JPP

It's the simple things in life that keep me getting up in the morning. I just love the cast 'Varioram' script on my '98 MY engine manifold ... I can see it peeking through the grill with the lid closed and it makes me smile everytime :-)

Forgive me if this is a re-hashed subject, (thread from 2010 https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=66492) but until recently I had always thought the script was implemented for 1997 MY production cars and on ... but it seems that isn't the case and it appears completely random .. like Porsche implemented the change to the mold, but had a bunch of non-script manifolds in stock and when the new scripted ones came into stock, Porsche just mixed them altogether and installed whatever got pulled from the bin ... makes sense if there's no functional differences between the two parts. For example, I know of three local cars .. all 1996 MY where the one built 10/95 has the script and the other two built 3/96 and 5/96 don't. I've also seen MY 1997 cars built after 7/96 without the script ... and today, I saw a car built 7/95 with the script! Anybody have a MY 1995 car with Varioram and a scripted manifold?

FD Motorsports

2 '96s...no script. They are lighter that way

vincer77

Varioram was introduced with OBD2 and is not available in 95.

My guess as to the script/scriptless issue is that they had 2 suppliers, one with a scripted mold and the other w/o.

JPP

Maybe they reduced the wall thickness to avoid catastrophic front-end weight bias ...

I agree that Varioram is probably associated with OBD2 systems but I'm pretty sure there were some late build MY '95 cars built prior to 7/95 that got both, hoping somebody on here might own one of those ..and I also know that RS motors had them in '95 and '96 so there's that anomaly as well ..

doc_porsche

Mines not there..... Alright mine is lighter

arjag

Mines a 1998 with Varioram scripted on the manifold. It is pretty well known that those with Varioram script are faster!

C4S_fan

Finding an authoritative answer to this question has been driving me nuts for years.. I'd definitely be interested in understanding why some have them and some don't (the 95 is obvious...)

JPP

Here's another funny aspect of it ... Porsche decides to go to the expense of adding this to the casting tool ... and doesn't capitalize the 'V' ...
I wonder what Detroit would have done?

JDHertz11

Taken your money and...

Mike J

Maybe Porsche used two different suppliers to cast the manifolds, and one had an update mould? That would explain the randomness.

p993enthusiast

Mine's a late 95 build MY96 varioram C2 without the script....

I agree it's all pretty random. I've notice quite a few C2S have them...

vincer77

Just checked, mine does not have the script. Now I am going to lose sleep!

Aircooled Dave

Unless you talk to someone who managed Porsche inventory in the mid 90s, I doubt you'll get a definitive answer. That said, I would venture to guess that the change was made to the existing tooling at some point in '96. Molds are expensive and unless there was a capacity issue I doubt they would enable a separate supplier to add just the "varioram" script.

More than likely, once the change was made to the existing tool, there was a lot of inventory leftover and because there was no FFF (Form, Fit, Function) change to the part they were considered the same and put on the same parts bin so to speak. Therefore, any random pull from inventory during a build in 1996 had a chance of getting either a "Varioram" script manifold or not. Of course with any new stock being produced with the script, over time the chances of getting a non scripted manifold diminish.

Given the documented history on Porsches not infamous inventory issues prior to the late 90s when Toyota stepped in to offer JIT guidance, having mixed inventory like this and a lot of extra parts leftover should be no real surprise.

Cheers,
Dave

The Brewmeister

1996 Carrera 4. No script here. I guess the weight savings will help offset the weight of the all wheel drive system...

JM993

In the US, that's correct. The ROW cars remained OBD-1 with the introduction of Varioram.

FWIW - my 7/96 build date 97 doesn't have the script and neither does my 95 to which I've added Varioram

Cheers,
Joe