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2017 Porsche 911 Carrera 4: First turbos, now all-wheel drive

12 October, 2015

 

We’re not sure an electro-hydraulically controlled all-wheel drive system is something Porsche purists want to hear is being added to the 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 line-up, but once we saw the proposed engine specs and acceleration times, we were convinced.

Porsche has announced that there will be two engine options when the Carrera 4 hits the tarmac in 2017, and they’re both three-litre flat-sixes, but with the addition of two turbochargers. How does 276kW (370hp) sound? Well, that’s just the base model — the S model produces a stonking 313kW (420hp) at the flywheel. The torque band has widened, thanks to the twin turbochargers, with 449Nm available from 1700rpm, right through to 5000rpm on the base model, and 499Nm available across the same rev range with the S model. It’s safe to say driveability has significantly increased.

To get the power down to the ground you can choose from either a seven-speed manual gearbox — yes seven-speed — or a dual-clutch transmission. Acceleration times are just ludicrous; 3.9 seconds to 60mph for the base model, and 3.6 seconds for the S model — that’s nearing supercar territory.

Your coupe, convertible, or Targa model will come factory with PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) suspension, and you’ll have the choice of adding the Sport Chrono package, which adds all sorts of fancy German wizardry. Four ‘modes’ make the Chrono package extra special; Normal, Sport, Sport Plus, and Individual modes alter the performance and handling of the Porsche — all at the touch of a button. If this wasn’t enough, Porsche has announced the addition of rear-axle steering, as seen in the current 911 Turbo models, and 911 GT3s.

The question is though, which model would you choose?

Almost mythical pony

The Shelby came to our shores in 2003. It went from the original New Zealand owner to an owner in Auckland. Malcolm just happened to be in the right place with the right amount of money in 2018 and a deal was done. Since then, plenty of people have tried to buy it off him. The odometer reads 92,300 miles. From the condition of the car that seems to be correct and only the first time around.
Malcolm’s car is an automatic. It has the 1966 dashboard, the back seat, the rear quarter windows and the scoops funnelling air to the rear brakes.
He even has the original bill of sale from October 1965 in California.

Becoming fond of Fords part two – happy times with Escorts

In part one of this Ford-flavoured trip down memory lane I recalled a sad and instructive episode when I learned my shortcomings as a car tuner, something that tainted my appreciation of Mk2 Ford Escort vans in particular. Prior to that I had a couple of other Ford entanglements of slightly more redeeming merit. There were two Mk1 Escorts I had got my hands on: a 1972 1300 XL belonging to my father and a later, end-of-line, English-assembled 1974 1100, which my partner and I bought from Panmure Motors Ford in Auckland in 1980. Both those cars were the high water mark of my relationship with the Ford Motor Co. I liked the Mk1 Escorts. They were nice, nippy, small cars, particularly the 1300, which handled really well, and had a very precise gearbox for the time.
Images of Jim Richards in the Carney Racing Williment-built Twin Cam Escort and Paul Fahey in the Alan Mann–built Escort FVA often loomed in my imagination when I was driving these Mk1 Escorts — not that I was under any illusion of comparable driving skills, but they had to be having just as much fun as I was steering the basic versions of these projectiles.