Tom Truong

new to the forums but I was wondering if Porsche will ever modernize the air cooled engine. The reason I ask is that they sell cars at all price ranges and variations. Would they not want take money away from Singer? I'm not excepting them to go all out like a Singer but a car 1/5 to a 1/3 of the price? Have a car that has a moderate horsepower but excel in the driving/handling like the past. As a person who was not old enough to drive back than I want to hear and feel what a modernized air cooled engine does with my emotions.

Needsdecaf

Never, ever happen.

Noah Fect

Can't meet emissions. Won't happen.

Churchill

Other reasons as well. Four-valve heads apparently were impossible to cool sufficiently with the air-cooled design, and you can't make big power with two-valve heads. The most powerful NA air-cooled engine Porsche put on the street (correct me if I'm wrong) was the 993RS 3.8 -- only about 310hp. A Singer 3.8, using the best modern technology available, only makes about 360hp. So you see the problem here.

Fred2

There's always the chance that Trump will close the EPA.

StudGarden

Lol yeah but there's still those pesky issues with physics.

Railmaster.

But as we all know, the air cooled 911s are mainly oil cooled so if we substiture the water in the cooling system with a thin oil the car will in fact be air cooled as per the old definition!

simplex

The 959 had a 2.85 liter turbo engine developing 450 hp. It's considered air-cooled, although it had 4-valve water-cooled heads to solve the exact issue you describe.

rk-d

Buy a GT4

Think about what you are asking. Why doesn't Porsche build an inefficient, high emissions motor that is low on power and using a completely different architecture than any motor it makes for a low volume niche car?

If Porsche wanted to build a Singer facsimile, it would probably cost more than a Singer.

Mike Murphy

Wasn't the 993 Turbo also a 400HP air cooled engine?

R_Rated

They did modernize it. They added DFI and water cooling.

Churchill

Yes, but no water-cooled heads. It was 3.6 liters compared to the 959's 2.85.

bkrantz

One more thing: air-cooled engines tend to be noisy, and more countries/markets have noise limits.

My 964 (an perhaps 993's) had complete encapsulation of the engine with sound-trapping panels. Total PITA when it was time for valve adjustments.