One of the best car in the world.

The 959 was a rare model only some 258 made or little more. It 0-60 times was 3.9sec. and it was the first street car that went above 200mph, that was amazing in the late 80's. Who has some interesting facts or questions about this great Porsche. I would like to hear what you have to say about


http://209.25.185.210/SDBQ?y=1987&m=Porsche&o=959

that car is amzing, it's too bad it wasn't legal in the states :(

Yea to bad. It was and still is the best porsche ever made if not one of the best. :)

I agree with you Seb, they did a giant leap with the 959. It has adjustable suspension, means you can lower it while driving for better handling while breaking the 200mph:D

the car was much more than an adjustable suspension.. it was probably the first car to use a sequential twin turbo system, one of the first with cockpit adjustable awd bias, and even by todays stardards that is still not outdated technology wise.. my only complaint.. did they have to make it so ugly? i mean, from a performance standpoint, its amazing but IMO, its probably the ugliest supercar ever built.. ugh.. that spoiler...

Yes, it was hideous. But, I generally think most porsche's are kind of ugly....just my opinion.

I like it

:mad: IMO a porsche fan like me would say that it one of the nicest looking cars around. I think it looks good but different people like differnet things.


P.S. I am going to kill you.:) no one saw that right ;)

it's nice for an 80s car, but for a 90s and 2000s car, it's ugz

I still love the look of the car the shape of the 959 is great.

The only thing is that the Ferrari F40 is just as fast without all the technical mumbo-jumbo. The 959 surely is a great car, but all these electric feratures made this car pretty heavy.

But although it's havey they succeded to make a fast car. The were also one of the first who combined Alu with 'plastic' I'll read it over in my book to give accurater answers.

Yes it is heavy so think about it if you take all the stuff that you don't need out. It would be really fast then.

They've built exactly 284 units(1 in '86,60 in '87, 223 in'88):) 450hp out off 2.85l. You can choose how you want to distribute torque to the axes:D And the airdrag coefficient was 0.31

that is amazing! is that like the highest hp/liter of any car?!

Skyline GT-R can put out over 1300hp out of 2.6 liters.

The Leblanc Caroline puts out 256 hp/L.

Well the 917/30 has 1560hp on its 5.4L Flat-12 engine.
Thats comes out to 288hp/L.

I've seen a 2000Hp HKS Toyota Supra

The 2000hp HKS Supra uses a 4.0l engine, not?

This is a funny agruement. I'm sure there are skylines & supras with 2000HP, but how many of them can run for 24hrs like the 917 could :)

The 959 is great, but the F40 is greater. They still can run with the big boys today, and they are 13/14 years old, as road cars though.

I think the ~100hp/L out of the Ferrari 360 is impressive for a naturally-aspirated V-8. Nice.

Is the Honda S2000 still the best for stock naturally aspirated engines?

IMO that question isn't asy to answer 'cause of the several limits which the engineers have to deal with, like economz etc.. what turns every decision and explanation complicated. The S2000 is a good engine with the aim of high max. rpm. They used a 'different' way to get theire power. IMO it's like you are trying to compare a 7.0l engine with a 2.0l. I hope it was understandable (MaryJane visited big time:D)

The 959 is a legend, no 2 ways about it. It's not so easy to compare it to the F40 as they are quite different in nature. From what i've read though, it seems the Porsche has the edge. OK it's not light, but not that heavy either (1450kg)..

Anyway, its' reputation as the greatest of Porsches is now in doubt... In the more recent articles I have read, including a 911 supertest which pits together all the 911's from beginning to end doesnt place it first, nor second, not third even. (1st: 2,7RS. 2nd: 996GT3. 3rd: 964RS)
Recent 911s (996's) have lost the plot, gotten too heavy and too easy to drive. the 993 and all before it were great cars, i hope the next 911 will re-set the trend.

Back to the point, greatness is not about speed. it's about handling, poise, the character of the vehicle. the 959 was great when it came out and is still an unbelievable achievement by the Porsche developers but it isnt the greatest of all time. but yeah, its better than the F40 :p . It may not look as spectacular, but surpasses it in terms of driving (according to what ive read, heard, seen.. etc... i havent driven either, im sure very few people have!)

cheers
jay

Originally posted by crayzayjay

Back to the point, greatness is not about speed.

i hope you're not saying the 959 isn't fast, cause 0-60mph in just over 4s isn't that bad :D

I would still take an F40 over a 959.... even though a 959 is so rare, and it would be close to impossible to get one in the U.S.

I meant the complete opposite!!
The 959 is blindingly fast but that's not what makes it great...
anyone can strap an incredibly powerful engine on to a car and give it some impressive acceleration/top speed figures, but that won't make it great.

I think i would have to take the 959. when the secondary turbo kicks in the thing accelerates like mad!! :flash: :flash:

CAR Magazine, Aug2000
Drive beneath 4000RPM all the time and you'd think the 959 is fast but overrated. the first time you nail it and hold the throttle down, you'll see the light (a bright light at the top of some escalators with a bearded man waiting for you)
LOL!! I couldnt help but laugh when i read that

cheers
jay

it is actually impossible to get one in the US.

bill gates tried.

bill gates didnt manage it eh? well, its nice to see the guy fail at something for once ;)

cheers
jay

Originally posted by crayzayjay
bill gates didnt manage it eh? well, its nice to see the guy fail at something for once ;)

cheers
jay

i'm sure he failed at getting pussy in high school.... lol :D

it is completely impossible to drive one on the streets in the us. to make them leagal you have to have them crash tested by the gov. but porsche, who's sole goal on this car was to make the ultimate car with this one, was not willing to let any of thier pieces of art die. these cars were sold at an enormous loss to porsche. I think they costed something like 50k more to produce then they sold them for. at least that is what i have heard. amazing car though.

i dunno guys, i just read this thread and i dont think i saw anyone mention the fact that its All Wheel Drive.....
I would also not say this car has a 0-60 in just over 4 seconds. From everything I have ever read on this car, the 0-60 times are in the 3.6 sec range. I mean c'mon, my truck does 0-60 in under 5 seconds, more like 4.7 probably, so give Porsche a little me credit :D
Also, I think its possible to get one in the US, driving it may be a different story. If Bill Gates had as much knowledge in the automotive world as he does cash, he could do it...

It's not possible to get one in the US , because of the emission rates , and crash tests they didn't pass becuase they are to valuable to be crashed... Anyway this thing someone told about porsche was losing on selling it... nobody would do it , but it was really hype , you couldn't just go to the dealer and buy one , you had to be famous or something like that , borris becker wanted one but they didn't make one for him , althought he wanted to pay the bill:flipa: . So try to imagine how it was...

i have no doubt in my mind that you could have one sent to the US as "parts", then reassemble it back to its original condition. its been done before.

there are a few 959s in the US.... i think it's around 10
forget where i read it

Originally posted by gang$tarr
there are a few 959s in the US.... i think it's around 10
forget where i read it

I have real doubts about that one...

here's a little article about it: http://erntheburn.tripod.com/autos/959/95911.htm

yeah it says there are no legal 959s in the US, but there are illegal ones around

the 959 has gotta b one of the most under rated cars ever. it was wayyyyyyy ahead of its time and will still make many new "super" cars look stupid. The F40 was better yeh, but is there anything the F40 isnt better than for speed, handling, noise, driving experience and basically everything?

Actually, it is now legal to own a 959 here in the US. I can't remember where I read this but it was about 1 week ago. Supposedly Bill Gates got a law passed (don't quote me on that) to allow certain "illegal" supercars to be street legal here. However, there were a few rules & regulations that still had to be followed. I think emissions had to be passed (not sure) and there were a few limits. No distributor could import one of these cars. Also, if you imported one and followed the rules for making it street legal, there was a max limit on yearly driving (2k-3k miles per year I think). I could have sworn this was in an article, in a magazine or in the news. Has anyone heard of this?

so painfull to c this!:cry:
ahhh (http://www.wreckedexotics.com/959/959_090102_002.shtml)

Oh God! I'm crying right now. Whoever recked that 959 should be shot. They could donate the wreckage to me though, and I would forgive them. :cool:

lol!
this is the site where they have aton of wrecked exotics!
wrecked exotics (http://www.wreckedexotics.com/archive/)

sadist!

1) 284 original cars. 8 more latte including one for M. Schumacher, since sold.

2) The "gates" bill> Show and Display. See Autoweek, 1/9/01. Gates car. (have VIN) here since 2001.

3) there have been approximately 20 illegal 959s in the country since 1988. Ask Canepa. But don't believe they are all his.
Lauren, Dr. Stone, Hendick (now M. Jordan/Oakley Sunglasses), one 959S in NC, Canepa, varies, Oats Chanlders (last 959S, 905030), other htat have floated through Andial at one time or another.

4) currently there are 30 959s here under S&D.

Such a nice rally car. It is still the only car that incorporates an AWD system that will actually split the torque without wheelspin. All other systems must wait until the ABS sensors detect abnormal wheel spin so send torque to the wheels with traction. The 959 would detect weight shifting, yaw, etc... and send it as it was needed so you could send 90% or more to the rear wheels on a drag racing launch. The F40 might be quick and all, but the 959 will keep you on the road in any conditions.

chris

Originally posted by gang$tarr
that car is amzing, it's too bad it wasn't legal in the states :( im sure they got sum of em here ;)

I SWEAR to all that is holy that I've seen one in West Palm Beach, Florida....