Porsche 911 Generations Explained

The Porsche 911 is a two-door, 2+2 high performance rear-engined classic German sports car made since 1963 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted six cylinder boxer engine and all round independent suspension. It has undergone continuous development, though the basic concept has remained unchanged. The engines were air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998, with Porsche's "993" series, produced in model years 1994–1998, being the last of the air-cooled Porsches.

The 911 has been modified by private teams and by the factory itself for racing, rallying, and other forms of automotive competition. It is among the most successful competition cars. In the mid-1970s, naturally aspirated 911 Carrera RSRs won major world championship sports car races, such as Targa Florio and 24 Hours of Daytona, even against prototypes. The 911-derived 935 turbo also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979 and Porsche won World Championship for Makes titles in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 with 911-derived models.

In the 1999 international poll to determine the Car of the Century, the 911 came fifth. It is one of two in the top five that had remained continuously in production (the original Beetle remained in production until 2003), and was until 1998 a successful surviving application of the air- (now water-) cooled opposed rear-engine layout pioneered by its ancestor, the Porsche 356. It is one of the oldest sports coupé nameplates still in production with one million manufactured as of May 2017.

[detonator]

964 and 993 were the absolutely pinnacle of Porsche. Cheers.

[TheKasperlkopf]

The narration couldn't have been duller

[daniellindsay]

The "901" went from the 2.0 liter 911 and grew to 2.2 liter in 1970, and then again to 2.4 in 1973, and then to 2.7 in 1974 when they introduced the shorter hood with the bumpers with the shock absorbers in them to deal with DOT regulations. Those engines were magnesium castings and a royal PITA. When the 911SC came out in 1978 they went back to the aluminum castings. The weight difference was so minor that I have no idea why they ever switched to magnesium--those were highly unreliable, with engine case bolts pulling constantly. The 911SC (Super Carrera) was supposed to be the end of the 911 (much like the 356 SC marked the end of the 356) but Peter Schutz arrived and put new life into the 911 which was highly appreciated by the factory's 911 fans like engineer Helmut Bott. In MY84 came the 3.2 liter Carrera. Early usage of Carrera was short in life--back in 1974 through the 1976 models. In 1977 the model line up (for the USA market) was the 911S and the Turbo, only. The name Carrera didn't really mean much in the 1974-76 MYs. There was a special European Carrera in 1977 ("Carrera 3.0) but it never made the trip to America. The 911SC of 1978 (with the 3.0 engine) survived until 1983 when in the MY84 year they grew the engine to 3.2, changed from the CIS injection system and produced the Carrera. Body design was very stable from roughly 1974 through to 1988, when the "G model" (internal to Porsche) was finally retired and they introduced the 964 model, their first ever 4-wheel drive system. It was largely based upon the 959 super car and overly complex. It was so complex that they dumped the 964's AWD system in favor of a much simpler system, based more upon VW's Synchro viscus clutch arrangement. The 964 cars were available as AWD or two wheel rear wheel drive--the traditional 911 arrangement. It weighed less and was certainly easier (read cheaper) to maintain. The body didn't really charge much with the G models but they largely looked like the 1974-1988 cars. The bumpers were significantly the visual difference, but there were many internal changes like ABS brakes, airbags, and the newer modern fuse boxes of today. The cockpit was cleaned up considerably but Porsche was in a constant battle with the limitations of air cooling. The next model arrived in 1995 as the 993 (factory designation) and it featured the 3.6 liter engine. The continuation of the Motronic engine fuel management system was a carryover from the 964 and the late G models. Generally, the rule of thumb with Porsche is to make constant changes to their cars, and they usually introduce a major engine change prior to any major body changes. I think that approach is sound because not everything gets changed at once with may overtax their engineering departments. The 993 was one of the shortest run of any 911 internal body style because, frankly, Porsche arrived finally at the conclusion that they could not longer build an air cooled engine. They were running into physics constraints. That, and noise pollution standards were impeding Porsche from competing with lesser manufacturers. The most violent change to Porsche arrived with the MY99 cars--the 996. It was an entirely new car, for the first time. A new body, interior, and WATER COOLED engine. Sadly, they had forgotten much of what they had learned over decades, and they listened a little too much to Toyota executives who taught them how to actually assemble a car in a thrifty manner. The bean counters were alive and well in Zuffenhausen (or many in Ludwigsburg) and so they shared some parts with other models, like the new Boxster. That was ultimately not well received by the 911 crowd as when you met a 996 head-on, it could be easily be comfused withe the "lowly" Boxster. They learned and improved the 996 over time, introducing facelifts and engine changes at a facelift, which has become their routine now. With every model, mid-way through it, they do a facelift. So the 996.2 as they called them, now had the 996 3.6 liter engine (from 3.4) and a better and more appreciated exhaust system as well as some minor exterior clues. In MY05 they changed the car again, fairly substantially (and that's why they have different internal numbers for these things). The MY05 cars were now called the 997 and were highly praised and with a global economy taking off, Porsche was running double shifts to keep up with demand. The 997 also featured a highly revised cockpit--a great departure from the 996 cockpit which were less than thrilling. For older prior Porsche owners, the interior was a visual reminder of the interior of the older G model cars. The 996 interior had gone ultra modern which was not well received. From a painted shell, it took Porsche AG 55 minutes to assemble a 997. It took 1 hour and 25 minutes to build the engines. In the MY05 line up they offered the normal 3.6 engines, and in the Carrera S cars they offered the 3.8 liter, one of the largest displacement engines that Porsche had ever produced for the 911. With about 355 HP, the S was the one to buy, but heavily taxed countries usually stuck to the 3.6 Their output was 325 HP. They cleaned up the drag coefficient of the 997 cars to the point that they were now 0.29 Cd cars. Quite clean. By the MY09 cars the engines changed again substantially. The "997.2" cars received direct injection engines, and got a bit of a horsepower boost for both the 3.6 and 3.8 S models. They were now featuring LED exterior lighting and did some additional cleanup to the car. But, as is typical with Porsche, it was again time for another change. By MY12 it was time for the 991 cars which retained the direct injection engines, but they did many things to mark it as a model change. The exteriors were vastly overhauled, cleaned up, but the car appeared to grow. No longer was there a manual handbrake. It was now a simple button. The popular PDK transmissions first seen in the 997.2 cars was carried over and becoming more reliable. The power steering system was no longer hydraulic, but electric to save on power robbing by the hydraulics, and to save weight. In time, the 991 was replaced with the 991.2 which began to see many changes in the engine department. All "Carreras" had gotten 3.0 liter twin turbos by 991.2. The addition of the turbo made the 991.2 engines much more complex, but seeing that Porsche has been working with turbo engines since MY76, it was becoming old hat for them. The 3.0 turbo engined cars are still called "Carrera" while their over the top 991 Turbos and Turbo S models had tremendous power production, out of 3.8 liter engines, and the two turbos--much larger than the run of the mill "Carrera" and "Carrera S" models. Constantly moving forward with the minor details, the MY20 cars were now called the 992. The PDK tranny is more popular than the manual 6-7 gear drivetrains today. (The 7 was a significant overdrive just for better mileage that they could report to the EPA).

As with each generation, Porsche improved upon the cars. Sin some years the improvements are barely noticeable, and in others, it's more a quantum leap. The guidance for potential Porsche buyers is always this: "Buy the newest Porsche that you can afford.[" There is always something in them to justify the next newer model year. As you can see, this business can drag on and on, and I haven't even discussed the Targa models nor really touched on the Turbos. Perhaps you can find that on another You Tube video. (I have been driving Porsches since 1974 when I bought my first at age 19, so I have been around them a long time). I hope this answers some questions that always come up.

[MrWhite-ygyk]

Although I learned a lot from this video, I'm certain my I.Q. dropped 9 points.

[paulhead]

Currently have a 996, payed £6500 for it, spent a further £2000 on it getting back up to standard , 3 year's ago and still have the car !! It is an amazing car well worthy of £8.5k😎

[diegoc]

I just came here cause i had a dream about one of these in orange that I wanted so bad in my dream, im not even into cars like that lol

[josephfriedling]

Did we skip from 1965 to 1984....or did I miss something?

[ryv]

964 is such a beauty. To all the gentlemen that owns one, you are the luckiest men in the world.

[AutoAbsolute]

I’ll be buying a 997 as soon as lockdown ends

[christenrten]

*996 owner waiting for the obligatory headlight bashing comments*

[artemusifasuenshuffleman]

Aviator2492 your spot on..The trend followers are making things difficult on the real Porsche fans.
If you don't love and appreciate a carrera then you should not get to buy a GT2 or GT3 and park/ flip..
In any 911 you never go for a ride..
You go for a drive!!! :) 100% 911

[drivermobius]

I love how the colour Harding matches the decades the cars were released. Kinda felt like I was watching moving photos from magazines of that time.

[AyushSingh-jsrf]

Am I the only one who Loves the rear of Porsche better than front?

[ramzirondes]

for me the glorious is the iconic 993 . and
you won't disagree if you have known enough about it.

[luminsfish]

Christ, I love 911's but was actually relieved when the Domino's Pizza ad came on.

[Lastboyscoutt]

The best for me is the 997.2. It is the perfect balance between all generations. The last With hydraulic steering, first entrance to DFI engines for more reliability and better performance, awesome modern classic look in all angles. It is a classic modern sports car. I own the 997.2 turbo manual transmission. I cannot be more happy!

[calbackk]

A somewhat boring video. But it nevertheless sorted out the generations for me. Thank you.

[sideu]

the 997 carrera with the Aerokit Cup Package😍😍😍😍

[capybaravangogh]

911 is still 911 if it still retains its feature that the 1st 911 has.

[MegaKei]

Would have been nice for the voice-over to not put you to sleep like it's being read from somewhere. Informative vid but could use a more gripping presentation