Did the 911 Keep the 914 from being all it could be?, Was the 914 De-tuned from its full potential? Options

[Matty900]

I have heard several stories about Porsche not wanting to do anything to mess with the 911 program. Like the one about the 914S.
It's my understanding that in 1973 when they came out with the 2 ltr motor, they launched in the US and a 914 S. It had its own brochure, all of the options and was shut down by Porsche because they did not want to compete with the 911S.
I am not trying to open this can of worms with anyone about is the 914 S real or not. What I want to know is, as protective as Porsche was about the 911 program, How did this affect the 914. Were the 914 De-tuned from what the original design specs were?

[Lucky9146]

I have heard several stories about Porsche not wanting to do anything to mess with the 911 program. Like the one about the 914S.
It's my understanding that in 1973 when they came out with the 2 ltr motor, they launched in the US and a 914 S. It had its own brochure, all of the options and was shut down by Porsche because they did not want to compete with the 911S.
I am not trying to open this can of worms with anyone about is the 914 S real or not. What I want to know is, as protective as Porsche was about the 911 program, How did this affect the 914. Were the 914 De-tuned from what the original design specs were?

matty900
I am truly happy you posted this thread, it has been very interesting to see the information pour out. Cool stuff and we can all learn as a result. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/white914.jpg)

[Matty900]

I have heard several stories about Porsche not wanting to do anything to mess with the 911 program. Like the one about the 914S.
It's my understanding that in 1973 when they came out with the 2 ltr motor, they launched in the US and a 914 S. It had its own brochure, all of the options and was shut down by Porsche because they did not want to compete with the 911S.
I am not trying to open this can of worms with anyone about is the 914 S real or not. What I want to know is, as protective as Porsche was about the 911 program, How did this affect the 914. Were the 914 De-tuned from what the original design specs were?

matty900
I am truly happy you posted this thread, it has been very interesting to see the information pour out. Cool stuff and we can all learn as a result. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/white914.jpg)

I am trying to learn more about the design aspect so I can see what is the best way a 914 can be set up. If it was indeed detuned, what can you do to get the most out of the car? My car is a 1.7 and I am very happy with where it is now but there is always more that can be done right? I am trying to keep it in line with my experiment of what is the 1.7 really capable of without doing a larger motor. I am just trying to get as much joy out of the car as I can. Learning and tinkering with it are just part of that process. Happy to share the 914 sickness with all of you guys. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Tom_T]

I am trying to learn more about the design aspect so I can see what is the best way a 914 can be set up. If it was indeed detuned, what can you do to get the most out of the car? My car is a 1.7 and I am very happy with where it is now but there is always more that can be done right? I am trying to keep it in line with my experiment of what is the 1.7 really capable of without doing a larger motor. I am just trying to get as much joy out of the car as I can. Learning and tinkering with it are just part of that process. Happy to share the 914 sickness with all of you guys. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Matty,

An easy HP/TQ upgrade for the 1.7s & 1.8s is to put on a 2.0 HE Exhaust (recco a used SSI so it won't rust in PNW) with the 2L Banana Muffler & proper hanger.

They bolt right on to a stock 1.7, parts/set-ups can be found for a reasonable price here etc., & you'll gain maybe +/-5% HP just by letting the engine breathe better with the larger 2.0 sized diameter tubes. So you might get around 85 HP out of it without touching the engine for a big build or swap.

But if your 1.7 is at all nice, then box up & store your original 1.7 exhaust/muffler/etc. set-up, in case you want to sell the 914/4 in the future to a collector or CW type who cares about those details.

If you ever need to rebuild the motor, then would be the time to consider either using the higher CR Euro/RoW P&Cs or to bore/stroke it to a 1919cc or whatever the mix is - cuz you'll be paying for all of those parts to do a stock rebuild anyway - so why not upbuild it then for a marginally smaller price (labor is about the same either way).

My buddy Jerry has a reason to keep his OO `71 /4 with +/-61k miles as stock as possible (& it has some dealer installed "options" from new already) - but not everybody is in his boat to maximize value of a collector car that he's babied for 47+ years. Heck - he rolls it in & out of his garage to hand wash it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)


.... & that is the original Bahia Red Paint! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drooley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/santa_smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
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