Like all current cars from the company, the gearbox is at the back, though in the front-engined models it is attached to the engine by a substantial torque-tube through which the prop-shaft runs.
But now that embarrassing 0.39 figure has dropped to 0.34, a real achievement which is due to the softer and longer nose and tail (making the S4 3in longer than the S2), subtly widened sills, a narrow but free-standing tail spoiler, and a large undertray. Undeniably a bulky car, the 928 has never been particularly sleek, a fact which one family car manufacturer’s advertising exploited in boasting that its own product had “a lower Cd than a Porsche”.
#Race driver grid teszt full#
A variety of ducts is carefully blended within the curves of the revised nose, which also incorporates a discreet spoiler: the huge ventilated brake discs are rammed full of cool air by one set, while the flow to the combined oil and water radiator is automatically controlled according to thermal load, thus minimising drag whenever possible. Belt tension for the two camshafts per bank is monitored electronically, and the distributor is mounted on the end of one camshaft. Induction is accomplished in the classic V8 manner, through the centre of the vee, with softly-polished inlet tracts adding only a couple of inches to the unit’s height. Hydraulic dampers locate the broad and massive power-plant within the narrow-lidded engine-bay. This means significant gains in mid-range overtaking performance over the S2 whose lesser torque peaked at 4100 rpm.
A central spark-plug makes for even ignition within the silicon-coated cylinder, while there is no evidence of the low-rev flaccidity which afflicts small-capacity four-valve engines: peak torque is churned out at a textbook 3000 rpm, with the crest of the power curve at 6000. In fact this ratio is slightly less than before, but accompanies all-round improvements: not only does the revised design produce considerably more torque, now to a mountainous 317 lb ft, it also burns lower octane fuel, and suffers no loss of power whatever when fitted with the catalytic convertor required by Germany and the USA. This is not the first four-valve-per-cylinder version of the alloy V8 to be offered to the wealthy businessman: American customers have been driving a 5-litre 32-valve 928 known as the S3 since 1985, although this “smog special” was rated at 288 bhp, some 30 horsepower less than the current S4, whose vast but wholly controllable 320 bhp output applies to all markets, with or without catalytic exhaust converter.įeeding fuel to the eight hefty cylinders of the 928 is a Bosch LH-Jetronic system with over-run fuel cut-off, linked to the EZK solid-state digital ignition computer supremely accurate fuel-flow and individual timing adjustments for each cylinder, controlled by separate knock sensors, allow a high compression ratio of 10:1 in the TOP (Thermodynamically Optimised Porsche) head. This is exactly what happened when the 944 Turbo roared into the picture with performance in the upper reaches which equalled or surpassed the V8 however, the fifth-generation 928 has been given back the edge over its precocious junior. Being out-sprinted by the 911 Turbo was acceptable losing out to a four-cylinder of half the size was not. Pole position is meant to stay with the 928S, which Porsche calls its flagship, but it has been eclipsed on price not only by the almost mythical 959, but also by the rather ugly 911 Turbo SE.īut if there is one thing more confusing than a flagship which is not the dearest in the range, it must be a flagship which is not the fastest in the range.
#Race driver grid teszt drivers#
With one of the most enviable development programmes of any sportscar maker, the Stuttgart cars constantly edge forwards like over-eager drivers sitting on the grid waiting for the green light. Most important to the Porsche marketing effort is the fact that the proper order of things has been restored.
Lately it has been the four-cylinder cars in the limelight now, with a completely revised four-valve per cylinder design, it is the turn of the V8. At the same time, the range of cars from Stuttgart has advanced on many fronts, with each of the types having its moment of glory. In the intervening decade, we have learned that the flat-six will continue alongside the V8, and we have seen the influence of this design watershed spread in diluted form to a wider range of cars. And then it sported that bulbous bumperless one-piece styling with window openings seemingly punched out of it. Firstly, it dared to proclaim itself the successor to the revered 911 - but it had a front engine, and water-cooled at that. When it appeared out of the blue ten years ago, Porsche’s exotic 928 shocked many people.
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