The Porsche 930 Turbo profile

It’s unlikely that in 1911 Dr Alfred J Büchi knew that his ideas would later catapult a Porsche 930 Turbo to 60mph in just a few seconds.

One thing is certain, with the invention of the exhaust gas turbocharger Büchi ensured that diesel and petrol units could experience vast gains. These turbochargers got their first significant use in 1923. The German Ministry of Transport gave the order for the East Prussia service at the Vulkan shipyard in Hamburg to build two passenger ships, the “Preussen” and the “City of Danzig”. Their ten-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines were equipped with exhaust gas turbochargers, giving them a performance increase from 1750bhp to 2500bhp. An increase of almost 50%!

Despite its convincing performance characteristics, the turbo only slowly made its way into the automobile. After isolated uses on railways and in trucks from the Swiss company Sulzer in the 1930s, the turbocharger eventually arrived in cars. General Motors dared to try and master turbo technology in the early 1960s. Sadly, the Americans failed and had to give up after a few attempts at taming this technology for series production.

motorsport and the Porsche 930 turbo

It was all thanks to the sporting spirit and the insatiable will to win of a young engineer, who under the care of his uncle Ferry Porsche, headed the development department. His name was Ferdinand Piëch. Under Piëch’s supervision, a 12-cylinder unit was developed at the end of the 1960s, for use in the 917 endurance racer. By utilising Büchi’s exhaust gas technology, a turbocharged version was developed for the 917/30. It was the most powerful racing unit in motorsport history, delivering endless thrust and over 1000bhp.

Success in motorsport meant that the path was clear for turbos in series production. The surge of acceleration experienced in the 917 would be something Porsche customers could experience for themselves – though admittedly only those with money. The end of the oil crisis marked the point at which Porsche decided to unleash this performance. The Swiss Automobile Review wrote that while some will see the high performance car as useless, the successful use of turbochargers is a technical landmark.

Now we enter the age where turbos combined with the Porsche 911. The 930 Turbo.

Porsche 930 Turbo 3.0-litre 1974 – 1977

The first Porsche 930 Turbo inherited many design elements, but more importantly technical details, from the 911 Carrera RS 3.0. The Turbo was first presented to the public at the Paris Motor Show in October 1974. Thanks to turbocharging, the engine of the 930 (930/50) could summon 260bhp – 30bhp more than the RS 3.0. With the modified four-speed manual transmission (930 / 30-32), the 1140 kg Porsche Turbo achieved a top speed of 155mph. It had an impressive power to weight ratio of 4.4kg/bhp. It only took 5.5 seconds to race from 0-62mph as a result. In total, around 2850 examples were built.

Porsche 930 Turbo 3.3-litre 1977 – 1989

Despite the opinion of some that the Turbo was unnecessarily powerful, there were still enough disciples of the model who craved more. Porsche didn’t need to be told twice to capitalise on the car’s success, developing a more powerful variant in 1977 based on the 930 3.0. The result was a sports car further optimised for the task in hand.

The 911 Turbo 3.3 now produced 300bhp – 40bhp more than its predecessor (engine type: 930 / 60-68). The increase in performance was achieved by boosting the displacement by 0.3-litres. In addition, the six-cylinder boxer engine made use of a new intercooler, forcing cooler air into the engine and therefore allowing a higher compression ratio to be used, for more efficient combustion – hence more power.

Due to its modifications, the 3.3-litre 930 now weighed 1335 kg. The Turbo continued to have a four-speed manual transmission (930 / 34-36) until 1988 when it was replaced by the five-speed G50 gearbox. The five-speed transmission had been introduced in 1986 in the Carrera 3.2. The 930 now reached a top speed of 162mph and covered 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds. Approximately 17,791 vehicles were built. The coupé version retailed at a price of 125,000 DM, the Targa was 132,000 DM, and the convertible cost 145,000 DM.

Text Torsten Claus  Fotos Porsche, The Hairpin Company

Author: Classic Trader

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