opus

Newbie question here. With all the articles how the Z06 is beating the 997 GT3 in the track due to lack of power from the GT3, what would be the pros and cons of having a flat 8 engine on a 911?

I am assuming the flat 6 is bored to as big as it practically can now. By adding two more cylinders, the torque would be up substantially. HP will be up too. So, why no flat 8? Does it have to do with engine bay space limitation? Positioning of the engine?

Coochas

H20NOO

It would be too long. With the engine already behind the rear axle, the balance of the car is very sensitive to additional weight in that area. An 8 cylinder engine would be at least a couple inches longer than the six and would shift the center of gravity further back as well as requiring the body of the car to be lengthened to accomodate it. It would also likely be heavier. Ain't gonna happen with the current layout, IMO.

MC

opus

Can't the engine be positioned closer to the front? Would that cause it to become a mid-engine car or would the rear seats be gone with a flat-8?

H20NOO

This has probably been discussed extensively in the past so a search may serve you well.

What you describe above is basically an 8-cylinder Cayman. The Cayman is Porsche's mid-engine sports car along with it's sister the Boxster. By nearly any argument, it's a better overall layout for a sports car. But, it doesn't have the 911's racing pedigree or legendary status and Porsche's marketing dept. knows better than to kill the 911 cash cow by making the Cayman faster than the "flagship" model. And yes, just like the Cayman, a mid-engine 911 would have no rear seats or would have to be lengthened significantly.

MC

Le Chef

Do a search here and read ALL the posts about why a flat-8 would not work and then consider adding how you could make it work. Next!

opus

I read over the postings on why not a flat 8. As far as technical reasons, I don't see why not. It's really more has to do with marketing, just like what MC said. Porsche isn't going to do anything that potentially hurts the sale of 911.

911Dave

Of course it's possible. But there are many cons and the only pro would be that it's got more torque for straight line acceleration. It would be a completely different car, and generally less marketable.

axhoaxho

In fact, a few months ago in Top Gear Magazine, Hamster mentioned that Porsche is secretly working on a Flat-8 engine for the next 911.

With best regards,

dstrimbu

And I'm sure that they are, axhoaxho... and I'm also sure that the current 911 configuration is going to change from the "sacrosanct" flat-6/rear-engine config to something else, at some time... look at how successful the Boxster and Cayman are; check this week's Autoweek for a peek at a X-51-powered Cayman that snaps off sub-4 second 0-60 times and pretty much roundly defeats any of the NA 911s...

But, will it be called a 911, type 998? Dunno that one. If they do make a flat-8 in the current chassis, they may have to go crazy with something like a flat version of a W8 from their friends at VW... hey, it could happen.

Best plan: buy a 997 and drive the living sh*t out of it, worry about more torque when you truly master the car... just MHO and your mileage may vary.

Cheers,

-don

cvazquez

+1

axhoaxho

This is exactly what I just did

With best regards,

gab997

IMO Z06 is still a vette, no porsche.
Panamera GT will have V8.... ETA 2010...

9974G

I totally agree with this. Straight-line acceleration is fun, but nothing beats knowing the limits of your car using that to go fast through the twisties.

I've barely stratched the surface and know I have a long way to go before needing any more power.

dstrimbu

Yeah, I don't really need more power, I'm still learning to use what I have - but I do need new tires at 10k!