From the June 1994 Issue of Car and Driver
DAVID DEWHURSTCar and Driver
The rare occasion of proclaiming a new 911—Look! White smoke above Weissach!—has the flock in a tizzy. Their excitement is well founded. The 1995 Carrera is the finest example of the 911 ever created. And if the public’s rubbernecking around our Riviera Blue coupe is any indicator, it’s not just the true believers taking note of this arrival.
First, some perspective on the term “new 911” the body, chassis, and drivetrain of the new car are direct developments of what has gone before. For three decades now, refinement and incremental improvement have continued to update the car, and they bought time for the concept (against all odds, sometimes). So the 1995 Carrera is still very much the rear-engined Porsche we know and love.
But it’s also different, most significantly in the rear suspension. Two upper links and a lower control arm replace the semi-trailing arms of yore, and clever control of rear toe greatly settles the 911’s inbred tendency to snap-spin in the hands of the unskilled, unwary, or unlucky.
DAVID DEWHURSTCar and Driver
Improvements to the familiar 3.6-liter flat-six engine boost power from 247 to 270 hp (still at 6100 rpm) and make the 1995 Carrera an under-five-seconds-to-60 sports car. The transaxle now has six tightly staged ratios, which helps.
Though instantly recognizable as a 911, the new Carrera’s body is actually quite different, especially below the beltline. The front fender line, which seems to be what the civilians notice first, strikes a nice compromise between the high contour of street-911 tradition and the very low, racing-derived “slope-nose” shape.
DAVID DEWHURSTCar and Driver
What hasn’t changed, indeed could not change on pain of excommunication and plunging market share, is the distinctive 911 character, much of which follows from the unusual far-aft engine location. Everyone talks about tricky handling caused by the pronounced rearward weight bias, but there’s little mention of astonishing packaging efficiency. What is in fact a very small car (the wheelbase of a Miata, the length of an Alfa Spider) manages to contain an airy cockpit with real—if kid-sized—back seats, plus a big fuel tank and ample luggage space. For a sports car, the 911 makes a helluva touring car.
Even the unconventional weight distribution, with more than 60 percent on the rear wheels, has important benefits, including light, quick steering and spectacular braking. But it clearly gives the engineers a lot to cope with, and over the twitchy tail further have headlined the story of many a “new 911.”
DAVID DEWHURSTCar and Driver
For 1995, the results are a major hit. The A-arms and links that now manage rear-wheel movement give much better camber control than the old semi-trailing arms did. That sticks the fat tires—and thus, the whole nether portion of the automobile—to the tarmac much more dependably. When you power through a series of ripply corners, pitching the car in hard at the entrances and laying on liberal throttle at the exits, it works like no 911 ever has. Initial understeer, long a necessary defensive element in 911 handling, is greatly reduced, and the transition to oversteer is much more foreseeable. The car feels lively, for sure; it changes direction instantly and demands a jab of opposite lock now and again. But it no longer suggests a subversive urge to get away from you and back through the Armco.
Much of this newfound cooperation comes from toe-control elasto-kinematics, a concept Porsche pioneered with the 928’s “Weissach axle.” Though the design and hardware are different on the 911, the effect is the same: under cornering loads, the outside rear wheel toes inward slightly, to help steer the tail back in behind the nose.
David DewhurstCar and Driver
On our favorite canyon roads, the reborn 911 followed orders and covered ground, feeling fast and safe. We noted a vague squirm, just a hint of imprecision, when working the tires around their limits of grip, and we can’t say for sure if this is just the toe steer working, or perhaps compliance in the mounts of the subframe (new this year, carrying the powertrain and rear suspension). Maybe the stiffer springs and dampers of the sport suspension would help; our test coupe had the optional 17-inch wheels but standard suspenders. The squirm doesn’t really amount to much and may not be especially noticeable unless you’ve just stepped out of an Acura NSX, which feels a bit more calm and naturally balanced under the same circumstances. But, of course, if Mom and Dad and Billy and Jessica went for a day’s ride in the mid-engined NSX, they’d have to go in shifts.
A whole-family load is no challenge for the ever-stronger, more refined 911 engine, which has more torque and horsepower, less weight, the same fuel consumption, and maybe even a nicer noise than before. Credit goes to a freer-flowing exhaust system, a hot-film airflow sensor for the injection computer, lighter pistons and connecting rods, and a lighter valvetrain, which now includes adjustment-free hydraulic lifters.
The characteristic low-rev flexibility is still there, but a clear wake-up call about 5000 rpm intensifies the charge to the 6800-rpm redline. Working through the leverage of the new six-speed gearbox (lower in low and higher in high than the previous five-speed), this powerplant flings the Carrera out of the chute, blows it past 60 mph in just 4.7 seconds, and hustles it right up to a terminal velocity of 162 mph. Enlarged front brake rotors and pads team with next-generation Bosch 5 anti-lock to rein in the forward progress, and stops from 70 mph take 168 feet.
DAVID DEWHURST
The engineers’ devotion to light weight aids the engine’s task (it helps the brakes and the suspension do their jobs, too). They pulled 14 pounds out of the engine, got the six-speed box down to the same weight as the five-speed, built more rigidity into the body structure (20 percent, they say) with no increase in weight, and cast new wheels that are 13 pounds lighter per set. Despite the numerous upgrades and enhancements, our test car scaled in at 3080 pounds, about what rear-drive 911s have weighed for years.
Obviously, the new Carrera looks the way 911 s have for years, too, yet everyone can tell it’s something new and different. The trick is combining those cut-down front fenders, Turbo-like (but rounder) flares, and new front and rear fascias with the instantly recognizable greenhouse. Though there’s a change there, too. The glass is pushed subtly outward-3mm for the windshield, 7mm for the side windows-for a more nearly flush mounting, to cut wind noise inside.
Some clutter has been cut inside, as well, with the relocation and simplification of a few switches and a redesign of the door panels. Otherwise, the Carrera has the same narrow, upright, comfy cabin 911s have always had. In the driver’s seat, you get a very different sense of proportion and layout than in other sports cars: your back pockets are well off the floor, your eyes well above the road, your inboard shoulder almost grazing that of your companion. But it has worked efficiently and well in Porsches for 30 years, and it does so still.
DAVID DEWHURSTCar and Driver
About the only thing the new Carrera doesn’t do more successfully than its predecessor is drain your bank balance. Remarkably, Porsche has cut $5000 from its suggested base price, down to 63 grand with luxury tax. All together now: “Hallelujah!”
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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com
