal of the Flat Engine
Along with that telltale silhouette of the heavy-haunched 911, the other item synonymous with the Porsche brand is the flat engine. The first example of this configuration was constructed by Carl Benz in 1896; built with the same basic layout as the current crop of Porsche's flat engines. Thanks to that odd configuration of cylinders, with …
Continue to the full articleThe History and Operation of Porsche Rear-Wheel Steering
While four-wheel steering wasn't uncommon twenty-five years ago in the heyday of tech-heavy sports cars, we seem to have left some of those gizmos behind with the implied understanding that they were superfluous. Yet, with lengthening wheelbases in the current Porsche lineup and more and more weight, it's become a useful tool to make the latest …
Continue to the full articleA Brief History of Porsche AWD
At the risk of sounding trite, Porsches might be some of the most usable, real world-friendly machines thanks in large part to their sophisticated all-wheel drive systems. With all four wheels intelligently propelling their cars up the road, astronomical amounts of power and torque can be harnessed by the least experienced drivers in the most …
Continue to the full articleThis Mercedes G-Wagen Has A 928 Engine, And It Was Built To Help Porsche Win Dakar In 1986
Last July, Porsche hauled a few of their large-and-in-charge off-roaders into the museum for a special exhibit on the history of Porsche's jacked-up four-wheel-drivers. Among them was a Mercedes G-Wagen support vehicle for the company's Dakar efforts in the mid-1980s. I'd seen this car in photographs of the display before, but I didn't know the …
Continue to the full articleWhy the Porsche 911 Remains Rear-Engined
It's a question that's befuddled many car lovers over the last half-century. Why, knowing what we now know about vehicle dynamics, does Porsche insist on keeping the 911's motor in the rear? Over the years, the recalcitrant behavior this layout was known to cause has been replaced with impeccable manners. Chalk it up to improved body control, …
Continue to the full articleDo You Know Why Porsche’s Iconic Sports Car Is Called ‘911’?
Did you know that Porsche was actually issued a cease and desist letter from French company Peugeot in regards to the 911's original '901' moniker? Porsche, at that time, gave their cars numbers based on their project number. For example, the first 356 was internally "project three-hundred fifty-six", and the 901 was similarly the nine-hundred …
Continue to the full articleWhat Does The 919 Have In Common With the Power Supply for a Village?
Porsche's won Le Mans an astounding 18-times. But all Porsche fans know that, don't they? But what time did Mark Webber complete his first ever lap in an LMP1 car? Or, when did Porsche celebrate its first hybrid race car success? How many times will the 919 stop for fuel at Le Mans? What about tire? We've compiled a list of 31 interesting …
Continue to the full articleThere Are 7 Generations of the 911. Here’s How Many Porsche Produced of Each!
Last week Porsche announced that the 911 hit a significant milestone when the one-millionth example rolled off the production line. That's a fairly significant number given how humble the beginnings were for Porsche. Today, the 911 has evolved through seven main generations*: 1963*: The original 911 1973*: G Series 1988*: Typ 964 …
Continue to the full articleThe 10 Most Liked, Tweeted, Shared and Read Porsche Posts of 2016
Last week we presented you with Porsche's 15 Most Significant Moments of 2016. Those 15 stories represented what we thought were the most important Porsche moments of the past year. However, importance doesn't always correlate to page views. So, as we close out the year we took a look back at the statistics for each story and the following list …
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