During the time of her development, the
Porsche 959 was considered the most technologically advanced car of her time. She had only one street legal rival at the time, the
Ferrari F40. Gear for gear, however, the
Porsche 959 was generally heralded as the top of the line performance car. Her design set the stage for some of Porsche’s present day developments.
Only about 200 of these high performance 2 door coupes were produced, and Americans were leery of purchasing these new power houses as they did not meet many of the standards required by about half of the United States.
The 959 was the first all wheel drive model that
Porsche introduced which improved performance to the extent that the designers have opted for all wheel drive on most Porsches since. The 959 was developed as the one design that could be revisited over time and improved upon. True to their intentions,
Porsche revisited the original design numerous times, the last time in 2003, when Canepa Design Corporation overhauled the 959 with new hardware and a few modification techniques. They enhanced the engine’s performance and lowered emissions to meet the U.S. standards. Considering that the 959 cost somewhere in the ballpark of $500,000 to design and build, it was understandable that
Porsche opted to decline to hand over 4 of their beauty queens to the Department of Transportation for crash testing. The law changed in 1999 which allowed the souped up environmentally friendly versions to become a welcome addition to American enthusiasts’ collections.
Her air cooled rear mounted 2.85 litre turbo flat six with water cooled heads produced 450 horse power at 6500 rpm. With 24 valves, 4 valves per cylinder, and the standard six speed manual transmission puts the driver in touch with the sequential twin turbo chargers catapulted the 959 well ahead of her time and gave drivers the feel of a high class racing car that was just barely street legal. This delivered what was considered a seamless delivery of power and a smooth transition throughout gear changes and powering up. This was a serious improvement over Porsche’s then signature abrupt on and off bucking characteristic of Porsche’s earlier turbocharged engines.
Though still debated today, there was speculation that this powerhouse could reach as high as a turbocharged 600 horses if properly tuned. What is not debated is that the 959 ripped from 0 to 60 in a flat 3.6 seconds and topped out at almost 200 miles per hour. With a quarter mile speed of only 12.6 seconds, the 959 was considered the fastest privately owned vehicle available.
Ferrari loyalists argued that the F40 could match or even top her speeds, and the record actually came down to proper tuning.
Especially at the time of her production, designers had difficulty keeping cars stable at the higher speeds, especially speeds over 120 miles per hour. The designers, who had been working on creating their beauty queen since 1981, addressed the stability issues by re-engineering the suspension, the aerodynamics, and the automatic ride height systems.
The designers attacked the weight of the car with a determined spirit to drop her overall carriage by several hundred pounds while still meeting required safety configurations. They achieved this by replacing the typical steel body with a much lighter and more workable Kevlar and aluminum material. Nomex was used to replace the traditional steel floor, which helped to produce a significantly lighter car while revolutionizing car production. She weighed in at a svelte 2917 pounds.
Traction was a definite design priority when creating this trendsetter. The PSK 4 wheel drive system varied the torque ratio depending on conditions. Typically lingering at 40% front and 60% rear, the system adjusts to 80% rear and 20% front during acceleration and 50% front and rear during slick conditions. During the development of the 959, this was considered a technological highlight.
The adjustable ride height system came with 3 different settings. A knob on the dashboard gave the driver ride height control at their fingertips. When road speed reached 50 miles per hour, the height automatically adjusted to the lowest setting.
The 959 naturally came standard with rack and pinion steering and 4 wheel vented disk brakes with ABS. The engineers continued to find every ounce of ingenuity to excel the 959 beyond even the highest public expectations. The development of the magnesium alloy wheels were no exception. They were created hollow inside and formed a sealed chamber which remained a single unit with the tire. The internal tire pressure monitoring system gave the driver continuous tire pressure readings, the first of its kind.
Even though the productions years, which ran from 1986 to 1988, were in the crux of economic boom, her sticker price still kept her out of reach for many. At $225,000, many criticized that she was overpriced despite her ingenious design and uncompromising features. With her modifications, she has retained a high value throughout the years now that she can be readily driven anywhere in the United States.
The 961 racing version of the 959 held its own in the 24 hour LeMans, finishing 7th overall. A disappointing finish considering she had swept two wins in the 1984 and 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally. Final standings aside, the 959 was regarded as the firs true consumer available super car.
Porsche has been the recipient of various awards over the years, including J.D. Power and Associates award for Highest Nameplate Initial Quality Study of automobile brands.
Porsche has recognized that the design enhancements and groundbreaking engineering of the 959 was responsible for launching
Porsche into a category that could simply not be matched. Even with the advanced technology of today,
Porsche still takes many of its base design features from the ingenuity and ingenious that was introduced with the development of the 959. There has yet to be, and probably will never be, a car that bursts onto the scene with so many advancements that are so far ahead of it’s time.
© 2007 Kiersten Stetser and Ken Leonard for www.sport-cars.org
October 8, 2007, 12:35 pm
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