Porsche's "accidental" hot rod?

[Strato 102]

This is the car type as I understand it: Porsche replaces the finicky Solex carbs with Weber 40 IDAs in Feb. '66. In Sept. '66 the "S" comes to the market and Porsche strips out the Webasto, thick rugs (replaced floor rugs with rubber mats) etc. to make the Normal more down market compared to the new "S". Autumn of '66 there is a revised heater/exhaust system which ends up making the 901/05 Solex cam motor unexpectedly peppy. The new found power and the lighter weight of the Normal diminishes to an extant the performance benefits of the "S". Porsche puts in breathing restrictors to existing 901/05 exhaust systems and shortly afterwards does away with the 901/05 type altogether.

Please add, correct or comment. Thanks!

[JT912]

I am reasonably sure I don't understand what you are attempting to illustrate. The S was a better performing car regardless the presence of creature comforts, if that helps.

[NeunElf]

I'm also a little unclear as to what you're getting at.

The heat exchangers used in 1965-1966 had exhaust pipes welded together inside the shroud guiding air for cabin heat. Those welds had a tendency to crack, sending carbon monoxide where it really, really didn't belong.

In 1967 (more precisely, after engine # 90900) the 911 got the "911S-type" heat exchangers which also featured near equal-length exhaust pipes. As a side-effect of not killing off Porsche owners, the tuned exhaust is supposed to be good for about 10 hp. Getting 10 hp by switching to equal-length headers probably wasn't unexpected.

The parts catalog shows that all versions of 911s got the same exhaust system--there's no restrictive exhaust for lesser cars.

My 1965 911 now has SSI exhaust headers, which are true equal-length (and otherwise very similar to the "911S" headers). So, I'm guessing now I have roughly 140 DIN hp, not the original 130 DIN hp, and closer to the '67 911S's 160 DIN hp. It likes to rev, in fact it has to rev--there's very little torque below 3,000 rpm. It's pretty clear it's the replacement for the 356 Carrera 2--not a follow-on to the 356SC.

But, Porsche may well have switched to a milder camshaft to make the 911 more driveable and appeal to a wider set of customers. Bruce Anderson used to describe the "Solex" camshaft as the hottest camshaft that's useable without getting 911S heads with bigger valves.

[210bhp]

I am not sure why all of Raj's posts have been deleted but I believe this is the 'accidental' sports normal that he started a whole thread about some years ago. Lighter and by accident too close in performance to the S for comfort. I'm sure the thread was something like 'porsche's hidden 67 normal' or something like that.

Regards
Mike