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Porsche 968
By Andrew Kelly
 Porsche 968 is basically the successor of the Porsche 944.
It has a low nose and wide wheel arches that helps accentuating
the beautiful lines of this classic shape that in a Porsche Guards
Red is a real head turner. It has also the classic GT front engine,
rear wheel drive layout with the added advantage of a rear transaxle
giving almost perfect weight distribution.
Instead of the hidden headlights of the 944, the 968 has visible
pop up headlights, similar to the Porsche 928. This brings the
look of the car inline with the new Porsche 997-911. This change
has also a practical advantage: the headlights can be washed
along with the rest of the car instead of having to pop them up to
wash them.
As for the interior, it remains the same as produced in the 944,
keeping the famous “oval dash”. The designers used the same
robust materials which have given all Porsche owners many years
of trouble free motoring.
The exterior has a few differences: the door mirrors have
been streamlined with the tear drop effect and the wheels
have 5 spoke Cup design alloys. The rear bumper is more
blended and with integral rear light clusters, making it almost
indistinguishable from the bodywork. All these bodywork changes
made the 968 look a lot like the 928, and added the engine heritage,
some people have referred to it as “the daughter of 928”.
The engine is a version of the one first used on the 944 S2: it is a
4 cylinder, 3 liter, 16 valve unit. And they added VarioCam for
optimum power throughout the speed range. It has 240 HP
at 6200 rpm and a torque of 305 Nm at 4100 rpm, given by the
improved combustion chamber and inlet manifold design. At the
time of production, it was a remarkable engine, having the highest
displacement per cylinder of any car engine and also the highest
torque output of any unblown 3 liter engine. Clearly, the result of
Porsches investment in this engine paid off.
The rear-mounted gearbox is a 6-speed manual or 4 speed tiptronic.
It is the first ever mounted on a production car. The chassis has
almost perfect weight distribution and very stiff characteristics.
Usually, most cars start to fail when it comes to breaks and the
reason is that it doesn’t matter how fast the car is in a straight
line if you can’t take a bend (turn) at the right safe speed. But Porsche
brakes have always been the envy of most road sports car
manufacturers. You will notice little or no or no discernable fatigue
even under harsh use of Porsche 968. ABS adds even more
safety to the already excellent braking system. Also, what makes
the brakes so effective is that the wheels themselves are designed
to prevent the tire from coming off the rim in the event of a sudden pressure
loss.
Author Details:
Andrew Kelly, copywriter for various websites including, Porsche Info a subsection of Tartan Gems a growing information portal, The A to Z of, an ambitious project to cover various subjects plus a great many other sites.
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