The Porsche Turbo - Then Until Now Articles | Automotive

The year 1974 marked the birth of the Porsche Turbo. Previously, Engineers had tested this new engine and the Chairman of the company Ernst Fuhrman decided that it was time to use the engine on a production vehicle. In the end what resulted was a display of the first prototype at various European auto shows in the year 1973. In 1974, the Porsche “911 Turbo” later went on sale and at that particular time the engine was a 3.0 liter 260 bhp engine.

The new Porsche was all about luxury, the standard Turbo had everything from air-conditioning, electric windows, tinted glass, headlamp washers, to a leather interior and Bilstein shocks. Initially, it was meant to be a limited edition vehicle with only 500 models to be sold. However, demand for the vehicle meant that this figure was increased to over a 1000. From these sales figures it was apparent that the future of the Porsche Turbo was duly secured.

Part of the attraction which customers had to the vehicle was its extremely large rear wing as well as its widened wheels and large tires. All this together with the power of the engine made the Porsche Turbo look better and perform a whole lot faster than any other previous version of the Porsche .

In 1978, the model was upgraded and the engine capacity was increased to 3.3 liters, together with some added modifications. This new engine now produced as much as 40 bhp worth of more power. The rear wing also underwent some modifications as well and the previous two separate grilles were combined to make one larger and smooth surface. The grille was then placed a little higher in order to create some room for an intercooler.

Due to energy consumption concerns the Porsche Turbo was later withdrawn from the US and Japanese markets only to return in 1986 in the US. At this time Porsche had changed its fender design to include flares as well. 1992 saw Porsche introduce the Turbo S at the Geneva Motor show, the engine of this new Porsche Turbo S delivered as much as 381 bhp. This car cost weighed 120 kg less than the standard Turbo and what this succeeded in doing was making the Turbo S very fast. Only 80 Turbo S models were built and sold.

1993 led to an increased engine capacity which now reached as much as 3.6 liters. This fact was easily recognizable by the name given to this vehicle: the Turbo 3.6. The 93 Turbo 3.6 was the concept from which the 911 Turbo S was built.

1996 Porsche launched another Turbo vehicle which was created based on the 993 series. What this engine had in terms of power was a remarkable 408 bhp and a six speed gearbox as well as a four-wheel drive. It also looked a whole lot better due to its elegant rear wing design.

The wheel of the 1996 Turbo had an 18 inch diameter and reduced as much as 20% of the weight compared to previous models because the five spokes in it which were hollow. The front wing had air ducts which conveyed extra cooling air to the brakes giving them a whole lot more power than they previously had. These brakes could stop the Turbo from a speed 100 km/h down to 0 in 2.6 seconds and from 200km/h down to 0 in just 5 seconds.

More recently Porsche came up with the 996 Turbo which had styling that was much more different from other Turbo models. It also had much better aerodynamics which resulted in it being a lot faster than the 993 Turbo. The time taken to reach 100 km/h was a period of 4 seconds only and it had very distinguishable features which include bi-xenon headlights, air intakes behind the doors and a movable rear-spoiler.