Why EFI?, maybe excellence was expected and they came as close as they could.. Options

[Gunn1]

Did Porsche eff up?

No they didn't eff up, they did the best they could with the new technology they had. It seems as though the technology was purchased by the folks at Bosch from the aviation component of Bendix. That said most Injection systems were originally good at idle and full open throttle, so primarily racing applications. So in there infancy not well suited for automobile applications.

Been reading on different types of fuel delivery systems and their pro and cons.


There are very few con's to todays EFI systems, there were however performance and reliability issues with the original designs. Even today Claims of increased HP, Fuel economy, drivability, reliability and so on....some still dispute
how much these differences really mean. It appears the main thing EFI does extremely well over Carbs is in the pollution factor, or in this case the ability to pollute less. Carbs are a some what open system allowing hydro carbons to escape/vent in to our atmosphere even when the engine is at rest, where as the EFI is essentially a closed system releasing no vapors or gases unless the engine is running and those gases are then coming out of the tailpipe from the exhaust cycle.

Many of the Guru's (about 5 to 1) prefer carburation.

The above Statement isn't correct, although what confuses this OP is the sheer amount of photographic evidence on this site and others including evilbay and CL showing most engine compartments with Carbs installed. Many here have spent thousands on their cars, and what do you see when the lid is lifted? a Carburated engine..... So while my intentions will be keeping my cars in their stock or near stock form, with EFI, I cannot understand why so many Carburated cars. (Because its easy isn't an answer, because its simple isn't an answer and because its cheap isn't an answer)

With this being the case, Did Porsche mess up when they went the EFI route with the 914?


I do not believe they messed up, I believe they did the best they could with the available technology they had. Granted they did sort of use the end user as of a kind of a guinea pig/test bed, but what manufacturer doesn't in some way.

WHY DID THEY DO IT?????


I think that just as much as seeing the Ljet and Djet as a performance and platform to develop future EFI systems off of, Porsche and others also incorporated EFI into there products to show they were progressive company's in design and practicality.
EFI, Unibody, Targa, Mid engine, four wheel disc, and many more attributes can be cited as Porsches View into the future.

I would like to keep my car stock with the factory EFI, but increasingly getting more difficult to do with so little information backing it up.


Above statement is also incorrect. In my case I think I am fortunate because I believe I have most the parts needed to reinstall the factory EFI's on all three of my cars. There is a plethora of info on both sides, but for now.... just for originalities sake, EFI will be the way I go.

To those that added constructive comments and or facts to this thread... it is much appreciated...to those that took this thread as some sort of attack on their beliefs, or way to "clutter" the site, I can appreciate how you feel, but I just see those arguments as shutting down the free flow of ideas and the give and take of facts that get each of us to arrive at our own understanding of the information.

[Darren C]

Thanks Jeff.

Now I throw out the challenge to someone running a stock 2.0L with FI (NOT MODIFIED) in any way and running well, to go do a dyno run and post a print out of HP v AFR and we can all see the differences between Carb & FI in black & white once and for all.

[somd914]

Thanks Jeff.

Now I throw out the challenge to someone running a stock 2.0L with FI (NOT MODIFIED) in any way and running well, to go do a dyno run and post a print out of HP v AFR and we can all see the differences between Carb & FI in black & white once and for all.

From an engineering analysis perspective doing what you suggest above would be meaningless. What needs to be done is swap carbs to D-Jet on the same engine. Otherwise you cannot account for wear, build quality, etc. that differ between the engines and effect HP and AFR.

As for the above pages being useless, so is the original question. Just about any aspect of the 914, or any other consumer car, can be debated like this thread. One must keep in mind the goal is not ultimate performance, the goal is to sell cars and make a profit. And with that comes compromises in countless aspects of a car's design; these compromises include such considerations of reliability, cost, emissions, fuel mileage, safety, comfort, etc.