3
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
• If you think the car on these pages is just another Porsche 911, you are forgiven. At a glance, it looks like every other 911 built since 1978. Its front and rear bumpers are smoother and its rocker panels have been streamlined with subtle cladding, but only a Porsche aficionado would notice.
Nor would a casual observer detect any differences inside. Ihe same five dials found
in
all 91 ls stare back at you through the four-spoke steering wheel, the ignition switch still lies to the left of the steering column, and the various minor controls are still scattered willy-nillv across the dash. It’s all warmly familiar.
Climb inside and turn the key, however, and you instantly realize that this is not just another 911. Several new warning lights blink on in the instrument faces, and the engine note is different. The familiar guttural rumble sounds farther away, and it’s accompanied by less cooling-fan whine than in previous 911 s.
Depress the clutch and slip the shifter into first gear and you gather more evidence that something is afoot. The shift lever is shorter than usual, and it’s positioned further aft, in the plane of the steering wheel. The shifter also has tighter, more precise throws than before; it’s free from the rubbery vagueness that has plagued all previous 91 is.
Step on the throttle and the engine responds with unexpected strength. This car has more low-end acceleration than any 911 in history, and it gets stronger as you rev it harder.
Moreover,
it
puts its power down without a trace of wheelspin—even in the wet. And no mat-
|
ter how hard you drive it or how bumpy the road, it tracks straight and true. It doesn’t even mind throttle adjustments in midcorner. All very un-91 1.
Welcome to the new order. The new 911 Can-era 4 may have the classic 911 profile and layout, but it has about as much in common with other 91 is as it does with a 944. In
fact,
the Can-era 4 can rightly be called a brand-new car, sharing only fifteen percent of its parts with the rest of the 911 line. Its dnveline, engine, floorpan, suspension, and brakes are all new.
The most significant change is the addition of four-wheel drive. Ever since it developed the limited-production 959, Porsche has been convinced of the traction and stability advantages of powering all four wheels. The 959 uses an electronically regulated driveline that constantly varies the amount of power supplied to the front and rear axles, according to varying dynamic conditions and which of the four driver-selectable programs has been actuated. Admittedly complex, the exotic driveline nonetheless makes the near-200-mph 959 as easy to drive as a family sedan.
For the Can-era 4 (known within the company as the 964), Porsche engineers wanted to retain the 959’s virtues yet switch to a fully automatic four-wheel- drive system. Their solution incorporates a center differential that provides a 31/69 percent front/rear torque split with
two
electronically controlled limited-slip devices: one coupled to the center differential and one mated to the rear differential.
|
|
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CINDY LEWIS
|
|
|
|
3 |
|