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The Porsche 911 Turbo - 930
Strangely compelling to drive (even slowly), feels more powerful than a fezza 360 (back to back comparism), beautiful shape, ergonomic cabin (but not all switch gear!), very functional and involving mechanically to drive.
Performance:
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| Model Year | 0-60 mph | 0-100 km/h | 0-100 mph | 1/4 mile | 1 km | Top speed
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| 1975-1977 | 260 hp | 5.2s | 12.4s | ? | 24.2s | 153 mph
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| 1978-1983 | 300 hp | 5.0s | 11.8s | ? | 24.0s | 160 mph
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| 1983 LE | 330 hp | 4.7s | ? | ? | ? | 171 mph
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| 1984-1988 | 300 hp | 4.6s | 11.6s | ? | 23.8s | 173 mph
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| 1989 5spd | 300 hp | 4.9s | 12.0s | 13.6 | 24.6s | 162 mph
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So if you want the fastest one - get a 1984-1988 4 speed 930...
Buying a 911 Porsche Turbo (930)
Driving the 930
The 4 speed is faster than the 5 speed so I think it is a little lighter.
Gears: 4 speeds is enough, the powerband kicks in fully at 3000 and the rev limiter cuts in at around 7000. 1st is like regular cars 2nds, so treat it exactly as 2nd except you also pull away in it. Fourth is like most fifths, at 3000rpm you are already well above the national limit, remember this thing has a top speed only a little shy of 170mph.
Check baulking into 1st and synchro into 3rd - these are the known weak points. Change gear deliberately and softly - do not force or snap. Give the gearbox TIME, not pressure. If you match the revs well the time can be quite short, it's a very precise satifying mechanical 'slot' for each gear. When clicking into the next gear you put the throttle down AS you put the clutch back up.
You don't drag the clutch (EVER), it is more of a timing thing as the turbo needs spooling up for the next gear. The clutch is very progressive. You WILL KNOW if you scorch it: unless you have no nose.
There is no synchro on reverse: allow for the (lay?) shaft still spinning and if you can't get it in declutch for another go. It's an aquired skill thing. As is the whole car I guess..
Even after years of driving one, when you get 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th right you still say 'shit this thing is fast' as you giggle uncontrollably.
Brakes
Pads and rotors are fairly cheap. Derived from the 917 Le Mans racer (faster but lighter). They even have quick release pads The (4 pot IIRC) calipers I suspect are not cheap!
Engine management
Injection is Bosch CIS K-Jetronic. All covered by the intercooler. Make sure it starts without problems at cold, half warm (after standing for 5 mins) and when warm (after 10 mins). Make sure the warmup drives without issue. CIS injection components are VERY expensive. It is also very economical and reliable, bred IIRC from racing systems.
Suspension
Expect to feel uneven roads through the wheel. You'll hear the diff/gears but they should not be loud. Heating and cooling is a mystery that I explained in a earlier post. Check the heating works well, it involves a number of systems to be working too. Check it also switches off. Paint should be good. Avoid rusty cars.
Turbo lag
Turbo lag. Its big. Realllllyyy big.
Always give yourself time at junctions to pull out, you have no power at low revs and if you wang it out with the clutch you may have a 300bhp wheelspin, which also gets you nowhere.. As for lifting off around corners, you can actually lisft off the throttle, providing the engine power does not decrease - i.e. on 2nd at 2.5k rpm power will be building, nudge off the throttle a little to slow the build rate. Pull your foot off the throttle completely and all boost and power instantly dies: hello hedge.
If you want it to feel like a Ferrari 360, keep the engine above 3000rpm and it turns into a scalded cat, very agile, responsive, fast, instant power.
Dashboard switchgear is amusingly placed to add character. With the heated seats and aircooled heating it is ironically the ideal winter car. Except for the fat tyres etc.
Tyres
Tyres are cheap - only 16" but look the business. To look after it properly you really need to budget a bargain barge worth of money every year at a good indy. Some years the barges are more highly specced then others.
Make sure the fresh air intake (back/centre of bonnet) is properly attached to the drain hose. You can test by tipping some water down and/or pulling up boot carpet.
How 80's 911 ventilation systems work
In the '80s 911s there are a few heater controls that somehow always defy rational explanation.
In the BMW E30 for example you've got three sliders, top (windscreen), middle (for the middle) and bottom (for the feet). However Porsche always liked to go one better and in a quest for knowledge (and to tighten up the back of my cigarette lighter power (it actually unscrews from the inside I discovered later. Much later.)).
So, the big red slider at the bottom - heat? well - not quite. The middle slider, up or down? Well, nearly. The A/C fan and ducts - how do they fit it? And the little slider at the top left - what does that do? And the switch in the middle of course..
OK so the first thing to note is that the Porsche system is not an integrated heating and AC system that you'd find on other cars. It's actually 3 separate systems, two of which use the same exit vents.
- Firstly the hot air runs from the rear heat exchangers and into two cylindrical air pumps, in each front footwell at the corner. Heat and the fans are controlled by the rotary control in the middle of the seats. This hot air goes into one valve each side operated by the red slider, at the bottom. When you slide that lever, you divert the air either into the footwells or onto the windscreen.
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Secondly cold air rushes along the top of the bonnet and into that cute grille. Along with any rain etc. That goes into a box with a fan, and a big 25mm drain. Check your drain actually connects up to the drain pipe - you may be surprised. This fan has multiple speeds (controlled by the little top-rhs slider I think) the little slider to the left of that actually just closes the exit of that box. Assuming the exit is open (little lhs slider to the right) then the air goes into a valve controlled by the middle slider valve, which directs it down to the footwell or up to the windscreen.
So the First and Second air systems (hot and cold) use a siamesed but isolated valve on each side diverted up or down by the bottom and the middle sliders, into the footwell or onto the screen.
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Thirdly we have the A/C, which is an entirely different system again. Behind the LHS (passenger) side feet is the A/C cooler (evaporator). This has a fan on the back attached to a big tube, so it sucks air from inside the car (just from under the dash) through the evaporator, and through that tube and then straight into the centre and side mid level vents. The operation is controlled by the two 'climate' controls in the center console, the LHS knob being the cooling enthusiasm, the RHS knob being the fan. There is no connection with the other two systems.
This explains quite a lot about why the heating controls are a little unfathomable on the 911, and I can see why no one ever worked out what they do. Quite simply, you'll never get fresh air from the bonnet into those mid-level vents.
That's the basics covered. I'm wondering if there is a better way to connect it up or if anyone has, I suspect the 964 and the 993 are a little more integrated.
Air Conditioning - functionality
Air conditioning never actually works on old 911s, so don't fail any on that. You need to change the 20ft of freon permeable hose to new barrier hose and then start of the other components, I'm not sure how many have had that done.
The interior changed in 1986, with much bigger vents.
Gallery
 PICT0003 (168.4kB)
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911 Turbo links
General 911 links
Porsche Spares
Classic Porsche
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