A BRIEF HISTORY OF BOOST
Porsche didn’t invent the turbo, but it’s raised the bar since
1905 Patently, the turbo is genius
Just five years into the 20th century, patents are filed for an exhaust-driven compressor to boost – literally – the specific output of the nascent internal combustion engine. Porsche as a car maker doesn’t exist yet – the Dark Ages! – but the universe will see to it that the company and the turbocharger become firm friends.
1972 917 goes Can-Am
Porsche spots an opportunity in sports car racing rules and – based on the now outgunned 908 – knocks up the 917: skimpy construction, air-cooled flat-12, Le Mans wins in ’70 and ’71. So far, so naturally-aspirated. The turbo comes with the US Can-Am series, which peaks with the 1200bhp twin-turbo 917/30.
1976 935 unleashed
Racing derivative of the 930, the 935 was built to silhouette regs that let Porsche’s engineers run wild and hammered BMW and Ford through the late ’70s, developing over 800bhp from its twin-turbo flat-six. New homage is based on current GT2 RS.
1996 GT1, peak 911
Fast-forward two generations of exceptional sports cars – the 956 and 962 – and endurance racing stirs once again, kick-started by the McLaren F1’s unlikely overall ’95 Le Mans win. From the 993-gen 911 the GT1 borrows its lights – that’s about it. Underneath lurks a tube framed racer powered by a 3.2-litre twin-turbo flat-six.
1975 911, meet turbo
The original 911 Turbo, the 930, launches. Teenage boys’ bedroom walls are never the same. The turbo is the big news, the blown flat-six developing a lively 260bhp. But as important is the 930’s aesthetic: arches stretched over mile-wide Pirellis, a spoiler big enough to show up on Google Earth, and under it all the still-dainty 911 ’shell.
1986 Gimme everything! 959 arrives
Mid-’80s and the turbo is in its pomp: Group C sports cars, Group B rallying and F1’s 1100bhp quali madness. The 959, Porsche’s rolling R&D lab, features sequential turbos – a smaller, more responsive turbo hands over to a bigger one as revs rise – for big power without big lag.
2015 911 (991.2)
Its hand forced by tightening regs, Porsche turbocharges the ‘normal’ Carrera for the first time. There are howls of protest but the engine’s good; minimal lag and torque for days, though the soundtrack su ers and economy gains appear to be on-paper only. Cayman/Boxster’s down-sizing to a four-pot turbo is less successful…