jdocking

Hi all,

I'm currently living in Dubai, and considering buying a 1991 964 C4. The obvious concern for me (apart from the speeding fines down Sheik Zayed Road) is the fact that it's air cooled.

Given that we're heading into summer, where temps during the middle of the day will be around the high 40 (that's centigrade - figure well over 110 for farenheit) and I'll probably be in some stop / start traffic, I'm very concerned about the engine's ability to dissipate heat, esp in heavy traffic and with the air-con running.

I know that Porsche do extreme temp testing in deserts for their cars (as does everyone else), but does anyone else have any experience with running these cars in these sorts of temps?

Oh, and throw in a load of dust and sand in the air as well ;-)

Thanks,

JD

forklift

The guy I bought my car from lived in Las Vegas, and told me he never had any problems, although he lied to me about some other things. I drove the car back east from Vegas in the summer of 2003 and they had record heat in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico with temps as high as 118 F. Fortunately the car ran well and never overheated. Unfortunately the A/C didn't work very well and I was sweating the whole way back. Now that I think about it though, I didn't hit any traffic until I got to Little Rock, but the temp gauge just barely rose above 9:00 there.

Probably not what you are looking for, but it's a start. Good Luck!

Youcef

JD,

I run a 1990 964 (For Sale) in DXB with no problems at all. The car does run warm in heavy traffic but with the correct running of the cooling fans it is not an issue. If you are considering buying a 964 you may want to invetigate if the PO's had changed the resitors for the fan operation and if indeed the fans do operate correctly.

Drop me a line if you need more information I will be happy to tell you my experiences over the years.

Marc Shaw

The 1991 also have the advantage of the spoiler raise button on the dash so, if you're sitting in traffic, you can always raise to spoiler to try to vent a little heat (IIRC, that is why Porschemoved it from under the engine cover).

Marc

LA964RS

I drove through the Mojavi Desert in the summer. It was 104F and the temp guage on the car was no higher than it was when it is 70F outside. It was fantastic....and that was with the AC Blowing cold and doing between 80 and 100 mph.

andrew911

I would say, as long as you have the proper weight motor oil in there, it will be fine. Perhaps even better than many water cooled cars....I use 20W-50 since 80% of my driving is in the summer, but you can check the manual to see what is recommended (I don't want to start an oil debate here ) I never had a problem in NJ even in traffic, but you are in the desert....there were some pretty hot days I had the car in traffic though.

The A/C will not be as strong as in some more "conventional" cars, but if you keep it at 100mph with the windows open a little that would be good

Texas993

My former 964 was fine in the AZ desert heat. I occationally commuted in 115 degree heat with the AC on and the car was fine. My AC always kept me comfortable and the engine temps never went above 9:00.

My car was black and the windows were not tinted.

Go for it.