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.