Rumor: Porsche to introduce new 911 model
Headquarters trying to slow down slide in sales
Dear 001: Didn’t Autospies point out that Porsche were heading for production cutbacks a few newsletters ago despite assurances to the contrary?
Well here is something else. Porsche are to reinvent the RS (Renn Sport) name for the end-of-line 911’s in a desperate attempt to boost flagging sales before the potentially late forthcoming replacements. Harking back to the seventies too, with garish red or blue “Carrara” decals down the side of the solely white cars to assure buyers that they are getting something extra.
They are in fact, for the venerable 3.6-litre flat six motor has had another 60 bhp squeezed out of it by using lighter components, allowing it to rev to a scary 7350 rpm for peak power. The six-speed gearbox remains with GT3 ratio’s and the Germans claim the RS is 0.1 sec's quicker to 60 mph than the GT3, taking just 4.4 seconds. Top speed is about the same, ie, in excess of 190mph. Add to that Porsches new ceramic brakes to assist in better retardation (possibly), a
full roll cage and a 20 imp. gallon fuel tank and you have the guts of the “new model”.
To be accurate, you are actually getting less too, no air-con, no rear seats, no headlight cleaning, Spartan lightweight wheels (painted red) and an acrylic bonnet, all with the sole intention of saving weight, and to their credit the RS weighs in at just over 1350 Kg. There are no other lightweight components in the car, strengthening the argument that this is just a cut down 911 to use up old inventory components before the replacement arrives.
Porsche’s hope is that affluent buyers purchase this car with the intention of racing it, so it’s not strictly speaking “Another new Porsche” (yawn). Make up your own mind, but be warned, the replacement 911and Boxsters are a little behind schedule and a 2.7-litre RS Boxster is supposed to exist somewhere in Zuffenhausen. Is this the Germans trying to boost sales or am I just a cynical young man?
Keen Eddie
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