Ispeed

Sorry, didn't mean it that way. As a former motorcycle racer I do see things differently. As we know the GTS should have been 6 speed, 6.0 liters with variocam... And a dry sump. Porsche fell short handicapping the 928 with the 2/6 rod bearing issue on 5 liter motors, the early GTS rods, and oiling issues. The 911s have always had some flaws too though through the years. 996 intermediate shaft???...

cobalt

Well i doubt Porsche would have put the time and money into a 6 speed for a car that had such few sales. The 968 did receive a 6 speed albeit they produced thousands vs hundreds and it was one of the first cars to ever receive a 6 speed. If you take that approach why didn't Porsche offer a tiptronic version of the 928 vs the auto tranny. We also know that making the GTS a 6.0 liter would have required entirely new tooling and castings for the block, Again hard to justify considering the company was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time and sales for these cars were way off.

Again you bring up rods and oiling issues on the GTS. We know there are a number that suffered from this but I would not consider it a blanket issue afflicting all 93's. there are a large number out there that have not had engine work that do not have oiling issues. I can't say for sure my engine doesn't have bent rods without breaking down the motor. Although I doubt it does, The car dynos like it is factory new and there is no balancing issues that i would expect if it had issues. I would say that there are more sound 93's on the road than there are suffering from these problems although they are concerns a buyer should be aware of when purchasing one.

I don't think there is a Porsche that doesn't have some ghost story that someone wants to harp on. The early 911's with the magnesium cases and no galvanizing, the 70's 911's with magnesium intermediate plates, The SC with the original Rubber center clutch disc, the 924 with the fuel injection issues and head gaskets, the early 944 with cam issues, the early 928 with electrical gremlins, early 964's with no head gaskets and bad DMF. The 996 with RMS issues not to mention the 3.4 liter engine, etc, etc.

This is part of Porsche ownership, yet there are many here that continue to buy them and time has proven they hold there value.

Vilhuer

Porsche did put $$$$$ for 6sp. They ordered it from Getrag which could not delived strong enough box on time and on budget before GTS launch. Oil pump setup and other updates compared to GT box used in 5sp GTS was quickly developed when it was obvious 6sp would not happen.

968 6sp gearbox uses many same and similar components to Audi 6sp boxes. It was planned to be used in mass market cars.

cobalt

So this was planned for before the GTS was launched but once in production they kept the modified 5 speed? Do we have any idea what the budget was set at? I can only assume it was not a large budget considering the path was pretty much drawn for this car by the time the GTS was released.

I am not sure what would be gained by the 6 speed other than fuel economy. I for one prefer the 5 speed of my 964's over the 6 speeds of the 993's. gearing was better and well suited for spirited driving. gas mileage sucks but I find performance to be better and I don't bounce off the rev limiters like the 993TT guys do all the time due to the shorter gearing. I find the 5 speed to be perfect for the GTS's application. Driving in traffic is much easier with the longer gears and a 6 speed would make it much less enjoyable. It also requires less shifting for highway cruising. But that is my opinion.

Randy V

Along those same lines, I used to change incandescent light bulbs a few times a year, but after replacing them with CFLs I'm wondering if I should still change them as frequently.

I think I know what you would do.

cobalt

Pushing it a bit huh. Sorry CFL's still have a long way to go. too expensive for dim able versions in the color range i use.

IcemanG17

very nice....sport seats, 5 speed and a nice color combo with decent mileage for a good price.....great find for someone

dcrasta

They remind me of shark footage when the shark 'rolls his eye' just before the bite. Some very evil/mean about these cars from the front, and a bit obnoxious / snobby from the back, Perfect

Vilhuer

6sp design was originally done in '87-88. At same time also 6L engine and some more radical than GTS design changes were also planned. Money was needed elsewhere so project was given only around $11 million more to spend in late '88. When things started to look bad and sales slowed down project was stoped altogether for a while in '89.

After that it was decided that 5.4L 100mm bore engine will have to do. 6sp was still planned. It had max design tq of 400 lb-ft in case 6L engine would make return later. 5th would be direct and 6th similar setup as in Getrag 286 which I believe means gearbox used in BMW 850. Later, stronger version of 286 was used in 850 CSi, Nissan Skyline R34 and Toyota Supra MkIV. Its one of the srongest fully syncronized 6sp street gearbox done ever. 1st and 2nd have three ring syncros while 3rd and 4th has two ring. 5th, 6th and R are single ring setup like all six gears in GTS.

Work on 6sp was stopped in '91 when it became clear more stronger bearings and thus more $ would be needed to make box strong enough. G28/55 -> G28/57 upgrade project was started at same time to get at least 5sp which is strong enough for 369 lb-ft.

I would love to have one more highway gear on top of 5th on manual box. Lower gears could remain as they are. On fast autobahn driving engine revs way too high. Its not needed as there is plenty of tq at low down to move it. My automatic GTS got 2.20:1 US S4 ring and pinion during winter for just that. Lower gears will move up a little also but I can live with it. On 5sp having one more gear on top would be perfect. One day green GTS and few other 928 will have such setup using automatic GTS diff and certain 6sp gearbox. Its lot of work to get factory quality setup which will for example retain PSD but I believe we can eventually pull it off locally. So far there has been too many other things to do but we have workable plan down to fairly detailed level what needs to be done.

Hilton

+1 - freeway speeds at 3500rpm is just unnecessary, especially after a 4-hour trip. More details on the 6-speed project would be awesome, in another thread

This car looks very nice. One day I'll get a manual GTS, either with no sunroof, or have the roof cut off and replaced with a no-sunroof one.

Vilhuer

4sp automatic TT outer tube, custom center shaft inside it and 4sp automatic diff housing. 6sp gearbox mounted between them. Thats the plan. I'll email you in next few days about other stuff and can give little more details about this project also.

Rich9928p

My Amazon Green '93 GTS just turned 55K miles - I'm the original owner so no unknowns. I don't have any oil burn problems and the engine runs great. My "new car. My '87 daily driver turned 133K miles and sees the bugs and rock chips.