ORIGINS OF THE 996
The origins of the 996 are to be found as far back as 1984 – April 1984, to be precise. This was the month in which the Type 964 received the approval of Porsche’s Vorstand. The Carrera C4 was launched four years later and 25 years after the first 911.
The 964 was distinctly more advanced than its forebears. Porsche had revised the entire chassis, doing away with torsion bar suspension and replacing it with damper and spring struts. The underside was now carefully air-flowed to enhance stability and reduce drag, while ABS and power steering now featured – as would optional automatic transmission once the C2 was launched a year later.
This was the first 911 with Bosch Motronic engine management rather than the Jetronic ignition and fuel injection, and following the trend set by Audi, the new 911 had all-wheel-drive, its variable torque split one-third/two-thirds between the front and rear axles. On paper it was a promising specification, but nonetheless there was a feeling among the 964’s engineers and its designers that they could have done much more without the constraints imposed by a very conservative Vorstand.
