Have a look at the new page which has a write up of the
run
to Stuttgart made by some of the forum members in April 2012.
If you found this website while looking for radar detectors have a look at the radar detector page
A new record of 66
Porsche 968s together at Silverstone Classic on 29th July 2007 which
beats the previous record of 35 Porsche 968s in one place at the TIPEC
event at Walton Hall 18-7-04 thanks to 968UK.
The Porsche 968 is essentially the successor to the Porsche 944. It has the classic GT front engined, rear wheel drive layout with the added advantage of a rear transaxle giving almost perfect weight distribution. The low nose line and wide wheel arches help to accentuate the beautiful lines of this classic shape, a real head turner especially in Porsche Guards Red livery.
The hidden headlights of the 944 have gone and been
replaced with visible pop up headlights similar to the Porsche 928, helping
to bring the look of the car in line with the look of the 928 and the
911 (964) at that time and now inline with the new Porsche 997 - 911.
The practical advantage is that the headlights get washed along with the
rest of the car instead of having to pop them up to wash them.
The interior remains as produced in the 944 with the famous "oval dash".
The same robust materials have been used which have given all Porsche owners
many years of trouble free motoring.
The door mirrors have been streamlined with the tear drop effect and the wheels are 5 spoke Cup design alloys as with the 911(964 and later 993) and 928 GTS.
As with the Porsche 928 there is a "bee sting" aerial mounted on the roof.
The rear bumper is now almost indistinguishable from the bodywork, being more blended and with integral rear light clusters, at the rear we also find the spoiler is the bridge type.
Because of the engine heritage and these bodywork changes some people have referred to it as the daughter of the 928.
The engine is a very sophisticated version of the 4 cylinder, 3 litre, 16 valve unit first used on the Porsche 944 S2. All alloy with VarioCam for optimum power throughout the speed range. Improved combustion chamber and inlet manifold design, give the engine 240 HP at 6200 rpm and torque of 305Nm at 4100rpm (58Kw/Litre). At the time of production the engine had the highest displacement per cylinder of any car engine and also the highest torque output of any unblown 3 litre engine. Clearly Porsche had invested massive development on this engine with the required result. As with previous engines twin balancer shafts keep vibration and noise down to more than acceptable levels.
The rear mounted gearbox is a 6 speed manual or a 4 speed tiptronic, the first ever on a production car. The tiptronic utilises the research and development done jointly by Porsche and Bosche to manufacture a unit that combines the best qualities of a manual gearbox for the open road with the best qualities of an automatic gearbox for town driving.
The chassis is a delight with it's near perfect weight
distribution and very stiff characteristics helped by the torque tube
connecting the engine to the gearbox also some 911 components have been
used in it's production.
All round independent suspension, McPherson
struts up front with semi trailing aluminium arms at the rear with torsion
bar springs and separate dampers.
Porsche brakes have always been the envy of most road sports car manufacturers, as this is usually where most road sports cars start to fail, no matter how fast they are in a straight line if you can't take a bend at the right safe speed then you can't use the cars speed. The Porsche 968 has carried forward this important philosophy with little or no discernable fatigue even under harsh use. Self ventillating discs, open ventillation alloy wheels and a study of the air flow around the discs contribute to more than adequate cooling and so minimal fatigue and break fade. ABS adds even more safety to the already excellent braking system. The wheels themselves are designed to prevent the tyre coming off the rim in the event of a sudden pressure loss at speed.
Double galvanised bodywork, a 10 year anti corrosion warranty and 3 year paintwork warranty ensure the high bodywork standards associated with Porsche cars.