Porsche Considered a Flat-8 for the 911...

Stingray · 04-29-2015, 06:41 AM

Porsche Considered a Flat-8 for the 911, Went With Turbos Instead

By Patrick George
From: http://jalopnik.com/porsche-consider...urb-1700805843
Published: 4/28/15

The sweet, sweet growl of the Porsche 911’s naturally aspirated flat-six is one of the finest sounds you can stuff into your ear-holes. Sadly, it’s about to be muffled by a turbocharger across the entire range soon, but did you know Porsche considered putting eight cylinders in their most famous car?

Yes, a flat-eight Porsche 911 was almost a thing. Or at least, Porsche’s engineers contemplated making it a thing. The UK’s Autocar reports that Porsche “seriously considered” such an engine, but scrapped it for space reasons.

Heinz-Jakob Neusser, who was previously powertrain boss at the Volkswagen Group, said a flat eight would have to be 5.0 litres in capacity and was “probably too big”.

Neusser said: “We have been in the pre-development phase with an engine like this, but we never did it.” He added that the future flat six Porsche engines would still be able to run to high revs. “Moving to turbocharging is not a problem; it will give us more freedom [in future engine design],” he said.

Damn, a 5.0-liter flat-eight 911? That sounds utterly ridiculous. I want one, hard. While Porsche has done eight-cylinder road cars before, most notably V8s in the 928, Panamera and Cayenne, the 911 range has always been six-cylinder only. (A few racing Porsches used flat-eights as well.) And now the 911 is going to turbo flat sixes across the entire range for emissions and fuel economy reasons.

Frankly, I’m amazed they considered an eight-cylinder 911 at all. Smaller and turbo-ier is the way all engines are going. Adding cylinders and displacement would be going against the grain pretty hard, even if it would have been awesome.

Guess we’re just gonna have to stick to our LS swaps if we want eight-cylinder 911s. For now. (Probably forever.)

GretchenGotGrowl · 04-29-2015, 06:58 AM

That would have taken a big a$$ to fit it.

Apex Motorsports · 04-29-2015, 08:53 AM

That would sound so amazing.

BMR Sales · 04-29-2015, 01:23 PM

They made Flat 8's in the '70's that they used in 908 Race Cars and stuffed the engine into 2 914s -1 for Ferry Porsche and 1 for Ferdinand Piech.

They have made a up to a Flat 16!

tw78911sc · 04-29-2015, 05:29 PM

Need to toss the token rear seat and go mid engine with the flat 8

roorback · 04-29-2015, 08:14 PM

Nothing better than NA imo. That would have been sweeeeet.

04-29-2015, 06:41 AM	#1
Stingray just can't get enough Drives: a bunch of fast toys... Join Date: May 2012 Location: SoFla Posts: 3,598 View My Garage	Porsche Considered a Flat-8 for the 911... Porsche Considered a Flat-8 for the 911, Went With Turbos Instead By Patrick George From: http://jalopnik.com/porsche-consider...urb-1700805843 Published: 4/28/15 The sweet, sweet growl of the Porsche 911’s naturally aspirated flat-six is one of the finest sounds you can stuff into your ear-holes. Sadly, it’s about to be muffled by a turbocharger across the entire range soon, but did you know Porsche considered putting eight cylinders in their most famous car? Yes, a flat-eight Porsche 911 was almost a thing. Or at least, Porsche’s engineers contemplated making it a thing. The UK’s Autocar reports that Porsche “seriously considered” such an engine, but scrapped it for space reasons. Heinz-Jakob Neusser, who was previously powertrain boss at the Volkswagen Group, said a flat eight would have to be 5.0 litres in capacity and was “probably too big”. Neusser said: “We have been in the pre-development phase with an engine like this, but we never did it.” He added that the future flat six Porsche engines would still be able to run to high revs. “Moving to turbocharging is not a problem; it will give us more freedom [in future engine design],” he said. Damn, a 5.0-liter flat-eight 911? That sounds utterly ridiculous. I want one, hard. While Porsche has done eight-cylinder road cars before, most notably V8s in the 928, Panamera and Cayenne, the 911 range has always been six-cylinder only. (A few racing Porsches used flat-eights as well.) And now the 911 is going to turbo flat sixes across the entire range for emissions and fuel economy reasons. Frankly, I’m amazed they considered an eight-cylinder 911 at all. Smaller and turbo-ier is the way all engines are going. Adding cylinders and displacement would be going against the grain pretty hard, even if it would have been awesome. Guess we’re just gonna have to stick to our LS swaps if we want eight-cylinder 911s. For now. (Probably forever.)

04-29-2015, 06:58 AM	#2
GretchenGotGrowl Drives: 11 F150 EB/13 Sonic RS/15 Z06 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 7,127 View My Garage	That would have taken a big a$$ to fit it. __________________ New Ride -- 2015 Z06 2LZ (stock) -- Journal Old Ride -- 2012 Camaro 2LT/RS (647 RWHP & 726 RWTQ) -- Build Thread

04-29-2015, 08:53 AM	#3
Apex Motorsports Drives: 2000 Camaro SS Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Louisville, Ky. Posts: 25,165	That would sound so amazing.

04-29-2015, 01:23 PM	#4
BMR Sales Drives: Race Car Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Seffner, FL Posts: 6,226	They made Flat 8's in the '70's that they used in 908 Race Cars and stuffed the engine into 2 914s -1 for Ferry Porsche and 1 for Ferdinand Piech. They have made a up to a Flat 16!

04-29-2015, 05:29 PM	#5
tw78911sc Drives: 14 1SS Camaro 1LE, NPP, Recaros Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: NC Posts: 819	Need to toss the token rear seat and go mid engine with the flat 8

04-29-2015, 08:14 PM	#6
roorback Drives: V8 permagrin Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: here Posts: 618	Nothing better than NA imo. That would have been sweeeeet.