Porsche Decision to use a slant 4
03-17-2010, 04:56 PM
#16
Administrator - "Tyson"
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Seems like what really hurt the 968 was the 70's era body panel gaps. The gaps were huge compared to the mid 90's standard and given the cost of body tooling it just was never profitable to change all the tooling for tigther panel gaps. Much easier to just create a new car. Considering the sales sucess of the boxster can you really argue it was not a good move for Porsche? Even if we can say a 95 968 is faster than a 97 boxster, the boxster sold where as the 968 did not.
The cost to convert the 944 / 928 to 1996+ crash standards and ODBII were not cost effective considerig how poorly they were selling. Asking $60k+ for a non-turbo four banger didn't help either.
1996 the NTSA added side impact testing. We all know how safe our cars are, they were never designed to pass this test which would have probably required a complete re-design for a 4-5 star rating.
This is also when Audi sunsetted the original 90/100 chassis, E34 BMW ended.......
03-17-2010, 06:51 PM
#25
Burning Brakes
I was thinking for years of buying a nice 944 from the uk and converting it to lhd,shouldn't be too hard,i have the parts,i still don't have money for the car lol.They are half the price they are in Italy. some day....
03-17-2010, 08:49 PM
#26
Drifting
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03-19-2010, 12:55 AM
#28
Three Wheelin'
we have a different steering setup obviously but it also means that sometimes we can't use the same aftermarket products (headers, etc) or RHD componentry is harder to find or more expensive.
the RHD brake bar-assy also costs us righties brake feel
03-19-2010, 03:09 PM
#29
Just a car guy
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I have several books on the 944. One specifically details the development of the 2.5 l engine. I think it's in this book...
...if not... it's in one of the other ones...
...if not... it's in one of the other ones...
03-19-2010, 03:24 PM
#30
Race Car
944 block is completely different than any 928(even if "cut in half"). Only the components bolted to it are similar. The 944 block is fitted with an oilpan, bell housing and motormounts that allow it to be packaged in the 944. Take all that away and the motor stands up straight. The term "slant" is slang of which was applied to domestic inline motors of decades past and has no technical relevance.