I receive a lot of email from readers of 993C4S. I do my very best to respond to each one in a timely manner. A lot of the email comes from one of my previous posts where I owned up to the fact that “I’m not a Porsche expert, but I play one on the Internet.” In this post I offered to answer any question you may have, so long as it was Porsche related. You know the saying “be careful what you wish for.” Does that ever fit in this situation. The fact is, I have a pretty long back-log of questions to answer and I’m doing my level best to get to each of them. For most of you, I will answer directly via email. For others, such as Greg, a new Porsche 993 owner and whose question is the subject of this post, I will answer on the site.

Greg recently purchased a 1996 Porsche 993 C4S. Those are pictures of his new baby below. Greg’s purchase brought him a beautiful example in Arena Red (one of my favorite colors for a Porsche 993, second only to Forest Green which we all know is the fastest color) with 19k miles, and a multitude of upgrades including: HID headlights, Euro-front bumper, factory wing, Eibach springs (to lower from SUV ride height) and RSR mufflers. All in all a very well configured Porsche 993 C4S.

On Greg’s car, the previous owner had simply installed the shorter Eibach springs and did nothing else to the suspension. As a result, Greg wanted more information on PSS9s. He was familiar with most of the upgrades on my best upgrades for the money list, but not the PSS9s. After a brief email exchange, we were able to distill the question down even further:

“What is the ideal Porsche suspension set-up that provides a lowered ride height and still offers a compliant ride?”

As my car is still at stock ride height with no plans on changing it (I like the supple ride as my wife and I take long road trips as often as possible) I didn’t feel I was the best person to answer the question. I did explain that the PSS9s are probably the most common option, that I was aware, of and the reason people liked them was their ability to be adjusted. So, instead of just publishing one opinion, I wanted to open the floor to all of you, the readers.

Don’t let the URL of this site fool you, we’re not all about 993s. I hear from the onwers of plenty of other models (911 SCs, 930s, 964, 996) with similar questions. Let’s hear your opinion. What suggestions would you give to Greg for lowering his ride height while still keeping a supply/compliant ride? Use the comment field below to let us know or email me at suspensionsuggestions@993C4S.com

To say this is a big week in the automotive world would be as big an understatement as calling Michael Phelps an average swimmer. Yesterday marked the opening of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. First conducted in 1950, it is often said to be the world’s premier celebration of the automobile. This five day event is the ultimate for any car enthusiast and is not to be missed.

On par, or a very close second, to Pebble Beach is the 35th annual Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races. With more than 375 of the the most storied and historic race cars, across 14 classes, it is a visceral experience that must be seen and heard first hand to truly appreciate its uniqueness.

Interestingly enough, these two events are connected quite prominently for Porsche. You see, 10 years ago Porsche No. 1 (the very first car produced and branded as a Porsche) was scheduled to make its first North American appearance at the the Monterey Historics. Sadly, this debut was canceled when the car was damaged in Chicago on its way to California.

Fortunately, for fans of the Porsche brand, the storied marque will be present at both events this year. Porsche No. 1 (restored and undamaged) will be on display for all to ponder and appreciate at Pebble. Meanwhile, down the road at Monterey, a gaggle of historic Porsche 917s (the very same ones that ran at the 1998 race) will be on hand for all to view.

PORSCHE MOTORSPORT NORTH AMERICA TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE AT THE 35TH MONTEREY HISTORIC AUTOMOBILE RACES THIS WEEKEND

MONTEREY, Calif. – As part of Porsche’s celebration of its 60th Anniversary, Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) will have a display in the Laguna Seca paddock at this weekend’s 35th Monterey Historic Automobile Races event.

Of interest to many race fans will be a visit to the Porsche Motorsport transporter that will be displayed in the paddock of Laguna Seca Raceway. This particular trailer was used for many years in Europe and then later the USA, to provide trackside support with spare parts and assistance. Fans and enthusiasts will be able to get a look inside at an array of photographs, parts and memorabilia from the long history of Porsche.

Representatives and engineers from Porsche Motorsport North America will be in attendance at the transporter throughout the Monterey Historics.

PMNA President Paul Ritchie, noting that 60 years of Porsche is also 60 years of racing, pointed out that the Santa Ana, Calif.- based company supports every form of Porsche racing represented at Monterey.

“Besides the current Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs and 911 GT3 Cup cars, Porsche Motorsport North America services club and vintage racers with their Porsche 917s, 962s, 935s, and older 911s, so it is natural to be where so much of Porsche’s true heritage is on display,” said Ritchie.

Porsche has been the featured marque twice at the fabled Monterey Historics – first in 1982 and then in 1998 at a celebration for their 50th Anniversary that saw perhaps the largest collection of various Porsche models ever presented in one place.

For the last thirty five years, the race cars built by Porsche have been among the favorite for competitors that enter year after year. Cars are placed in classes that reflect their era of competition; Porsche is represented from the earliest Gmund-built 356 to the 936’s that triumphed at Le Mans. The 35th running of the Monterey Historics is no exception with a full field including a number of 935 turbos that will mix it up in a class devoted to the race cars of IMSA in the late 70’s.

Porsche No. 1 to Show up at Pebble Beach

Atlanta, August 5, 2008 – Porsche No. 1, the one-of-a-kind, two-seat sports car Dr. Ferdinand ‘Ferry’ Porsche developed and built after he searched and was unable to find the car of his dreams, makes its North American Concours d’Elegance debut when it joins other notable and historic vehicles August 14th at California’s famed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

This occasion is a happy one as Porsche No. 1’s first North American trip, to Porsche’s 50th Anniversary celebration at the Monterrey Historics in 1998, was thwarted when it was damaged in Chicago on its way to California. This trip also is special as it helps commemorate Porsche’s 60th anniversary. Before arriving at the Pebble Beach Golf Links®, Porsche No. 1 had a starring role in Porsche Cars North America’s 60th Anniversary celebration at its Atlanta corporate headquarters.

Affectionately called Porsche No. 1 by the Porsche family and thousands of the brand’s loyal followers worldwide, this legendary sports car and the lynchpin of Porsche’s design philosophy began life in June 1947 as engineering project Type 356 in the Porsche design office in Gmünd, Austria. Officially known as Type 356-001, Ferry Porsche’s design concept took shape through the leadership of Karl Rabe, Porsche’s talented chief designer who worked alongside Ferry’s father to develop the original Volkswagen (VW).

In post-war Germany and Europe where resources were few yet the desire to rebuild was strong, the Porsche team diligently started building the innovative sports car. Starting with a hand-built tubular steel frame, engineers fitted already existing VW components including the suspension, headlights, clutch, gearbox, cable-operated brakes, worm-gear steering, and various small parts. VW parts were a natural choice due to the early VW-Porsche relationship and because of VW’s key role in the post-war rebuilding effort after British military officers brought VW’s Wolfsburg factory back online in 1945 to fulfill car demand and to stimulate the nation’s economy.

The basic Volkswagen air-cooled, 1.31-liter flat-four engine put out just 25 horsepower at 3,300 rpm, so the skilled Porsche team enlarged the bore from 70 to 75 mm, increased compression from 5.8:1 to 7.0:1, and added slightly larger inlet valves and ports and twin carburetors, boosting output to between 35 and 40 horsepower.

The engine and transaxle were fitted into the frame in such a way that the engine ended up positioned in front of the rear axles with the transaxle trailing behind, making this a true mid-engine design. Mated to a four-speed gearbox, the drivetrain proved to be both lightweight and reliable.

Erwin Komenda, who along with Ferry Porsche and Karl Rabe formed the foundation of the fledgling car company, penned an aerodynamic and easy-to-build open roadster design. Friedrich Weber from Gmünd, one of just three of the company’s body artisans, formed each of the car’s aluminum body panels by hand, beating the then rare sheet metal and massaging it into shape over the wooden body buck Komenda had designed. The result was as shapely and beautiful as it was functional, with minimal protrusions to upset the aerodynamics or its visually graceful lines.

As with every Porsche since, form followed function on Porsche No. 1. The interior featured a bench seat to accommodate a third passenger if needed, a simple dash with only a tachometer (a speedometer was added later), a locking glove box, and map pockets on the leather door panels. An ample luggage compartment and the fuel tank were placed under the front hood, and the mid-engine layout provided space for a spare wheel and tire and battery behind the engine and above the transaxle. Finally, a frameless and low twin-panel front windscreen provided wind protection while accenting the sports car’s gentile lines.

The unique roadster weighed merely 1,290 pounds, and thanks to the modified engine it could reach a top speed of between 84 and 87 mph. In May 1948, Ferry Porsche himself set off on the first long road test, driving from Gmünd to Zell am See, Austria. During the rigorous test drive over some of Europe’s most spectacular climbs, the rear torsion bar suspension failed but was repaired en route. Through this car’s entire test period, this proved to be the only mechanical failure.

Journalists tested the car on July 4, 1948, and Robert Braunscheweig, editor of Switzerland’s highly respected Automobil Revue, concluded, “This is how we imagine modern road motoring to be, where the advantages of modern springing and the resultant driving comfort are combined with the adhesion of an equally modern, low and handy sports car.” On July 11, with Herbert Kaes at the wheel, Porsche No. 1 won its class in the Rund um den Hofgarten local race in Innsbruck, Austria. Just as today, testing and competition proved to be solid underpinnings for the company’s commercial and motorsports success.

Soon after, Porsche ramped up production of the 356 sports car at the company’s tiny factory in Gmünd, abandoning the complex steel tube frame in favor of a stamped floor pan. The engine also was repositioned behind the axles to provide more interior space and room for a rear seat. Not too much later Porsche moved its production operations in 1950 to its current home in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

After passing through the hands of several owners, Porsche No. 1 was reacquired by Porsche AG and became a centerpiece in the Porsche museum. As Porsche nears completion of its new museum alongside the Porsche factory in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Porsche No. 1 will be prominently displayed in a way befitting the historic car that shaped all future Porsche vehicles.

My blog puts me in touch with Porsche owners the world over. Lately, what used to be as rare as an original 550 Spyder seems to be as prolific as a Honda Accord (and this from amongst the anointed few.) What blasphemy is this that I speak of? None other than the incorrect pronunciation of our beloved brand. If you’re new to the marque then the confusion is understandable. However, if you are a long time Porsche owner then there really is no excuse. No, it’s not the end of the world it you don’t pronounce it correctly, you just risk sounding like a sheisskopf to those in the know…

Let’s review. The Porsche brand is of German origin and a family/surname. These two facts combine to provide an easy and definitive pronunciation.

In the German language, the “e” at the end of Porsche is pronounced. IT IS NOT SILENT. Very similar to the the word Deutsche. It’s not DOYTSCH. It’s DOYTSCH-UH.

Fact 2: Forget about Fact 1. This is a family name. If you listen to discussions with, or about, any of the founding family members, they all pronounce the name in one way and one way only.

This means that Porsche is never pronounced PORSH and should always be pronounced PORSH-UH.

The only correct pronunciation of Porsche is Porsh-Uh

Fact 1: Someone actually wanted to debate this with me the other night by suggesting there is no correct pronunciation. Their argument was that PORSH was just the “American” translation of the German word. I’m sure you can imaging my response, “Nein, nein, nein!! Das ist nicht richtig!” (not correct) The fact is Porsche (PORSH-UH) is a family name. You don’t decide how you want to pronounce it. You pronounce it as it was meant to be. Verstehen Sie (understand)?

By the way, Porsche (you should now be pronouncing it correctly) is not the only German brand or name to suffer this fate. Take a look at the table below for other familiar examples. At the bottom is a link for the correct pronunciation of each name including PORSH-UH!

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The Most Famous Porsche
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[Table and Audio Source: About.com]

A few weeks ago I received package from Motorbooks, the world’s leading publisher and distributor of books for the enthusiast. This package included a number of Porsche related titles sent to me for review. Knowing that I wouldn’t have the time to read everything that was sent to me, in a timely fashion, I decided to run a contest here on 993C4S.com. The competition was simple. Write a review on any one of the five books I received. Here’s a list of them:

• Race to Win: How to Become a Complete Champion Driver by Derek Daly
• “Porsche High-Performance Driving Handbook 2nd Edition” by Vic Elford
• “Original Porsche 911: The Guide to All Production Models, 1963-98” by Peter Morgan
• “The Book of the Porsche 356” by Brian Long
• “Porsche 996 The Essential Companion: Supreme Porsche (Essential Companion)” by Adrian Streather

If I published your review, I would, in-turn, send you your choice of any of the books. A number of people wrote in to take me up on my offer. If your still interested, let me know by commenting below on this post. Here is the first to be published.

Valerie Roedenbeck is the proud owner of both a Porsche 996 Cabriolet and a brand new Cayman S (her new track toy.) Valerie is quickly becoming a frequent contributor to 993C4S and a better writer than me! In recognition of Valerie’s well written critique and hard work she will be receiving a copy of “Porsche 996 The Essential Companion: Supreme Porsche (Essential Companion)” by Adrian Streather.

The second edition of the Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook closes with a real world driving story. In January of 1991, author and Porsche racing legend Vic Elford found himself “test driving” the new 911 Turbo for his “Stuttgart friends.” He drove the car from Reno to San Francisco with his wife, picked up his two teenaged sons (and their luggage), and prepared to head home across the Sierras. The Donner Pass was closed due to heavy snowfall, so Mr. Elford decided to use the Rt. 50 pass instead.

It is at this point in the story that the reader truly realizes Mr. Elford is no ordinary driver. Unavoidably, there is a certain disconnect when one reads about racing, driving at over 200 mph, and participating in rallies in exotic places. Racing stories don’t register as deeply with the majority of drivers because most of us have never experienced such driving firsthand. On the other hand, driving in inclement conditions is something most of us have had plenty of (generally unpleasant) experience with. Sliding on black ice? Check. Aquaplaning? Check. Is Vic Elford about to cross the Sierras driving through heavy snow accumulation in a rear-wheel drive Porsche Turbo loaded with four people and luggage… and without PSM?

Yes, indeed. Once past the chain control at the foot of the snowy Sierras, Mr. Elford drove the 911 through the mountains, climbing up with the car “sideways most of the time,” then back down, sideways once again with the former rally driver “push[ing] the clutch in…steering it back straight…stab[bing] the brake pedal a few times to slow down, and then blip[ping] the throttle and get[ting] it exactly right in order to let the clutch out with perfect engine/road speed coordination” to help the car regain balance. Mr. Elford repeated this sequence over and over again for the duration of the trip, and found the experience “quite enjoyable.”

The moral of the story, Mr. Elford writes, is that “[r]emembering all the little things you have learned [about driving technique]…over the years and being able to pull out the one that counts…when it counts” can get you out of a bind. Mastering proper driving techniques and gaining a deeper understanding of the automobile is not just cool, but crucial.

The Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook is the perfect companion gift for the new Porsche owner

Written in an approachable, clear style, Elford’s book blends entertaining vignettes of his days as a rally and track driver with relevant driving and racing technique. Known for his success in various racing disciplines, Mr. Elford was the first driver to win the Monte Carlo Rally for Porsche and, a week later, the 24 hours of Daytona. His ability to drive on ice, snow and rain earned him several victories, including 4th place in his first Grand Prix. His engaging storytelling is complimented by the exceptional photos from his personal collection and the Porsche Archives.

While in some aspects the book is specific to driving Porsches, it manages to stay relevant to cars in general. The book opens with a discussion on comfort in the car (seat placement, driver comfort, etc.) and goes on to discuss key aspects of driving all automobiles: shifting, braking, and cornering, among others. In the chapter on balance, for example, Mr. Elford discusses not only the challenges (and advantages) of the bonafide 911, but also mid- and front-engine cars, as well as rear-, all- and front-wheel drive cars. Yet, there is still plenty for the Porsche lover. While the majority of Mr. Elford’s Porsche-specific driving experience was with the 911 rally cars and the 917/908 race cars, he gladly discusses current Porsche models, including the mid-engine Cayman.

The book briefly covers more advanced driving techniques such as heel-and-toe shifting and slide control, it does so only in an introductory manner. Drivers seeking to delve deeper into performance or rally driving techniques will have to explore other titles (and log time behind the wheel), but Mr. Elford’s Handbook is one of the finest places to start.

The Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook is perhaps the perfect companion gift for the new Porsche owner. Technical explanations are clear and well illustrated, even to non-engineers. The book’s conversational style makes it seem as if one is sitting with the racing legend, taking in technique secrets and enjoying unbelievable stories of his days on the track (and off). Do you know anyone who is interested in becoming a better driver? This is the book to get for them.

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Porsche Book Reviews

Even with the price of oil dropping quickly, the prices at the pump reflect this change much more slowly. Premium gasoline (91 to 93 octane) in my part of the world is still well north of $4.00 per gallon. Imagine my surprise then after reading a NY Times article that it just might be that I’ve been wasting my money for a very long time. Sure, there are some performance trade-offs, but if the article is to be believed, they are very minor. Let’s explore this topic some more.

My most modern Porsche is a 1997 993 C4S. According to the manual I should only use a “premium” grade unleaded fuel with an Octane rating of 91 or higher. Because I love my car and I don’t want to hurt it, and, I had no reason to believe I could do anything but what the manual said, I have always run premium fuel in my car. In most instances 93 octane. When I can’t find 93 I put in at least 91. What is an Octane rating? Good question.

Octane Ratings Defined

According to How Stuff Works:

The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. Lower-octane gas (like “regular” 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting.

The name “octane” comes from the following fact: When you take crude oil and “crack” it in a refinery, you end up getting hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. These different chain lengths can then be separated from each other and blended to form different fuels. For example, you may have heard of methane, propane and butane. All three of them are hydrocarbons. Methane has just a single carbon atom. Propane has three carbon atoms chained together. Butane has four carbon atoms chained together. Pentane has five, hexane has six, heptane has seven and octane has eight carbons chained together.

It turns out that heptane handles compression very poorly. Compress it just a little and it ignites spontaneously. Octane handles compression very well — you can compress it a lot and nothing happens. Eighty-seven-octane gasoline is gasoline that contains 87-percent octane and 13-percent heptane (or some other combination of fuels that has the same performance of the 87/13 combination of octane/heptane). It spontaneously ignites at a given compression level, and can only be used in engines that do not exceed that compression ratio.

For some, that’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about Octane; for others, it’s probably not enough. Stay with me as I’m not trying to turn this into a technical post. To sum things up, we use a higher Octane rated fuel in our Porsches to avoid spontaneous combustion that could cause knocking, thus potentially damaging our motors. This begs the question…

What is Engine Knocking and How can it Damage a Motor?

Almost all cars use four-stroke gasoline engines. One of the “strokes” is the compression stroke, where the engine compresses a cylinder-full of air and gas into a much smaller volume before igniting it with a spark plug. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, by creating excessive and premature wear to the piston and cylinder walls, so it is not something you want to have happening.

Today’s newer cars, including Porsches, have sophisticated computerized engine monitoring. These electronic brains monitor the activity in our motors and can actually advance or retard the timing (when the spark fires to ignite the fuel and push down the piston) in order to curtail any potential knocking before it happens.

What about warranty issues you ask? Won’t running lower than the recommended fuel octane ratings void your warranty. Tony Fouladpour, as spokesman for Porsche North America, was quoted in the NY Times article as saying,

“If you want the car to perform at its maximum capability, the best choice would not be 87, but we do not forbid it.”

I’m not suggesting you run out and start putting 87 octane in your Porsche, in fact just the opposite. I realize the title to this article may be a little misleading, but it is not intentional. In fact, it’s the question I wanted to answer, it just took me a long time to get there. So, how much money have you wasted buying premium fuel for your Porsche? My answer is none.

Let’s face it, sure you might save a couple of bucks a fill-up, but do you really want to take the risk? Curiously enough, Porsche doesn’t set a cut-off date for the statement made by Mr. Fouladpour. Clearly you don’t want to run anything than what is recommended in anything older than a 996 model. I just wouldn’t trust the engine control systems to do a good enough job. To me, saving a few bucks at each fill up just isn’t worth the potential of a five figure engine rebuild.

There are quite a few threads on both Rennlist and Pelican on this subject. I’d be curious to know what each of you think? What are you running for gas in your car? What about Ethanol and its effect on your motor and performance? I’ll have more on this subject next week.

[Source: How Stuff Works and NY Time online edition]

I’ve been a member of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) since I purchased my first Porsche back in late 2000 (that’s a picture of it below.) However, up until very recently, I wasn’t very active with the club. I went to one DE event back in 2001, enjoyed it immensely, but never found the time to get back for another (life, work and family conspired to keep me away.) In addition, I’ve had the pleasure of receiving the monthly newsletter published by my region and, of course, what Porschephile doesn’t eagerly await their copy of Panorama. Outside of that limited activity I haven’t done much else. Well, that all changed a few weeks ago…

My wife and I present an interesting geographic challenge for the PCA (not really, but it makes things sound better.) We live in one state for part of the year (Massachusetts) and another state for the rest of the year (Maine) yet we belong to the New Hampshire Region, go figure. Until very recently, it simply never occured to me that even though I belonged to one region, I could still make use of other regions (where ever I happen to be.) With this in mind, I started to peruse the local Maine region’s calendar of events and found that they host a monthly social dinner at various restaurants across the state. After making brief contact with the organizer of the event, explaining my unique geographic dilemma, we were welcomed to the dinner with open arms.

Combining Favorites: Food and Driving Porsches

The great thing about this type of event is that it combines a number of different things we love to do: eat, socialize, talk about and drive Porsches. The venue for the dinner was in a town about 40 miles south of our summer home. According to the GPS we could either take the interstate and arrive in short order or wind our way through some back roads and by-ways and get there in due time. We chose the latter. After a spirited (but safe) drive down to the restaurant we arrived with a slight sense of anticipation at what we might see for other cars. One of the best things about any PCA event is never knowing what type of car will show up.

I have to say, we didn’t really know what to expect. Central Maine is not an area you would think of as a Porsche mecca. This entire summer I have encountered only one other Porsche on any of my drives. PCA membership for the region hovers right around 150. Not the smallest region in the states by far (according to the PCA there are a regions with as few as 30 primary members), but not even close in size to the larger regions.

Pulling into the parking lot we noticed only one other Porsche, a very nice 944 Turbo in white. As it turns out, this car wasn’t there for the event and just happened to have stopped to make a quick phone call. After watching the 944 pull out, we sat in our 993 and waited. Fortunately, our wait was short. The distant but distinctive growl of a tuned 911 could be heard growing louder as a late ’70s RUF 911 rumbled into the lot. This was followed in quick succession by a 928 GT, a 993, two boxsters (one of which was a very nice ’04 special edition driven to Maine by a couple on vacation from North Carolina), a couple of 944s and a late ’80s 911 targa. Based on the number of people we met that night, I’m sure there were more Porsches, but that was all we could see before heading into the restaurant to find our table and strike up a conversation.

The restaurant had given us our own room with a long banquet table that looked like it could seat 30 or so people. We were one of the first couples to sit and I wasn’t really expecting the table to be filled. However, over the course of the next 15 minutes more and more PCA members continued to arrive. The final tally was somewhere between 25 and 30 attendees. I know this doesn’t sound like a lot, but you have to remember how big (geographically) Maine is. Some people had to drive close to 100 miles in each direction, on a Tuesday night, in order to attend. While it appeared that most everyone knew each other already, there were two other couples (besides us) from away (not from Maine.)

One couple was on an extended driving vacation and drove all the way up to Maine, from North Carolina, in their Boxster. In fact, they had just come from the annual PCA Porsche Parade and brought with them two T-shirts that they donated to the DER region. Their generosity helped to raise a few extra dollars for the DERs favorite charity as they were auctioned off right before dinner.

Everyone we met that night went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We enjoyed great food, company and conversation. I left feeling like I have added new friends to my Porsche network and I’m looking forward to the next local social event (as luck would have it, that’s a breakfast get together this coming Saturday in Augusta.)

If you are a PCA member and plan on traveling in your Porsche, be sure to check out what’s going on in the PCA regions you will be traveling through. It’s a great opportunity to meet new friends and see some great cars. If you’re a Porsche owner and not yet a member, please consider joining the PCA. The benefits are great and you never know who you might meet.

I’d like to say a special thanks to everyone that attended the dinner and made my wife and I feel so welcome! Hopefully, I’ll see some of you this Saturday.

On Friday of last week Porsche announced their final figures (delivered units) for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2008. Besides posting record profit numbers that actually exceeded their revenue, Porsche shipped close to 34,000 units to the North American market (31,818 to the US and 1,874 to Canada.) This represents a very small drop from last year’s number of 35,398 units. Given today’s economic conditions these are fairly impressive numbers, especially when you take into account that 911 sales were down by almost 20% (which may be explained by the upcoming model change.) Porsche introduced an improved drive train, transmission (PDK) and fuel economy on 911 models. The full press release is below.

Earlier in the same week, Porsche announced a new CFO to take over at the Porsche Deutschland GmbH subsidiary. Karsten Sohns was appointed as new manager for Finance, Controlling and IT. The full press release is below.

Later this week, I have a post on the social aspects of the PCA along with information on how Ethanol affects our Porsches.

Porsche stays on the road to success in North America. The new 911 Carrera models are set to cause a stir from September

Stuttgart. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has almost equaled the previous year’s sales figures of 35,398 units in the North American market in the last financial year 2007/08 (to July 31, 2008) with a total of 33,692 deliveries, despite the change of 911 Carrera model; the drop is only five percent. Customer deliveries can be broken down into 31,818 vehicles in the USA and 1,874 units in Canada. In view of the gloomy economic situation in North America, these results are a great success on the whole.

The Cayenne is primarily responsible, exceeding the previous year’s figures by 17 percent with a total of 13,700 deliveries in the USA and Canada. The sports model, the Cayenne GTS, first launched in March 2008, has already sold 1,977 units. The 911 sports car range fell by 19 percent to 10,775 vehicles as a result of its life cycle. In anticipation of the new 911 Carrera model with lower fuel consumption direct injection and the new Porsche dual clutch transmission, sales figures for the previous model fell slightly. The new Carrera models will hit the streets of North America from September. Sales of the Boxster range fell by twelve percent to 9,217 vehicles, including a total of 5,402 Cayman and
Cayman S units.

In July 2008, the last month of the 2007/08 financial year, the premium sports car manufacturer delivered 3,274 vehicles in North America, 3,128 units in the USA and 146 in Canada. This is a slight fall of four percent in comparison with the previous year’s figures. The Cayenne recorded customer sales of 1,002, 20 percent fewer than in the same month last year. In contrast, overall sports car sales rose slightly in North America in July 2008. The 911 range zoomed up four percent to 1,121 vehicles sold. The Boxster range even managed growth of six percent to 1,151 units, including a total of 567 Cayman and Cayman S vehicles.

Porsche Deutschland expands Managing Board. Karsten Sohns appointed as new manager for Finance, Controlling and IT

Stuttgart. Robust growth at Porsche Deutschland GmbH, Bietigheim-Bissingen, also requires expanded capacities in management. The
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG Executive Board has therefore appointed Karsten Sohns (42) as the subsidiary’s Chief Financial Officer. From August 1, 2008, he will be responsible for the Finance, Controlling and IT divisions. He takes over responsibilities from Reinhard Dietrich (65), who is taking a well-deserved retirement after 45 years spent working for Porsche. At the same time, Bernhard Maier (48), up to now the sole Managing Director of Porsche Deutschland GmbH, is being appointed Chairman of the Managing Board. In future, he will take responsibility for the Porsche subsidiary’s Business, Marketing, HR and Strategic Direction divisions.

“In Karsten Sohns we are gaining a proven finance and sales pro who also has international experience. His appointment has put us in a stronger position in time for the launch of the Panamera. In future, we will forge ahead to greater things with four series“, says Bernhard Maier, General Manager of Porsche Deutschland.

The company has gone from strength to strength since it was created in 2000. Thus, the number of registrations in Germany has gone up by over 50 percent since 2000, from 11,696 vehicles to 17,667 in the last calendar year, in fact. Sales achieved by the company in the German domestic market in the business year 2006/2007 also subsequently increased to around one billion euros.

Karsten Sohns, who was born in 1965 in Heidelberg, studied economics and econometrics in Heidelberg between 1990 and 2000 and has subsequently held various positions with Porsche AG, including that of manager for sales process optimization. Since 2000, he has been Finance Director of Porsche Cars Great Britain Ltd., Reading (England).