1999 Porsche 996

PORTLAND, Ore.— PORSCHE 911's will always be superior sports automobiles despite their particular quirks, with able managing and rocket-like rate. This season, as Porsche marks the 50th anniversary of the very first automobile, it has reinvented it self by remaking its 34-year-old flagship.

Since it set about to redo the 911 completely the very first time considering that the vehicle bowed in 1965, the German company encountered the process that confronts all exotic-car producers within the modern world: making these race-bred machines as user-friendly possible for everyday duties without dropping the hard-edged, live-wire sense of responsiveness that got them their reputation originally.

The all-new 1999 911 - known internally and on the list of cognoscenti since the 996 series - breaks countless new floor for Porsche. Regardless of a sleeker human anatomy, the 911 today has an engine cooled by-water, perhaps not environment; a chassis and suspension system, and a redesigned interior. The wheelbase is 3.2 ins longer, the general size has grown by 6.7 inches plus the width is up by 1.2 inches. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard, and a five-speed Tiptronic - it may be moved like a manual, without a clutch - is optional.

Water air conditioning permits much more accurate control of motor temperature and emissions, and it allowed Porsche to introduce four-valve cylinder minds the very first time in a 911 production car. The four-valve design enables an even more effective engine that produces 296 horse power at 6, 800 r.p.m. and 258 foot-pounds of torque at 4, 600 r.p.m.

Although the form of this new 911 recalls past designs, the style is cleaner and better thought-out than that of its predecessors, which had become adorned with boy-racer fender flares and outlandish ''whale end'' rear spoilers to counteract the shortcomings for the dated framework while the air-cooled engine. Through front-mounted radiators and an innovative new five-link rear suspension system, these problems are solved.

There are 2 models, the Carrera Coupe, with a base price of $65, 795, together with Carrera Cabriolet, a convertible, at $75, 225. Porsche states future variations will include a turbo-charged engine and all-wheel drive.

The original 911 evolved through many different engine sizes and chassis, although always using its trademark air-cooled, rear-engine configuration and stark, meaningful interiors. ''Everything you will need and absolutely nothing more, '' enthusiasts would say.

If things you need may be the capacity to travel at 3 x the old 55 mile-an-hour nationwide restriction with general self-confidence and convenience, modern 911 is only the pass.

During a press introduction at Portland Overseas Raceway, the 911 ended up being steady, quiet and foreseeable at speeds up to 140 m.p.h. - the most effective rate is 174 m.p.h. Lap after lap, with no protest or crisis, the massive, ventilated brake disks hauled the automobile from triple-digit speeds down seriously to 30 m.p.h. for sharp turns within the track.

Driven back to back with last year's air-cooled, wide-hipped 911 Carrera S, the '99 astonished and impressed. The '98 design was significantly noisier at all motor speeds, and its managing attributes, just like these are generally, proved far inferior incomparison to the newest automobile's. The Porsche design team worked to help make the exhaust sound evocative; it still has the rasp of an air-cooled engine.

On community roadways, during a 300-mile drive around Mount Hood, the 911 ended up being extraordinarily skilled. The view from driving, across steeply sloping nostrils, is commanding and confidence-inspiring. With six speeds available, you can easily discover a gear that maximizes the acceleration offered by the 3.4-liter flat-six engine. The 911 gobbled up high ascents through glacier-carved valleys, descended through mountain passes at high speed without a hint your brakes might diminish, and remained magnificently peaceful and composed during tight switchbacks including long, sweeping curves that would be taken at rates far in excess of the appropriate limitation.