http://www.maxmax.com/Porsche928Reviews.htm
|
|
|
Porsche 928 Reviews by Randy Leffingwell, published by Motorbooks
International Publishers … Both
the 924GTP and the 936/81 ran new engines developed from other projects.
The 936 used an engine spun off an ill-fated assault on the U.S. Indy car
series, while the sixteen-valve 944 engine was one-half of a 5.0-liter V-8
water-cooled engine destined for the luxurious Typ 928 coupe. As
early as 1971 there was concern in the U.S. about the handling
characteristics of rear-engined cars. In meetings at Weissach, engineers
recognized that if the U.S. began legislating automobiles, it would not
outlaw water-cooled, front-engined, rear-wheel drive cars produced in
Detroit. So in between other projects, Porsche engineers began to conceive
and develop the Typ 928.
Design chief Tony Lapine felt obligated to retain the organic, roundness
begun with Erwin Komenda’s Gmund coupes. He challenged the engineers to
make the car body act as its own bumper. Fitting in a water-cooling system
radiator required other considerations in car bodies previous unperforated.
In 1975, engineer Helmut Flegl took over as project manager to continue
chassis and drivetrain development. The 928, introduced in Geneva in March
1977, won rave reviews. Appearance was stunning. Performance was
impressive. Handling had been tamed. A new level of luxury had been
reached. A front-mounted 4.5-liter 90-degree V-8 offered European markets
240hp, while for the U.S., 225hp came out cleanly through catalytic
converters.
Engineers worked to improve performance; engine size jumped to 4.7-liters
and then to 5.0-liters in the 1985 928 S models. Dual-overhead cams and
four-valves per cylinder increased power again in the 928S4 models for
1987. Production topped 5,400 cars. The S4 performed well: 5.7sec to
60mph and a top speed of 165mph was possible. By 1990, engine output had
risen to 326hp for manual transmission versions of the 928GT, providing a
top speed of 171mph. …
“Who has the right to define a Porsche
only as a rear-engine, air-cooled car? Just
because
the first two cars were this, can we not grow?
Do we not evolve?”
- Ernst Fuhrmann on the 928, from
Porsche Legends 928 S4: REDEFINED DESIGNER GENES
Porsche Magazine (now Excellence), July/August 1987 by David Colman
Everything about the 928S4 is larger than life. It is faster than anything
you’ve ever driven on the street. It is better looking than anything you’ve
ever been seen in. It is quicker than a cat and sturdier than a tank. It
is deliciously appointed and fabulously expensive. In a world of
Lilliputian flotsam and jetsam, this Porsche is Brobdingnagian brawn
incarnate. From
its massive controls to its laser handling, from its wrenching acceleration
to its throbbing deceleration, this latest fourth version of the 928 design
brief, so far surpasses the performance envelope of other road machinery
that it creates a league of its own. With revamped bodywork front and rear,
refined aerodynamics, and newly fattened 32 valve V-8 power curve, Porsche
has reassembled its flagship sportscar in a form that defines today’s
ultimate road weapon. The 928S4 is so fast, capable and comfortable that it
creates a new mythology for the German marque. The S4 is the Paul Bunyan of
the Autobahn. Able to stop as quickly as it goes (0 to 60 to 0 in 9
seconds), it wields its wicked double-edged axe with awesome zeal. … The
extraordinary 32 valve, 316 hp, 303 cubic inch V-8 is what the S4 is really
all about. Crush the accelerator in any gear, and this 3507 lb. German
bazooka shell launches itself into orbit with neck snapping authority. Nail
first gear and you are pinned in the creases of the burgundy leather. Snap
a cross-gate shift to second gear, and the big motor really begins to unwind
as the revolutions soar effortlessly to the 6000 rpm redline ignition
cut-out. Snatch third gear at 73 miles per hour, and the fun really
begins. Traffic recedes in clumps and you dare not look at the tach for
fear of collecting the doddering, mirrorless idiots in front of you.
Keeping a wary eye on traffic patterns and not your dashboard, you bang home
fourth gear as the engine stutters in third. For the first time now, at 102
mph, you notice some wind noise building at the A-pillars as this ethereal
rocketship slices through the air at a drag coefficient of .34. As the
revolutions build inexorably once more, the whine of the many accessory
belts reaches a crescendo as your speed nears 140 mph in fourth cog. We had
the opportunity to carry this gear to redline down a long grade, with the
speedo showing an indicated 144 mph, with one more gear to go! Touching 156
in fifth, we shut down before the CHP could shut us down. Extrapolating top
speed from this experiment, we will be the first to acknowledge that the S4
will achieve 165 mph at 5100 rpm in the direct drive (1:1) fifth gear of the
manual transmission model. With some seam taping, and a change in final
drive ratio, Al Holbert coaxes 171 mph out of the S4 at Bonneville Salt
Flats. …
Should you question whether any means of ground transportation, no matter
how fast or awesome looking, is worth nearly $70,000, your answer will come
from two sources. One is the amount of satisfaction you derive from
piloting this snarky vehicle. The other is the undisguised adulation of the
traveling public. In both areas, the S4 scores highly indeed. … This
ultimate Porsche will afford its owner (provided he can afford it) the
security of knowing he has purchased the world’s most competent and
dependable high speed tourer. If he drives it with restraint and cautious
enthusiasm, he will never approach the limits of its potential. If,
however, he presses the outer envelope of those limits, he had best be very
good and very quick. … Europe’s Fastest of the Fast – Porsche 928S4 vs.
Ferrari Testarossa vs. Lamborghini Countach vs. Lotus Esprit Turbo Motor Trend, January 1987
… Next
in line was Porsche’s new 928S 4. Porsche has decided that the 928 needed
an image change. The car has always been viewed in this country (by the
enthusiast) as an unparalleled cruiser, the perfect car for a weekend in the
Napa/Sonoma wine country with your lady friend or a quick run from L.A. to
Portland. Its compliant, comfortable ability to cover large distances
quickly has few, if any, equals, but now there will be a new emphasis on
performance for the 928 from the German car company. The ’87 928S 4 is the
spear carrier. As we reported in last month’s issue, it’s not all image.
The car has more power, better aerodynamics, and, as a first step for the
new “performance” 928, Porsche sent Al Holbert to Bonneville Salt Flats to
capture two FIA speed records for the flying kilometer and flying mile,
nearly 172 mph. We were slightly slower with our test car at TRC, but the
differences are small enough to be explained by preparation of the car for
the Bonneville record runs.
Certainly the most civilized of the field, the Porsche was also the least
demanding at top speed. Compared to the others, it was compliant, and
managed to turn the bumpy west banking into a non-event. The Porsche was
also the quietest at speed. The 4-valve V-8 was silky smooth, the only
sound was the complaint of the air as the big, red 928 blasted a 170-mph
hole through it. The speedometer registered a solid 169 mph at the end of
the front straight, and the Porsche seemed totally unconcerned by it all.
We tried both high and low lanes of the banking to see if the 928 suspension
would react – it did not. We tried different exits from the banking – the
Porsche didn’t care. We considered turning the stereo on but decided that
would be sacrilegious; after all, this was serious stuff blasting along here
at 170 mph on the high banking, and we should be paying attention. … The
Results
Speedometer accuracy being what it is, we were anxious to see the printouts
from the timing equipment. The story of the tape: Ferrari
Testarossa – 177.27 mph Porsche
928S 4 – 166.94 mph
Lamborghini Countach – 160.27 mph Lotus
Esprit Turbo – 145.79 mph The
surprise of the field was the 928S 4 at 167 mph. A noticeable improvement
over the last time we tested a 928S, here at TRC back in 1984, when the best
speed was 147 mph (a full 14% increase). Coupes Uber Alles? – Porsche 928S4 vs. BMW
M635CSi vs. Mercedes-Benz 420SEC Performance Car, April 1987 … And
then there’s the 928S4. The new Porsche stands alone in being a fully
committed GT car, a thoroughly modern, totally integrated design with no
compromise, nothing hand-me-down, nothing superfluous. It is superlatively
equipped, fully of character, blisteringly fast and in spite of the paper
similarities is in a different world from either of its competitors here.
Driven hard, it all but matches the M635 for sheer entertainment and the
Mercedes for refinement. Put the two together and the choice is inevitable
. . .
Grandest
Tourer
Motor Sport, July 1987 …
Well-equipped, but still inviting you to spend money on options, the 928S4
is far from being the stereotypical luxury car: a Jaguar XJ-S for half the
price would be that. Instead it argues forcibly to be a real sportscar,
despite its great bulk and its mostly automatic sales. Even at high
cornering speeds the 928S4 feels absolutely settled, asking for more
acceleration to squirt from the exit of the bend, which can be fed in with
complete confidence in the traction available. Pinpoint accuracy is there
to be exploited through the wheel, and the massive-looking vehicle flicks
one way to the other with almost ludicrous ease.
Combine
these qualities with the beautiful finish of components and trim, the busy
quiet it exudes on the motorway, and the uncomplaining way it will trickle
through M1 roadworks jams, and it is difficult to draw a distinction between
the Grand Tourer and sportscar labels. It is a fine compromise in function
with no compromise in execution – a hatchback with luggage space which will
quarter Europe in a day and provide immense satisfaction while running rings
around many another sports aspirant.
And if
you are likely to be one of the 300 or so who will buy one in a year, who
cares what sort of car it calls itself?
Summary:
Striking shape, first seen ten years ago, brought right up to date.
Practical, as all Porsches are; displays muted brio – breathtakingly fast
but placid and smooth, without the hard edge of, say, the BMW M635. A
glorious piece of engineering for the price of a house. Power Trip! BMW M6
vs. Porsche 928S4 Motor Trend, April 1988
Western
Wheeling
R & T Porsche, February 1989 … When
people look at you when you’re driving a 928, there seems to be an
assumption in their eyes that you’re having a wonderful time. And they’re
correct, because when you’re in this Porsche you aren’t so much in a car as
a system. Like an aerospace project, with every part carefully designed and
fitted, not picked out of a parts bin. You feel almost self-contained and
sufficient, the way Bruce Dern finally did in the great movie Silent
Running. I have no idea how many times I’ve done the LA to Vegas to St
George and Cedar City, Utah freeway run, but I’ve never noticed the miles go
by quite so quickly before. This
spaceship aspect to the 928 is, of course, in stunning contrast to
philosophy of the first Dr Porsche, when he created the original Volkswagen
Beetle. Never mind, because the rules are all different now. …
Teutonic
trio
Modern Motor, August 1989 … After
the nimbleness of the 944 S2 and the bursting performance of the 944 Turbo,
switching to the 928 S4 was like climbing into a too-large, ungainly, and
heavy-to-drive behemoth…but only for the first couple of kilometers. The
928 has always been one of the most deceptively efficient, fast, and safe
cars of all time. The fourth major update, the S4, is all of that and more. In
situations where the 944 Turbo might step its rear end out of line as the
turbo power rushes into play on the exit from a tight, damp and bumpy
corner, the 928 just sits flat and unfussed. Most,
other than Porsche devotees, might have forgotten about the 928, with its
“Weissach axle”, had actually started the current all-wheel steering era.
This Porsche design put formerly unwanted changes to suspension geometry as
the suspension bushes flexed in cornering to work for it rather than against
it. By turning this flexing into rear-wheel steering that aided, rather
than detracted from, the cornering power, Porsche gained a degree of
four-wheel steer that gives the car uncanny road manners. I
remember some years back a photographer asking me to attack a corner faster
and faster in a 928 to try to get some attitude on it to make for a
spectacular photograph. Even
after adding, little by little, 50 percent to the original perceived maximum
speed for the corner, I could not get the car to do anything other than
corner flat and on-line at ever-increasing speed. Its cornering limits were
well beyond my threshold of fear. The
latest version is all that and more. This could well be the most efficient
car – in handling terms – ever created, barring race cars and super cars
like the almost unbelievable all-wheel drive 959. … The Grand Tour -
911 v 928 911 & Porsche World, May 2000 (a 1999 911 Carrera Tiptronic S and a 1991 928S4
automatic) What
defines a true GT? By this we don’t mean the poor relation to a GTI, which
is the modern marketing department’s weak interpretation, but a grand
tourer – a car capable of transporting two people and their luggage over
many hundreds of miles, swiftly and without any undue mental or physical
strain. … we
opt for a smart 1991 S4, which is nicely run-in at 78,430 miles. This
is no joke. Indeed, the 928 feels as solid as the day it left the factory.
In fact, the engine might actually be at its peak. After all it’s designed
to do a quarter of a million miles between rebuilds (with regular servicing,
of course).
However, even with five litres of four-cam, 32-valve V8 at the sharp end,
the S4 is no drag-racer. Easing into the evening traffic to put in some
hours behind the wheel, we immediately become all too aware of the car’s
bulk – through both the power-assisted steering (which is surprisingly heavy
at parking speeds), and the throttle (which needs to be pressed further than
you might expect to wake the 320 horses). …
Performance is still firmly in the big league, though; 0-62pmh in six
seconds and a top speed of 164mph (for the automatic) are figures to be
reckoned with even today. The confidence-inspiring brakes are more than
capable of wiping speed away with disdain, too, with 62-0mph taking just 3.3
seconds. But this isn’t the whole story as to why driving the big 928 is
always underlaid with a feeling of great excitement. It
isn’t just the feeling of being in something whose shape is far removed from
humdrum everyday cars (and which must have been all the greater in the
1970s). I believe it stems from the sheer solidity of the beast. To
suggest that the phrase ‘hewn from granite’ was coined for the 928 requires
no stretch of the imagination. This may sound trite, but it’s the nearest I
can come to explaining why, after only a couple of hours, I was beginning to
want a 928. Badly. I was also beginning to imagine the four-hour journey
back home in it. … Do
these two examples of automotive beauty share many talents? Even though
their 0-62mph times are identical, at precisely 6.0 seconds, the 911 always
feels more eager. Its five-speed gearbox makes more use of the engine’s
300bhp more of the time, but it dictates higher revs at autobahn
speeds. The
928 only begins to feel like a 320bhp car above 80mph, when it begins to
transform into something really impressive. At such speeds the 911 becomes
susceptible to crosswinds, requires more minute corrections at the steering
wheel, and generally demands more of your attention. The front-engined car,
on the other hand, remains relaxed and quiet, seems little different in
straight-line stability, and its steering now feels perfect. …
Before long you are carried away [by the 911] on a tidal wave of adrenalin,
and the 928 is gently receding in your mirrors. But after an hour or so of
this you are mentally exhausted and ready for a break. But before you find
a suitable hostelry, the 928 is in your mirrors again, and carries right on
after you stop, for its driver is still feeling fresh. He may not have
reached quite the peak of exhilaration you did, but he is more than ready
for another hour or two in the saddle at over 100mph. It
is plain, therefore, that the 928 has all the qualities of a true GT, while
the 911 has merely varying degrees of them overlaid on a sports car.
Although the latest model may not be as raw as the previous air-cooled
incarnations, and is certainly no bad way to travel, even in its most
sybaritic form it is no 928. And it never will be as long as it is rear-engined. The 928 gains much of its civility from having its two heaviest concentrations of mass (engine and transmission) at either end, plus a greater total weight to smother whatever the road throws at it. It has the most comfortable interior, the better seats, and the quietest manners. It is the best long-distance Porsche ever; a car for which the vast empty spaces of Australia and the mid-west USA pose as little difficulty as the A1 from London to North Yorkshire on a rainy night |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Send mail to
webmaster@maxmax.com with
questions or comments about this web site. |