400 lb ft. torque from NA 3.8...Really?
 

i have to have a sanity check here because i just picked up the jan 2016 issue of 911& porsche world, and on page 54 where they are describing two beautifully modded 911's----one a 964 and the other a 993---the article describes the 964's 'Cup Spec' 3.8 motor as "...good for 320 bhp and a stunning 400lb ft of torque."

huh?

that's more than a stock 993 twin turbo (398 lb/ft.)...and generally on NA engines the torque figures are almost always well below the hp figures. professionally, i work with computers so i'm out of my 'fish tank' here, but with everything i've read, and learned from reading RL threads, and moreover, from the cats that have rebuilt their engines to 3.8...i've never heard of torque figures that high. granted, there is no dyno chart to substantiate the claim in the article but i thought i would see what the gurus who live and breathe here think. are these torque figures even within the realm of possibility, or has the author simply gone off the deep end with exaggerations?

No way.

Having done a LOT of dyno testing in my time of all kinds of Porsche motors from 2.0 to 4.0 litre ones, I can say without reservation that's just not possible without forced induction.

My opinion of automotive "journalists" is that they never facts get in the way of writing to sell magazines.

agree

thanks steve. i knew it was a load of bovine excrement.

My "built" 3.9L air cooled NA engine is only good for 420hp and 320lb-ft of torque... I want this engine.

January
 

cover shot...

Yours is a real dandy as I saw that one on the dyno. :)

hyperbole
 

...

The 997 GT3RS 4.0 was rated at 339 torques. Yeah, some bloke in a shed in Brackley squeezed an additional 61 lb/ft from an air-cooled motor with lower displacement. Sure! Hey, I've also got a bridge over the East River to sell ya!

Man, I wonder how some of these magazines are still in business. Don't they have people on staff to proof-read the articles? And this applies especially to the UK publications, can you please, please make the editorial read less like an infomercial? No wonder you're selling hardly any copies these days.

:soapbox:

no they don't.
And worse, their writers don't understand what they're writing.

It's a simple typo.

some wise dude once said "Never suspect malice when stupidity will do."

320hp and 400Nm would sound realistic

Also agree that there must be a typo and the writer probably meant to refer to NM. Boat tailing the crank cases combined with mooned cylinders and a high compression ratio may help in achieving 400NM of torque.

yep, you guys are right, i just did the conversion ...typo. case closed.