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.

[Mark Henry]

Lots of experience here and I can make both systems work well.
I can make carbs purr like kitten, but they will never work better overall than FI.


Porsche had to build consumer engines with a high degree of reliability, so yes they left a lot of HP on the table. Really this is no surprise that they do this as every single manufacturer does this.
Engines must start in all kinds of weather, FI adapts to conditions, altitudes, g-forces, be fuel efficient, etc.

In WW2 the benefits of FI were evident, Spitfires couldn't pull negative G's, the pilot had to flip the plane. In a dogfight it was no problem for a ace, but many novices died from this issue. The 109 pilots didn't have to worry about carbs.

Early systems had little wiggle room for performance and most wrenches had little knowledge on how FI worked so carbs were an easy off the shelf solution. Because carbs worked so well, most wrenches got lazy and didn't even want to know about the basics of FI, even how to service a stock system.
Mostly do to the advent of personal computers, by the mid 90's we began to see programmable EFI and the shift slowly began as wrenches became more tech savvy.

One thing as a builder that has always made me laugh is peeps so obsessed with peek HP numbers. To me the number is irrelevant for many reasons, foremost being the dyno operator and what correction factors he arbitrarily decides to use.
In a street car I don't give a poop what you claim (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bs.gif) your HP numbers are, torque is king.

[Gunn1]

Lots of experience here and I can make both systems work well.
I can make carbs purr like kitten, but they will never work better overall than FI.


Porsche had to build consumer engines with a high degree of reliability, so yes they left a lot of HP on the table. Really this is no surprise that they do this as every single manufacturer does this.
Engines must start in all kinds of weather, FI adapts to conditions, altitudes, g-forces, be fuel efficient, etc.

In WW2 the benefits of FI were evident, Spitfires couldn't pull negative G's, the pilot had to flip the plane. In a dogfight it was no problem for a ace, but many novices died from this issue. The 109 pilots didn't have to worry about carbs.

Early systems had little wiggle room for performance and most wrenches had little knowledge on how FI worked so carbs were an easy off the shelf solution. Because carbs worked so well, most wrenches got lazy and didn't even want to know about the basics of FI, even how to service a stock system.
Mostly do to the advent of personal computers, by the mid 90's we began to see programmable EFI and the shift slowly began as wrenches became more tech savvy.

One thing as a builder that has always made me laugh is peeps so obsessed with peek HP numbers. To me the number is irrelevant for many reasons, foremost being the dyno operator and what correction factors he arbitrarily decides to use.
In a street car I don't give a poop what you claim (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bs.gif) your HP numbers are, torque is king.

Thank for the response Mark Henry.

Your reply along with a few others is all I was looking for, not asking the question because I already Know, Not asking because I am trying to create drama, Not asking to make things up.

On my first car I am thinking which way to go, I have the complete EFI for the engine, and I do have a complete solex setup as well, Being I am more inclined with carbs than EFI and I plan on doing the work myself, I wanted some opinions on which was "Better" before I have to spend more $'s to go the EFI route.

The question was did Porsche eff up, in other words did they mess up by putting on a EFI when the a Carb setup may have been better (didn't some of the European models come with carbs stock?)......Nothing more nothing less.

I have rebuilt many carbs set many float levels replaced many jets. so while not carb expert as many are here, I know enough to where I can make it work. The EFI on the other hand I have very little practical knowledge with this type of system.

Perhaps that is why I asked the question I did.

What I cannot understand is why I get all the smart ass comments, and PM's (you know who you are) telling me to back off on a specific subject matter, or that im giving to much time to a specific subject, and I need to stop.

So instead of jumping on my and others cases and making all kinds assumptions as to my age, whether or not I'm a Trol (not sure what that means), or whether I'm making something up, the thickness of my skin, etc., you could have replied like Mr Henry and the few others that did. With a common sense approach and answers to both type systems.

If my skin was so thin I would not reply at all......this is just as much my forum as it is yours. if you don't like the topic don't respond, Pretty easy.

In closing, I believe if you were to reread this entire thread you would answer the question posed by another members thread wanting to know where all the female members went. Many times women are Much smarter than Men, they wont hang around a site, where they know if they ask a question, rather than getting multiple answers and ideas, they get questions related to their character.

Thank you