“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.”
The Porsche 959 is a grail automotive. Legitimately. It’s uncommon, technologically unimaginable, even virtually 40 years after its debut; it’s quick, too, and I by no means thought I’d get to drive one. Not in one million years. Like, I’d stand a greater likelihood of dying, being fossilized after which changed into crude oil and being processed into gasoline that’s put right into a 959 than really driving one. Then, weirdly, Porsche requested me if I wished to drive one which it’s owned because it was new.
I stated “Yeah.”
To perceive why the 959 is so necessary from a historic perspective, I discover it’s simpler to consider it as an idea automotive that went into manufacturing than a manufacturing automotive. Not solely did it provide us a preview of future Porsche styling, but it surely confirmed the place the model was going with know-how. The 959 confirmed us heart lock wheels, height-adjustable air suspension, all-wheel drive, a (partially) water-cooled flat-six and extra. People examine the 959 to the F40, however by comparability, the F40 is an axe swinging barbarian (however nonetheless cool, obvs).
The 2.8-liter sequentially turbocharged flat-six within the 959 has water-cooled cylinder heads (tech borrowed from the 962 race automotive) and produces 444 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. The means that energy is delivered is exclusive to the 959, too, due to these staged sequential turbos. The first small turbocharger kicks in low within the rev vary to make the automotive really feel fast off the road and responsive. That turbo finally phases out, and the a lot bigger second-stage turbo kicks in. When it does, the automotive’s acceleration feels such as you’ve simply punched the Millennium Falcon into hyperspace. More on that later.
The 959’s unimaginable engine is bolted to a six-speed handbook transmission, however predictably, not a traditional one. Instead of being labeled 1-2-3-4-5-6, the automotive has 5 numbered gears and a low gear labeled “G” for gelande, which is German for terrain. It works like a brief first gear, however the automotive is okay being began in first. The transmission is mated to an all-wheel drive system, which has selectable torque bias from contained in the cabin. That characteristic would later be seen within the 964-generation 911 Carrera 4.
The 959 additionally has air suspension, which is routinely height-adjusted for aerodynamics. Changing the experience top presents three pre-sets with round 2.3 inches of distinction between the bottom and highest settings. The suspension firmness can be adjustable from the motive force’s seat.
Obviously, the bottom top setting is designed for high-speed driving and is supposed to scale back drag, however curiously, so was the remainder of the 959’s considerably polarizing-looking Kevlar physique. Porsche’s engineers had been so serious about lowering drag that the physique created virtually no downforce. The automotive was by no means significantly profitable in highway racing, with just one constructed for monitor use.
The inside of the 959 is kind of the identical because the modern 911 of the interval, with just a few exceptions. The gauge structure is totally different, due to added warning lights and a very superior analog gauge displaying torque cut up. There can be a water temperature gauge for the cylinder heads. As beforehand talked about, the middle console options knobs to regulate suspension firmness and top, in addition to a defrost button, hazard button and a janky digital clock.
Many 959 fashions got here with out leather-based interiors, and that is the case for Porsche’s museum automotive, to which I’ve been handed the important thing. The material seats on this 959 are a number of shades of grey, and the remainder of the inside can be very, very grey. It’s small inside, as you’d count on from a Eighties 911, however the cockpit remains to be a pleasant place to be, due to all of the glass and the spaghetti-thin roof pillars.
Starting the 959 is fairly uneventful (except you’re a jet-lagged hyper nerd like me and also you get all emotional) and entails twisting a key on the left facet of the steering wheel. Once began, the automotive settles into a traditional flat-six idle. Putting the automotive in gear feels good relative to the conventional G50 gearbox of the interval, which was itself an enormous improve over the 915 gearbox. The massive distinction comes whenever you attempt to use the clutch. That sumbitch is HEAVY. It’s there that it turns into clear simply how totally different this automotive is out of your common 3.2 Carrera. This clutch has to carry numerous energy, and it reveals.
Setting off in first (somewhat than G) requires extra throttle enter than I count on, so I stall the automotive initially earlier than being rather less valuable and giving it a wholesome dose of revs. Once shifting, every thing feels good. The automotive has been swapped between journalists all day, so it’s good and heat by the point I get it for the ultimate drive again to Porsche’s secret warehouse.
Despite the closely turbocharged nature of the automotive, that small first-stage turbo does a superb job of creating the 959 really feel snappy and responsive at low speeds. It’s the antithesis of the 930, which is kind of lifeless earlier than the turbo comes on at round 3,500 rpm. It doesn’t really feel like a 2023 turbocharged automotive, but it surely’s not dangerous.
The 959’s low-speed dealing with feels roughly on-par for 911s of the interval, too. The entrance finish could be very sharp and really communicative, however the 959 has significantly extra weight over the entrance axle, so I think that it might require much less babysitting to keep up grip than a lesser 911. As speeds enhance, issues start to really feel higher. The automotive feels happier and smoother. The roads within the Black Forest are fairly respectable however not autobahn-smooth, and the adjustable suspension does a superb job of conserving issues comfortable.
As I get extra comfy on this priceless museum piece, I start to benefit from the expertise extra, and I get to understand all of the genius that Porsche’s engineers poured into this automotive. It’s clear that they actually flexed all of their muscle tissues to make this the very best automotive that they had been able to. That it was on the bleeding fringe of know-how within the Eighties is wild, given how regular it feels to drive.
Then the highway opens up considerably, I give it some actual throttle, and every thing modifications. The turbo noises — all whooshes and hisses — pair with the rising howl of that little flat-six as pace builds with stunning rapidity. The automotive nonetheless feels planted, but it surely’s clear that the sense of normalcy the automotive exudes is only a veneer. The 959 is an animal, albeit a really refined one.
We make our means by means of a handful of tiny villages till we get again to the autobahn. I spend the time taking part in with the turbo, seeing how far I can push the primary turbo earlier than it runs out of puff and calls its massive brother. The part of the autobahn onto which we’re dumped is de-restricted, and as soon as I make it fastidiously to the left lane, with a stretch of clear highway in entrance of me, I examine the gauges, drop a gear and mat the gasoline.
The engine begins to howl, the small turbo makes its presence felt, after which, lastly, the changeover occurs and the massive turbo lights off. That hyperspace analogy I made earlier is as shut as I can get to describing the expertise as a result of the way in which that the 959 builds pace on the massive turbo looks like science fiction. I drive numerous very quick automobiles, and this feels virtually alien. I keep in it for a handful of seconds earlier than I get out of the throttle and transfer over to the center lane. This is, in any case, a priceless museum automotive, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to interrupt or injury it.
I don’t know the way quick I went, and I think that no matter it ended up being was neither significantly loopy nor spectacular by German requirements, and that’s okay. Just getting the expertise of driving this automotive at full throttle for just a few seconds on a de-restricted autobahn is a grail expertise.
It’s certainly sufficient to earn it a everlasting place on my private “Like Tears In Rain” soliloquy, one thing I’ve been engaged on ever since I grew to become a journalist, and perhaps most significantly, it reveals what sort of firm Porsche is. It’s an organization that has at all times made automobiles to be pleased with and that are each ok and strong sufficient to let journalists like me drive them and that positive beats the hell out of something Roy Batty ever did.
Source: jalopnik.com