Porsche 911 993

theninj November 17, 2011 0

Porsche 911 993

The last in the line of Air Cooled 911′s, the 993 was introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the 964.

It’s kind of Ironic that the 993, possibly the most sought after generation of the iconic 911 was considered a stop gap car at it’s introduction. Porsche had been going through a few tough times during the early nineties and had pretty much come to a development dead end with the original Air Cooled flat six engine.

The replacement for the 964 would have to be the last car to utilise Air-Cooling, it was just too inefficient and dirty to be used in a modern road car. Porsche needed an entirely new solution (the Boxster and 996) but they were going to take time to develop. In the mean time came the 993. The new 911 would be an “evolution” of the 964, however Porsche needed to answer to some of the 964′s problems with slightly numb handling, noise vibration and harshness problems, and most importantly, sudden oversteer.

The 993′s more curvatious styling, desigend by Brit Tony Hatter, took the form of the 964 and made it more rounded, some might say more elegant. The rear arches were now flared out more than ever, this was to incorporate the wider track which was a result of the all new all alloy multi-arm rear suspension setup. Finally, the 911 no longer had a reputation for spitting you off the grey stuff and into the nearest hedge backwards. The new front lights helped this new 911 look more like a modern version of it’s ancestors more than ever before. Porsche claimed that 80% of the 993 was completely new. Only the doors and bonnet were said to be carried over from the outgoing car.

The 3.6 litre flat six engine from the 964 was completely reworked, every part was now new claimed Porsche, producing 272 bhp (285bhp for the VarioRam engined cars from 1996), the engine now revved harder and was more easily serviced. The 993 was available with a 6 speed gearbox as standard and later the 4 wheel drive C4 versions were introduced, utilizing a version of the 959 supercars viscous coupling system rather than the old 964′s differentials.

Being the last ever Air-Cooled car, the 993 was always going to attract buyers, but the 993 has so much more going for it than that. It’s properly pretty, probably the last generation of 911 that actually look like a 911 (in my opinion!), is much more reliable than the 964 (which suffered from all manner of oil leaks and other problems), handles properly and is still modern enough to be used everyday. Oh, and lets not forget how it sounds. That unmistakable howl from the exhausts as it passes on full throttle is enough to give you goose bumps. If you’re a fan of cars and Porsche in general, the 993 swansong is the car to have, use, cosset, polish and occasionally blast round a track like a complete mentalist.