Not Under the Hood

If you're familiar with 911s, you probably know their engines are in the rear, not the front.  It's a Porsche tradition.  Way back when, Ferdinand Porsche designed the first Volkswagen with a rear engine, and later the 356.  The idea behind a rear-engined auto is to give it push from behind the rear wheels and to give it traction and improve its aerodynamics.  And it does make a difference in the way the car handles, and although the rear tires wear faster than the front, that's part of the deal with a 911.  Porsche makes other models that have a front engine, such as the current Cayenne and Panamera, and the 924, 968, and 944, all of which are no longer made.  When I was growing up my neighbor had a 944 and it seemed pretty exotic at the time.

The newer 911s all feature the rear engine, like this:

The 2010 base Carrera features a 3.6L horizontally opposed Flat 6 Cylinder DOHC, with variable valve timing and 4 valves per cylinder.  345 HP at 6500 RPM, and 288 pound feet of torque at 4400 RPM.  All controlled by that 6 speed manual transmission.  The Carrera S and higher echelon versions naturally boast higher performance engines with significantly more HP and torque.   This is also a water cooled engine, introduced to the Type 997 (this is the internal Porsche designation for the 911) a few years ago.  People have differing views on water versus air cooled, but Porsche seems to have gotten this right for the 997.  Come to think of it, water cooling seems to be trend in the HPC business lately too.

As you might guess the trunk or boot is in the front, or "frunk" as some like to call it.

It's actually a little bigger than it looks and can carry a small to medium suitcase and other items.  The back seat, or Sport Seat as Porsche calls it, is good for carrying modest sized things too and that's about it.  It's not meant for an average sized or tall person, you can't sit up straight in it.  I can just sit sideways in it and even then it's not comfortable.

The front trunk also contains the car's battery.  Batteries on a Porsche are whole matter unto themselves, which I'll write about in a subsequent post.