2012 Porsche 911
08-12-2011, 09:42 AM
#33
08-12-2011, 08:55 PM
#34
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I'm sure a lot of people thought the same thing about 5 speeds when they came out. Then a 5 speed became common place. I think Porsche had the first 6 speed, in the 959 rally car in the mid 80's. I'm sure some thought "do we really need 6 forward gears?" Then a 6 speed became pretty common. Seems like it was BMW that had a 7 speed in a V-10 7 series a few yrs ago so I figured we'd see a 7 speed before too long. Now given that the Gov't wants ~50MPG in cars in the next dozen or so yrs, 7 speeds will become commonplace soon.
08-13-2011, 01:23 AM
#35
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350 hp & 400hp sounds like a lot, until you think that the Mustang 5.0 has 412 hp, the Camaro SS has 426 hp, & the Challenger has 470 hp. There used to be a time when 911's had quite a bit more power than those cars costing a mere fraction of what the 911 costs. They should have (at a minimum) just transplanted the 408 hp GTS engine & had the "regular" Carrera go to the 385 hp current S engine (though I guess I see the reason for downgrading to 3.6L to have a more efficient engine). I've never been a fan of Porsche's 5-15 hp every few years approach.
08-13-2011, 03:34 AM
#36
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I'm sure a lot of people thought the same thing about 5 speeds when they came out. Then a 5 speed became common place. I think Porsche had the first 6 speed, in the 959 rally car in the mid 80's. I'm sure some thought "do we really need 6 forward gears?" Then a 6 speed became pretty common. Seems like it was BMW that had a 7 speed in a V-10 7 series a few yrs ago so I figured we'd see a 7 speed before too long. Now given that the Gov't wants ~50MPG in cars in the next dozen or so yrs, 7 speeds will become commonplace soon.
I just don't understand the motivation to make ridiculous claims like "That's probably what they said when the first forward gear was invented!" Does anyone really believe that?
08-13-2011, 05:43 AM
#37
350 hp & 400hp sounds like a lot, until you think that the Mustang 5.0 has 412 hp, the Camaro SS has 426 hp, & the Challenger has 470 hp. There used to be a time when 911's had quite a bit more power than those cars costing a mere fraction of what the 911 costs. They should have (at a minimum) just transplanted the 408 hp GTS engine & had the "regular" Carrera go to the 385 hp current S engine (though I guess I see the reason for downgrading to 3.6L to have a more efficient engine). I've never been a fan of Porsche's 5-15 hp every few years approach.
08-13-2011, 05:52 AM
#38
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As somebody who spends a lot of time on the highway in my S2000, I'd love a 7th gear on top of 6th. Something to reduce rpms from 4000 to 2000-2500, perhaps. Save on wear and tear, noise, and gas. I'd happily downshift for passing as needed.
08-13-2011, 12:54 PM
#39
What time was that? When the original muscle cars that you cite had 300-400(?) hp, Porsche 911s typically had far less. The cross comparison was silly then. Polar opposite cars. Just my opinion.
08-15-2011, 07:35 PM
#40
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Because Porsche is stingy with power,
Edit: 911 gets 350hp, 911s gets 400hp Both are still the top two NA 6-cyl engines for production cars IIRC.