does anyone have information on the year/engine vs weight of the 914 and 914-6, and the GT as well, if you do i could really use it, thanks
Aaron

if you believe the Spec books, and the recent retrospective article in "GT - Purely Porsche' 914.4's weigh 970 Kg and the 914.6 weighs 940 Kg.

the 940 Kg number comes right out of the 914.6 owner's manual and i have NO idea how Porsche managed to convince the world a /6 is 30 Kg lighter than a /4. must have been some interesting 'homologation special' cars built up to make the GT's more competitive.

even if the /6 was on the optional Mahle rims and the /4 was on steel wheels - i don't see it...

anyway - those are the 'official' weights...

can anyone give me the weights from the sticker on their doorjambs, along with what year the car is?

it would really help

1976 car-2690 lbs GVWR

QUOTE (ArtechnikA @ May 23 2005, 06:38 PM)

if you believe the Spec books, and the recent retrospective article in "GT - Purely Porsche' 914.4's weigh 970 Kg and the 914.6 weighs 940 Kg. the 940 Kg number comes right out of the 914.6 owner's manual and i have NO idea how Porsche managed to convince the world a /6 is 30 Kg lighter than a /4. must have been some interesting 'homologation special' cars built up to make the GT's more competitive. even if the /6 was on the optional Mahle rims and the /4 was on steel wheels - i don't see it... anyway - those are the 'official' weights...

The spec book figures must only cover one year. The 914/4s don't all weigh the same. '70-'72(ish) are the lightest, '75-'76 are the heaviest, with '73-'74 midway between. Roughly, it's 2100lbs, 2250lbs, and 2400lbs. 940kg is 2070lbs, so it sounds like the spec book figures are for the earliest cars, and I'd bet someone long ago switched the /4 and the /6 numbers and it entered official history. A 30kg difference between the /4 and /6 (with the /6 being heavier) is just possible if the /4 had steels on it and the /6 had Mahles. The early mag 2.0 engine is about 375lbs, the 1.7 is about 275lbs, and the wheels are 40-50lbs different in weight. If that's correct, that puts the 914/6 at about 2200lbs.

The numbers on the stickers are the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, which is the car plus two passengers, a full tank of gas, and an unknown amount of luggage, and has more to do with taxation (in some countries) and tires than the actual weight of the car empty. Any measured figures you see are going to vary based on things like how much gas is in the tank (a full tank adds nearly 100lbs), whether or not the spare and tools are present (+/- 30lbs), what tires and wheels are fitted (+/- 50lbs). Don't expect accuracy down to the pound because of this.

QUOTE (lapuwali @ May 24 2005, 10:43 AM)

The spec book figures must only cover one year. The 914/4s don't all weigh the same. ...I'd bet someone long ago switched the /4 and the /6 numbers and it entered official history.

you know that - i know that - someone at the factory was playing a different game tho.

my Spec Book was published May 1 1974 and does not cover the later years; i have a 1st Edition - maybe there was a 2nd edition for the later years? i donno. anyone? there is no Spec Book for 914.6

Spec Book lists a single weight - 970 Kg / 2139 Lb.
the 914.6 owner's manual shows 940 Kg
i don't have access to any 914/4 owner's manuals to see if their weights match the spec book.

weights switched at birth? i donno -- all the factory sources are consistent, although i agree it doesn't seem to make much sense.

on the subject of Spec Books - Mid-America (formerly Tweeks) claims to have all the spec books; i need to get one for the year my 2,7 came from... i might just see if they really have the 914 books to see if there is a later edition - most sources show the 914 book NLA ...

I'm willing to believe it was just an honest mistake with an early transcribing of figures, which then got propogated to spec books and owner's manuals. However, it could very well have been some homologation dodge. Maybe the spec book shows the average weight of all three models.

I seem to remember the original Car & Driver number for the '70 1.7 was under 2000lbs (they weighed it). 1980lbs springs to mind. I think that was either with no fuel or 1/3rd of a tank. The test car had steel wheels.

To the original poster, I'm sure you see this is not a cut-and-dried issue if any accuracy is desired. If you want measured figures for complete cars as new, then go hunt up a copy of the Brooklands 914 book, which gathers road test reprints from when the cars were new. I used to have a copy, but it's vanished. C&D tested all of them, and had a standard methodology for weighing them.