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| Porsche-911-Turbo-Coupe-Type-963-1991 |
Based with many innovative technologies from the 959 model, this would be a very important car for Porsche, since the world economy was undergoing recession and the company could not rely on its image alone. It was launched as the Carrera 4, the "4" indicating four-wheel-drive, a decision that surprised many but demonstrated the company's commitment to engineering by reminding buyers that race and rally engineering (of the 959) does affect road cars. Drag coefficient was down to 0.32. A rear spoiler deployed at high speed, preserving the purity of line when the vehicle was at rest. The chassis was redesigned overall. Coil springs, ABS brakes and power steering made their debut. The engine was increased in size to 3600 cc and developed 250 PS (184 kW). The car was more refined, but thought by some journalists to have lost some purity of the Porsche 911's concept. The rear-wheel-drive version, the Carrera 2, arrived a year later.
The Porsche 964 incarnation of the 911 Turbo returned in 1990 after an absence from the price lists. Using a refined 3.3 L engine of the previous Turbo, but two years later a turbo engine based on the 3.6 L engine of the other models was introduced.
In 1990, Porsche introduced the ahead-of-its-time Tiptronic automatic transmission in the Porsche 964 Carrera 2, featuring adaptive electronic management and full manual control. The 964 was one of the first cars in the world offered with dual airbags standard (from 1991), the first being the Porsche 944 Turbo (from 1987).