Did the 911 Keep the 914 from being all it could be?, Was the 914 De-tuned from its full potential? |
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Did the 911 Keep the 914 from being all it could be?, Was the 914 De-tuned from its full potential? |
Matty900 |
Dec 14 2018, 09:18 PM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,269 Joined: 21-February 15 From: Oregon Member No.: 18,454 Region Association: Pacific Northwest |
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? |
bbrock |
Dec 15 2018, 09:46 AM
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#2
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 5,269 Joined: 17-February 17 From: Montana Member No.: 20,845 Region Association: Rocky Mountains |
Even without the NARP stigma, I think Porsche was in a precarious situation with this car. As George illustrates, the platform was so good that there wasn't a lot of development that could be done before the car was threatening the iconic flagship model. The 914's niche as the affordable Porsche made sense and developing it out of that niche would have been a questionable business decision. I think it was inevitable that the 914 performance would always be below the 911. That said, I think the development of the 2.0/4 was substantial development in that it produced near 6 cylinder performance in a lighter and cheaper power plant. Not a bad achievement at all.
I think the gentlemen's agreement impacted the long-term viability of the model more than it impacted the development for performance. I think another factor was that Porsche had another agreement with Audi that went south and opened the opportunity for Porsche to transition their introductory model to a more modern style and technology without the NARP baggage. It made sense on a lot of levels. |
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