Why the Inventive Porsche 959 Was Ahead of Its Time
The 959 was a rule-breaking supercar boasting performance that made Ferrari nervous. Donut goes over every inch of the amazing car.
“It’s the ’80s supercar that sparked an international rivalry! It’s got technology so advanced that it took 20 years for others to catch up. It’s a 200 mile-per-hour rocket that was designed to race on the dirt! I can see you nerds in the comments saying the [Ferrari] F40 is better. Well…YOU’RE WRONG!” Host James Pumphrey proclaims about the Porsche 959 in the latest “Bumper 2 Bumper” video by Donut Media.
The Porsche 959 to this day is one of the most technologically advanced cars around. Released in 1986, Porsche sold the 959 for about $300,000, which is about $660,000 in today’s money. The thing is, Porsche lost money on all 292 cars made, because it cost double its selling price to make. In fact, Porsche lost so much money on them that the U.S. market missed out on getting any. Porsche could not afford to provide the U.S. Department of Transportation with the necessary four 959s for crash testing.
In the video, Pumphrey goes through all of the details of the exterior and interior of this timeless machine. He shows off the exterior which features a long sloping rear, round front headlights, a low profile, pronounced side sills, rear vents, a body made from aluminum kevlar composite, and floors made from Nomex. The 959 also featured the world’s first run flat tire, the Bridgestone RE71 Denlocs. He then goes to drool over the interior. He jokes that the front carpeted front trunk is so shallow that all it can fit is a pizza box. Some other interior bits are the Blaupunkt stereo, multi-tone colored seats, and the mostly unuseable rear seats.
Looks are one thing, but the 959s performance was truly revolutionary. The car is powered by a 2.8 liter sequentially turbocharged flat-6 engine. The engine, which is based on Porsche’s 956 and 962 race programs, puts out 444 horsepower at 6500 rpm while using 369 ft.-lb of torque. That engine is tied to a unique “world’s first” 6 speed manual transmission, making the 959 capable of achieving a 0 to 60 run in just 3.6 seconds.
However, the real key to its performance is the Porsche-Steuer Kupplung (PSK) all-wheel-drive system. Drivers can select one of four modes dependent on driving needs: Sun, Rain, Snow, and Full Traction Mode, which creates an even 50/50 torque split between the front and rear.
The 959 was not only a pioneering supercar, to this day is the only supercar with off-road capability in its DNA. Originally, conceived to race Group B rallys, the car went on to win first, second, and come in sixth at the Paris-Dakar Rally. “That’s like if a Pagani Huayra won the Baja 1000,” Pumphrey says.
Its spirit has lived on through the Porsche Carrera GT and the 918 Spyder and it has set the standard for everything an AWD Porsche is today. But check out the video to see Porsche ingenuity at its most progressive.
