1993-1998 Porsche 993: The final air-cooled 911 - Part Two

November 4, 2:33 PMAutomotive ExaminerKyle Busch

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Porsche 993 - The last of the air-cooled 911s
Performance 2 and 4 co.uk

The Porsche 993 was
the final iteration of the
company’s air-cooled 911.
The car is quite special as it
has DNA ties all the way back
to the first 911 of 1963. After
the 993 came the 996 which
was the first water-cooled 911.

911 purest applaud the 993’s
connection to the past, however,
in many respects, the car was
modern in that many of its
shortcomings had been ironed
out. After all, Porsche had 30
years to make improvements to the car!

So, what does the 993 have to offer? First of all, the designer Tony Hatter came
up with what is considered an absolutely gorgeous looking car but one that retained
the very traditional 911 look.

Because of cost constraints, Hatter retained the midsection of the past
911’s roof, glass and doors (these essentially dated back to 1974). However,
the previous 911’s upright headlights and high front wings were replaced
by tilted back headlights and flattened front wings. Additionally, the front
and rear wings bulged out to give the 993 a more sensuous and muscular
appearance. At the rear, the full horizontal reflector was retained, but it was
integrated to look sleeker.

The glass was made to be more flush fitting with neater seals. Additionally,
the windshield was bonded in and Porsche claimed a 20 percent improvement
in the body’s rigidity. Furthermore, the windshield wiper pivot points were
moved inward to give the wipers a better sweeping motion.

Cost concerns also hampered the redesign of the 993’s dash. Rather than a
complete overhaul, the dish was cleaned up. The twin airbags were carried
over from the 964 (the glovebox was lowered a bit to make room the airbag),
Various controls were relocated for better ease of use, and all new more modern
looking door trim and seats were installed. A new four spoke steering wheel
completed the updated interior.

So, with the new bodywork on the outside and the updated interior on
the inside, the 993 indeed had indirect agility. However, Bez also wanted
direct drivability including an improvement in ride and noise comfort.

Again, cost constraints dictated that the 964’s parts bin be used for the
front suspension. Thus, the coil springs were retained but with aluminum
replacing steel components. This improved the unsprung weight of the
suspension and saved about 30 lbs. per side Furthermore, the suspension’s
geometry was changed to improve the 993’s stability at high speeds.

At the rear, the engineers ditched the 964’s semi-trailing arm setup,
which Bez really disliked as the components were mounted directly to the
car’s body thus allowing noise and vibration into the cabin. The engineers
came up with a multilink system that was mounted to a compact aluminum
subframe. To eliminate noise and vibration, the subframe was attached to
the body using four large rubber mounts. The lower mounts were made of
softer rubber and thus allowed what is known as the Weissach effect This
was a form of passive rear steering which resulted in the car handling better
in curves.

The 993’s four wheel drive system was also updated with a lighter better
performing unit that cost only about a fifth of the previous unit. The system
used viscous coupling discs running in silicon fluid. When the rear wheels
would spin, the fluid would heat up and the coupling would lock thus sending
power to the front wheels. The rear/front power split could go from 95/5 up to
61/39 as required.

Last, but not least, the engine was reworked. Water cooled V6 and V8
engines were considered for the 993. However, the accountants said no
and they argued that the 964’s 3.6-liter was in fact a good engine. Porsche
made numerous improvements to the engine including a revised crankshaft
that eliminated the need for the previous vibration damper. The heads
received self-adjusting hydraulic tappets. They were not only quieter but
maintenance costs were reduced as adjusting the rocker arms on past 911
engines had been a real pain unless the car’s engine was removed.

Other changes to the 993 engine included a new and quieter intake
manifold,\ and a new quieter dual exhaust (the dual exhaust was a first on
a non-turbo Porsche). These changes increased the engine’s horsepower
from the 964’s 250 to 272. In 1996, Virioram was added to the engine and
power output become 285 hp. Additionally, the 993 gained a six-speed
manual or a four-speed Tiptronic transmission. Regarding the automatic,
the driver could choose from a fully automatic mode or clutchless shifts
with the floor mounted lever. In 1995, Porsche renamed the transmission
Tiptronic S and fingertip changers were placed on the steering wheel. With
the updated engine and transmission, a manual 993 did 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds
and had a top speed of 168 mph.

Well, how did it all come out? Quite excellent! Porsche made many updates
to the car - the body’s appearance, the interior, and the engine and transmission.
However, cost restraints luckily caused some things to stay the same! Thus, the
car’s basic DNA and core values was preserved. Therefore, the 993 provides old
school character in a fairly modern package.

As Total Porsche states, “Pundits around the world applauded the new
911’s appearance, handling and performance, while remaining thankful that
Porsche’s core values had been retained. In short, the 993 had agility in all
its forms.”

The Porsche 993 quite literally has just about it all!

To go to Part One visit: 1993-1998 Porsche 993: The final air-cooled 911

Kyle Busch is the author of “Drive the Best for the Price…” He 
welcomes your comments or car questions at his auto web site:
www.DriveTheBestBook.com