Porsche-968-488

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.

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