New Porsche 911 to make debut at Frankfurt motor show
New Porsche 911 to make debut at Frankfurt motor show
By Neil McDonald
THE stunning new Porsche 911 will make its debut at the
Frankfurt motor show in September.
At the same time Porsche will also unveil the new 911 Turbo S.
The new Porsche is the first entirely new 911 in 34 years.
This is the same car that Indomobil is tipped to start
assembling in Indonesia.
If the car goes on sale here it is expected to cost about Rp
400 million (US$164,000).
Indomobil believes there is a market for Porsche vehicles in
Indonesia. It also says there is scope to export the vehicles
from Indonesia to other Southeast Asian countries.
The new 911, a 300kmh supercar, code-named the 996, is
creating keen interest from prospective European buyers, even
though it does not go on sale there for several months.
The first new 911 model, the Carrera 2, has a completely new
221kW, 3.4-liter flat-six engine with water cooling and four
valves per cylinder. The engine will be mounted on a vibration-
reducing aluminum subframe.
The car is bigger, lighter, more powerful and will cost
marginally more than the existing 911 range. Porsche says the car
is a significant improvement on the outgoing model.
Porsche enthusiasts used to the distinctive growl of Porsche's
famous air-cooled boxer engine will not be disappointed either.
While increasing both power and torque, Porsche engineers have
managed to retain the 911's characteristic signature tune with
the new 3.4-liter flat six engine.
Buyers can expect 0-100kmh acceleration from the 3.4-liter in
about 5.2 seconds for the Carrera 2 version.
The 911 will come with a choice of lighter and more compact
six-speed manual transmission or a new five-speed Tiptronic S
automatic with F1-style steering wheel buttons for manual
selection.
The 911 uses many carry-over parts from the hugely successful
Boxster.
It shares its front-end structure, wiring harness and heavy
duty braking system with the Boxster. It also uses Boxster
headlights, doors and door handles.
Despite the common usage of parts, Porsche insiders have said
the car is very definitely a 911, in both handling and its
evolutionary styling.
Porsche has addressed problems with the somewhat dated
interior layout. The new Boxster-style dashboard is said to be
more user-friendly than the existing model's dashboard.
Standard equipment is expected to run to twin air bags, air-
conditioning, power windows and mirrors, powerful sound system,
remote central locking and a state-of-the-art antitheft system.
Interior space is significantly better both at the front and
the rear.
Porsche's Weissach engineers have also wasted no time
developing a faster twin-turbo 911. The turbo 911 is expected to
have a top speed of more than 300kmh and develop 350kW from its
twin-turbo engine.
The turbo 911 is slated for release at the Geneva motor show
in 1999 and will be the last of the new-generation 911 models to
go on sale.
There has been much speculation on Indonesia's role in
building the new 911.
Although no date has been set, Indomobil is expected to sign a
contract soon to build this latest Porsche.
If the plan gets the go-ahead from Germany, Indonesia would be
responsible for exporting the cars its builds to other Asian
markets.
Indomobil's head of marketing and business development, Angky
Camaro, has said the licensing procedures for Indomobil to start
producing the 911 were almost completed.
Earlier this year he said that talks with Germany had been
favorable "but nothing has been absolutely confirmed yet."
Negotiations with Porsche have been long and involved.
Supplies may begin to arrive late next year or early in 1999.
Porsches will be shipped to Indonesia in a completely knocked
down kit form, and will be assembled at Indomobil's Bukit Indal
plant, near Jakarta.
Indomobil assembles Suzuki, Mazda, Nissan and Volvo. Audi was
launched recently, while SSangyong and Volkswagen products are
scheduled to be launched in Indonesia later this year.
The Indonesian government has banned the importation of sports
cars. However, Indomobil is pushing for exemption.
Porsche representatives, including the company's general
manager, visited Indonesia last December to discuss preparations
and a finalized deal has looked imminent for some time.
Previously, the government said it would try to stop sports
cars entering Indonesia, except those used by diplomats.