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1991 Porsche 968
Displacement 2990 cm³ (104 mm * 88 mm), compression ratio, 11,0 : 1, 8,0 : 1, motor de aspiración/charging turbo, intercooler, engine control, toothed belt und chain, dohc, Variocam, 4 valves per cylinder,
Turbo 2 per cylinder, torque, 305/500 Nm at 4100/3000 rpm, 176/224 kW (240/305 HP) at 6200/5400 rpm, front engine, transaxle, manual-six-speed, automatic four-speed, suspension front, McPherson, suspension rear,
semi-trailing arm, brakes, disks, ventilated, wheelbase 2.400 mm, wheels f/r, 205/55 R 16 (7'') / 225/50 R 16 (8''), Turbo 235/40 R 18 (8'') / 265/35 R 18 (10''), length 4.320 mm, width 1.735 mm, height 1.275 mm, tank
capacity, 80 liters, kerb weight 1320-1370 kg + driver, 250/280 km/h, 1991 - 1995, production agood 11,000, purchase price from 89,900 euros.
More of a new model than a further development of the 944. You could call it Porsche's last transaxle, but automotive technicians are more interested in the engine. That four-cylinder engine with a 2.5-liter displacement
was actually considered to have reached its limits.
And then it turned out it's coming back after all - with additional 500 cm³. Until then, people had tended to associate three liters spread across four cylinders with a van or light truck rather than a high-end sports car, but
something like that had existed already before.
You just have to go back far enough to the Bentley 3-Litre (1921–1929) or the 4.5-Litre (1927–1931). The latter had approximately 81 kW (110 HP) in standard configuration and approximately 96 kW (130 HP) in race tuning.
However, there was also a version with a supercharger.
But the comparison is flawed, because both Bentleys were long-stroke engines, so that despite running at only a little over half their rated RPM, they achieved nearly the same average piston speed as the Porsche 968; the
Turbo, in fact, remained well below that.
In the naturally aspirated engine, Porsche naturally took advantage of the large bore to accommodate the corresponding valves, four in this case, and two of them in the turbocharged version. In addition, it featured one of
the first variable valve timing systems. Overall, the naturally aspirated engine had the same power output as the 944 Turbo, while the turbocharged engine had a correspondingly higher output.
After all, it’s available as a coupe, a convertible, and in a stripped-down version called the Clubsport. Despite having comparable performance and, in fact, more modern features, such as its weight distribution, the 968
was nowhere near as successful as the 911, perhaps because its price was also very close to that of the 911.
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