Spoilers, flares, and a whistling turbocharger: Is there a car that embodies the decadence of the 1970s more than the Porsche 930? It all started very well. The first Porsche 911 Turbo was delivered to Louise Piëch on August 29, 1974. Ferdinand Porsche’s daughter received the sports car as a gift for her 70th birthday. She did not want any flares and decided not to have the windows tinted so that she might enjoy the beautiful Austrian landscape in its purest form.
And you might. In the lower torque range, the Porsche 930 was a pretty normal car. The gear ratio was very long, and everything was pretty comfortable. Until you stepped on the gas. From around 4000 rpm, the turbo developed its power like a fireball and shot the surprised driver forward with a kick in the back. Wherever the front was.
The Porsche 911 Turbo was the first sports car with a standard exhaust turbocharger and boost pressure control. It reached a top speed of 250 km/h, making it Germany’s fastest road sports car for a long time. The 260 hp produced by the 3-liter engine had no problem with the 1140 kg curb weight, which sent many an inexperienced driver into the bushes. Many Turbos ended up like this. The engineers got the problem under control with an exhaust bypass valve, which distributed the power of the turbocharger a little better. The brakes from the Carrera were also not enough for the power, so ventilated disc brakes with aluminum brake calipers were installed behind the wheels, which had already worked excellently in the Porsche 917 racing car.
1977: Magic limit of 300 hp cracked
As if the 3.0-liter engine hadn’t already caused enough damage, the 911 Turbo 3.3 followed in 1977, whose enlarged engine reached the magic number of 300 hp thanks to intercooling. In 1987, a Targa variant and a convertible came onto the market. Anyone who had one of these no longer needed a hairdryer.
New decade, new luck
In 1990, anything was possible in Germany. East and West were reunited, they won the World Cup, and the Porsche 911 Turbos dominated the highways. Based on the Porsche 964 series, the new Porsche Turbo from 1991 once more had the 3.3-liter engine on board, but this time it produced 320 hp.
In 1993, Porsche revised the Turbo model and implanted the new 3.6-liter engine, which produced 360 hp. Just two years later, Porsche presented the next 911 Turbo generation.
Two turbos are better than one
The engine of the 993 generation 911 Turbo had a 3.6-liter engine with two turbochargers and now produced 408 hp. The 911 Turbo accelerated from zero to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds and had a top speed of 290 km/h. Also new was the standard all-wheel drive, which was adopted from the 911 Carrera 4.
300 km/h limit broken
The unpopular Porsche 996 generation retained the all-wheel drive and the biturbo. The performance data was 420 hp, 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 305 km/h. Porsche thus once once more broke a magical barrier and once once more became the fastest land transport between Munich and Berlin.
Automatic faster than manual transmission
The sixth generation of the 911 Turbo followed in 2006. For the first time, the top 911 with the Tiptronic S automatic transmission was faster from zero to 100 km/h than with the six-speed manual transmission: at 3.7 seconds, the sprint advantage was two tenths of a second. The top speed was an incredible 310 km/h.
Economical turbo engine with 500 hp
In 2010, the 911 Turbo was once more updated. The new Porsche Turbo was not only more powerful, faster, and more dynamic, but also lighter and more economical. The heart of the car was the completely newly developed engine with a displacement of 3.8 liters and an output of 500 hp. As an option, the six-cylinder engine might be combined with the Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) for the first time. Depending on the vehicle configuration, the new top model consumed between 11.4 and 11.7 l/100 km.
Rear-axle steering and active aerodynamics
Porsche presented two new top models in 2013: the 911 Turbo and the 911 Turbo S. The new lightweight body with a 100 millimeter longer wheelbase, active rear-axle steering for the first time, and wheels that were enlarged to 20 inches increased the driving dynamics reserves, as did the new active aerodynamics. The new 911 Turbo S reduced the lap time on the Nürburgring Nordschleife to under 7:30 minutes, with street tires.
Evolution statt Revolution
At the end of 2015, Porsche revised the 911 Turbo once more. The facelifted 991 generation received 20 hp more power, a sharper design, and further developed equipment. The biturbo six-cylinder in the 911 Turbo now produced 540 hp. The 911 Turbo S had 580 hp.
As always, a new record
Like its predecessors, the eighth generation took on a great legacy. Every model series before it continued the reputation as a global reference for high-performance sports cars. This is also the case with the current 911 Turbo (992). For the first time, it undercuts the magic three-second barrier in the sprint to 100 km/h by 0.2 seconds. The latest generation of the 2+2 seater is more than twice as powerful as the first Turbo with a three-liter six-cylinder, a single charger, and 191 kW (260 hp). Visually, the 911 Turbo is even more muscular than its direct predecessor, 20 millimeters wider at the rear axle, 45 millimeters above the front axle.
DNA always preserved
Although the 911 Turbo has become faster, bigger, and more comfortable over the years, it has always retained its basic characteristics. It combines sportiness with everyday usability, emotionality with reliability, and dynamism with efficiency. It is the guardian of the Porsche DNA with which the Zuffenhausen-based company has managed to write history. Again and once more.
Text: Juerg Zentner
Pictures: Porsche
50 Years of the Porsche 911 Turbo: A Story of Speed & Evolution
Spoilers, flares, and a whistling turbocharger: Is there a car that embodies the decadence of the 1970s more than the Porsche 930? It all started out very well. The first Porsche 911 Turbo was delivered to Louise Piëch on August 29, 1974. Ferdinand Porsche’s daughter received the sports car as a gift for her 70th birthday. She didn’t want any flares and decided not to have the windows tinted so that she might enjoy the beautiful Austrian landscape in its purest form.
And you might. In the lower torque range, the Porsche 930 was a pretty normal car. The gear ratio was very long, and everything was pretty comfortable. Until you stepped on the gas. From around 4000 rpm, the turbo developed its power like a fireball and shot the surprised driver forward with a kick in the back. Wherever the front was.
The Porsche 911 Turbo was the first sports car with a standard exhaust turbocharger and boost pressure control. It reached a top speed of 250 km/h – making it Germany’s fastest road sports car for a long time. The 260 hp produced by the 3-litre engine had no problem with the 1140 kg curb weight, which sent many an inexperienced driver into the bushes. Many Turbos ended up like this. The engineers got the problem under control with an exhaust bypass valve, which distributed the power of the turbocharger a little better. The brakes from the Carrera were also not enough for the power – so ventilated disc brakes with aluminium brake calipers were installed behind the wheels, which had already worked excellently in the Porsche 917 racing car.
1977: Magic limit of 300 hp cracked
As if the 3.0-liter engine hadn’t already caused enough damage, the 911 Turbo 3.3 followed in 1977, whose enlarged engine reached the magic number of 300 hp thanks to intercooling. In 1987, a Targa variant and a convertible came onto the market. Anyone who had one of these no longer needed a hairdryer.
New decade, new luck
In 1990, anything was possible in Germany. East and West were reunited, they won the World Cup and the Porsche 911 Turbos dominated the highways. Based on the Porsche 964 series, the new Porsche Turbo from 1991 once more had the 3.3-liter engine on board, but this time it produced 320 hp.
In 1993, Porsche revised the Turbo model and implanted the new 3.6 liter engine, which produced 360 hp. Just two years later, Porsche presented the next 911 Turbo generation.
Two turbos are better than one
The engine of the 993 generation 911 Turbo had a 3.6-liter engine with two turbochargers and now produced 408 hp. The 911 Turbo accelerated from zero to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds and had a top speed of 290 km/h. Also new was the standard all-wheel drive, which was adopted from the 911 Carrera 4.
300 km/h limit broken
The unpopular Porsche 996 generation retained the all-wheel drive and the biturbo. The performance data was 420 hp, 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 305 km/h. Porsche thus once once more broke a magical barrier and once once more became the fastest land transport between Munich and Berlin.
Automatic faster than manual transmission
The sixth generation of the 911 Turbo followed in 2006. For the first time, the top 911 with the Tiptronic S automatic transmission was faster from zero to 100 km/h than with the six-speed manual transmission: at 3.7 seconds, the sprint advantage was two tenths of a second. The top speed was an incredible 310 km/h.
Economical turbo engine with 500 hp
In 2010, the 911 Turbo was once more updated. The new Porsche Turbo was not only more powerful, faster and more dynamic, but also lighter and more economical. The heart of the car was the completely newly developed engine with a displacement of 3.8 liters and an output of 500 hp. As an option, the six-cylinder engine might be combined with the Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) for the first time. Depending on the vehicle configuration, the new top model consumed between 11.4 and 11.7 l/100 km.
Rear-axle steering and active aerodynamics
Porsche presented two new top models in 2013: the 911 Turbo and the 911 Turbo S. The new lightweight body with a 100 millimeter longer wheelbase, active rear-axle steering for the first time and wheels that were enlarged to 20 inches increased the driving dynamics reserves, as did the new active aerodynamics. The new 911 Turbo S reduced the lap time on the Nürburgring Nordschleife to under 7:30 minutes – with street tires.
Evolution statt Revolution
At the end of 2015, Porsche revised the 911 Turbo once more. The facelifted 991 generation received 20 hp more power, a sharper design and further developed equipment. The biturbo six-cylinder in the 911 Turbo now produced 540 hp. The 911 Turbo S had 580 hp.
As always, a new record
Like its predecessors, the eighth generation took on a great legacy. Every model series before it continued the reputation as a global reference for high-performance sports cars. This is also the case with the current 911 Turbo (992). For the first time, it undercuts the magic three-second barrier in the sprint to 100 km/h by 0.2 seconds. The latest generation of the 2+2 seater is more than twice as powerful as the first Turbo with a three-liter six-cylinder, a single charger and 191 kW (260 hp). Visually, the 911 Turbo is even more muscular than its direct predecessor, 20 millimeters wider at the rear axle, 45 millimeters above the front axle.
DNA always preserved
Although the 911 Turbo has become faster, bigger and more comfortable over the years, it has always retained its basic characteristics. It combines sportiness with everyday usability, emotionality with reliability and dynamism with efficiency. It is the guardian of the Porsche DNA with which the Zuffenhausen-based company has managed to write history. Again and once more.
Text: Juerg Zentner
Pictures: Porsche