The Porsche 993 summarizes the generation of all Porsche 911 models built between late 1993 and 1998 – was the last and most advanced of the “true 911’s”, in other words the legendary air-cooled Porsches. It was the successor of the Porsche 964 and featured significant styling and technical innovations:
The exterior design of the front and rear bumper as well as front fenders including light units and rear lights was changed: The “blockish” and dominant shape of the front and rear bumpers of the 964 was evolved into a sleeker design that was more integrated and flowing much better with the 911’s design. The front fenders and light units no longer featured the characteristic “Torpedorohr” design (torpedo tube design) but were incorporated better into the cars design now with the lights sitting in place less steeply positioned and more aerodynamic. The shape of the 993 is considered by many enthusiasts as the most homogenous and balanced of all 911’s.
Technical innovations included an all-alloy multi arm rear suspension attached to an all alloy subframe providing a more direct and stable handling and eliminating all older 911’s tendency to oversteer when lifting the throttle during hard cornering.
The 993’s air-cooled 3.6 litre M64 engine was derived from the 964 including some refinements which inter alia included an improved engine management system and a dual-flow exhaust system now incorporating two catalytic converters instead of one. With the 993 Porsche introduced a 6-speed manual transmission covering the increased speed range of 270km/h + and allowing the driver to use the best torque range of 4500rpm + in virtually every situation.
The all-wheel drive system of the 964 Carrera 4 was reengineered by replacing the center differential with a viscous coupling unit providing vastly improved handling characteristics while still maintaining the safe stability offered by all-wheel drive and also without having to compromise in understeer. This simpler concept was even saving weight and was so convincing that it was implemented in all succeeding 911's.
The interior was only changed conservatively. The center console, seating position and instrument layout of the 964 remained unchanged. Most prominent changes included a more elegant steering wheel and redesigned door handles. The 993 was available in various versions: Carrera, Carrera 4, Carrera S, Carrera 4 S, Carrera RS, Turbo, Turbo S, GT 2 and other versions built in very small numbers only.
The 993 Carrera and the 993 Carrera 4 represented the “base-model” of the 993 generation. The Carrera was the rear-wheel drive and the Carrera 4 the all-wheel drive version. Besides these differences regarding the powertrain and the Carrera 4 featuring clear front and red rear indicators (each instead of the orange of the Carrera ) the models were equal to the greatest extent.
The M64 engines used in the 993 were the M64/05(06) featuring 272bhp @ 6100rpm and 330 Nm @ 5000rpm and the later version M64/21(22) with the newly developed Varioram and bigger valves producing a 285bhp @ 6500rpm and 340Nm @ 5250 rpm.
The M64/05(06) engined Carrera and the Carrera 4 did the standard sprint from 0-100km/h in 5.6s and reached a top speed of 270km/h. Performance improved with the 285bhp engine to 5.3s and 275 km/h.
