Interesting thing I learned about the 996 and the track last weekend...

[Randy W]

The 996 street car and the 996 GT3 are entirely different cars - you cannot compare the two. Pretty much the only parts they share in common are some plastic interior trim. This is the stuff that breaks in races! Shift knobs fall off, headlight flashers wands break, etc. The engine design, transmission, suspension and brakes are all different. This is not like comparing the 911s entered in the 1970-72 LeMans, where the only changes from stock were pistons, cylinders, carbs/MFI mods, gas tank, seats, sway bars and maybe flares and tires!

[Bill Verburg]

Here's a closeup of the bottom of a friend's 996 GT3

You can see the 964 block w/ water cooled heads/cyl. very clearly in this shot.

Here is one of the front brakes, Very Nice!


Engine topside w/ restrictor, still ~425hp


A spare set of center locks and Hoosiers


The office;


Air jacks


Safety first;


Coil overs;


Stock adjustable sways;


Air jack plug;


This car is as good as any of the older RSRs, probably better. They will soon be selling street versions over here.

[Dana_Drury]

Porsche AWOL

Porsche haven't run the Paris Dakkar race for almost 20 years, I haven't seen people whinging before.

[patalive]

Yes, but Porsche has never claimed a "world class SUV" before.

I doubt that the bean counters at Porsche would want to put their pepper pot up against some real off road competition.

Chuck
93 C2

[Jim Garfield]

Dana,

This was a perfect opportunity for Porsche to silence their detractors by coming out of the
box and kicking some @ss in the Dakar.

The fact that BMW (in 3rd w/an X5) and VW (in 5th with a turbo diesel) think that this is a
good place to make a point about their products only emphasizes that Porsche is conspicuous
by it's absence.

And this is a race that they have won and have a history with.

[47silver]

bill

do you have a photo on the body, is the crankcase similar to the older 911 looks like it

[motion]

.

[Chuck Moreland]

We are all air cooled 911 enthusiasts, and we have always hated the 996. Not sure why, just hated it. Now we have our smoking gun - it's not a dry sump so the oil system isn't up to the track.

Never mind that air cooled 911s overheat on the track unless they have beefed up external coolers.

Fact is the 996 is a fast, thouroghly modern car. It beats the pants off our air cooled jobs, stops faster, gets better mileage and handles better. Yes it's true. It wasn't an air cooled car Buckler took to Lemans.

The only legitimate grip we have is they shouldn't call it a 911. It's not a 911.

I love 911s, always have always will.

-------

Oh Sheet Motion. I wondered why you repeated that picture, now I see the Lambo Killer. Ahhh

[Dana_Drury]

Originally posted by Jim Garfield
Dana,

This was a perfect opportunity for Porsche to silence their detractors by coming out of the
box and kicking some @ss in the Dakar.

And this is a race that they have won and have a history with.

How many Paris Dakar races has the X5 competed in, or more importantly, how long as the X5 been on the market?

The reason I ask is that Porsche aren't stupid. They can compete in the Paris Dakar race next year, win, and use that as a marketing campaign once the first adopters of the SUV have bought theres.

This also allows the car to be in the market for a year, any initial teething problems worked out, and the car designed for racing. I am sure they are well equiped to produce a car for winning the Paris Dakar, but I am sure they know the importance of 'winning' the race, and that is extremely important.

[930fan]

Originally posted by patalive
Yes, but Porsche has never claimed a "world class SUV" before.

I doubt that the bean counters at Porsche would want to put their pepper pot up against some real off road competition.

Chuck
93 C2

Don't know whether Porsche will ever race the Cayenne but it has only just hit the market so no way it would have been this year.

The Cayenne has triple diff locks, 6 piston brakes, nearly a foot of ground clearance and a low range transfer box - none of which is on a BMW X5. If that thing finished 3rd in the Dakar then the Cayenne will probably beat it since it's got over 100 bhp more power.

Compared to a Range Rover, they both have air suspension but with the advanced off road package, the Cayenne can get an extra inch of ground clearance, it's got one more ratio in the transmission, more sophisticated traction control, two batteries to aid starting in artic temperatures, the ability to disconnect the anti roll bars for more traction and steel underfloor protection so it's definetely as good as a Range Rover off road and they are the acknowledged king of 4x4s. Except the Cayenne turbo does 165 mph too.

Not that this has anything to do with title topic

And Randy W, the 996 GT3 road version which will come to the USA this year and the 996 GT3 RS are as closely related as the example you gave in the 70s

[Bill Verburg]

Meant to include this pic of the sump of a trashed Boxster engine for comparison to the GT3s sump



They also have a very interesting looking valve train;