Porsche 997 Buyers Guide

Porsche Celebrates Production of 100,000 911s

Porsche AG has created another remarkable milestone in the automotive realm. The Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker produces another worthy page of amazing success in its survival book. The success story is boosted by its iconic sports car – the 911.

Earlier, the German automaker commemorated the production of 100,000th 911 unit built since April 2004. The milestone was attained with the latest (997) model manufactured at Porsche’s main plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany.

“It is with great pride that we celebrate this outstanding achievement for the 911, a vehicle renowned for its performance and style,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, the CEO of Porsche Cars North America. “We look forward to many more years of delighting sports car enthusiasts who have long looked to Porsche to deliver unsurpassed engineering excellence.”

Year 2006 was a record sales year for the 911 in the United States, Porsche’s largest market, with 12,045 units sold. So far this year, sales of the 911 are up by nine percent over the same period in 2006.

The 911, the famous and distinctive sports car launched in 1963, has undergone continuous development since its introduction in 1964. The sports car is notable for being rear engined and air-cooled, until the launch of the all-new Type 996 in 1999. The sports car features exceptional styling and cutting edge parts accessories consist of OEM Porsche oil filter, engines, radiators, cold air intake, and more.

Since its introduction, the 911 has been enhanced the pool of the automaker’s engineers as well as by private teams. They were modified to conform to the demands of racing, rallying and other types of auto competition. Watchers in the industry say that the 911 is the most successful competition car ever built. This is especially true when its variations, including the powerful 935, are considered. In the international poll for the award of Car of the Century, the sports car came fifth after the Ford Model T, the Mini, the Citroën DS and the Volkswagen Beetle.

By the mid-1970s, the German automaker was thinking that its 911 sports car might be getting a bit archaic. With an air-cooled, flat-six engine hung behind its rear axle and ever-advancing competition, the company’s 911 was on the brink of being phased out for the new 928, with its ultra-modern, front-mounted, water-cooled V8 and breathtaking styling.

But something unexpected happened – people kept purchasing 911s and eventually the car outlasted even its presumed successor. And the rest is history…

It is likely that Porsche never imagined back then that in 2007, they would attain a new production record with their iconic 911 by producing 100,000 of the current Type 997 series in a span of three years, faster than any other preceding generation 911. Having debuted in April 2004, the 997 series will be produced in 16 variants by fall of this year, from the base 911 Carrera to the track-conquering, yet street-drivable – 911 GT3 RS.

According to the German automaker, by July 31, the end of the 2006/2007 fiscal year, around 36,000 units from the 911 series will have been sold around the globe setting another remarkable record in the history of the sports car.

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, or just Porsche, is founded in 1931 by then Austrian Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer behind the very first Volkswagen car.

The Atlanta, Ga.-based Porsche Cars North America, Inc. and its subsidiary, Porsche Cars Canada, Ltd., are the exclusive importers of Porsche sports cars and Cayenne sport utility vehicles for the United States and Canada. PCNA employs nearly 300 individuals who provide Porsche vehicles, parts, service, marketing and training for its 213 Canadian and U.S. dealers.

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What’s New In The 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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