<VV> Why no air cooled engines, was: Not expected to last

[Bill Elliott]

Actually noise WAS an issue... not for the Porsche buyer but for the 
increasingly restrictive German noise limits. The Porsche 959 (the first 
AWD Porsche supercar) only met these by blatant deception... they 
relabeled the gearshift. The car had a six speed manual... 1-6. They 
relabeled it as a 5 speed with 1st now being called "G" for "offroad 
use" (remember it was awd)... so all of the noise tests took place at 
one gear higher and the 959 slipped through...

However, I concur that emissions (and the power limitation imposed by 
the 2 valve heads... a limitation due to cooling) that were the primary 
obstacles.

Bill

Mark Corbin wrote:

>Actually, the official word from Porsche at the time (as published in the
>trade newspapers) was that because of the wider operating temperatures
>present in air cooled engines, it was more difficult to control emissions
>that a water-cooled  engine. Bottom line is that emission standards simply
>got too restrictive for practical controls to handle.
>
>It was decidedly NOT because of noise, milage, or cost of build. None of
>those are insurmountable issues. Besides, when have they been an issue for
>a Porsche buyer anyway?
>
>-Mark
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