Welcome to Hartech Automotive repair newer . So if you are interested in buying a and are not sure who to INDEPENDENT PORSCHE turn to, or already have one and need it to be SPECIALISTS looked after properly, by people who care about you, your and to make ownership Hartech Automotive is a Leading affordable, then this guide will provide a Independent Porsche Specialist dedicated to broad range of information that should help providing the highest quality services at the you make the right decisions. We hope it lowest possible prices – all specifically improves your enjoyment, by helping you buy tailored to suit their typical customers a good car or choose the right source for varying needs. The cars listed are amongst servicing or repairs. the very best Sports cars in the world, with superb performance and handling, Within the Porsche market are different types exceptional long life potential, a fantastic of customers. Some can afford new or reputation and outstanding value - with high fashionable cars from main dealers that are residual values, relatively low depreciation unlikely to have serious problems. They still and some eventual appreciation). want a reliable service centre but have less need for extensive service checks going Because most enthusiasts are already aware beyond Porsche’s listed provisions. Others of this (and plenty of others write about their (usually buying or owning an older car) know benefits and virtues) we have concentrated on that it will be more cost effective (and down to earth information about the different eventually necessary) to have a more models, prices, corruption, benefits, pitfalls comprehensive inspection and testing regime and changes in the industry that may alter but have to be careful over costs. Our services some of the traditional rules about Porsche are tailored to provide for both alternatives ownership in the future. Most readers are and we will enjoy working hard and well aware of the advantages of Porsche conscientiously, for them and their cars. ownership, but may not about the problems that they are hoping to read about. Even All our staff regard the opportunity to look when these rare problems occur, the guide after our customer’s cars as a pleasure and explains exactly how Hartech provides a basically - what we are all here for. You may unique range of support services and a find out more information on our web site or revolutionary, and affordable maintenance if you prefer and we can be of any further package that achieves very low running costs assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us and reassuring reliability. directly.

Unfortunately, mistakes made buying the n.b. Within this guide we provide comprehensive wrong car, or from the wrong source, or not information describing in detail all the various terms and conditions under which we operate. This is not recognising the typical signs of impending because we are trying in any way to avoid our mechanical failure – often results in higher responsibilities (as they – like us - are all very fair, than necessary repair costs. Furthermore, open and sensible). But by covering so many potential some models are less desirable than others, possibilities and scenarios we are trying to avoid depreciate more, cost more to run, and often misunderstandings and enable efficient and equitable suit different owners needs - so choosing the management of our business affairs. All our customers are deemed to have read, understood and right model is also vital. Furthermore many accepted them (although this does not in any way Porsche specialist garages do not have the affect their consumer rights). equipment or experience to maintain and

1 IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ FIRST All cars need some repairs, experience some depreciation and eventually have problems with Good Porsche’s that are properly looked after rarely corrosion, brittle plastic, perished rubber etc (and prove expensive to maintain and usually have Porsche’s are no different and no guide should minimal depreciation (compared to similar sports pretend otherwise) – but with careful selection of the cars) providing an exciting and affordable right car and the future source of repairs and experience for their owners. Despite this – some maintenance, it can often cost no more than a boring Porsche’s can become expensive or depreciate a lot. family saloon, yet bring with it far more pleasure Often these have been poorly maintained, bought and satisfaction. unwisely, are high mileage or simply too old, but sometimes they are low mileage (post 1996) and This guide tries to provide all the information that properly looked after but still suffer a failure. will help you make the right decisions. Although it has been broken down into four parts (to help those This guide pulls no punches in describing the in a hurry to find the right information first) we potential faults and models – but please do not allow would advise anyone embarking on their first the photos and descriptions of failures to put you off Porsche experience to try and read all four parts. – as they are merely to advise you what to look out for on the rare occasions that they occur and also to Part ONE demonstrate that Hartech have the skills, equipment and facilities to minimise such occurrences and CONTENTS repair them at reasonable costs, if and when such rare failures occur (aided by our revolutionary Page 1 Introduction. Lifetime Maintenance Plan). Page 2 Some important points about the guide and the Contents

We feel that this guide is all about informing you not Page 3 The difference with Hartech & Major new investment just about the good side of Porsche ownership but explained. The premises and Equipment. also the things to avoid – so that it becomes a good Page 5 Hartech’s “Standard” & “Gold” Service options explained. experience. It is impossible to achieve this and just put a gloss on everything – but most Hartech Page 6 Our Lifetime Maintenance Plan – Brief Introduction. customers enjoy their Porsche experience – mirrored Page 7 The differences between a Porsche and other Sports Cars. by their typical long length of ownership and loyalty to Hartech – over many years. Page 9 Hartech’s approach to Sales Cars

Page 10 Hartech’s approach to Customer cars. More about the guide We also do not claim to be the only people who can and general information about the independent traders. select good cars and who’s workmanship offers good Page. 12 Our human resources. value for money and top class results. We do genuinely believe that we offer a better range of Page 13 Our technical resources services, at a more reasonable price, than anyone Page 14 The future. else in the UK – but it is hard to be objective about ourselves and we accept that we can manage only a small part of the overall work required anyway. We have noticed very few sources of information being so honest about the potential pitfalls and have been criticised for putting people off – which is a shame because what we have published is a fair and true picture of reality and we add to it advice about how best to avoid typical disasters and protect your investment – but we cannot change reality and rightly or wrongly believe that a guide should cover both sides of the story.

2 T HE DIFFERENCE WITH HARTECH parts stocked is limited. The only solution to this is to have a huge range of spares available off the shelf and Different businesses target different markets and the a lot of ramps and workshop space, but both can only ideal requirements for old and new Porsche’s vary – as be accommodated in a large operation – which tends do the resulting costs. So while some competitors have to contradict the “low overhead” principle – usually the latest equipment and technology (to handle the increasing costs. latest models) others preserve more traditional engineering skills combined with lower overheads to Hartech have provided all these important facets afford the time to look after older cars economically. within their business and in their own factory – Other specialists recondition or re-manufacture enabling them to run with a low overhead structure components that are no longer available or viable at that makes the superb services offered more affordable the “older” end of the model age range. and combines the highest quality and latest equipment with more time to do a proper job of looking after Hartech are unusual because we have specifically these potentially superb cars – regardless of their age. tailored our business to embrace all these functions (suitable for cars of all ages) and backed them up with Put simply - while more used are being kept a range of unique services – like the “Lifetime on the road every year and the demand for good Maintenance Plan”. So whatever the age of car that quality services is ever increasing - Hartech run one Hartech sells or maintains – it commits to offering to of the most cost effective Porsche specialist look after it for as long as the owner wants them to, businesses in the Country offering a wide range of sharing the responsibility for the cost of future repairs innovative and cost effective services at reasonable or failures by way of modest monthly payments that costs. include the full cost of all future servicing and a free annual MOT (with minimal exclusions). We believe MAJOR INVESTMENT & EXPANSION that no other Porsche specialist demonstrates their ALMOST COMPLETED. confidence in the quality of their own workmanship so clearly or unambiguously. We have now created a very efficient and It is unusual to find a garage that can operate at both comprehensive facility for the independent Porsche ends of the market successfully because the cost of market – enabling us to continue to combine the parts and equipment to operate at the newer end of the lowest overheads with the widest and most affordable market – usually need recovering through higher customer orientated range of products and services charges while the older a car becomes the more labour available. How and why? Please allow us to explain. intensive any remedial work may be and the lower the overheads need to be to make them affordable to A 1987 Hartech 911 Celebration 3.2 Carrera prepared owners who probably have fewer funds available for for sale. car repairs anyway. Furthermore - newer cars rarely need extensive repairs and the service replacement parts are predictable enabling their length of stay in expensive workshops to be limited. Older cars however - present logistical problems to all repair centres as they begin to require much more varied and labour intensive work – resulting in higher costs. Furthermore – it is more likely that delays will occur while the customer is contacted to authorise the repair costs necessary or some more unusual spare parts are sourced. Often the car will have been partially stripped at this stage and immobilised - taking up expensive ramp space – earning nothing. This presents difficulties to a small independent operation where that space is needed for the next job and the range of

3 In contrast a much newer Hartech 996 model value for money and indeed the care and attention they receive.

A view of the 10 ramp workshop

Hartech have always had a much larger workshop than showroom - clearly reinforcing our belief in the link between the quality of our workmanship - the cars we This is particularly beneficial when a car needs several service, repair and prepare for sale and the success of replacement parts (such as belts, a clutch or a water the business. Indeed our showroom is still in need of pump for example) that – combined with a service – redecoration which has taken 2 nd place to our qualify for considerable price reductions that justify workshop needs. In our view our sale cars are the best the cost and inconvenience of travelling. These new available and the condition of the showroom makes no facilities provide increased capacity and in addition to difference to the quality of the cars in it. all the original services, also incorporate the following

improvements: - The premises are amongst the largest in the

Independent sector and can handle the most cars. The 10 lifting ramps, tyre fitting, electronic wheel more cars you come into contact with, the easier it is balancing, engine/gearbox assembly room, 3000 sq ft to work out which problems are isolated and which of stores space, laser 4 * wheel alignment, engineering will become re-occurrences that require special machine shop and manufacturing area, heated attention. Often the solution to a new problem takes reception, gas central heated workshops, exhaust gas time to reach, after which the next car with the same extraction, indoor showroom, allocated parking, problem becomes easy to diagnose. With possibly disabled facilities and access, remote automatic more service and repair customers than any other workshop access, security - incorporating Red Care, independent operation, as new problems emerge, Video recording, multiple TV continuous monitoring, Hartech are at the forefront of this process. radio back up , anti-ram bars, car

transporter collection & delivery services at subsidised Hartech’s Equipment. Our philosophy of putting the rates. “engineering” first continues with our premises enjoying double the original space (to 13,000 square The integrated networked computer system provides feet). Also, differences in the costs of premises, houses good quality of management information and records and the cost of living in the NorthWest have enabled systems, providing an unbeatable data-base of us to provide exceptional quality of services and information on thousands of cars, enabling the highest workmanship at very reasonable prices. This has quality of planned maintenance to be accomplished. increasingly encouraged customers to bring their

Porsche’s long distances from all over the UK (and While clean and businesslike – these premises are even Europe), finding that temporary travel more practical than showy - as they have been tailored inconvenience is more than compensated for by the to suit the needs of owners and cars 3 to5 + years old

4 (when they begin to need and benefit from more Some models are so old now that we do not provide a labour intensive care). This provides customers with “Standard” service, because we can never be sure that high level care at reasonable prices throughout their all the important components are safe and will prove cars life. reliable without more extensive checks. We reserve the right to decline to carry out a “Standard” service Hartech’s “Standard” and “Gold” servicing check on any car that is in such a poor state that it system. would not be in the interests of the customer, his car, our reputation or the safety of our employees. New or low mileage cars may not yet need discs measured or compression checks whereas cars over 5 We have always used structured service check-lists to years old or over 50,00 miles certainly do. Indeed cars ensure everything is done correctly, nothing forgotten that are 20 years old and have covered over 100,000 and everything is recorded. As particular models age, miles may need checks for corrosion, suspension and the mileages increase, problems become evident bushes etc, etc that newer cars certainly will not. Then that need special attention that the manufacturers there are 3 year old cars that have already covered would not have been aware of when they originally over 75K and 20 year old cars that have yet to reach structured their own service schedules for new cars. 20K. So – if you are interested in looking after all the These are added to our comprehensive “Gold” service different options properly - it is impossible to apply schedules, tailored to suit the model involved and all the same service check lists based purely on age or our experience of it over many years. mileage to adequately cover all the needs of all cars. Some may interpret “a visual inspection of the discs” Hartech have responded to this difficulty by providing as spending a few seconds looking past the wheels at 2 different service checks – called “Standard” and the discs behind and ticking the box, while others gain “Gold”. access to them and measure and check all the component parts. One interpretation may be OK for a The “Standard” service is the same as “Porsche’s” nearly new low mileage car but totally inappropriate own service schedule (as published in the owners for an older, high mileage one. service history book provided with the new car). The “Gold” service is better for older cars because it is Our interpretation of any listed check is always more comprehensive. Although the “Gold” service extremely thorough and takes much longer, but costs more it does include checks that are vital for benefits us (and our customers) by checking and long-term safety and performance and to prevent lubricating everything necessary so the next time the serious and expensive failures before it is too late (and car comes in (and for years to come) everything comes still costs less than Main Agent “standard” service apart beautifully. The other more common prices). Because it includes stripping down many interpretation – applied to older cars - eventually parts to check others – there are discounts built into results in more failures and repair costs and although it the subsequent cost of replacing such items as brakes, is probably very profitable for those cutting corners - belts, even clutches etc that are more likely to be in the short term - eventually the consequences of poor needed on older cars or when it is new to the owner interpretation come home to roost. Eventually – when and they want a thorough job doing to establish the new discs or pads are needed – cars looked after “our important needs at the outset. way” are easy to work on – but the others cause problems with seized bolts, corroded parts and general Whereas it is often easy to decide which option is most decline often needing more parts to repair. suited with a nearly new car or a very old one – it is more difficult in that middle age and mileage area – There are some jobs listed that are simply not done by especially when the customers own future plans, some service providers. We frequently come to budgets and expectations also play a part – so in those remove – say and exhaust – to gain access to an engine grey areas we prefer to leave that choice up to the to check tappets or replace an oil filter – to discover customer. seized and rusted bolts that snap – because they haven’t been removed for years. Those that previously ignored the work made more profit to

5 spend on more advertising etc – but for the cars pay a lot for very mediocre work or pay quite modest involved – eventually someone picks up the extra cost amounts for extremely good workmanship. of remedial work when something more involved is required and the job is done properly. So - many We have set our stall out to provide the quality and specialists - short cut - the work required on newer care that would normally be expected to be associated cars (because they believe that they are too new to with the most expensive supplier but at prices that are make any immediate difference especially in the time comparable with the less expensive end of the market scale that the owner is likely to keep the car) hoping – providing excellent value for money. that they will get away with it in the short term and justifying it because to do it properly would cost them Furthermore businesses that expect to lose customers too much time anyway. By contrast we can spend that as cars age - may well not worry too much about the time for a similar price and achieve a very much better consequences of their short cut workmanship – but our and more reliable outcome. life-long commitment to older cars maintains customers throughout the life of a car – so we have a A 911 3.2 Carrera engine being rebuilt in the engine vested interest in keeping the quality at the highest room. level at all times. Unfortunately the increase in the number of Porsches on the road combined with the decrease in available service capacity actually helps those doing a poor job - but advertising strongly to keep finding enough new customers to thrive upon.

We have catered for the needs of typically cars 3-5 years old and older because there is a tendency for owners of newer cars to want to preserve a “main agent service history”. Furthermore - as Porsche main agents seem more receptive to warranty commitments for cars under 5 years old and under 50,000 miles, we expect them to still undertake the majority of work within those parameters. So - our services and cost structure have been planned around the needs of those customers with slightly older cars.

Information technology and the Internet – the Brief introduction to the Lifetime Maintenance down-side. T here is a strange scenario becoming more Plan. We are still the only specialist offering a relevant in this ever increasingly technological world. “Lifetime Maintenance Plan” that enables customers Those that short cut work, make more money to spend to pay for their future servicing needs by moderate on media advertising – attracting more customers and monthly instalments while contributing a small squeezing out their legitimate reliable competitors. amount to an “insurance type fund” to cover the future Furthermore – the price that the public expect to pay labour costs of not only anything that goes wrong with (now more competitive thanks to published price lists, the car, but also anything that simply wears out or menu pricing and internet access) is becoming set fails. This fantastic scheme enables those who may more by those doing a cheap job because they can experience a serious problem to avoid huge labour afford more prolific advertising. This is making the costs because they are already covered under the future for many solid and reliable businesses – bleak. scheme. It also means that – having prepared the car for sale – or having totally checked it over – we then Most owners believe that their choice is between an share the consequences of any unexpected future expensive supplier who they assume will at least do failures, by carrying out the labour for any repairs at the job properly and a cheap one that might cut a few our cost. corners – but our experience has shown that – although that scenario is often true – it is possible to No other specialist offers their own customers such a sincere demonstration of their commitment to their

6 complete satisfaction. Furthermore – since under the often be fooled into paying a lot for what they imagine is a scheme - any additional work necessary would be at good example but is actually a poor one. our labour cost – no other specialist offers such a demonstration of their confidence in their own quality (4) Many other sports cars deteriorate so much with age and workmanship – that their service and repair work that the choices are often between a rough, tired, rusty example, for £2K, a refurbished example for £12K and a or sales car preparation is so thorough - that such rebuilt as new example for £50K – a total difference of occurrences are negligible. £48K for cars where even the inexperienced buyer can easily recognise the difference. By comparison a Porsche is Although we have all the equipment and facilities to so much better quality that the price difference may only be cater for newer Porsche’s - we are still working flat £3k between a poor and an excellent example and there will out trying to cope with the demand for work on be very few rusty ones or ones that need to be completely slightly older cars – so we believe that here there is no refurbished as new either. This makes the condition of the better place to buy your Porsche from and no better car being bought, much more important but equally much place to have it serviced or repaired than Hartech. more difficult to assess. Everything possible has been done to ensure that the time and facilities are available to carry out the work (5) Because the original is of such high quality, and so sophisticated, the cost of parts and required in the most contentious way without the labour for repairs will however be significantly higher, so resulting costs becoming prohibitive and with the best although the quality may always be generally good by and most comprehensive back up available anywhere comparison with other cars – this makes it not only more supplied with the highest integrity by the most helpful difficult to spot the difference between good and poor and dedicated staff. examples, but also much more expensive if you get it wrong. Because of this the only advice generally given by The differences between a PORSCHE and other sports others is to obtain a “low mileage example with full service cars . If you are thinking of buying a Porsche over 3 to 5 history” – the implication being that this will guarantee a years old, or arranging a service or repairs, then you are good car – which it absolutely does not. This guide will probably concerned to make sure that the source that you explain in more detail, why this advice (and that of so many choose from will be fair and trustworthy and provide others) can be completely flawed and misleading and how it reliable and affordable services (in an industry with a very also enables many sellers to pass off poor cars for high poor reputation). We understand your anxiety and have prices to unsuspecting buyers. Briefly it is because:- prepared this guide to help you make an informed choice. a. The very quality that enables high mileage’s to be It is very important to understand that a used Porsche is covered reliably also can easily disguise a “clocked” car to quite different to any similar and this fact anyone other than an expert. contributes greatly to the widespread corruption and disappointment that is commonplace. Understanding these b. Service histories are forged or when they are true, fail differences and the market is your best protection and this to warn of impending expensive repairs that even such high guide is designed to help you. quality and reliable cars, as these still need from time to time. (1) A Porsche is designed as a Sports Car and not by a mass producer who uses standard parts – tuned up. The So – unlike most Sports cars - these facts make it very quality of Porsche’s engineering and the resulting difficult indeed to judge the value of a Porsche against, (a) performance exceeds that of most competitors. it’s mileage, (b) it’s history, (c) it’s age and (d) it’s condition. All this provides the scope for all the bad (2) Instead of using light gauge metals and flimsy interiors practices that riddle the used Porsche market. to reduce weight and gain performance, the engines are so powerful that they outperform their opposition despite their As our business has grown to include newer cars, we have solid galvanised bodies and strong, well-made, long lasting, found that our Hartech operation has proven just as interiors. important and valuable for models from 3 to 5 years old, as well. These have frequently reached a point where a (3) The resulting all round quality of used examples is so thorough and detailed inspection reveals the beginning of much better than other sports cars of similar age and problems that are best nipped in the bud but will then mileage, that comparatively poor examples of Porsche’s benefit the car for many years thereafter. For any Porsche will look and drive so well anyway that the uninitiated can over that age, your choice could therefore make the

7 difference between owning and enjoying a superb Sports you should have an enjoyable "Porsche" experience and if Car that fulfils all your desires economically and a very you don't, we should at least have helped you to avoid a bad disappointing one resulting in disillusionment with the choice elsewhere. product or the industry with possibly huge costs incurred. The need for help in the Porsche market is therefore When you compare our services with those of other probably more necessary than for almost any similar Porsche specialists, you will find many making claims to alternative and the consequences more crucial. carry out extensive pre-sales preparation or just claiming to be “the best” (without quantifying how or why), making it This Guide makes down to earth and practical comments on very difficult for you to decide upon the merits of these the most important aspects associated with Porsche claims when you will not yet have experienced the ownership, the differences in the models and the types of outcome. We are different because we provide detailed businesses servicing their needs. It also explains in detail proof of the advantages in running cost-savings and the the special services provided by Hartech for comparison reliability of a "Hartech Porsche" and back this up by and how this protects the interests of its customers. offering a very low cost "Lifetime Maintenance Plan" (paid monthly by standing order), to cover the full costs of annual We have tried to make it as reader friendly as possible, but Mot's & services and the labour for almost all repairs, for it is a large document in which we may re-emphasise or as long as you own the car (including normal wear and repeat some points again where they are extremely tear items) and regardless of the mileage’s you may important, where we have found that customers continually eventually clock up. (E.g. typically around £10/week for a make the same mistakes, despite previous warnings, or 944 lux, 996 or Boxster or under £14/week for a 993 – both where they are crucial to explain another point. We believe @ 6000 miles/year &+ Vat). This must be the first time that that we need to be this thorough to make sure that readers, a Motor Trader has backed up their claims with such a who skip some sections, still receive the full impact of a positive provision that would cost them dear if their claims relevant point or warning. were exaggerated, or untrue.

We believe that IF every Porsche owner has a good The customer ultimately pays for all of a businesses - experience then that will ultimately help our future and if costs. Although some competitors provide expensive anyone has a bad experience, then that can harm our future showrooms and smart administrative staff, (that will – so we do all we can to help the outcome be positive. One ultimately be added to the cost of their cars or services or way we do this is by providing this guide free of charge on taken off the quality), this extra comfort is only experienced the Internet so that everyone can improve their odds of at their premises, for an hour or two at most - whereas the having a good experience, regardless of them being or quality of the car that you buy or the work done on your becoming a customer of ours or not. car, influences your enjoyment (and your pocket) for possibly many years. We therefore put our main efforts We do not discredit our opposition by name (although in there - into the quality of our engineering facilities, our some cases it would not be difficult) but instead concentrate training, our workmanship, our cars, our record systems all our energies into what we can do for our customers , and our services, with a lower emphasis upon our premises, treating everyone with the same respect regardless of their advertising and décor (posh we are not!). Our efficient budget, the age or value of their car or the likely outcome, computerised management and customer records system, providing a positive and friendly environment - with no well equipped and spacious workshop (with no frills or sales pressure - to bring affordable Porsche ownership to as unproductive staff) and modest advertising have achieved many prospective customers as possible. the lowest possible overheads and the best possible value for money with many new customers and car sales resulting The high quality and performance of the cars, makes from recommendations and referrals. buying one a very exciting experience, but encourages many to make impulsive choices that they later regret. Many modern garage businesses, have high overheads and Similarly the high profile involved enables many to be poor quality fitters - often resulting in even worse lured by flashy advertising or cheap prices, without proper standards, and each job is strictly target timed, forcing comparison first. We are quite different. We will explain all constraints on employees that would not suit the age and about the cars, ownership, costs, prices, issues, choices and complexity of an older Porsche. We have provided a suitability, both good and bad. We will warn you about resource - more in the mould of the traditional garage - with corruption, to protect you from the many foul practices and staff trained as engineers who can identify problems and numerous bad cars that are widely available. When you are rectify them within a framework that gives them time (with armed with that knowledge we will explain in detail what no fixed or target times ever imposed) and excellent we can offer to help you, content that if you do turn to us

8 facilities to ensure the highest quality standards ideally There are basically 2 ways to make a living from the sale of suited to the needs of older Porsche's. a car. The first is where you live off the profit made between the buying and selling price. To do this Where we differ from the traditional garage is in the highly successfully you need to buy cheap (and therefore not the efficient computerised management and records systems best cars), sell expensive (and therefore not the best value) employed that enable us to operate with few non productive and do as little as possible in between or afterwards, to keep staff while keeping excellent records that back up the as much of the profit as possible. planned maintenance work that preserves our customers cars so well and economically. The second way is harder work and requires more commitment as it relies upon repeat business. This is where We have one of the largest and busiest workshops in the you buy a good car (even if it is quite expensive) you sell it North of England whereas many of our Sales competitors for a reasonable price (to attract customers without false have little or no workshop facilities but they have huge promises or glamorous premises), and do so much pre-sales advertising budgets. By contrast, our extensive workshop to it and offer such good back up services, that - because experience greatly assists us to select and prepare cars for the customer is pleased with the car they come back re-sale - to the highest standards and to look after them whenever they need anything. To maintain standards, you effectively thereafter. This year we finally hope to find time do this even if you did not make a good profit on the sale – to decorate and complete our showroom (that has relying entirely on customer satisfaction. Hopefully they admittedly probably let down the initial impact of new will keep coming back for servicing and repairs and may customers arriving at the business premises). even part exchange for an upgrade or sell it back to you if not – providing a good source of excellent cars to sell on So if flashy showrooms, large adverts and exaggerated again and repeat the process. claims do not impress you and the quality of the work, cars, customer service and affordable costs are your prime This second approach is the Hartech philosophy for which concern, then you will probably be very happy and the Lifetime Maintenance Plan is an essential component. comfortable with Hartech Automotive and already be "our Our plan is to recycle superb examples while keeping any kind of customer". further income generated within hartech – for as many years as possible. This results in always being busy and In order to work out a fair cost for our revolutionary therefore having the confidence to invest in new Lifetime Maintenance Plan, we have analysed the records technology, equipment and training, to maintain an going back 6 years to compare the typical running costs of excellent reputation. Hartech Porsche's with the many non-Hartech Porsche's that we look after and these results prove absolutely that the We are well known for seeking out the best cars Nationally benefits of buying a Hartech Porsche are not only the – but what do we mean by “best”. Well – unlike some reassurance that it has been researched and is genuine, is competitors – we do not advise you to buy a mechanically straight and in exceptional condition, the pleasure from sound car if it is in an unpopular colour. Because we rely owning and driving a superb example, the friendly and upon a long-term relationship with the car - we only buy straight forward help you receive in looking after your car cars that we believe will always have popular specifications and the enhanced enjoyment resulting, but there are also and colours and strong demand – so that their re-sale value huge financial savings overall. is preserved. We then check their history with hpi and the National Mileage register, service them thoroughly and Having consolidated this in our Lifetime Maintenance check them over, rectifying faults and returning them to the Plan, we believe that we are unique in providing best possible condition for re-sale. They are provided with a exceptional older Porsches in superb condition, with written guarantee (covering almost everything on the car unrivalled support services and our extremely high except perhaps underlying corrosion that may be customer retention rate results from this and the quality of impossible to detect until it eventually reveals itself – if our work and our total commitment to after sales service. ever) and our Lifetime Maintenance Plan minimises rectification costs if hidden problems later emerge. Our aim is to provide the BEST POSSIBLE TOTAL Comprehensive computer records assist in future diagnosis, CUSTOMER CARE PACKAGE available for the "older" preserving the integrity of the car and it's history while a PORSCHE models. huge spares stock (including engines, gearboxes, interiors, new, reconditioned and used parts) represents typical (1) HARTECH SALE CARS customer commitment.

9 This care and attention results in our customers enjoying We have extensive support equipment including Imperial their Porsche experience for many years and many and Metric micrometers, all the necessary workshop thousands of miles, finally achieving good re-sale values, manuals, Bosch Hammer, four-gas analyser, laser wheel while a very high proportion part exchange their original alignment, dynamometer, Porsche PST2 computerised Porsche for a newer model - continuing the "Hartech " diagnostics etc. This enables us to carry out accurate experience. We provide a good car that will give a inspection, measurement, diagnosis and remedial action. pleasurable and affordable experience and command a high re-sale value. Photograph shows an expensive bore micrometer measuring replacement liner for a 996 block. (2) CUSTOMER CARS (bought by them elsewhere)

It’s a free Country and we don’t mind if cars are purchased elsewhere. In any case there is a limit to the number of good cars available and if we sold any more we would find it hard to source their replacements. We are therefore still perfectly happy to look after cars purchased elsewhere (even from our competitors) and care for them to the best of our ability. Indeed our care and attention results in customer cars being looked after to the very highest standards while our low overheads minimise costs. Cars that we have not seen before may be suitable for our standard service schedules or can be accepted with our “Gold Major” service covering the whole car, providing a comprehensive computerised report detailing (and prioritising) future work requirements and costs, enabling proper planned maintenance to be followed. Our attitude towards problems. We are not infallible and We are so confident in our ability to look after a customer’s if and when an unexpected or completely unpredictable car economically, that we have now introduced a version of problem occurs, we are always there to help our customer our “Lifetime Maintenance Plan” to suit them as well by and support them in their time of need. As a result, personal following the recommendations of our “Gold Major” recommendations alone now account for most of our new service first and then accepting them onto the scheme. business.

Some special equipment described. Our own machine More about the guide. When we started many years ago, shop enables us to manufacture special jigs and fixtures, re- the public were largely unaware of the high proportion of machine-damaged components, refurbishment worn out “dodgy” cars being advertised by unscrupulous dealers and parts and manufacture new ones. so we devoted most of our first buyer’s guides to exposing corruption in our industry and the consequences for those seeking to own a used Porsche. We provided endless facts and figures to substantiate our claims about clocked and crashed cars, examples of the typical high costs of renovating cars bought by customers elsewhere (then between £1500 and £2000), pointed out what to look out for and – in contrast – provided proof of the extensive work done by ourselves during sales selection and preparation and the resulting success etc.

Now, with typical industry corruption widely publicised by the media and our reputation having been firmly established by our long term customers and the quality of our cars, we need less emphasis on these areas and have replaced that content in the original buyers guide, by more information about the cars and the far greater model range and services that we now cover.

10 Logically it is an inescapable fact that the older a car is and protect the public. This makes it very difficult for the public the more miles it has covered, then the more repairs it is to decide which provision to use. likely to need. It is also inescapable that as engines, steering, brakes and transmissions wear, the repairs become How we have tailored our business to suit a particular more labour intensive (if original parts are to be age group of cars. Having originally tailored our business reconditioned) or more expensive (if new parts are offered specifically to cater for the needs of Porsche cars over 3-5 instead of reconditioning). As a result we are often offered years old (and their owners), we probably handle more cars cars to buy that we cannot renovate economically any more of this age than any local competitors. We are therefore (regardless of the low price offered) while the cost of more used to associated problems, rebuilding engines and renovating older cars brought to us by customers buying gearboxes, fitting good quality used parts (where them elsewhere is now growing to often exceed £3000. appropriate) and often less expensive parts as well, like our replacement wishbones (at roughly half new price) – see This is a viscous circle, for as the age of the car increases below - and the prices reduce, the typical owner of such an older Porsche will be less able to afford the type of repairs increasingly necessary, (especially if they are catered for at a place set up to sell and maintain Newer Porsche's). So while owners of newer cars experience lower maintenance costs they incur higher depreciation and the owners of older cars suffer little or no depreciation but potentially increased repair costs. This makes the cost structure, efficiency and integrity of competitors increasingly relevant as cars age.

Although there are alternatives with quite large set ups, because we specifically set up our business to only cater for older Porsche's, we have a completely different way of working with them, different facilities and even different qualities in our staff, all within a lower overhead structure that makes our approach affordable and we believe much more suitable to the age of cars and their associated problems. Furthermore the owner of an older Porsche has and repair cylinders for 996 engines that may otherwise traditionally been our only (and most valuable) customer have to be scrapped. and has been treated accordingly - with the same respect regardless of the age of their car or their budgets. Our small engineering workshop enables us to make special tools and gauges and undertake low cost modifications to Unfortunately, (as previously mentioned) if the cost of some parts, which are only viable in our type of set up and repairs and refurbishment increases with age yet the value are much more suitable for this age of car. of an average car is lower, then those repair costs can Picture shows a 996 engine block having a damaged liner eventually exceed the value of the car, making some jig bored out to enable a replacement to be fitted. models too expensive for us to buy and refurbish for a price that seems reasonable. As a result, we presently sell cars from about 5 to 15 years old and move up each year accordingly, introducing new models as we go and dropping the oldest - as appropriate. However we still service and repair all Porsche’s – however old (except 928’s that are adequately catered for elsewhere locally).

General Independent Traders. There are several independent specialists Nationally that provide an excellent service. In many cases their very independence often results in more willingness to find non-Porsche solutions to common problems that are often more cost effective at the lower end of the market. Unfortunately there are also a lot of very poor quality provisions as well, over which no control is currently exercised to investigate quality or to

11 The sheer volume of cars that we see greatly assists us in This concludes the introduction to the general problems detecting trends early and providing timely solutions, which associated with buying, servicing or repairing a Porsche smaller businesses could not possibly achieve. Modern cars and we continue with more specific information about also require considerable investment in computerised our business and the different models. diagnostic systems – often essential to maintain correct running and re-programming. Probably only large (or THE RESOURCES expensive small) operations could justify the costs increasingly involved. There are a number of other similar Human resources. Barry Hart (the founder of Hartech operations around the Country, but picking the right ones to Computation Ltd and its subsidiary Hartech Automotive) is deal with is still difficult for the uninitiated. a fully trained and qualified professional engineer, who spent his teenage years building and racing motorcycles and As we have gradually moved up market to cater for newer dreaming about owing a Porsche – a dream he fulfilled and more expensive models, we assumed that we would aged 23. Upon qualifying he started his own automotive reach a point where typical owners would prefer to pay the engineering business (Barton Engineering), designing and higher charges associated with more luxurious competitors. manufacturing racing gearboxes, for all the leading British, Ironically that hasn’t been the case and it seems that – some Japanese and Italian models, and complete two, three and at least – value the way we operate and the integrity of our four cylinder engines for cars and motorcycles. operation higher than they do the more luxurious décor and environment elsewhere. It seems that – in our attempts to With a dynamometer test rig and a chassis manufacturing provide services for older cars and more impecunious section, the business eventually built complete racing owners – we may have innocently come up with a formula motorcycles that won numerous National and International that equally applies to all Porsche owners – regardless of events World-wide. their wealth or the newness of their car. In a market where other British machinery was outdated, he A Hartech Boxster designed modern multi-cylinder machines at the forefront of technology and special engines for Barry Sheene and gearboxes for Suzuki, Honda and Ducati and designed and built the Silver Dream Racer for the David Essex film.

To enable greater resources to be directed towards the further development of his ideas, he accepted a take-over by Armstrong Equipment plc, where he became Technical Director in charge of Engine Development and helped to develop the World's first Carbon Fibre framed racing motorcycle.

After three years (during which the machines won TT's, the British Championship - breaking every lap record - and finishing 3rd in the World Championship French GP), he accepted an even more challenging role as director of a Carbon Fibre research facility where he solved design and development problems for (amongst others) the Lotus

So although we were originally set up to cater for the needs racing team and Aerospace. of older Porsche's and their owners, we have continuously grown to handle more customers and a bigger age range of Throughout this exciting career he indulged his love of cars with more comprehensive facilities dedicated to them, automotive engineering and the Porsche marque, by owning a 356C, 3* 911's, a 924 and his then favourite, a 924 turbo. in our segment of the market, than any known opposition. This has only been achieved by providing the facilities and Transferring his focus to Management, he went on to direct staff, suitably trained to satisfy the particular needs of an ever growing satisfied customer base and by keeping and a variety of private and public businesses in Aerospace, nurturing customers by providing the services they need at Automotive and Engineering, as General manager and Managing Director but didn’t enjoy the experience. prices they can afford - hence our slogan.

Despite the obvious success and all the trappings, he was - "WE CARE FOR YOUR PORSCHE" at heart – a down to earth automotive engineer used to

12 solving technical problems and manufacturing high A good example of this “in-house” development and a performance engines and transmissions, but not equipped to particularly pleasing end result was to attend the degree enjoy the ducking, diving, posturing, manipulation and award ceremony recently for the Institute of the Motor politics of larger company management – which he hated. Industry with Tobias Higgins (see photo) an employee that He finally stunned his friends and colleagues when he started with Hartech as a “Saturday boy” many years ago decided to get out of the rat race, return to self-employment and who has developed right through to recently being and indulge his love of Porsche's by directing all his promoted to Hartech’s Service Manager technical and managerial experience into building a small, modest but successful Independent Porsche Specialist We also employ an MOT qualified inspector and a whole business. The priority was to provide the best service host of other relevant qualifications. But none of this is any available and to obtain and keep the finest reputation in the use without the right framework to work within and this is market. With a typical engineer’s style combined with a continually being reviewed to ensure the best possible carefully selected and highly motivated young staff (with a future for this mainly young team. wide range of experience and qualifications), he has produced a successful team capable of long-term Technical resources development and succeeding him while maintaining the reputation and principles now well established. Most of the While most competitors seem to either concentrate on sales day to day running of the business is now handled by this (with little or no workshop facilities) or on repairs and team with more of his time devoted to training and servicing (with little or no sales areas) or on spares sales improving the reputation and efficiency of the business alone, Hartech have always regarded the three as while looking into the manufacture and repair of the new inseparable. generation of Porsche engines and gearboxes in the small well equipped engineering workshop – for which he is well A rebuilt 944 engine qualified.

Hartech employ many qualified engineers and technicians preferring to train and develop them from the outset before they can become corrupted by bad practices elsewhere. Amongst the qualifications are numerous Gce’s ad Gcse’s, A levels, Onc’s, Hnc’s, Hnd’s, College Diploma’s, level 4 certificate of management, NVQ’s levels 2 and 3 in Vehicle Maintenance, a degree in Motor Sport etc.

We believe that good sales preparation and routine servicing and repairs, demands the highest quality workshop support and spares availability and it would be a complete waste of these resources facilities if they were not used for sales as well to ensure that customers are not ripped off and get a fair deal and a quality car.

Hartech started off concentrating primarily on the workshop facilities and spares provision, that has now grown to incorporate 10 ramps, 6 engineers and a trainee, computer diagnostics, a small machine shop, gas and mig welding, fuel injector ultra sonic cleaner and flow tester, laser 4 wheel alignment, dynamometer testing, 50 workshop manuals and technical spec books, two hydraulic presses and a huge area of metal topped benches and 3000

13 square feet of parts storage shelves. These stock over 2000 secure and maintain a superb reputation and a successful separate items (including new and used parts, reconditioned business. engines and gearboxes, interiors, "Hartech" reconditioned wishbones, engine management parts, wiring looms etc). THE FUTURE

Our gyroscopically controlled, Porsche approved on-car Although the original aims and the way Hartech was set up disc re-machining tool. has proven extremely popular with a great many customers, we realise that we need to continually appraise our performance, the services we offer etc to ensure that we continue to keep all our customers happy by providing exactly what they need at the right price and to maintain the gap in the services we offer and those of our opposition.

By working to an extremely tight profit margin and carrying out all the improvements to our systems and our factory ourselves in house, (including all the building work) we have gradually managed to create an excellent working facility with limited resources.

In response to the length our customers are keeping their cars we have now provided a revolutionary Lifetime Maintenance Plan, to enable a small regular monthly bank payment to cover owners against the cost of regular services and an annual MOT in full and the labour for all The management systems include 5 networked computers, repairs and replacements, for as long as they own the car. E mail and Internet access, card transaction terminal, microfiche spares reader and a basic reception area One reason that we can operate with low overheads is that incorporating a seated and heated waiting room with typical we are at a size where we do not need a dedicated full-time Porsche reading material available. driver, storeman, receptionist or salesman. To afford those it would require a doubling of turnover, bigger premises etc Management control systems extend to cover, all jobs – that we fear would detract from our personal care and booked in by a "customer order", sequential job numbers attention currently achieved. So we do not plan to increase issued and engineers job sheets, service record sheets, our capacity again, and if the demand continues we will computerised records of the above and hard copy records simply have to become more selective of our customers. for reference, engineers reports and full regular computer back up systems (overall similar to aerospace standards), We do try and keep our prices as reasonable as possible but greatly assisting planned maintenance programmes and costs are rising faster than inflation and so - w e have been problem evaluation by being able to retrieve repair/service unable to resist some small increases recently, however all history quickly and reliably. our existing customers know that there is very little comparison between - the amount of time, care and Security is catered for by CCTV with on line phased attention, that we pay to our customers cars - and our recorder, a secure business park with barriers that lock competitors. outside of working hours and a sophisticated alarm system (as used in banks) and supported by a full time monitoring For example - it often takes over an hour just to record our station and automatic Police back up (and is impervious to findings on computer or complete an engineers report, radio jamming and interference with telephone lines etc). (longer than many spend on a complete service) yet these False cameras help disguise covert cameras that monitor the permanent records become the key to the proper, building 24/7 and are triggered by anyone approaching. professional planed maintenance programmes that enable us to minimise the problems and reduce the future repair The whole resource - while tidy - is not over pretentious or costs for our customers. flashy and provides a down to earth working environment to continue to provide the highest quality cars, customer We believe that we undertake far more work and take much care and back up services within the least expensive more care during a service or repair than anyone else - then framework putting value for money as a first priority, to even if our menu prices are similar, the value for money is beyond comparison anywhere and ultimately is the least

14 expensive solution by reducing long term costs through thorough, high quality workmanship, facilities and equipment. We also realise that it must be very difficult for new prospective buyers to fully understand from our written descriptions, the poor condition of cars that have been bought or serviced elsewhere and have come to Hartech for the first time, or to visualise the problems that we have written about.

We have (as our existing customers know) built up this business by working long hours and re-investing continuously. The huge difference between our modest adverts and huge turnover is many times more than our opposition and is only explained by keeping our existing customers happy and their continued loyalty, their own recommendations to others and our competitive prices.

The future changes we envisage are to keep those customers, because we hope to never become complacent about our enviable position. Customer care and satisfaction has always been our first priority and we will continue to place the main emphasis of our business as firmly in that area in the future as we have in the past. In this way we hope to keep all our customers satisfied and finding that we continue to offer the very best range of services at the most competitive prices while keeping well ahead of our opposition.

We were probably the first business to recognise the future potential of the 944 range as a classic car and set up a business to cater for it and preserve its quality and integrity.

Public demand (and organic growth) has encouraged us to develop our range into 911's, 964’s, 968’s, 993’s, 996’s and Boxsters and in future into every suitable model from Porsche that needs our special kind of care as it ages (and already our workshop access and ceiling height has been designed to house the taller Cayenne utility variants).

An older Porsche is a superb car to own and some of that pleasure comes from the certainty of it's quality and background and the comfort from knowing that even in the unlikely event of an unforeseen problem, there is a dedicated group of professionals ready, willing and capable of sorting it out with the minimum of fuss, at a very reasonable price (or under warranty).

This is our aim and we will try our very best to ensure that there is no better place to use for the purchase, service or maintenance of an older Porsche than Hartech Automotive.

WE REALLY DO "CARE FOR YOU AND YOUR PORSCHE "

15 PART 2 DESCRIPTIONS of the various MODELS Porsche’s are no different and no guide should pretend etc and their BENEFITS & Problems. Plus General otherwise – but with careful selection of the right car and problems with Porsche ownership, prices, values the future source of repairs and maintenance, it can often etc. cost no more than a boring family saloon, yet bring with it far more pleasure and satisfaction. IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ FIRST This guide tries to provide all the information that will Good Porsche’s that are properly looked after rarely help you make the right decisions. Although it has been prove expensive to maintain and usually have minimal broken down into three parts (to help those in a hurry to depreciation (compared to similar sports cars) providing find the right information first) we would advise anyone an exciting and affordable experience for their owners. embarking on their first Porsche experience to try and Despite this – some Porsche’s that have been poorly read all three parts. maintained, bought from the wrong sources or simply have reached a point where some major repairs are due – INDEX can become expensive or depreciate a lot. Page. 17 Introduction to the range, General impressions of the cars. This guide pulls no punches in describing the potential The 924, The 924 Turbo faults and models – but please do not allow the photos Page 18 The 928, The early 944 (pre 1986). and descriptions of failures to put you off – as they are Page 19 The 924S, The later 944 (post 1985). Page 20The 944 Turbo, The 944S. merely to advise you what to look out for on the rare Page 21 Photo broken camshaft teeth, The 944 S2 and engine. occasions that they occur and also to demonstrate that Page 22 The 968, The 968 Sport. Hartech have the skills, equipment and facilities to Page 23 The 924S, 944 and 968 engine range (general problems) listed minimise such occurrences if and when such rare failures with sub-groups still occur - to repair them at reasonable costs (reduced Page 24 The 911 2.0 to 3.2 litre. Page 25 The 911 (964) Carrera 2 and 4 even further through our revolutionary Lifetime Page 26 The 993 Maintenance Plan). Page 27 The Boxster. Page 30, The 996 a few problems briefly discussed including liner We feel that this guide is all about informing you not just cracks. Page 32 Four-wheel drive & stability control. about the good side of Porsche ownership but also the Page 33 General problems all models (Interiors) things to avoid – so that it becomes a good experience. It Page 34 Electric's, Mechanical components – Brakes, Clutches, is impossible to achieve this and just put a gloss on Calliper plate lift, Suspension, Replacement wishbones. everything – but most Hartech customers enjoy their Page 35 Steering racks, Gearboxes, Instrumentation. Rear de-misters, Porsche experience – mirrored by the typical long length The difficulties of buying a good car. Page 36 The anomaly of the “full service history car”. of ownership and loyalty to Hartech – over many years. Page 37 Clocking and Cloning, High mileage cars Page 39 Prices. We also do not claim to be the only people who can Page.40 Depreciation and appreciation discussed. select good cars and who’s workmanship offers good Page. 42 Cost savings with Hartech. Page 43 Competitors offering different services. Tuning and track value for money and top class results. We do genuinely preparation, consumer protection. Write off's. believe that we offer a better range of services, at a more Page 44 Ringers, checking history. Bodywork and Paintwork. reasonable price, than anyone else in the UK – but it is Page 45 Fuel changes to unleaded. Hartech pre-purchase checks, Sales hard to be objective about ourselves and we accept that preparation. we can manage only a small part of the overall work Page 46 Hartech Servicing & Repairs. Page 47 General points relating to Hartech servicing and repairs. required anyway. Page 48, Opening and lead times, fuel levels, Security, collection & delivery, Courtesy cars., On-site insurance. We have noticed very few sources of information being Page 49 Global changes in the World Economy and how they may so honest about the potential pitfalls and have been affect the Porsche Market. Page 53 Customer commendations criticised for putting people off – which is a shame

because what we have published is a fair and true picture of reality and we add to it advice about how best to avoid typical disasters and protect your investment – but we cannot change reality and rightly or wrongly believe that a guide should cover both sides of the story.

Because all cars need some repairs, experience some depreciation and eventually have problems with corrosion, brittle plastic, perished rubber etc and

16 Introduction to the Range Despite originating from a design for , the 924 The , 928, 944, 968, 911 (including the 964, has been recognised as a truly excellent sports car in its 993 & 996) and the Boxster, represents excellent value for own right. They are economical tourers, with adequate money. Since the first 911 forty years ago and the 924, acceleration reaching 125 miles per hour. Despite the thirty years ago, the basic designs have proved successful, brakes being solid discs (front) and drums (rear), the competitive, and long lasting. As a result good cars are braking is quite good. The 50-50-weight distribution always in demand, with nice older examples holding their provides exceptional handling allowing many 924's to value or appreciating at present - but becoming increasingly compete favourably with much more powerful 911's at rare. They keep their looks, style, and general appearance track events. inside and outside, maintaining exceptional performance and superb handling even after many years and thousands With rear (for under 12’s) and practical rear luggage of miles, while preserving an unrivalled ability to turn space, the car is ideally suitable as a first Porsche for those heads and invoke desire in a way unique to the marque. with small budgets. Being inexpensive, even quite poor cars will find buyers on the private market, which makes it Classic car insurance can often provide inexpensive increasingly difficult for reputable dealers to address all the comprehensive cover over 5 or 10 years old and this preparation work for sale and have a competitive price. So combined with modest maintenance costs enables the most cars are bought privately but cheaply or are in ownership of some of the finest sports cars in the World to excellent concourse condition, but are expensive with reach even modest budgets. growing values.

Since 1976 (911) and 1982 (924 & 944) all chassis’ used Engines are remarkably reliable and can cover well over galvanised steel, providing the legendary appearance and 250 thousand miles. Cylinder head gaskets can leak at the structural integrity that enables them to outlast most other rear of the cylinder block, (revealed as a misfire when cold) cars mechanically. Some models do still have areas of the and are an expensive but long lasting repair. Exhaust studs exhaust system or chassis that will corrode and when they also fail and often require head removal. The various do it can happen quite quickly and be expensive to repair – electrical and temperature devices influencing the fuel but they can always be brought back to preserve long life injection system - can also play up. Although the parts can and good performance. When they do need parts or be inexpensive to buy, faults can be quite expensive to trace mechanical maintenance, the costs can then be quite high and repair. Air hoses frequently split and cause bad running but the repairs are long lasting again. Consequently, if they or starting. All 924's are prone to poor hot starting - but can are properly looked after, running costs are very reasonable be improved with our own hot start kit. taken as an overall picture. Unfortunately neglect in some areas can prove very expensive, especially for the owner at The 924 does not have blistering acceleration and by the time when the major work is required, or the next owner modern standards is quite slow off the mark although it is who bought a car - which has been sold precisely because great fun and better than many similar cars of the era. expensive repairs are looming. Clutches are operated by cable and can be quite heavy General impressions of the cars. particularly for ladies to use. Similarly there are very few available with power steering which can be heavy. 924 (2 litre, 4 cyl, 8 valve) . Although they are relatively inexpensive to buy - they cost just as much to repair and being older than average, it is easy to spend too much bringing them up to scratch especially since their lower value often results in less care. Despite these few faults they have extremely robust engines with considerable life spans. Most repairs are straightforward and could be carried out by the home mechanic quite successfully. A Haynes manual is available giving step-by-step guidelines to most repairs.

924 Turbo (2 litre, 4 cyl, 8 valve). This car is very much the Jekyll and Hyde of the water-cooled Porsche range, capable of 145mph performance with a huge surge of power evident when the turbo charger cuts in, putting it in the weekend fun machine category rather than a practical

17 all round sports car. The Mark1 version is prone to breather Pre 1986 944 (2.5 litre, 4 cyl, 8 valve) . The early 944 problems and smoking on acceleration. The Mk2 had overcame most of the disadvantages of both the 924 and the digital ignition and more torque. Due to corrosion, they can 924 turbo. The lightweight hydraulic clutch, and better prove very expensive to work on in exhaust manifold, turbo torque from the engine at low speed, was such an charger or waste gate areas, so engine rebuilds are improvement, that the cars became easier to drive and faster expensive and time consuming but thankfully then last than the normal 924 with more aggressive styling. many years again. It can be difficult and tiring to drive in Although not as fast as a 924 turbo in top speed, traffic and the dogleg gearbox is a little clumsy and prone nevertheless the 944 could cover ground in most situations to synchromesh problems on first and second gear. more quickly due to smoother power delivery and wider Performance relative to cost is phenomenal. Brakes and torque. suspension were developed into the 944, well up to coping with the performance providing a very fast Porsche Although the automatic version of the 924 is abysmally inexpensive to buy but potentially expensive to repair. The slow, the 944 automatic, due to its increased low speed Carrera GT version, (with wider 944 track, wheel arches torque, can be quite an acceptable sports car for those and increased performance) is exceptional with limited restricted to automatic choices (although with only three production making it a very desirable collectors items. speeds it is still slow overtaking at around 40 mph).

928. (8 and 16 valve V8). These are very luxurious, quick Perhaps the only drawback with these earlier models is that and dependable, with good handling and exceptional very few of them have power steering, and with the wider specifications. They incorporate a considerable number of wheel track and wheel rims, the steering can become even electronic controls with later cars having digital instruments heavier than a 924. They can be bought cheaply now but and memory seats etc. They are grand tourers very much in being quite old they suffer from lack of maintenance and the mould of a big Jaguar sports car and will effortlessly can prove very expensive to return to good condition. They cover huge mileages, ideal for motorway journeys or are unlikely to be found available from a reputable dealer, European travel. Engines are like a V8 made from two 944, who would struggle to afford all the work necessary and are 4 cylinder engines, the early ones up to S2's being 2 valve therefore mainly available from a private sale. heads (16 in all) and the later S4's being 4 valve heads (32 in all). They are consequently quite heavy and are prone to In late 1984/1985 (the last year of production), most of the all the same weaknesses and problems associated with the cars featured an electric sunroof and power steering, and 944S range except that there are twice as many parts to became probably the best examples available of the pre- replace or repair if needed. Although they are very reliable curved dash car. - as they age - expensive engine repairs may become necessary, which due to the lazy power available, may not Picture of 944 Early Type Dashboard be easy to notice until more serious damage has occurred. The big engine and double wishbone suspension renders the front feeling heavy despite power steering. The manual versions seem badly matched to the weight of the car and the inertia of the engine causes lurching when changing gear, with most owners consequently preferring automatics.

The combination of high weight, low fuel economy and the cost of honouring our warranties if a serious fault ever occurred, have made us reluctant to sell this model. Newer, lower mileage S4’s could be OK to buy but will eventually suffer the same problems as the other 16 valve engines, (camshafts and chains etc – although at a higher mileage) but there are twice as many components to replace, hence twice the cost.

For all these reasons we are not great lovers of this car as they are expensive to maintain (as they age), heavy and The early dashboard is prone to cracking due to differential thirsty and seem quite different to any other Porsche model expansion caused by sunlight and heat. It is rarely that combines lightweight and performance. economical to replace but can be improved by specialists.

18 924S (2.5 litre, 4 cyl, 8 valve). Post 1985 curved dashboard 944. (2.5 and 2.7 litre, 4 cyl, 8 valve).

This model came about by fitting the 944 engine, gearbox This model has been in great demand for many years – but and brakes, into the narrower 924 chassis design and shape. interest is reducing now that newer Porsche models are

becoming less expensive and more common.. It Often referred to as a 924 with a 944 engine, it would more incorporated many refinements over the already successful realistically be described as a 944 with the wheels moved in 944, mainly in the suspension, dashboard layout (see board about one inch (25 mm), and the bulges on the picture overleaf), instrumentation, heating, ventilating, bodywork smoothed out, since everything else about the car engine management systems, electrical height adjustment is more similar to the square dash board 944 than the on the drivers and all models have power steering. original 924.

Being in manufacture and available up to 1988, a private One difference is that the older 944 can have quite harsh number plate can obscure the true age of the car, providing suspension, but the 924S suspension is much softer and a vehicle with superb performance, modern appearance, forgiving, therefore providing a car every bit as fast as the and indeterminate age. 944, more comfortable to drive, with softer suspension characteristics and less aggressive styling. Like the 911 range - now that these cars are sought after -

the price for a nice one is very much higher than for a Many were bought by ladies and were well cared for and similar one of the same age in poorer condition. In fact all not abused, so the general condition, for a given age and the demand is for nice cars and rough ones are not only mileage can often be better than a 944. difficult for owners to sell but can be neither viable to

renovate nor attractive to collectors. When they were first built they proved so fast (compared to the more expensive 944 of the era) that it seems that This is very much a model to buy the best available and attempts were made to slow the model down by fitting it enjoy ownership while popularity remains high, with low compression pistons. The changes to unleaded anticipating continued demand for many years – eventually fuel since have now rendered this a happy coincidence as enjoying Classic car status. Many of our customers have this model will run on any unleaded fuel, while a later 924S owned the same 944 for 6-10 years and still cannot find a has higher compression (and can be faster than a newer replacement that compares. comparative 944). As a result it is no surprise that it has become a successful racing model and possibly the best The 2.7 litre model (some F and most G Reg.) was the last value for money buy of the whole range. of the normally aspirated 8 valve cars and featured ABS

and several other internal engine changes that render the The slightly narrower wheels make the steering easier (even model the best in the range. without optional power steering). Despite being manufactured until 1988, they still only had the A charming and well behaved Porsche, easily affordable instruments, heating and interiors fitted to pre 1986 “square yet with excellent performance and handling – capable of dash board” 944's. lasting almost for ever and with a dedicated following.

19 The curved dashboard 944 interior fitted to all 944 demand. With all the benefits of the curved dash 944, and range (including the turbo, S2 and the 968) often ABS as well, they do not suffer the delay in providing power to 3500 rpm of the 924 turbo, pulling well from 2000 rpm and the power delivery is much smoother and higher.

Although anyone buying one of these cars and using its performance to the full, must be a capable driver used to high speed, if they are driven without heavy use of the throttle pedal, they are surprisingly smooth, quiet, safe and quite sedate, more like a quality saloon than a sports car. They can therefore be ideal for two drivers sharing, where one drives modestly and is inexperienced with performance sports cars and another drives more aggressively, for whom little will ever out perform it.

They are comfortable in heavy slow traffic as well as really scintillating on the open road, thus easily fulfilling a dual role. The 220 bhp Turbo is very smooth and fast and a fine

grand-tourer being very well balanced. The 250 bhp Turbo Overall this model has very few faults but most owners sell is a little quicker and can be deceptively fast. Both can be when problems are looming and typically they may need a tuned up without much loss of reliability. Even in standard clutch, brakes, a head gasket or a water pump etc, when form they can still outrun a 968 Coupe. bought - with small faults to the electrics common but relatively easily repaired. Despite the much - improved performance resulting from

the inclusion of a turbo charger, the reliability of the Even a relatively inexpensive Porsche like this model, engines is extraordinarily high (apart from minor problems eventually needs a “birthday” that can cost £2 to £3K or with the waste gate, or cycling valve) and huge mileages more (which is often close to the value of the car) unless it with high reliability are commonplace. has had regular maintenance work carried out spreading that cost for the same work over several years. However We rarely have had to replace a worn out turbocharger and there is relatively little depreciation and not much because it pumps basically too much air into the engine alternative as avoiding expensive repairs eventually renders (and bleeds the excess away though the waste gate) - the car immobile and worth less than £500 for scrap. turbo's seem to always perform the same even after many

years and miles and are probably the most reliable in the 944 Turbo (2.5 litre, 4 cyl, 8 valve). whole range. Like all high performance Porsches, they need

to be properly maintained, but maintenance costs are only a little higher than with the standard 944, despite the complication of the turbo charging system. The brakes are also different, having aluminium callipers, which seize up and need frequent attention (often expensive). In conclusion this car is not for the faint hearted, and is a lot faster than the impression provided to the unfamiliar driver. Consequently many of them have had front-end crashes, with numerous examples recorded as having had major accident damage. Indeed it's very difficult to buy a 944 turbo that hasn't been bumped at some time in its life but if a straight one is found it is very valuable.

944S (2.5 litre, 4 cyl, 16 valve). The 944 S differed from the 8-valve single overhead camshaft standard 944 by being fitted with a double overhead camshaft and 16 valves With appearance likened to the exciting and original 924 resulting in a claimed extra 25 to 30 bhp. Although still Carrera GT, and later taken up by the 944S2, the 944 turbo only 2.5 litre - properly set up - it is comparable to the represents a modern looking car with absolutely fantastic standard 8 valve 944 with different power characteristics performance - increasingly rare yet with limited current and is technically more interesting. At about the time that

20 this engine was developed, many other manufacturers also examples will appreciate a little – but not enough to justify brought out their first multi valve engines. Many had poor the huge expense for running a disappointing Porsche all bottom end power and it took some years before the round. industry learned how to produce torque and brake horsepower across a wide range for 4 valve cylinder heads. Typical broken camshaft sprocket teeth shown below. Porsche’s 1 st 16-valve engine was no different and many examples, despite being fast when revved high, exhibit disappointing bottom end power (often exacerbated by inaccurate camshaft timing). Some customers (for whom speed is not important) enjoy this engine as the power increases with the revs and provides a smooth and progressive drive.

This model was amongst the first developed using digital electronic control systems and was the first to use a new control system leaving little tuning potential for later life. Unfortunately, with age, general engine wear and carbon deposits - in some cases the control parameters have moved outside of the scope of the tiring engine management system resulting in problems starting and with an erratic tickover (especially from cold) - lowering popularity. Valve springs may also fail over 130K miles and as head These problems are not exhibited in all examples and now gaskets may fail after about 10 years it is a sensible that they are older, we come across - some that perform precaution on older and higher mileage cars to have all the very well indeed and others that seem to have lost above checked and replaced as necessary (including S2’s something that is impossible to get back. This may be and 968’s) because despite this worrying weak spot, once caused by a self-learning computer control element going the necessary parts are replaced (at a cost typically between out of range in some examples. These potential problems £600 and £1500), the engines are then amongst the most were largely remedied in the S2 engine that superseded it. reliable and cover enormous mileage's. Properly maintained they are, smooth and economical and include anti knock Unlike other models in the range, the cam belt on the 944S sensors to protect against low octane fuel and (and the S2 and 968) only drives one camshaft. Half way detonation/pre-ignition/pinking – particularly relevant with down this camshaft an integral sprocket drives the second recent changes to unleaded fuel. camshaft through a chain and hydraulic tensioner. Unfortunately - although most owners realise that they need 944S2 (3.0 litre, 4 cyl, 16 valve). to change cam belts regularly - it seems that there has been insufficient attention raised about the need to change the camshaft chain & tensioner runners on these models, which can result in serious engine failure at around 85K to 120K miles costing anything up to £5000 to repair.

Although it may be possible to replace the chain before it snaps, the wear on the sprockets (caused by leaving it too late) often requires these to be replaced as well (or the new chain will soon break the worn teeth) and as the sprockets are part of the camshafts, it is expensive. While the cost of this replacement (if needed) is regarded as well worth while with the S2 and 968 (due to the overall outstanding performance and reliability resulting) the comparatively modest performance of the 944 S and occasional temperamental behaviour of some examples has put off some potential owners – indeed this has become one of those models that has fallen out of favour and is worth very little. As a result they will be available privately very When Porsche changed the styling of the 944S to mirror the cheaply and eventually - one the few remaining nice 944 Turbo, used its brakes and increased the engine size to

21 3 litres (making the S2) - they transformed both the looks suffers from premature pinion bearing wear in some and performance. With similar power to the 220 bhp 944 examples requiring remedial action). Turbo, but no turbo lag, they provided a very torquey gutsy feeling engine that improved all round performance to turbo Two versions were originally made available, the luxurious levels. They can be exceptionally reliable and good 968 (with 16” wheels) and the contrasting light but performers with quite different characteristics to the turbo, somewhat crudely appointed Club Sport *with 17” wheels). each suiting different drivers depending upon their driving Later a demand grew for a compromise between the two style and needs. Good examples are always in demand. versions and the Sport version was listed, usually with a With more responsive power than a 220 bhp Turbo and mixture of the best specifications of the other two. slightly better torque low down than the 250 bhp Turbo, the result is a very fast engine without turbo lag and similar The Sport typically had 17-inch wheels and usually had immediate throttle response to a 911. electric windows and mirrors, manually adjustable seats and an electric sunroof. The modern looks and outstanding 944S2 Engine . performance of these practical sports cars combined with the small number manufactured have increased demand and prices remain exceptionally high.

Britain often lags 10 or 15 years behind consumer demand in the USA where a third or fourth car is now being bought and kept purely for track use (reflecting public concern about putting others at risk on public roads by competitive driving). This application is gaining favour now in the UK where the 968 is recognised as the best all round value for money and suitability for the purpose.

Many Club Sport examples have had a hard life as a result but there are still some Sports that are in excellent condition. However with camshafts and gearbox pinion bearing problems, even a nice example can cost up to £3K or £4K to sort out to return it into a reliable performer for many more thousands of miles on road or track (ignoring Most engines seem to have the potential to cover at least the cost of paintwork) and prices therefore very enormously 250,000 miles while still performing like new (apart from with condition by anything up to £5K. the camshaft drive problems referred to previously on the 944S). The brakes can need moderately expensive attention The 968 Sport. quite regularly, however compared to the performance, the necessary preventative maintenance is inexpensive and the resulting product is absolutely superb. They are very cheap to buy at the moment as there are many for sale and represent superb value for money – but often need an expensive “birthday” before providing reliable motoring once again.

968 (3.0 litre, 4 cyl, 16 valve).

This model was the final development of the original 924 and is based upon the 944S2 with several significant changes. It was re-styled to incorporate some more modern 911 styling features (very similar the more recent 993) and the S2 based engine received a variable inlet camshaft- timing device to further increase mid range torque.

Gearboxes were available as a 4 speed-tiptronic - which It has a superb engine, similar to the S2 with improved regrettably makes the car slow compared to the - 6 speed torque. It still has potential problems with camshafts, belts manual version - which is an excellent performer (but and chains, (similar problems with 944S and S2) and of course the gearbox already mentioned. These will probably

22 materialise after higher miles still and these minor problems investigation of these components should take place with are easily avoided with proper maintenance and timely any car that is new to the buyer and is as important as replacement parts. checking or changing the belts.

There were also a few detailed changes in specification Oil cooler . The oil cooler in pre '89 and non-turbo engines from the S2 that didn't really improve this model as much is not an air-cooled system as with most high performance as expected. We have noticed many examples where the cars, but is like a small radiator fitted inside the main water new fully automatic camshaft belt tensioner is on the verge jacket of the cylinder block. On earlier models, they were of failing (through having become fully extended or seized connected by red seals, which have a limited life and to the pivot shaft or undoing the pivot pin which then fails eventually leak. Replacement green seals have a much through metal fatigue) which could cause serious engine longer life. If they leak they enable oil under pressure to be damage. Fortunately the problem is avoidable with proper passed into the water-cooling system as a brown sludge maintenance and attention to those areas with serious damage to the engine a resulting possibility.

In an attempt to reduce the cost of replacing the expensive Head Gasket . As these all aluminium water-cooled rubber damped clutch on the previous models, a dual mass engines heat up and cool down the continual expanding and flywheel was fitted instead (as had been reasonably contracting, compresses the head gasket until after many successfully achieved with the later 911's). However - years it can fail – or it can simply rot away. This is usually perhaps due to the less smooth power delivery from a 4 noticeable by the car running hotter than normal, the level cylinder engine and greater individual power pulses in the header tank always being at the low level and (compared to a 6 cylinder 911) they do seem to start failing excessive pressure in the top hose. Left unattended, these quite early in their life, causing a slight vibration on faults can become serious but replacement is long lasting. tickover and eventual rough power delivery. However, if this is ok, then clutch replacement is much less expensive Tappets . Light tappet ticking noises are not necessarily a and quick to achieve. Anyway dual mass flywheels can be problem and can happily be ignored providing they are not sourced at reasonable prices – if needed. excessive. Sometimes the noise that sound like tappets actually emanates from the fuel injectors anyway and this The 924S, 944 & 968 Engine range. As these have can be checked by revving the engine and shutting the similar components and problems they are listed here throttle because if the throttle switch is set correctly, the generally to cover all models. They provide very robust injectors shut as the throttle is shut (except on cars with engines providing superb power delivery, and long life. some performance chips fitted that originate from racing Failures are usually avoidable without huge expense and applications and leave the injectors working both ways). are predictable in most cases (following inspection by an The 944, 2.7 models - seem to reach the point of tappets expert), but failure in any one of the engine components “ticking” at lower mileages due to increased - tappet to can be expensive to repair and is best avoided. housing wear rates caused by the higher lift camshaft lobes fitted. The engines are capable of well over 250 thousand miles (with proper maintenance), although with neglect they can Piston Ring Wear. The aluminium cylinder blocks on suffer damage at anything above 50 thousand miles. The these cars do not have cast iron liners. Although the silicon key is to allow an expert to carry out a few simple checks, nitrides that are cast in the mix provide a superb lubricating which will reveal the condition of the engine – reliably. surface and long life to pistons, some pre '87 944/924S models (and many 911, 3.2 Carrera’s) can wear out rings The main problems (which are quite rare or only occur after prematurely. This can put a deep score in the cylinder bore perhaps 80 to 120,000 miles) are: - Cam belts. The cam to cause it to be scrapped. If the engine on one of these belt and balance shaft belt, although inexpensive to replace, models smokes badly on heavy acceleration at high revs, once snapped can cause the valves to hit the pistons and then the piston rings are probably nearing the end of their this can result in the whole engine being lost. They should useful life. If this is left unattended they can break up into be checked during each service (replacements should be small pieces eventually turning and wrecking the cylinder undertaken at least every 45 thousand miles, reducing to bores. A puff of smoke when changing gear is commonly 30K on higher mileage cars as the pulleys wear and caused by old valve guide seals and is not necessarily increase wear rates of new belts). The rollers (and water serious. pump pulley) around which the belts travel, are not externally lubricated but have sealed for life bearings and if Vibrations & Engine Mountings. There are four typical these fail they can cause a perfectly good belt to snap with sources of vibration on the 944 (including the S, S2, Turbo the resulting serious damage previously mentioned. A full and 968) engine. One is that the balance shaft belt has

23 snapped, giving a fine vibration at low revs - up to about the later examples – which are also becoming very difficult 2000 rpm. Clutch cush drive problems can cause vibrations to find in suitable condition to renovate - at the right price. throughout the whole rev range. A worn out - off side - engine mounting results in a harsh vibration on tick over We do not offer a full renovation service for very neglected which goes away with revs. The most common vibration is - older examples anyway - because they occupy too much caused by incorrectly fitting the balance shaft pulleys workshop space for too long. It will therefore prove very and/or inadvertently miss-timing the shafts. This can difficult for a private buyer to find a reasonably priced, actually make the vibration worse than if the belt was not reliable pre 1987 911 that is not hiding expensive faults. connected in the first place and is often revealed as a vibration worse at 2000 & 4000 revs. Although it was built to very high quality standards, it’s very success (combined with Porsche’s own relatively If a car is driven around for a long time with the vibration limited resources) held back it’s modernisation and present, it can weaken the oil suction pick up tube - which although it was probably the fastest and most exiting sports can later snap off loosing all oil pressure. car of it’s era, it does now seem quite old fashioned in it’s interior and lack of extras. All the above water-cooled models are reasonably comfortable and sophisticated (for the age of the cars), Never the less it does have a unique character and presence relatively reliable and predictable and can therefore be all of it's own. It provides even more image than a 944, maintained for modest cost once the maintenance has been seems more thrilling to drive but due to it’s comfort got on top of again and the car restored to it’s original shortcomings, it is probably more suited to occasional use condition and specification. and short journeys for those who can use something else for day to day use and the 911 for special occasions. This 911 (2 litre to 3.2 litre, 6 cyl to 1989). These air cooled aside, the 911's thrilling engine note, 1 st gear acceleration 911's are completely different cars to the typical 944/968 and head turning potential is second to none. water cooled range, for a different market. Being more noisy and less comfortable, with less sure footed handling, 1979 911 SC 3.0 Litre Targa and a more old fashioned interior and driving position, they nevertheless do have a unique character and presence all of their own and consequently have a huge following.

They are exceptionally exciting to drive, feeling more like racing cars with direct steering and noisy engines and have a more aggressive look. While this can be a positive benefit for those wanting a traditional sports car for occasional “Sunday” driving it is less attractive for daily use now that modern saloon cars have become so quiet and comfortable.

In addition to the well known corrosion areas of the front wings (under the lights and the rear sides), the rear quarters and the lower windscreen to rubber seal face, they are beginning to corrode under the rear of the drivers door area, anti roll bar mountings and the front inner wings – which are very costly to repair, especially with a quality re-paint. Early 1970’s models were surprisingly fast and light giving The deterioration can be quite rapid once it starts so it is excellent first gear acceleration and the drive and the sound possible to buy an apparently sound car only to find it of that superb 6 cylinder engine combined with the light needs expensive bodywork within a year or two and this weight and steering provides a unique experience that is becomes a necessary evil for any owner unless the work has always thrilling and satisfying. The later 3.2 Carrera did recently already been done.. take a big step forward in beginning to modernise the

interior and the fuel and engine management systems. The Exhausts and heat exchangers are commonly in need of light hydraulic clutch and the G50 gearbox fitted in 1987, replacement and engine rebuilds for various reasons are brought this version closest to being an acceptable drive by becoming more common. As a result we have found it is modern standards, but the performance of all models over uneconomic to prepare, pre '83 models to our usual the years, right from the 2 litre to the 3.2, was quite similar standards for sale and therefore usually only start selling as gradual refinement increased the weight and increasing

24 demands on emissions reduction required bigger engines standards for sale and it is impossible to buy a good car, but with gradually improving performance. add that cost and then sell it again.

The 911 engine has long been established as a powerful and We also prefer coupe’s to targa’s or cabriolets, due to reliable unit with good power to weight ratio and torquey difficulties with water leaking in as the cars age and general performance. Although older 911's tend to be used quite weakening of the chassis. Even though the 3.2 models infrequently (which usually renders the engine internals incorporate the improved Motortronic fuel injection, we comparatively unworn), there are numerous places for oil still find that they often need engine rebuilds (for rings and seals to shrink with age and for oil to leak out, while seals) and new exhausts and clutches. The latter version camshafts and followers can begin to wear making them with the G50 gearbox overcame the synchromesh problems quite “tappety”. of the earlier model and provided a much better gearbox to use. Having a dry sump - some cars can - if left standing - fill Fortunately demand seems to increase for nice the crankcases with oil causing smoking on firing up and examples so even when expensive work is required the causing oil to bypass the rings and fill up the exhaust eventual cost compared to the pleasure of ownership system - but it can burn of with use. Initial smoking is and eventual re-sale value – is usually still a bargain for therefore not always a sign of a badly worn out engine. most. The heat exchangers are notoriously vulnerable and potentially dangerous and many sellers disconnect the air 964 (3.6 litre Carrera 2 & 4, from 1990) feed into the cockpit to disguise a fault by preventing fumes filling the inside of the car. Providing seals and gaskets are This model superseded the 3.2 Carrera, having slightly changed when needed and care taken re-setting the cam smoother styling, a bigger engine, power steering and ABS, chain tensioners and positions, the engines will satisfy the Carrera 4 having 4 wheel-drive through a front occasional use with moderate performance. . The turbo charged Turbo 2 example is quite awesome. The pre 3.0 litre engines seem to be a little bit more reliable than the 3.0 S/C or Carrera 3 because it is not uncommon to They are a big all round improvement on the older 911, break a cylinder head stud on a 3.0 litre engine requiring bringing the drive and comfort more into line with the expensive replacements. With all models - because the quality of the original 944, while maintaining the mystique engine needs removing to tackle most jobs - it usually pays and thrill of a traditional 911. They have a revised exhaust to thoroughly overhaul it while it is out to avoid the system that sounds just fabulous. An interesting option is expense of continuous removal as things go wrong, hence the Tiptronic, 4 speed sequential gearbox, making small jobs can grow to involve quite high costs. automatic driving more sporty and fun again with very little loss of performance once the car has got away from a The very early models had either two triple choke standing start (at which it is a little slow). carburettors (which worked well but had no effective cold start requiring some patience) or mechanical fuel injection, which by now is becoming quite unreliable. They are light and had good performance with twitchy handling that took time to learn to control safely.

When they rust there are plenty of specialists who will fully refurbish them – at a high cost. They are typical of other sports cars of that age and have – what today would be regarded as – rather crude and basic interiors and controls. The introduction of K fuel injection for 2.7 and bigger engines around 1974, improved the fuelling, starting and emissions (but is still crude by modern standards) and continued through the 2.7 - 3 litre Carrera 3, SC and Turbo.

We try to avoid buying anything prior to the 3.2 Carrera (unless it is a part exchange or a car previously sold and looked after by ourselves) because we have found that we The introduction of ABS was a major step forward since have often spent over £5000 renovating them to reach our the age-old danger of spinning the tail end of a 911 under

25 braking (due largely to the very light front end locking up However some electrical problems are beginning to emerge and the weight transferring to the rear as the front slides out that are quite complicated due to increased sophistication. sideways) has been severely reduced and safety has been Usually the fault is easy to put right once the reason has greatly enhanced. The application of a 4 wheel-drive option been worked out but they can be very time consuming to has further improved the safety features although many solve. Often the computerised diagnostic systems reveal a prefer the handling of the Carrera 2 – providing the perfect fault but not the real cause and circuit diagrams have to be blend between the old and the new. traced and analysed to work out why the diagnostics got things wrong. Sometimes a proprietary alarm/immobiliser The first 3.6 engines (the 964 Carrera 2 & 4) are very system will handicap the diagnostic process. If the battery powerful, responsive and fast incorporating a number of goes flat it is necessary to download software from a Bosch technical changes from the 3.2, but they were not as reliable Hammer computer (which we have) to enable it to run and are more time consuming to work on and servicing properly from tickover. Later cars (like the 993) costs are therefore higher. incorporated this software into the car’s computer to get round this. Some problems with unstable tickover are Things were improved with the 993, so while the 964 range beginning to emerge that have a variety of causes that will are fabulous cars, they can also be very expensive to no doubt be resolved in time. maintain and so we have increased all our prices for this model in our Lifetime Maintenance Plan. There are for These problems have created a huge difference in the example twice as many spark plugs than the older 911's and performance, desirability and running costs between good it is necessary to remove the under-trays and exhaust well cared for examples (probably by now having already system to gain access to the lower row of the twin spark had an engine rebuild) and the usual rough, poorly cared for plugs for each cylinder or to adjust tappets. Many examples examples that proliferate. As a result, prices have fallen we see have not had these lower plugs replaced by the last dramatically – creating an unusual situation. Because many service centre. Consequently service prices are higher and of the rough ones will never be recoverable into a good car because many cars have not been properly serviced (to at any price and others will prove very expensive but avoid these costs) additional problems have emerged. possible – prices are so low that the few excellent examples are actually relatively cheap – if they can be found and A change was also made from solid gaskets to recessed identified. Furthermore, although prices of those good rubber seals in some engine joints, which work well for examples will not rise for a while, the rough ones will many years and improve accessibility and strip down times. quickly disappear and eventually the good remaining cars However they eventually shrink and need replacing. may well become worth more and therefore be regarded as a bargain right now. Because of their poor reputation we do Although the cylinder head sealing system on the 3.2 not buy this model on the open market, although those that Carrera was reasonably reliable, the additional bore size we sold in the past (usually having rebuilt the engine before rendered the 964 prone to oil leaks through the cylinder the sale or afterwards as part of the Maintenance Plan) have head joint face. Porsche modified this design later with new proven to be extremely reliable and we have had no revised cylinders and heads and a Cooper type-sealing ring complaints about them from the various owners. - but for many the cost of these replacements is prohibitive. Also the cylinder base seals were vulnerable. Most businesses struggled to make the service work pay (despite charging higher prices) and had 2 choices, to do it All this combined with a power steering shaft seal that has properly anyway or cut corners. In view of the satisfaction limited life have rendered these cars likely to leak some oil with our own cars we conclude that perhaps the bad as they age. Unfortunately, even when they have been reputation of the 964 has come about simply because so rebuilt they are not always oil tight. We modify the many cars never received the proper maintenance that all cylinders to accept the later head gasket sealing rings – Porsches benefit from – and actually may not have been so which greatly improves sealing but still they sometimes expensive to run, if the original work had been carried out eventually leak a little. Higher mileage cars would benefit correctly – and may therefore still recover to hold their from new big end shells when the “top end rebuild” is place in history eventually. considered – developing into a full engine overhaul – perhaps £4K or so. 993 (3.6 litre, Carrera 2's & 4's)

Despite this, the basic engine performs superbly and we This has become possibly the most desirable model under expect that, if they are properly looked after, they will £35K with most owners of older – less expensive Porsches prove mechanically as reliable as the previous models. – now dreaming of owning one someday – cementing their long term value.

26 Porsche took another step forward in the styling (now we have reflected this in our comparatively low lifetime actually almost reverted to in the latest 997), with several maintenance plan costs for the 993. technical refinements rendering it a better drive of similar quality to the 944/968 range and good fun into the bargain. With the benefits of this fantastic car being more widely publicised, demand is increasing as enthusiasts focus on it Tiptronic gear change developed into the "S" type with as the one they ultimately aspire to. This gives confidence steering wheel push button gear change. Alternatively a 6 that the 993 will be a good investment and continue to be in speed manual option is faster than anything that preceded it huge demand with minimum depreciation for many years to – with a top speed of 168mph plus. It also had numerous come. technical upgrades and refinements over the 964, such as hydraulic tappets, which for the first time eliminated the Regardless off all those practical benefits – the 993 just time consuming and painstaking task of setting tappet simply oozes beauty, refinement and sex appeal – it really clearances during every service reducing running costs. is an exceptional final version of that long line of emotive cars from the original 911 range. Up to (and including) this model, Porsche’s quest for quality and longevity resulted in many components being Boxster made almost too well and to last almost indefinitely – increasing production costs – arguably unnecessarily - INTRODUCTION TO SOME DIFFERENCES reducing Porsche’s profits and resulting in financial CUSTOMERS MAY EXPERIENCE COMPARED TO vulnerability. More cost-effective production engineering ALL THE “OLDER” MODELS. on subsequent models has reduced production costs – increased profits and enabled Porsche to grow with Unlike all the preceding models, the Boxster was a wholly confidence. This therefore places the 993 as the last of a new car coming to the market without the benefit of years of dynasty - likely to be regarded as a classic – perhaps THE gradual development, improvement and customer feedback classic Porsche for many years to come – last air-cooled that the older cars received. Some doubt therefore was 911 with origins still traceable to the original examples and understandably initially attached to it over its long-term a fabulous drivers car in all situations and conditions. viability, reliability and market acceptance. With one exception - those fears have proven largely unfounded and The 993 Coupe the Boxster has been in existence long enough to establish that it doesn’t usually have any serious long term running costs or problems and is as desirable a product as all those that preceded it.

The exception is that – like any other manufacturer, Porsche have modernised their whole designs to suit modern production methods – and to take account of the relatively higher repair prices that many garages charge now.

This keeps the cost of the “new” cars more reasonable (and therefore to everyone’s advantage), but does sometimes increase the cost of repairs for some failures (although some other parts can be remarkably inexpensive). It also means that sometimes the only repair option provided or recommended by Porsche is a whole new unit whereas the traditional repair may have been to strip and fix an internal The beautiful exhaust growl from the 964 seems to have fault. Overall, the reliability appears excellent (with a recent been improved yet again and the ride and revised Which report recording 98% satisfaction amongst owners – suspension has improved comfort levels that are now one of the highest ever satisfaction statistics). Hartech are at exceptional, while many mechanical improvements have the forefront of those independent providers that are coming been put in place - reducing service costs dramatically. up with more cost effective solutions to the most expensive repairs and replacements and to reflect this, our "Lifetime As perhaps the last true variant of the original air-cooled Maintenance Plan" prices are the similar for the Boxster as 911 it is by far the best and will be in huge demand for the original 944 model. many years. They will probably develop a comparable reputation for longevity and reliability to the 944 range and

27 The Boxster rear de-mister for the winter months. Another extra is traction control, which helps in two ways.

The “Driving Stability Control” reduces engine power if there is an excessive difference between wheel speed, (i.e. a spinning wheel), & the “Brake Regulation” instructs the system to apply the brake to the spinning wheel. The traction control is automatically on every time the engine is started but this can be turned off to suit different circumstances, (still allowing the odd wheel-spin!).

With modern looks, excellent performance and excellent handling, the Boxster is in strong demand and will certainly become another classic Porsche. It has been made affordable by incorporating modern design and production methods, which have provided a high quality vehicle at reasonable cost. The Boxster 2.5 was Porsche’s answer to the current wave of affordable 2 seater roadsters. It combined the latest The mid-age reliability is proving excellent however, we fashionable styling with the traditional quality driving still cannot assess the very long-term reliability until time experience for which Porsche have been renowned for and mileages reach a point where such problems may or may years. not occur. Early signs are that they will actually prove every bit as reliable as their predecessors, but they are an entirely The positioning of the 205 Bhp mid-situated engine resulted new model without very much similar to their older stable- in superb handling & performance with space at the front mates and only time will ultimately tell. They certainly will and rear of the car for 2 good sized luggage compartments, lead to a different approach towards long-term maintenance. allowing this superb sports car to double up as a practical . mode of transport, (providing that 2 seats is enough!). It seems that most cars have no serious reliability problems and that the engines and gearboxes may even be superior to The Tiptronic S 5 speed automatic version is a little slower their predecessors and perform well for huge mileages. on pick up from a standing start but great fun using the However – although a failure is extremely rare – if and when steering wheel mounted switches to change gear (although it occurs many competitors will argue that it may need either most drivers admit to eventually simply leaving it in “D” a good used replacement or a factory-reconditioned unit to and using the kick-down for fast acceleration). repair. Fortunately Hartech have already carried this out and managed to repair and/or replace the few engines and The camshaft timing system combines good low gearboxes that failed, at very reasonable prices for new speed torque (for the engine size) with a noticeable increase customers. So far – no serious failures have occurred with in power and exhaust note over 4,000 revs. In common with cars we have sold and/or look after – which may or may not the 996 the engine is water cooled to enable it to comply prove to be a coincidence. We have noticed that a lot of cars with ever-stringent exhaust emission levels, benefiting from have existing faults the first time that they come to Hartech added noise reduction as a hidden benefit. that the owners were unaware of and have been driving around with. Some of these could well eventually contribute The 2.5 model was superseded by the 2.7 in late 1999 (by to greater problems if they were not repaired in time and increasing the stroke). This was quite common practice in might explain at least some of the reported failures. the history of new model development at Porsche – waiting for a period of time to expire to establish any weak areas Our guess is that they will prove very reliable indeed for before increasing engine size and follows almost exactly the many years, but then need similar engine overhauls, as development of the 911 and 944 range. There is however presently apply to the existing 911 range, which by then very little practical difference in performance and so – as far businesses like Hartech will be able to provide. as customer choice goes – we would not particularly distinguish by capacity between the two for price or quality. The engine does not have separate cylinders (as the previous 911’s did) and the cylinders form part of the crankcase An interesting package of general extras influences prices casting (as with 944’s and 968’s). Consequently – if they do and desirability more, such as a removable hard top with fail – sometimes the only solution suggested by others - is to

28 replace the whole engine. This could be with a new one (at huge cost) or a good used one (at around £5K + Vat).

Crankcase incorporating cast in “preformed” liners.

The crankcase housing is separate from the main casings.

The basic engine is the same as that used in the 996 (apart from an increase in capacity) and although Hartech have developed a replacement liner solution for the 996 - so far we have not seen any Boxster cylinder failures (and expect such occurrences to be rare as the cylinder wall thickness is much bigger).

Some intermediate shafts have inexplicably failed – but Porsche have come up with improved replacements (see photo’s). Picture of original failed intermediate shaft bearing

There are a lot of parts in one of these engines (see following photo which does not include crankcases, crankshaft or housing etc) and so the labour to strip and rebuild them is expensive and unlikely to be viable except in a lower overhead organisation like Hartech’s.

In 1999 another new model was also introduced – the Boxster S with a bigger engine and a 6 speed gearbox. This moved performance levels significantly higher with exceptional acceleration and top speed. Unlike many earlier cabriolet/ designs (that basically had modified chassis’ developed from an original coupe design) the Boxster chassis is purpose designed and is remarkably stiff, exhibiting little of the scuttle shake that often rendered Engine being rebuilt with the upgraded intermediate shaft earlier cabriolets less capable at speed or for track use.

29 The 996

The 996 is the latest 911 variant sharing much of the modern chassis technology, styling and engine characteristics with the Boxster (with many common parts). However the engine position relies upon the tried and tested experience of all 911’s – behind the gearbox (instead of in front of it as with the Boxster). This provides the space for rear seats (as previous 911’s) preserving the new 911 as a 2+2. However - to comply with current and future emission legislation – this 911 (as with the Boxster) has finally adopted water cooling – to the dismay of some

traditionalists. While this has given the reputation of the

previous model (the 993) a lift (being the last of the air This has enabled the Boxster S to exploit the extra power cooled 911’s) it had also heaped some additional criticism without handicap – providing one of the best handling and of this latest model as traditional “air- cooled” fanatics tried fastest cabriolets of all time. Even the tiptronic version has to express their disappointment over the water-cooling benefited from the additional engine power – giving very issue. But time and the quality and performance of the cars acceptable performance figures, better than many previous – has now overcome this resistance and little criticism is coupe models. heard nowadays.

Perhaps the only criticism of this superb car - has been the It was common to hear that the suspension is too soft (for flexible rear screen. It does deteriorate (and you need to be example). People forget that all modern cars – even family sure as it folds away that it is not kinked and be careful if it saloons – have improved immeasurably over recent years has been in very cold condition prior to operating it) but and by comparison the older Porsche models often feel this is a small criticism of an otherwise high quality their age. So for us - as both engineers and enthusiasts – we product. However – unlike previous cabriolets - the Boxster find the 996 a superb sports car and that the improvements whole hood is much easier to replace – so when they in engine technology and suspension sophistication have eventually wear out or the rear screen becomes obscure and provided yet another step forward in the glittering history scratched - the replacement cost will be more reasonable of 911 production that will be revered for years to come. than with previous models. In the autumn of 2002, Porsche finally provided a glass rear screen to put an end to this They have provided a modern Sports car with a faster, slightly unfair criticism, although the resulting new line of quieter engine and exceptional handling and comfort as the rear of the hood is - for some - not quite such an well. For us - this combination of old and new - has attractive shape as before – proving just how hard it can be st provided a modern 21 century sports car that still retains to please everyone. that unique 911 mystique. It is also the fastest naturally

aspirated 911 ever yet maintains that legendary Porsche

driveability at all speeds and in all conditions adding a

pleasant surge of power over 4000 rpm.

30 With impeccable handling and legendary build quality, this Picture of cracked cylinder showing 2 cracks. 911 will suit those for whom the evocative styling is an essential expression of their modern lifestyle and taste, One two combining fantastic performance, state of the art technology, cutting edge styling with comfort and I I sophistication.

We are aware of some bad publicity over the cost of some engine failures – reaching the Internet and making the older cars seem a risk. As with the Boxster – it is too soon to list all the problems associated with high mileages and the ravages of time – but initial impressions are as favourable as the Boxster and engine and gearbox repairs and replacements will follow much the same advice.

Indeed - we have similar problems with these cars as other models (chain failure, variocam solenoids, intermediate shafts, valve springs etc).

A typical broken valve spring (see coils on left hand side).

Although there are more expensive answers – our cost effective solutions are currently under long term tests but already a full option menu for such repairs for Boxsters and 996’s is available and will include our own unique cylinder liner replacement as soon as tests are completed satisfactorily.

The reasons for the cracks are complicated but they are influenced by new materials technology and the fact that the wall thickness of the 996 variant is thinner than the Boxster versions, allowing (it seems) the 996 cylinders to stretch oval over a long time in use – until some eventually crack.

Hartech have written a full and lengthy report on these failures (that follow in section 4) and are also in technical contact with the manufacturers of the cylinder block Failures are rare and we have looked after some cars have castings – to discuss our own solutions and to invite their exceeded 100K miles without any failures and are still co-operation. running fine. Whatever the outcome – there are still 2 problems to Although it is rare - a failed cylinder does occasionally crop overcome – firstly to repair or replace the cracked liner and up (cracked or seized) which will require a reasonably secondly to re-shape the other “oval” bores so that they expensive solution - often a new or good used engine – or a become round again to reduce the excessive piston repaired or rebuilt one. However Hartech can offer a choice clearance that has resulted. of very cost effective solutions if this rare problem ever occurred. To solve this first problem - we jig bore out the old failed liner and replace it with a Hartech manufactured liner and to solve the second problem we re-shape the oval bores back to round again and then modify the cylinder block to incorporate some restraining rings at the top of the cylinders to prevent further movement - as shown.

31 reconditioned engine that will provide many more miles of The cracked liner being machined out in Hartech’s own reliable motoring. In this way – we have managed to engineering workshop. minimise the cost of any rare problems anyway by coming up with solutions that are less expensive than many of our competitors options – and in the process enabled the 996 to join the traditional list of generally reliable and economic sports cars provided by Porsche as an affordable option as they age and prices bring them into the realm of less wealthy prospective owners.

We have taken quite a risk in providing both the Boxster and 996 with cover under our Lifetime Maintenance Plan – as we do not yet know how they will fare in time (especially as the scheme has no time or mileage limit). This is an expression of our confidence in the continuing quality and longevity of both examples. Furthermore, although most of the cars we see have run reliably for many thousands of miles, occasionally, one comes in with a serious engine or gearbox problem advised elsewhere as needing replacement. So far we have managed to repair both gearboxes and engines or replaced them with used Then a Hartech designed and supplied liner is replaced in alternatives supplied by specialist Porsche breakers at the original crankcase – as shown. reasonable costs (much less than the Porsche supplied reconditioned alternatives).

Although we have not had to do this yet for anyone presently covered under our Lifetime Maintenance Plan – it would probably be done, free of any labour charge – if it ever occurred – providing a lower cost alternative should the worst happen than any know options elsewhere – but if the frequency of failures became to common, we may have to limit our contribution to a more fair proportion – time will tell..

Four Wheel drive and Stability Control.

One of the criticisms of the 911 up to 1989 was that it was old fashioned technically. The 944 had introduced ABS before then and the 911 was deemed to be lagging behind. All this changed with the introduction of the 964, when ABS became standard on all 911’s. Once sensors were Customers can just have the damaged liner replaced – or fitted to work out individual wheel speeds – several other they can also have another modification applied to the other possibilities to control other aspects of car dynamics good liners which has been designed to help them avoid emerged. A further step forward was then taken with the any further cracks in future and to re-shape the bores round introduction of a 4-wheel drive alternative - the Carrera 4. again – thus preserving the original piston clearances. Because the gearbox is in front of the rear engine, it was The result is very cost effective and customers can choose possible to fit a passing forward to the front of to combine other modifications at the same time – such as the car where it drives another small differential to the front replacing cam chains and tensioner guide plates, valve wheels. Set with a power split of 31% front & 69% rear, springs etc depending upon the mileage already covered – computer controlled transverse and longitudinal differential their future needs and their pockets. They can therefore locks alter this split if it is sensed that front, rear or opposite minimise the repair costs to just that needed to repair the wheels are starting to slip under power – giving greater damaged area only – or have other vulnerable parts control in difficult driving conditions. To help get going in replaced at the same time to result in a wholly slippery conditions an alternative diff lock can be selected

32 to drive all wheels together up to about 30kph (20mph). We conditions or potential accidents or inexperienced drivers have noted that this model also has longitudinal and lateral unused to handling such a fast and powerful car. accelerometers fitted to measure sideslip and rotation of the car. These also are involved in the dynamics of the For’s and against’s. computer programme. Included in the arguments for these 4 wheel drive and The 993, additionally, has an automatic brake differential stability management systems is the added safety for system fitted (ABD) that applies the individual brake to any inexperienced drivers or unexpected conditions. It enables wheel that is slipping (up to 44 mph) – without locking it of drivers to get away with more as the car compensates. course. There are however quite a few arguments against. They In addition to “ABD”, the 993 turbo and Carrera 4, are may invoke a false of security or confidence. Drivers who equipped with permanent 4 wheel drive driven via a are used to handling fast rear wheel drive sports cars may viscous multi disc clutch to provide similar all round 4 not like the intervention of the computer in deciding how wheel and drive control. they drive the car and may indeed compensate incorrectly themselves – being unfamiliar with the feel or the resulting The 996 Carrera 2 also has a traction control system that feedback. detects any rotational speed differences between the front and rear wheels and reduces engine power accordingly to Although they are very reliable mechanical and electronic avoid unnecessary rear wheel spin. systems, eventually they may become less so (perhaps after 10 to 15 years say) as parts wear and wiring connections The Boxster has the rear engine in front of the gearbox, so a become corroded, giving different feedback to the system - 4-wheel drive version would be difficult to conceive. beyond the understanding of the computer. If this happens Instead Porsche have introduced a system that is becoming they may prove very expensive to trace the faults and to common amongst many other expensive cars. It reflects the repair – eventually steering preferences (and possibly Scandinavian Rally driver’s style (and indeed Michael values) towards two wheel drive alternatives. Schumacher’s) using “left foot braking”. Finally – the performance figures for 4 wheel drive and 2 One of the main reasons that a car can become unstable wheel drive variants are often quoted the same – but our occurs when fear of a skid or a crash results in the driver own dynamometer tests disprove this, showing the 2 wheel taking their foot off the accelerator to reach the brake – drive versions to be potentially faster on the road – not because this results in the weight distribution and the load unexpectedly considering the extra weight and friction of on all the tyres, changing suddenly. To control a car more the additional 4 wheel drive components. effectively on difficult surfaces, some drivers have learned to keep the throttle steady while feeding a little brake on General problems - all models. with their left foot – preventing any sudden changes in the weight distribution while slowing the car carefully. The cars are so well designed and manufactured that they outlast most competitors many fold. When customers have This is a skill that increasingly few will ever master and had our 10 or 12 year old sales cars independently stability control systems do this by computer – but even inspected they were compared favourably to typical normal more effectively by varying the amount of braking on cars of only three or four years old. They are therefore different wheels to suit the circumstances. This is similar to extremely reliable and capable of covering huge mileages the result of a viscous drive or differential controls because with little expense. However, since the object of this guide it reduces the torque being transmitted by an individual is to inform, we include here some of the problems - even wheel. The sophistication of computers allows further though they are rare. adjustment of engine power etc to result in a fantastic system to stabilise the car. The Boxster uses this type of Interiors. Probably the most expensive to renovate is the system called “Porsche Stability Management”. If (for interior. Matching seat material is difficult to obtain and example) the front wheels of the car drift on a bend – the needs complete replacement to avoid the non-matching of rear wheel on the inside of the bend is braked. If the rear naturally faded originals and new cloth. Although a good swings out – the front wheel on the outside is braked. used set of seats are a sensible option, even these can be very expensive (£250 and over £500 for leather). None of these systems will prevent an idiot – who is driving far too fast for the conditions - from crashing - but On older models (over 20 years old) some tearing of the they make a huge difference to stability in unexpected road upper roof lining is common, caused by the gradual drying

33 out and shrinking of the original material. Cracking on the The removal of asbestos from brake pads - in the last few facia of the dashboard (924's and pre '86 944's), is a years - has created a squeal problem that the manufacturers common phenomenon, exacerbated by outside parking. cannot retrospectively cure. Steering wheel covers often become tatty looking but can be re-stitched at reasonable cost. Example of calliper plate lift

Three spoke steering wheels (pre 1989) often crack at the edge of the spokes - but are repairable. The forward location of the battery in the 924 and pre '86 944 results in corrosion and this - or holes drilled for alarms - can cause water to drip through onto the floor area or fuse box. Similar problems can occur with sunroof and boot leakage, particularly if the car is quite old, but new seals and cleaning of the drains, usually cures the problem.

Some older 924/944-sunroof panels distort with age and cannot be repaired. The 911 sunroof seals are not perfect and scraper door seals shrink with age leaving a gap at one end. On older cars the lower inside edge of the inner door panels, will often soften and rot as a result of moisture trapped within the door.

Electrics . Common faults are with electric windows, electric mirrors, rear wipers, rear hatch release and electric Clutches . If the gear change is sometimes difficult to sunroofs not working. These can be repaired with a mixture engage, or there is a vibration, which is constant throughout of new, used and reconditioned parts (which we stock). the rev change, then on the 924, or 944 turbo, this probably Another common electrical problem is damaged and broken means that the cush drive springs in the clutch are broken. spotlights and headlights. Even the Boxster and 996 have a Similarly with standard 924S, 944, S2 and 924 turbo (some tendency towards needing replacement electric window Mark 2's), if there is a clunk heard when changing gear or systems quite frequently. when pushing the accelerator on and off repeatedly, then the cush drive is probably broken or damaged. The 968 Mechanical components - Brakes . It is not uncommon incorporated a less expensive clutch plate without an (even with a car with a full service history), to find brake integral damper that was quicker to fit. Damping was then disc pads totally seized in the calliper housing and discs and achieved by a dual mass flywheel - which is expensive - pads worn out or cracked – as many service centres do not and sometimes still needs replacement. 911 clutches do not touch these during routine servicing. Rear brake shoes have such a long life and are quite expensive, requiring the (924), and hand brake shoes on the 911 or 944/68 range, removal the whole engine/gearbox assembly to fit. can be worn out or seized, but they are inexpensive to replace and repair. Suspension. The rear suspension on all pre 1993 models seems remarkably good even after high mileages and on old Handbrake cables can seize solid and need replacement. cars, however the front suspension can suffer from damage Models with aluminium callipers (944 Turbo, S2, 964, 968, and leakage to the dampers on the older models, but they 993,) need the calliper plates removing, corrosion removed are not expensive to repair. and re-setting to avoid very poor braking after perhaps every 50K - 6 years or less. The corrosion causes the metal The wishbone ball joint on the more modern curved dash plates to squeeze inwards and trap the brake pad, reducing 944 & 968 cars, can also wear necessitating an expensive braking effect and promoting rubbing, drag, overheating repair although we have more than halved this cost with our and wear. Sometimes this is so bad that the pad is almost own successful replacement units fitted with new ball joints impossible to remove and when new pads are fitted, if the and rear silent blocks. These demonstrate the benefit of the plates are not re-set, the pads will not fit the gaps left. Some size and quality of the Hartech operation that analysed the competitors then grind down the pad to fit but since the problem thoroughly and invested a different solution to any plate distorts in a curve – once it is in place – it becomes present alternatives on the market. Forced to look into the loose again and rattles. problem by the very inferior reconditioned wishbones that were on the market several years ago in which an attempt was made to re-machine the ball joint housings, Hartech

34 decided that they needed greater accuracy and came up reliable and we usually can obtain both used and with better solutions. We have now supplied both the trade reconditioned units. and private individuals with over 700 units without a single complaint or return. In this time we have also received The Boxster and 996 have quite a few warning lights that worn out examples of other suppliers reconditioned require a Porsche system tester (which we have) – to switch wishbones to repair again – proving the value of a properly off after repair. There is also the added complication of air engineered solution. bag controls and lights for air bags in doors etc that often require the computer to isolate even when carrying out a The multi link suspension on later models (e.g. 993, 996 simple window winder mechanism change. and Boxster) may well involve some unfamiliar costs as bushes wear in the long-term future – but offer less Rear de-misters. Gradually – over a period of time – the expensive repairs following light accident damage. Hartech small bands that make up the rear de-mister in the rear also provide a more economical solution to the replacement window, can fail – usually just a few of the bands being of these parts, including front wishbones for 964’s and affected. This is not usually a serious problem as most 993’s, rear track control arms for 993’s and front and rear models warm up quickly and soon clear the dampness, but track control arms for Boxsters and 996’s. the cost of repairing this fault can be very high.

Steering racks . Steering racks are usually reliable, with It is sometimes possible to repair with added wire sections fairly inexpensive replacement possible, although power but the result often looks a little poor but the cost of a new steering pumps frequently leak. The "U J" connecting the window can be very high and it can be expensive to fit as steering wheel to the steering rack is a common MOT the paintwork around the rear screen can be damaged failure - however they are inexpensive. during removal and a used alternative may be as bad as the original one. As a result this (and especially as cars do de- Gearboxes. Gearbox-whine caused by wear to the main mist quickly anyway, are often used in good weather and input bearing is common on all 924/944 models, and does are kept in heated garages) this is one of the few areas we not necessarily indicate serious unreliability. Grumbling do not guarantee to put right under the terms of our sales noises at the rear usually indicates that the differential side preparation or our Maintenance Plan. bearings are worn, which are surprisingly inexpensive to replace. Bad clunking when driving or a knocking noise is ACROSS ALL MODELS. These are some of the more usually the outside rear wheel bearing on older cars difficulties of buying a good car . A Used Porsche can (which can be replaced quite easily), CV joints or seized combine the very best of owning and driving a Classic handbrakes and or cables. The (pre-1987) 911 & 924 Turbo Sports car. Superb looks, low later-life depreciation (or gearboxes were reasonably reliable but a little slow and eventual appreciation), modest maintenance costs and lumpy in operation of the synchromesh, which often insurance, economy, pride and excitement of ownership etc. requires replacement - particularly for 1st or 2nd gear and it Many cover 200,000 to 250,000 miles successfully (and are is difficult to predict when it might fail. This is not too capable of much more) still looking and driving superbly. expensive though and many specialists are experienced in the work involved. Apart from regular servicing, and consumables, the cars tend to go for huge mileages and several years, needing The 968 often has premature failure of the pinion bearing little else and then, suddenly need a lot of expensive work, and the G50 and even the Boxster gearbox can wear out the to return them to full reliability. As a result they can also main bearing – but they are not too difficult or expensive to break owners hearts and bank balances if their car is bought repair. Not all spare parts are available for repairing or looked after poorly, or they simply happen to own it at Boxster and 996’s, but in time probably will be. They are the wrong time, picking up the repair cost for a part that proving very reliable but if repairs become necessary and may have been wearing out during the previous owners use parts are not available – we are capable of having gears etc and will be OK again for the next owners as well. There is manufactured to fill any gap in the market. very little that can be done to avoid this except perhaps through being on the Hartech Lifetime Maintenance Plan Instrumentation. The instruments fitted to the 911, 924, that provides for free labour during the repair. 924S, and pre-curved dash 944's, are quite robust and reliable, and inexpensive to replace. By contrast the They all have very high quality design, manufacture, instrument system in the later model 944's (curved dash materials and production that make them capable of cars) & post 85 911’s, are more complex and cannot be covering these high mileage’s successfully and the easily or cheaply split or repaired - thankfully they are very excellent interiors and galvanised bodies, still look superb afterwards. Regrettably this often lulls owners into a false

35 sense of security and small relatively insignificant and Rougher examples are becoming cheaper but are difficult or inexpensive parts that have not been replaced when needed, impossible to dispose of, as no one wants them. With can result in huge repair bills as a result of the wider superb engineering quality, superb appearance, and damage they cause when they eventually go wrong and the longevity, the whole model range provides exceptionally cost of parts that would not have been necessary if the good value for money providing that the cars chosen are maintenance had been better in the first place. A Cam belt properly selected and maintained. every 45,000 miles can avoid a blown up engine, as can a head gasket or water pump every 10 years or 100K miles. Most owners love the cars and everything that goes with them, so as long as the right model is chosen to suit driving The Anomaly - of the Full Service History Car & the styles and expectations and a “good” car is obtained - they difficulties in finding a “GOOD” car - that result. are very hard to beat.

This longevity has been exploited by unscrupulous owners If the biggest mistakes are made because individuals cannot and dealers to clock cars and falsify service records, judge the condition of a seemingly nice example (even if making it almost impossible for anyone other than an service histories and old MOT's are available), you have to expert to judge the "honesty" of a particular car. The result question the basic parameters that you are seeking to is that many older Porsches are falsely described and satisfy. Presumably what you really want is a car that is in overpriced. Even when a car HAS covered the mileage the condition that you would expect if you could trust the claimed and the SERVICE RECORD is TRUE there is still seller, the history, the repairs and the mileage - not simply a hidden minefield to beware of. So many dealers, a car with low mileage on the clock and a full service specialists and magazine articles - advise buying a Porsche history book. What you want is a car truly in a condition with a "Full Service History" that they have attached a false that you might expect IF the supporting documentation was sense of security to that position - which in turn makes it true and relevant. If only things were that simple. very easy to sell cars with FSH. Buyers assume the car is A1 if it has FSH when in fact the opposite is often true. We do all we can to provide a car that is exactly like that, true mileage and full history, properly checked, repaired The “true”services may only change oil, plugs, filters etc and guaranteed. However, you would surely agree that IF and then may identify numerous faults, which do not need many cars have clocked speedometers and dubious histories to be rectified to obtain a service record stamp. In addition - and IF the routine maintenance had been ignored – OR owners sell precisely when they find out - after a service - carried out by cheap amateurs, you would not be so happy that their car needs hundreds or thousands spending on it about relying upon the traditionally advice “that it is safe to (especially if they have had a couple of inexpensive years purchase a FSH car” and be seeking some other reassurance out of it). The result - you can buy a FSH car perhaps about it’s true condition. advertised as just having been serviced by a specialist (expecting it to be almost perfect) and immediately To protect yourself in this difficult market - it might be experience expensive failures or repair bills (well known to worth considering the purchase of an older (less expensive) the previous owner). We know - because some of our car - first - and then if you find that you like the model customers - sell instead of repairing faults – with their range, the supplier and specialist support experienced, then service stamp correctly in place. you can part exchange and update later having not risked as much initially (and this method accounts for about 25% of If “FSH” doesn’t guarantee a good car, there is no cheap or our sales). However – if you have set your heart on a easy way to buy a “good” reliable Porsche and plenty of particular model and cost anyway – then even using this examples of buyers (private and trade) making these typical guide you are still exposed to considerable risks in selecting mistakes and regretting it. the right car.

Even we can only buy cars that have the potential to be We can help you avoid this problem because we carefully turned into good cars, as it is almost impossible to buy a assess and check all our potential purchases (which weeds perfect one straight off (even if they are almost new with out bad cars), then we assess the condition (which FSH) as no one spends money on a car they are going to establishes the potential and final quality) and finally sell. Price is not always a guide either as values vary with undertake a complete renovation of all parts in need of "good FSH cars" being where the demand is and immediate replacement or routine replacement (which often consequently expensive but holding their value better and costs us £1500 to £2000 plus another £1K often returning being easier to sell on for a good price. stone chipped paintwork to as new condition again). We can usually work out if unscrupulous sellers have used false rubber stamps or old service books (from scrap yards) and

36 have grafted the appropriate pages into the true book. Even The Hpi car checking service has revealed that 1 in 2.6 cars when the service record is true, many owners have the checked has a record (38%), 28% of dealers never check a standard service carried out to obtain a specialist stamp, chassis No and 40% only check the log book provided, one attempting the other repairs themselves (or by a local in every 7 offered to the private buyer has been a write off, garage), with cheap parts or ignore the repairs altogether (as one in 144 stolen and one in every 3.6 has outstanding HP previously described). Only a specialist will have the (prejudicing ownership). A recent survey found at least one experience and resources to spot this during a proper in 4 used cars was clocked and Porsches more than average. investigation. All this means that the traditional rules for In our age range of cars over 4 -5 years old, we find many choosing a used Porsche car are flawed yet despite this it is are not true or genuine (despite 60% having apparent relatively easy for a specialist in the model to recognise the complete histories). Finally the top agenda on the following quality of a car. We therefore try to provide cars of the right agencies (Crime Prevention Agency, RAC, DVLA, RMI, quality, by careful choice and skilled preparation. FLA, OFT & Dti) are cloning and clocking.

If we ever buy a car with some evidence missing (which is Clocking is without doubt the most serious problem extremely rare) it will always be a very good car anyway influencing the choice of car, since they last so well and for which we believe the evidence to be irrelevant to it’s look so good that the inexperienced simply believe that a condition (and that it probably was carried out anyway) and clocked car is a genuine mileage example. Many years ago we will always declare this and have confidence that there we bought a beautiful car without any history, suspecting it was no deterioration of the quality of the car as a result – had been clocked and declared all this in our sales and it will always be a very good example indeed. Often an documents. We did not want to add our name to the list of owner will have his car serviced and repaired and charge owners so we couldn’t trace previous owners. However the the account through his business. When it comes to selling next buyer did and traced all the history from every owner the car, they often find it too time consuming to obtain all – confirming that it had full specialist history and the the invoice copies from their previous company records (or mileage was within 2K of our estimate. This car has since need to keep them for future proof, Vat checks etc) and had three satisfied owners and has proven to be as perhaps accept a little less in part exchange rather than trace exceptional as our initial impressions suggested, totally or copy all the invoices. vindicating our original purchase and because we carried out all the remedial work based upon the expectations for We find – that even with our own customers – the busiest that mileage, it was totally reliable. amongst them frequently forget their service book, which doesn’t then get stamped even although the service WAS High mileage cars . If you doubt the seriousness and carried out. Fortunately our records are second to none frequency of this problem, just look in the adverts for 4 and (going back years) and any car that we have looked after 6 year old Porsche's and you will find many of them have will have a full-computerised record plus all our internal covered between 60,000 and 90,000 – much the same as paperwork records (that were filled out during the service that claimed for most - older examples! by the engineer) are also filed away for posterity. However our experience of our own customers reveals to us just how Now there is nothing wrong with a higher mileage Porsche, easily a true record can be missed. So it is possible for a as their reliability (once overhauled) should be just as good. good car to have some records missing, or a poor car to However clocked or genuine high mileage cars do cost have them all present and any car may have been clocked more initially to put back into tip-top condition and so you during it’s life – but may still not- necessarily be a bad car. should pay less for them. To indicate how prevalent clocking is we have for example been offered a 968 Understanding of the true situation about the way to judge Cabriolet advertised at 40K that must have covered at least the quality and value of a Porsche is gaining more 140K, and a Carrera 4 Cabriolet showing 90K but having recognition as a recent club guide to prices of 911's valued covered at least 150K. To indicate the mileage that genuine genuine low mileage cars with genuine full service histories examples often cover, we were also offered two Carrera 4's about the same as higher mileage cars that had been showing 130K and 150K respectively (which was probably properly renovated or restored. We agree except that we true and reinforces the argument that most cars cover these often find cars that have been extensively worked on sort of mileage’s by this age). Incidentally we bought none. (perhaps with a new clutch, head reconditioned, etc) often end up even better than lower mileage cars that are In view of the longevity of a higher mileage car that has inevitably going to fail in the very near future simply been properly overhauled by ourselves, they are a good through those same age (corrosion, perished rubber etc) or purchase if you pay the right price initially and the relevant mileage related problems that haven’t been addressed yet. work has been carried out. Indeed some properly looked after higher mileage cars prove less expensive initially

37 precisely because so many parts have been recently why we can easily assess the condition of a car regardless replaced. of speedometer readings or history - and that this assessment is a far more important guide to the condition If you ignore this very well intentioned advice which stems and value of a car than any paper work - or the lack of it entirely from experience - you will simply pay too much for associated with the car. a car needing extensive repairs and overlook perhaps a better car showing true but higher mileage on the clock. These cars can easily cover 200,000 to 250,000 miles Remember that the most common problem is clocking. The (properly maintained) and still be going well when others involvement of Trading Standards Officers and records at with an apparently genuine 80,000 + (or even a genuine the DVLC and Hpi now contain mileage information, going 80,000 +) can prove unreliable and expensive. back a few years, making the winding back of speedometers less common, so many cars that may not have If you are sceptical about these claims we suggest that if we not been clocked recently, still were earlier in their life. have one in stock at the time, that you test drive one of our properly selected and prepared higher mileage cars and Cars up to 5 years old often cover high mileage’s and the compare it with a lower mileage one available elsewhere next dealer simply rewound the speedometer back close to and remember that as time passes value will be tied more to the last service to reduce the mileage, return the car to a full condition (and the repairs and preventative maintenance service history record and increase it’s re-sale value. As a carried out) than the mileage and that if you intend using result many cars with impeccable histories have never the the car for comparatively low mileage’s yourself then the less covered much higher mileages than on the clock. While Average Mileage will gradually return to normal anyway. this is not a big issue for a properly checked and repaired car it is important to establish the preventative maintenance Of course we buy genuine lower mileage cars as well but and costs required for the true mileage covered. because the basic car has such well engineered components - capable of extremely high mileage’s - properly However - even cars with accurate mileage’s on the maintained, we often find that a slightly higher mileage car speedometer vary considerably in condition, due to the way with several vital parts replaced ends up better than a lower they were driven, since most of the engine wear takes place mileage car in which those parts are still OK but will need on starting, wear on seats is related to driver size, weight, attention at some stage in the future and for the same reason height, miles between stops, etc. The wear on clutches and will cost the next owner less in say the next two years. As gearboxes relates to how often the gears are changed and will be seen later, our own Lifetime Maintenance Plan the clutch used and the wear on brakes and steering to the reflects this completely by costing exactly the same frequency of turning corners and braking hard. Even the regardless of the mileage covered initially or during length of time that the car is used is relevant, relating to the ownership. time sitting on seats, using wiper motors, heaters etc - which is related to the average speed driven. This guide was originally written to help people that wanted to buy cars elsewhere to avoid making serious If we consider a comparison between a genuine low mistakes, and because it was perfectly clear that many of mileage car (say 40,000) used every day for short journeys them were buying very poor cars needing considerable in a city at an average speed of 15 or 20 miles per hour and work to bring them up to scratch. a genuine high mileage car (say 100,000) used on long motorway journeys at an average speed of 50 miles per To demonstrate this problem further – in the Summer of hour, then the wear on the engine, clutch, steering, gearbox, 2005 a customer of many years having had 2 Porsche’s seats, instruments and controls would be worse on the low looked after by us before – brought us a 968 we had not mileage car with each car being in use for the same overall seen before - to sort out - that needed £4K+ spending on it time in hours/day but the motorway car having (having classic camshaft sprockets with just 3 teeth left in considerably reduced wear and probably the better car. tact, damaged gearbox bearings etc) and another local Many parts suffer simply with age not mileage. All rubber acquaintance who has been made aware of all the problems hoses and seals, gaskets and all metal parts deteriorate with personally for about 10 years – finally decide to buy a age, so in addition to use and mileage’s - age and whether a 944S2 before requesting and inspection by us, thinking he car was garaged at night (or at work) can all affect the car’s had been very clever to save £2K over our own typical condition. price for a well sorted out similar example - yet needing £4K spending on it to keep it running and to pass an MOT Of course during their life, most cars have a mixture of the – which he couldn’t afford. extremes of use described - by different owners - adding confusion to a complex subject, but hopefully explaining

38 It never ceases to amaze us how some people never listen to some good cars, a pile of good used spares to help us and all this good advice and always assume that they know our customers in the future and the satisfaction that at least better. Few seem to believe the cost of sorting out an older these examples would not be fraudulently exploited Porsche so that it can perform reliably for many more years anywhere else for gain. to come. Others assume that our car prices incorporate large profit margins – which they do not – because of all the As Porsche's age, the difference in quality of a well looked work we do (it may be true for others who do very little to after or carefully restored car is much greater than an the cars they sell), then they do not include such a fair average one that increasingly needs more doing to it as guarantee and maintenance package – so they can get away repairs are neglected or cannot be afforded by the typical with it. purchaser of a cheap car. The value (or price paid) for a good car then sharply increases compared to an average or The purpose of this guide therefore is to pre-warn poor one, which eventually become uneconomic or prospective buyers intending to buy from non-specialist, impossible to restore. This causes some confusion in the unscrupulous or potentially unreliable sources, of the kind market when a glut of poor but cheap cars tend to make of costs they may incur in bringing their cars up to a some very good ones look expensive by comparison satisfactory standard, to insure that they do not overpay in (particularly to those who do not appreciate the cost or the first place and have the resources to complete the job quality implications of trying to use or restore a poor, thereafter. It is not our intention in any way to put off and neglected example). prevent people from buying from other sources. Furthermore we are still very happy to look after their cars The right price to pay is one of the most difficult areas for and to help them all we can in the future – if they do. new customers to understand, as they will frequently see quite large price variations between cars advertised that on Remember always that a high mileage car (as most will the face of it seem very similar. realistically be) can be perfectly reliable and valuable providing that having established the true mileage - the Usually, for very old cars, the classic car specialists set the right preventative maintenance and repairs have been market prices while for newer cars the trade buyer’s guides carried out at the appropriate interval – or the price makes do their bit. Unfortunately the age of most used Porsche's allowance for that work to be done in the future. renders them too new for the traditional classic car market system and yet the trade guides are often hopelessly Our own experience of comparing the quality of a car with inaccurate because some use auction prices as guides (and it's history, has revealed that the number of owners, history very few Porsche are sold at auction except rough or dodgy and mileage are an almost irrelevant guide to condition - ones) or the formulas that they use for similar cars do not which is what you are really interested in. apply to Porsche's. The two most popular trade guides (for example), disagree on the retail prices of the following Prices. Although we pay high prices to buy good cars, as similar mileage and condition - cars, by the amount listed most sellers have not paid for repair work recently - we do (both taken from January 2001 editions). 1989 911 3.2 sometimes buy previously good cars that we know need Carrera Coupe - £1075, 1990 944 S2 Coupe £2545, 1990 repairs (like a new clutch, stone chips, seat repairs or 930 Turbo Coupe £2535, 1991 Carrera 2 Coupe (964) mechanical work) making a superb car afterwards. As a £4435. Last year the Nov issue of the previously most result of this expertise, the cars that we buy, generally need accurate guide showed a ‘92J 944 S2 with 88K on the clock to have less work done on them than those that are bought to be worth £650 more than a 92J 968 with 44K on the elsewhere by our customers, who then bring us their cars clock! Similar variations apply even now (2007). for renovation and repair - often costing £2000.00 to £3000.00 to return to safe reliable condition again. Where So because values vary so much and trade price books we benefit is when we sell a Hartech car for the second or rarely go back more than 10 years (and are often inaccurate third time (typically from a part exchange upgrade of a anyway), we operate our own computer system which satisfied customer), as the original work we did will last for records all prices Nationally for each model and year, to many more years. find out what is really going on. This reveals the lowest and highest price, seasonal and overall trends etc, average We are so fussy about the quality of our cars that on the prices etc. Care is needed interpreting this average price as very rare occasions when - even we - bought a car which it is only a mathematical average with most cars being we later found out during sales preparation to be below our cheaper and rough, fewer being nicer and more expensive exacting standards - we have actually scrapped them for and hardly any actually at the "average price" (with spares at a significant loss rather than sell them on to numerous lhd and written off cars confusing the issue). It anyone else. We got from this the benefit of the sales of must also be remembered that nice examples will be taken

39 in trade exchanges so a higher proportion of cars advertised If we consider two identical cars (age, history and privately are actually unsuitable for trade re-sale. This condition) apart from one having covered 50K miles and means that even the average price of advertised private sale the other 150K miles, then the lower mileage car would be cars is misleadingly low. worth more even though it is the same age. So depreciation/appreciation cannot be judged on age alone. Consider the average of 10 similar cars, 2 written off or lhd Indeed we could only really trace true annual depreciation wrecks @ £3500, 5 rough ones @ £5000, two reasonable if we were comparing cars that always had the same prospects (needing work to restore) @ £6500 and one very mileage (and were therefore never used). So since most cars nice one @£7500. The mathematical average of these is are used, their value must reflect the gradual increase in £5,250 yet this would only be the price of the rough ones - mileage covered, making generalisations about not even as high as the reasonable ones needing renovation. appreciation or depreciation, very difficult. With these figures, our system would value our cars @ £6,375 which is clearly a bargain for a fully sorted out and We solve this by a formula that compares prices of cars of guaranteed example costing less than the reasonable the same mileage but different ages and cars of the same prospects needing restoration (hence our success). These age but different mileage’s, and later combine the results. prices are similar to other specialist outlets (where we doubt that our preparation or back up services will be When trying to interpret the results there are also Macro matched) and agree almost exactly with the top dealer economic factors to consider, such as interest rates, the buying guides on the market. They are neither the cheapest housing market, insurance rates, new car sales etc - which nor the most expensive. General family car sales outlets all influence prices short term across the board, on top of will be cheaper but offer little else, while back street part which we also add our own interpretation of the market for time dealers and private sales are often remarkably cheap unusual causes. but usually cost more after the cars in question have been sorted out (if they can be sorted out!) which are rarely the Although it happened some years ago now – during the nicest anyway and with no meaningful back up. autumn of 2000 the fear of UK new car prices falling in line with European prices, made the market jittery and As a result of this care assessing market trends, prices and encouraged potential buyers to delay decision-making. our own experience, we think that eventually the year of Also, many owners - having ignored the housing market for manufacture will become irrelevant and that since each several years - decided to move before house prices went model was only manufactured for a few years before being too high and sell the "third classic car" to help finance it - superseded, the condition of a given model will become the increasing supply and reducing demand. This lowered only variable to dictate price (and several specialist dealers prices for the first time in years and demonstrated just how agree, by advertising models without registration dates or volatile the specialist sports car market can be at times. associated number plate indexes). So although the value of new cars depreciates both with age and mileage, eventually Porsche also sold a lot more cars in the mid 1980’s than at the condition, history and specification of a particular any time before (with a much bigger model range) and as model, becomes the most important factors. this “baby bulge” of Porsche cars is now becoming 20 to 25 years old there are too many of them for that market - Our analysis of the older and more established 911 market lowering prices. However – despite increased numbers prices reflects this with nice examples built between 1971 available - it is also increasingly rare to find a nice, and 1981 having much the same value, despite differences genuine, well looked after example and these still have a in mileage’s and specifications. Models made between market and command good prices that are much higher than 1982 and 1992 are in most cases still in the process of the generally advertised market prices. finding that final long-term value with older ones level or appreciating and newer ones still depreciating a little. So we now see too many old Porsche’s for the classic car market and too many newer ones (say 8 years old or a little In December 1999, the Express reported classic cars more) for the medium priced Porsche market – making appreciating by around 5%/year and reinforced our opinion general prices low and a poor indication of the right price about the long term virtues of a classic Porsche and their for “good examples”. suitability as an every day car, highlighting the benefits of fully restored examples (and are just as relevant today). The drop in new car prices has also reduced part exchange values so much that those wishing to upgrade can be very But what do we mean by depreciation or appreciation ? disappointed by trade in values or find themselves in negative equity, (which many Boxster and 996 owners are now experiencing) reducing general trade and prices.

40 Many forget that the price of the newer car has also fallen potentially such a good car - with such outstanding significantly (even possibly more in relation to inflation) so performance - that they will still be worthwhile sorting out for those upgrading, or buying a Porsche for the first time if they have good history, colour and specifications. Once the recent changes have had little or no impact (except for the work has been done they will be good for perhaps those in negative equity), although customers are ironically another 10 years or 80,000 miles – (apart from service often more upset about the drop in value of their old car items like tyres and brakes etc). Some are being offered for than they are pleased about the drop in the cost of it's sale cheaply to avoid the repair costs and may be well replacement - that's human nature. The Porsche Boxster worth restoring. originally priced from £39K in 1996 – despite being improved and with a bigger engine – later became available With so many more models available on the used car from £32K – demonstrating this dual edged sword of market, the older 911 buyers seem to have focussed on the general price reductions in the UK. 911 3.2 Carrera as the most sought after model and prices of these are presently rising – or the 993 if they can afford Some did not expect all this to affect the specialist second the extra cost. It is also difficult to find good examples of a hand market, but it has because as New Car prices have coupe (which are always the most popular). Almost any fallen then so must each car – a year older - follow suit. investment in the mechanical or cosmetic areas will reap benefits when they are eventually re-sold and improve Because we buy and sell in the same market (and thanks to ownership pleasure meanwhile. our market price checking system) we have been able to respond quickly to price fluctuations and have recently A 964 is very cheap at the moment due to their poor enjoyed one of the busiest sales periods ever, proving that reputation for lack of meaningful maintenance and high demand is still there for quality vehicles at the right price. repair costs. The low initial cost could render them worth speculating on if an example with a good colour and It seems that the increase in the numbers of older Porsches specification is chosen to restore. coming onto the market has polarised choice into picking on a few models expected to appreciate and ignored those The 968 and 993 have emerged as the last and most in less demand forcing prices there to fall. developed examples of 2 separate production runs that gradually developed these final versions over many Overall we feel that prices of rough used Porsche's have previously successful years. It is not surprising therefore dropped by over £3 to £5K or more. The market for very that they are also appreciating and are well worth looking nice examples of popular models is still there and is after properly. beginning to rise again after a period in the doldrums. Outstanding examples (or those benefiting from extensive The early Boxsters are becoming widely available and refurbishment) are certainly rising for those models. while there are perhaps too many for the traditional sub £20K used market - their excellent reputation and modest Some models that were once reasonably popular are now price may attract a whole new area of buyers (which there only worth buying if you can find the very best examples or is some evidence of at present) particularly with those older specifications and others are no longer a good buy, buyers who may previously have bought a Mazda MX5 or whatever the condition. Toyota MR2 and also more ladies are focussing on the fashionability of this car with their recently improved status It seems that very exceptional examples of 924's and 944’s, in business management and increased disposable incomes. 944 turbo's and 944 S2’s are now old enough (or rare Perhaps the jury is still out on this one and only time will enough) to begin the gradual appreciation to mirror 911's – tell how they will fall in the range within the other sought but anything that is not absolutely immaculate and without after models – but always selecting and preserving a good perfect history will still now depreciate and may be difficult example is the best protection because they will always find to eventually dispose of. buyers.

In terms of appreciation or depreciation, the 944S has suffer Pricing is always a complex issue with classic cars and is from so much bad press due to the camshaft and engine more difficult for a Porsche than other make, because stability problems afflicting them first (being the oldest 16 although the price for a well-restored example can be (and valve variant) it can no longer be recommended in any should be) much more than the average price or the price condition. for a worn out wreck, it does not follow trends for other cars. For example, a poor example of a Jaguar Mk2 may be Although a lot of S2's have reached an age where they often 3K whilst a nice one can be £15K and a “rebuilt as new” need £3000 to £4000 spending on them, they are still example £50K. A rusty MGBGT may be £800, a nicely

41 restored one £8K etc. This puts a potential multiple of worth at least as much if not more as they offer more in perhaps 10 times between a rough and nice example of every department. The 968 should appreciate, as it is a these old classic cars (and sufficient to consider a fantastic car manufactured in very small numbers and the restoration commercially viable). By comparison a rough last “practical” Porsche made with styling similar to the old 911 may be £4K or restored, £20K - a multiple of only very popular 993. The 964 (Carrera 2 & 4) will suffer due 5 times. A rough, high mileage and nice low mileage 1987 to a few teething problems and higher service costs but the 944 may cost £2,500 and £5000, or a rough and nice S2, 993 should exceed these values, representing a huge leap £4000 and £8000 – multiples of only 1. forward in the development of the 911. The Boxster and the 996 are doing well but a little longer is needed to see how It is perhaps this relatively small price difference the market will receive them when they become a bit older. (compared to other classic cars) that explains why so many home mechanics find that they did not create a bargain by Taking this into account and apart from temporary market trying to restore an old rough but cheap Porsche (because fluctuations, by comparing quality and value with other the entry price even for a rough one is comparatively too classics and older 911's, we feel that-nice 944's that were high and the parts are relatively expensive) and why it is manufactured between 1982 and 1985 will probably actually better financially to buy the best you can afford eventually rise to between £2000 and £4000, 1986 to 1989 and look after it, because the gradual long term appreciation models to between £3000 and £6000, early 944 turbo's (or minor short term depreciation) of nice cars will protect £4000 - £8000 and S2's and 250 bhp Turbo's £6000 - values and meanwhile there is little or nothing to lay out for £10000. Older 968's are currently fetching £10,000 to repairs or maintenance. £15,000 with little depreciation. 3.2 Carrera’s are now approaching £18K and nice 993’s seem stuck above £25K. Really nice examples are always the most enjoyable to Boxsters and early 996’s are presently fitting into this own, the least troublesome and the easiest to sell for good hierarchy and may jostle around for position before settling money when the market is right. Short-term market down and influence the other prices in the process. fluctuations have always been around but obviously we cannot respond to these in such a timeless publication, so Porsche are presently enjoying renewed popularity with we have attempted to assess the likely long-term future sales of new models increasing and the long life benefits of price of each model, in our opinion as a guide. older examples being more widely publicised. The very old examples of 911, 924 and 944 are presently inexpensive to Compared to traditional "Classic Cars" the Porsche range buy due to oversupply with too many faults for the buyer of has numerous features that render them an increasingly a cheap Porsche to justify. However the more traditional attractive proposition that should reflect on strong long- classic car owner (who is used to serious renovation of an term values. The galvanising delays structural problems MGB or TR7 and enjoys work at home for a hobby) is now while the advanced styling maintains attractiveness for showing interest in their potential to become the most longer. rewarding older classic sports car available at a modest price and this may mop up any oversupply and firm up The engineering is always at the forefront of technology prices when their fully rebuilt examples come to the market making the specifications topical for years. The and command high prices. performance exceeds most other similar sports cars and the reliability and engineering quality is unmatched - making n.b. This price trend information is provided to help the whole exercise affordable. It seems likely then that this prospective buyers understand the market and issues long term gradual rise in values will influence Porsche's, better, It has been prepared with the best of intentions, but more than any other comparable classic car and that values we cannot be held responsible for fluctuations or trends in will always remain strong particularly with the more market prices, nor if they do not follow the above trends modern and user friendly 944 and 968 range, the 993, 996 as they are beyond our influence or control. and Boxster. As we successfully buy and sell in the same market and our The final price that each model will attain will probably costs do not vary much, our prices follow market trends reflect the differences in performance or specification in a anyway, always being competitive. ranking and also into which the traditional 911, MGB, Jaguar etc must fit. Now by most standards the 924 and Cost savings with Hartech . Many dealers cannot square dash 944 are less of a car than a 911 so should understand how we can offer such extensively overhauled always be cheaper. The curved dashboard 944, while a cars with such comprehensive after sales services at such superb all rounder may not quite attain the 911 mystique, reasonable prices. One of the reasons is by doing all the but the 944 turbo and S2, should in our opinion, always be work and several different jobs at one time, in a large

42 efficient workshop using special equipment and tools with the condition” of the vehicle they are selling. Many dealers highly trained staff, who specialise in the models. do little more than just clean cars before selling them and most would not have the expertise to assess serious faults, Competitors . We do not run down competitors, which might be disguised within the car and the reason for concentrating instead on doing our best for our customers. its sale in the first place. Warranties provided by dealers However there are many that offer similar prices but do not tend to be of little use (in our experience), as they often have the quality that we have, or the standards of only relate to actual failure of components and even then workmanship or records systems so vital to providing refuse claims where they consider normal age related wear planned maintenance. Others are much more expensive but and tear to be the cause. the workmanship is no better and the costs far higher with often less personal service and more interest in the more With a Porsche over 5 years old and having covered many expensive, newer cars. miles it is too easy to claim this as the cause and refuse to pay out. Even where guarantees or warranties may be We concentrate all our resources in providing an affordable provided – and honoured, it is also important to question Porsche in exceptional condition or – for service customers the competence of some sales outlets with minimal repair – a way to keep a standard Porsche performing at it’s best, resources. Non-specialist repairers, would almost certainly reliably and affordably over many years and thousands of only have access to new parts anyway which can be very miles. Many other local competitors have different areas of expensive and by contrast specialist dealers often specialisation or interest. They may prefer to concentrate accumulate perfectly acceptable used parts to help the instead on racing, tuning and competition, or spares from owners of older cars keep them on the road at a more written off cars for example and only carry out servicing or modest cost. standard repairs to increase turnover. A business will always be best at whatever holds it’s main interest, Unlike Hartech, very few dealers will put in writing an whatever it’s staff want to do the most and whatever it has accurate description of a car (which would be legally concentrated it’s main resources on and businesses that try binding), and if promises are made verbally, they are and do too many things are never good at all of them. We difficult to prove in law. As a result of the above, if you are are very clear about what motivates us all and what we considering buying privately, from a non-specialised dealer, have concentrated on throughout – the repairing or or even a Porsche specialist that has limited repair facilities, maintaining of a viable Porsche back to it’s most reliable- our best advice is that you have a reserve of capital, of original-standard condition, performing at it’s affordable about £2500 (for a 924, 944 or 968), £3000 to £5000 (for an best as originally intended. This provides the most balanced older 911), £5000 for a 964 and £1000 for a 993, 996 or car, ideal for it’s purpose and preserving the best re-sale Boxster, to cover unexpected problems. value. As a result, we offer unrivalled quality, service and value. Write offs. Very few buyers would be happy to purchase a written-off vehicle. However even in this apparently simple Tuning and track preparation. Providing more area there are serious pitfalls. A "write-off", is purely a horsepower - often results in needing better brakes, stiffer financial consideration and is not directly related to the suspension, greater cooling etc and can reduce long-term extent of damage that is to be repaired but more to the value reliability - as more parts are strained beyond their design of the car at the time. This problem is particularly limits. Most “tune up chips” also stop the diagnostic system highlighted with Porsches because of the very high cost of from being accessed by a remote computer (preventing re- the original cars, and the high expense of genuine new setting of systems) and fuel on deceleration (increasing Porsche parts, which has two contradictory influences cylinder bore wear) removing a valuable cost saving benefit making a Porsche more likely to be written off with on most standard post 1992 cars. So tuning can not only comparatively minor damage. become an expensive vicious circle but also deter from the pleasure of driving on public roads and eventually – despite As most repairers can only use new parts, and as some of often-huge costs – it usually reduces re-sale values. We do these are very expensive, a small amount of damage can not specialise in this area and will happily recommend result in an older vehicle being written off. Because some suitable specialists to relevant customers. new parts are so expensive, there is a huge demand for good quality second hand used parts, which are taken from Consumer Protection . Despite improvements in these crashed vehicles. legislation, it is very difficult to obtain meaningful protection from most private and trade sources. There is As a result the price paid for a written off vehicle - by a very little comeback from a private seller, since they breakers yard - is high, making it attractive for an insurance “cannot be expected to be competent to accurately judge company to consider selling the vehicle on for salvage

43 rather than repairing it. Realising this, many private protects the next buyer from a car that may still have HP individuals, and body repair shops, will buy a salvage outstanding, have been stolen, or accident damaged. vehicle from the insurers, and then repair it with used parts (which are subsequently much cheaper), resulting in a Bodywork and Paintwork . By the time a Porsche is over perfectly acceptable car ready for resale, at a reasonable five years old it will have picked up a considerable number profit to them, but with the stigma of having been "written of stone chips to the front and wing mirrors. Any nice off". looking example will therefore have quite rightly been re- painted and this is a perfectly acceptable practice if it has Conversely, a Porsche that is only a few years old – is so been carried out professionally. Colour matches may have valuable that it might not be recorded as a "write-off", even been perfect at the time but new and old paint then fades at after an extensive rebuild – and appear to all the records as different rates, so poor colour matches need not necessarily clean. This means that the stigma of "a written off vehicle" reflect a bad paint job and most cars have had a minor could easily be attached to an older car that has simply had bump or scratch in their life needing attention. Metallics its door dented, but not be attached to a car - that when it cost more to re-paint as matching is more difficult and was much newer - had a major repair. localised repairs are usually impossible requiring whole areas to be re-painted for minor damage. To make things worse, until 1995 you could remove a “write off” record by having the vehicle inspected and Windscreens will often crack after a heavy impact, passed OK. However - since 1995 you cannot and the (although there may also be an innocent explanation). Look history is traceable. The history of LHD vehicles imported very carefully at the front and side of the vehicle, all the from abroad is almost impossible to trace and many are gaps around the headlights and the bonnet, the doors, and repaired before or after import, and then sold as “straight”. the general lines of the car should be smooth flowing and (This difficulty and that in tracing mileages and verifying uninterrupted. If not, the car has been repaired cheaply. service histories has resulted in us avoiding the purchase However most poor bodywork is not sufficiently serious to and sale of LHD imports). warrant discarding an otherwise good car, as it is one of the easiest tasks to undertake and correct. Although it is rare to All this means that whether or not a vehicle has an see a car that is made from two halves, it is common to find insurance record, it may still have been involved in a a car where some parts of the front or rear end have been serious accident and you could easily buy a car with no replaced from another vehicle. insurance history whatsoever that has been seriously damaged at some time in its life, or alternatively consider The original chassis (in our model range) is made from zinc buying one that has an insurance record but which was for coated steel spot welded together in a process that is at a such a ridiculously minor element of damage, as to be sufficiently high temperature to melt the zinc locally to the totally insignificant. It must not be forgotten that owners do spot weld – creating a pure steel-to-steel weld. The zinc not always declare accidents, and that they may then then flows back sealing up the joint. Because the sequence arrange for their seriously damaged car to be repaired of assembly cannot be reproduced for a repair – most repair cheaply, at their cost, to avoid the insurance record and yet panels are not zinc coated to ensure that repairers can weld eventually come onto the market as apparently clean cars. the parts successfully. It is therefore sometimes preferable to either panel beat out a dent in a galvanised area or patch Ringers . The car that you may be considering may not a small area of corrosion with a new piece of metal (or indeed be the car that you think you are buying. It is not replace with a used panel that is galvanised) and repaint to infrequent to find cars repaired by welding and connecting colour match. Providing the panel has been properly whole chassis sections not only from other cars but also aligned, and professionally fitted, it can provide an from cars of a slightly different model or age, or indeed for acceptable (even preferable) solution. a full ringer to be made available when the identity of a stolen car is changed to match the damaged one. The It would obviously be impractical to remove the paint from transfer of chassis numbers is carried out during this every car just to see what condition the underlying process, but rarely escapes the attention of an experienced steelwork is in – but equally it is then impossible to engineer. estimate when rust bubbles will appear or corrosion will show itself. Despite being galvanised, all Porsche’s will Checking History . Many Porsches have had several eventually show signs of corrosion in some areas. Because different registration numbers that can obscure the history of this – Hartech will not guarantee that a car sold will not and be expensive to trace. Despite this we try to check out show some corrosion at some future stage and we do not each and every registration number and with the Hpi cover the cost of any subsequent repairs – which should be National Mileage Registers to check for discrepancies. This

44 accepted as a running cost eventually as every car will Schedule and those few very good cars that remain of probably need something or other doing to it. interest are then carefully considered, from which a price is offered reflecting condition and the cost of renovation etc. Fuel changes to unleaded . Now that the availability of 4 star fuel is limited to lead replacement fuel and is widely Those that are bought by us are often seen at our premises replaced by unleaded petrol, many owners have become by prospective purchasers before we have had any worried about the effect on their engines designed for a opportunity to carry out any further work (recently two cars more potent fuel. typically within hours of arrival) so many are sold having never been advertised. We are unconcerned about these changes as many of the models can run on unleaded anyway and those that are not We try to put each car through our next "first service recommended by Porsche may well run satisfactorily on the schedule" before then, which covers major engine work and highest grade unleaded or LRP with normal use. to check that steering, brakes etc are all safe and to Manufacturers are cautious about recommending anything highlight other minor faults and cosmetic work that has to that could backfire and their advice must also cover the be completed. The car is then safe to test drive and we can most extreme cases - which probably means a flat out drive inform customers exactly what we expect to do to it before on unrestricted roads, for long periods, fully loaded over completion. many miles, in hot weather in a high mileage car ready for it's next service. Sometimes - sudden changes in personal circumstances (e.g. bereavement) will result in a Hartech car that has been In these conditions the thermal stresses in the engine would sold quite recently or having covered very few miles since be much higher than those ever experienced by driving it was sold – being bought back for re-sale. normally on our British roads. It is very likely therefore that the cars would perform satisfactorily for most occasions on We may offer such a car for sale at a lower price – on an more inferior fuel than that recommended. “as seen trade sale basis”. Because it has so recently been prepared for sale there should be nothing wrong with it. Yet Because all Porsche engines have alloy heads, the valve if we sold it for the full price we would have to carry out all seats fitted are harder than a cast iron head and should stand the service work again in accordance with our standard sale up well anyway to resisting valve seat regression. IF there terms and conditions and to comply with our warranty is only low grade unleaded fuel available (which we cannot terms. foresee) then we can still modify engines, supply the re- mapped chips, or we can even re-programme the ECU to This then provides an opportunity to buy a Hartech car at a retard the ignition timing and increase the injector pulse lower price for those who may be able to look after it width - on some models. themselves or live so far away that they do not want to take up any warranty options. Our conclusion therefore is that the recent changes will have little effect on any of the Porsche range and that there We always have a range of different cars and prices in will be several options available whatever happens. stock and will happily spend considerable amounts of time Additives will probably be increasingly available anyway with customers, helping them to consider the differences for older cars (as they are in Europe) and if not most and decide exactly which car suits them most within their Porsche's driven normally run OK on the 98 octane own budgets. When a sale is made, a completion date is unleaded or LRP. Further details relating to each model are agreed allowing for the remaining work - typically 2 or 3 available on request. weeks.

Hartech Pre-purchase Checks and Sales Preparation Sometimes - because faults have by now been identified - We seek good quality Porsche's Nationally from which cars we will consider a sale without everything on our list being are bought from private and trade sources. After asking a completed by ourselves, at a reduced price with no lot of pertinent questions, those of interest are put through a guarantee or warranty. This enables some customers, who check with hpi (to check for damage, Police interest, may have capabilities of their own (or with friends) to carry outstanding HP, etc) and the mileage is checked with the out some remedial work, to obtain a good car that already National Mileage Register - both against all previous has had the important work and checks completed - at a registration numbers. lower price.

The good prospects are then inspected and road tested with For those cars that follow the full Hartech route, they are the results being recorded on our Initial Inspection booked into the workshops and a 2nd “Gold” service

45 schedule is followed with great attention to detail, to feel that a more comprehensive list of checks etc, is the complete all the work identified. only way we can maintain them properly or safely – so they are only covered by our more extensive “Gold” system at A lengthy road test is included, an MOT, a full Valet and very competitive prices. For cars that fall somewhere in the the car is supplied with our guarantee and Lifetime middle – we are happy to allow the customer to choose Maintenance Plan (1st 3 months FOC) in place. Different which system they require – between the Hartech wheel options with standard or optionally larger diameter “Standard” or the more comprehensive Hartech “Gold” rims are available for most models. systems – (both however costing less than Porsche’s standard services). A full report on the condition of the car and the work done is also provided and recorded in the computer system for Once the choice has been made, customers are requested to future reference. From then on we place our top priority phone, to book in all work in advance (including minor and all our facilities and expertise to care for that customer extras jobs) so we can plan the work schedule properly. and car. This is vital to avoid unexpected additional work from preventing all the bookings ahead from falling behind. By providing the first 3 months Maintenance Plan free of charge, we never know who will take up the Lifetime plan Upon delivery of a customer car, the work required is and so you can be reassured that we really will prepare recorded on our customer order form (for clarity), a copy of every car to the same exacting standards, regardless of the which (including our payment terms and conditions) is long term warranty implications. This is why we have so always included. many happy, satisfied and loyal customers, many of whom have expressed their appreciation in writing. For example: Although we are happy to carry out individual repairs to cars that are known to us, a car that we have never seen "I would like to say how impressed I am with your business before presents added complications. With so many short both in the manner of operation, customer service and end cuts being carried out by others, old cars in particular may product. In times when mediocrity is the norm this really have problems that the owner is unaware of. So (for stands out. I base my comments on an extensive knowledge example) a customer may ask us just to replace a water of the motor trade over 20+ years and feel your formula is pump on a car that has dangerously corroded fuel or brake deserving of ongoing success. The car is an absolute gem pipes, perished hosepipes or a manifold leak – that could and as you promised was presented in excellent order". G cause a crash, a fire or an engine blow up. By agreeing to W (Leyland). do the work requested without checking over such a car we would not be doing our best for the customer or our "Just a short note of thanks for your professional and reputation, because we do not want a car that has recently courteous manner. It is very reassuring to know that there been in our workshops to fail catastrophically or cause an are still genuine enthusiasts within the motor trade who accident. So we may only accept some cars (new to us) if regard customer services the way you do. We are absolutely they have a “Gold major” service first – so we can delighted with our purchase and look forward to many thoroughly inspect and check them and then report on the happy years of Porsche ownership and business with priorities found. This depends upon the age, history, Hartech". K L (Ashbourne). mileage and condition. If a customer then refuses vital remedial work it will be at his risk. However if all the "I would like to express my thanks for your help and remedial work is completed, the car may then be eligible assistance in the purchase of my "Hartech" 944. Your for the future choice of service level (if it is new enough for service and guidance was second to none and much both options to be available). If you are unsure about which appreciated". D H (Stretford). service you require, please phone for guidance.

Hartech Servicing and repairs – General points. So if a car is new to us, our best provision is a total care Hartech offer 2 different service systems – called package that starts out as a "Gold major" Service. “Standard” and “Gold” to reflect the different Following this we provide a comprehensive plan of action approach to servicing required for different cars. enabling customers to both plan for and save for work Because some quite new cars that have covered relatively required in the future to return the cars to tip top condition few miles (or have been very well looked after before) only or to pass future MOT's. Some additional work carried out really need the procedures and checks listed in a standard during this service may be discounted, resulting in the Porsche service, these are provided under our “Standard” service element effectively being free of charge. After service schedules for those cars, (but undertaken very providing the report it is stored on our computer for future thoroughly). For older cars or very high mileage cars we reference.

46 Even with a car that we have serviced before, on some All the Gold Services cover additional checks to the occasions, when a customer requests specific work which is standard services – beneficial for some newer cars and insufficiently thorough to check and repair all associated necessary for older cars. The Major Gold Service includes a parts, we may still refuse on the grounds that it is against comprehensive written condition report, highlighting a both his and our greater interests to half do a job or do it planned maintenance programme. This includes cylinder poorly. compression tests, removal of brake pads, strip down and removal of belts and rollers (944/968 variants) and Once a new customer is accepted with our "Gold major" frequently exposes problems before costs escalate. service, our ability to look after their car is greatly enhanced with many customers finding our Cars are usually road tested before and after work and recommendations about future MOT failures or future results recorded. During a service, any additional new parts mechanical requirements - absolutely spot on - and others required which, are in any case removed and refitted during avoiding the necessity by having the work done in advance the service, are fitted free, which will, for example, include (and benefiting from the associated discounts). Such cars - brake pads, belts and rollers during a "Gold major" service. looked after by ourselves where our recommendations are followed are also of great interest for our eventual purchase Whenever a fixed price system is in use but another fault is and are also accepted as a priority if any unexpected being repaired that involves repetition of work, a failures subsequently occur. Cars following our “Gold” proportional discount will apply, as it also will if two fixed service schedules are more attractive to prospective buyers price jobs cover similar work in the future. General points relating to Hartech Servicing and We don’t carry out any extra major work without customer repairs . Despite our attempts to be as perfect as possible, it approval, (unless in exceptional circumstances such as a would be both arrogant and unrealistic to claim that we wheel nut snapping), although some minor jobs are too were capable of detecting absolutely every possible future small to keep making contact or estimating or may be problem that may ever occur to a car that we have prepared necessary to complete an unexpected problem associated for sale or that we have been working on. with an approved repair. Consequently, there may (very rarely) be occasions when We fully understand customer scepticism when faced with an unexpected problem or failure still occurs. If it does we telephone advice about problems with their cars. always try our very best to satisfy the customer concerned Consequently we are not offended if they require proof of and return their car to full working order as soon as findings. Damaged parts can be retained, or we are willing possible. However, even this is not enough to satisfy some to stop work for a customer inspection, in exceptional people (but never through lack of trying). Furthermore circumstances, video evidence can be provided. sometimes paintwork defects or corrosion show themselves some time after the sale that were impossible to predict at Once a car has been accepted with a "Gold major" service the time of the sale and therefore we do not cover these but the next services are usually our “Standard” or “Gold” customers still try and get major repairs done FOC and full 6000, 12000 and 24,000 mile services (unless it is too old). re-sprays to improve very minor imperfections that we were unaware of at the time of sale. The “Gold” services are more thorough than any opposition's that we have come across but at competitive We have come to realise that in all businesses there are prices – so they are great value for money. Cars can be left some customers that for one reason or another - do not get with us from Saturday to Saturday if required or during on with the business or their way of working and even if the customer holidays and a local taxi service can connect with business is one of the best there is, it simply cannot please the bus or train network (although there is a railway station everyone all of the time and there are also always some less than half a mile away). customers who try to take advantage of situations to save money. All garage businesses are familiar with these The Standard 6,000 mile service is usually an oil & filter difficult customers. Some admit to letting them get away change combined with a brief check over. with their unfair threats to keep a good reputation – others pay them off with some benefit to keep them quiet. We do The Standard 12,000 and 24,000mile services reproduce not follow this route because - although we are always the work listed by Porsche for a typical 12,000 and 24,000 reasonable and try our best to help reasonable customers - mile services – applied with a thorough interpretation - and we also defend unreasonable claims, as otherwise we feel includes all materials. that all our other reasonable customers (whom we feel

47 deserve our protection) would ultimately pay for the costs Collection and delivery of customer Cars. In order to of the few trying to exploit the situation unfairly. minimise our overheads we do not include free collection or delivery in our range of services. We do however have a Opening and Lead times. vehicle transporter and will arrange collection and delivery at the very competitive rates of £20 (fixed admin fee) plus Customers should note that the workshops are often fully £1/mile (based on the distance one way). I.e. If you live 50 booked for 3 or 4 weeks ahead (sometimes longer), so miles (or 200 miles) away the costs would be £70 (or £220) forward planning is advisable especially if an MOT date is respectively + Vat. looming. Opening hours are usually 8.30am to 5.15pm weekdays and 8.30am to 12pm on Saturdays (which we try Courtesy Cars. In order to minimise our overheads we do to keep clear for customer deliveries and collections and to not include courtesy cars (although we can arrange a low help and advise new customers). (Saturdays may close cost hire vehicle, both to and from our premises). It may be earlier if Bolton Wanderers have an early kick off – sorry) useful for customers to take out a recovery insurance to cover delivery of their car to our premises in the unlikely Fuel Levels. event of a breakdown (typically AA or RAC).

There is an increasing incidence of customers bringing their On-site Insurance. Whilst at our premises, customer cars cars in for service or repairs but leaving about half a gallon are covered by our own extensive insurance. However if of petrol (or less) in the car showing the reserve light on. their car is protected by “agreed value” insurance and any We then do not know how low it is or if it will run out or loss or damage occurred, our own insurance would only not. cover for market value. To get round this we state on our terms and conditions that customer cars are insured at their This creates an unnecessary problem for us. We do not use risk while on our premises and this should enable agreed the cars for any purpose other than service and repair work value policies to be used in the unlikely event of a claim. and testing but every car is road tested before we start work – using up some petrol. Often a car will need to be run in the workshop, warmed up and allowed to cool again – using fuel

We also loose some petrol when we change a petrol filter or replace corroded fuel lines. Then at the end of the work we also need to road test the vehicle again – often 2 or three times while adjusting mixtures or steering settings and we may conduct a dynamometer test of power characteristics.

We may well cover 20 or 30 miles during this testing and so we then need to fill it up with a couple of gallons. Although hardly any competitors are so thorough – we feel that we cannot be sure about the work we have done if we have not road tested the car (and we do not charge for the time involved in these road tests). Finding a petrol station and filling the car up takes time that we charge for. So please will all customers ensure that their car has at least 2 gallons of fuel in it when it comes in for a service or repairs.

Security. The security barriers at the entrance to our industrial estate are raised to stop access by vehicles outside of normal working hours – in the evenings and at weekends. They may be difficult to see in some weather conditions – so upon driving down the private road to the factory – be on the look out for three raised posts across the road. There is also a second set further down the road and a strong steel barrier outside our gates.

48 GLOBAL CHANGES taking place in the MOTOR increasingly unable to run viably or to afford to modernise. INDUSTRY The 2 solutions seem to be to either close down all together or reduce the quality of the work done for the price This new section reflects some major issues that are achieved. changing quickly and for which we are not sure of the eventual outcome. We are simply making customers aware A third choice (to increase charges) is more difficult to of it as soon as possible. handle because while the Internet has increased competition (usually a good thing for customers), this enables those Probably the most important part to grasp is that in a same customers to compare prices without comparing rapidly changing World that influences all the traditional quality. Indeed the consequences of a poor service or repair advice about Porsche ownership - that advice may be may not be experienced for some years or thousands of becoming out of date and misleading. miles - often too long term to reveal the source of the problem and the garage gets away with it. A recent Trading Over the years, an understanding has developed about what standards survey (2005) revealed a high percentage of poor Porsche ownership means at different levels and with or even dangerous workmanship amongst service providers different models. This may all be about to change, so the i.e. 60% of main dealers failed to service the car correctly old rules could mislead potential buyers in a very fluid as did 75% of independents and 25% missed dangerous situation - for 4 main reasons that we feel obliged to share faults - so quality is clearly hard to find at any price. Even with you now even though the changes are in their very those garages that have managed to modernise incur such early stages. high overheads that many are forced to reduce their standards of service to make ends meet or to make the SERVICE PROVISION Firstly, because of Global business manageable – because the public are slow in influences, the Western world is changing fast. Engineering accepting the comparatively high price rises necessary, and Manufacturing are in sharp decline – leading to a becoming their own worst enemy. shortage of skilled staff and an increase in factory costs. While general inflation was around 2.5 to 3%/year, Unfortunately the power of Marketing and Advertising maintenance and repair costs have spiralled by 8 to often enables those making the greatest profit (through 10%/year (source National Statistics 2004). All this affects shoddy workmanship or practices) to afford such expensive the Porsche market, the businesses and services provided modern advertising that they can attract enough new work and the traditional rules and advice for ownership. to thrive on. This is now affecting all industries and businesses (and not just Porsche garages) and is a new Although the Motor Trade in general has been shaking off a phenomenon in our new technically and internet reliant very poor reputation (influenced by much-needed society, with far reaching consequences. improvements in consumer protection) – those reliable providers of good products and services are having to deal All this can be very bad news for the consumer generally with the backlash of a “compensation” culture that is and Porsche owners in particular – because a Porsche needs making the management of even reputable garage proper care and preventative maintenance to provide years businesses particularly difficult. Many owners, with older of cost effective motoring while lack of care and attention premises have decided to pack up, retire and sell the land can accumulate huge costs, unreliability and depreciation. for housing development further reducing capacity. Many reports estimate that half of the existing garage businesses So with Official Porsche centres (and some independents) will disappear in the next 5 to 10 years due to these selling and servicing increasing numbers of new models, problems and the costs of diagnostic computer systems and there remain a very small number of independent garages the skilled technicians necessary to maintain modern cars. that have managed to provide the type of services and facilities necessary to make the maintenance and ownership Those who want a future in the industry often need to of older Porsche’s both affordable and sustainable. modernise their operations but extremely stringent building/planning regulations can be prohibitive. THE USED CAR MARKET & DEPRECIATION Meanwhile even the simplest of modern provisions are tied up with expensive legislation. Secondly , about 70% of the Porsche’s ever made are still on the road and (as Auto Trader has recently reported) the With the increased cost of distributing manufacturers spare 911 still has the 2 nd highest number of enquiries/new car parts – the overall affect of all these major changes is sold and the Boxster is 5 th while Glass’s guide confirmed resulting in some old traditional garages (who used to that a Porsche has the least % depreciation and highest provide personal service and reliable workmanship) being residual value (with a 10 year old 993 still holding 42% of

49 its original value compared to 30% for a BMW 320, down supply/design problems with cost effective solutions – in to 9% for a Mondeo – figures taken during 2006). time. So while the older models may be kept running for a moderate cost when they need an engine rebuild or some This confirms what we all are used to – that there was gearbox parts – more modern Porsche’s that many assume always a market for older models, being both affordable already will have to be fitted with a whole new (or factory and desirable with comparatively low depreciation.. reconditioned) engine or gearbox when comparatively Although there were good and bad models – there has minor problems emerge – may find less expensive always seemed enough buyers to mop up the good old cars alternatives from the independent market – emerge with or renovate the poorer ones – sustaining values. However, time. However such changes must have some influence the day may come when there are too many older Porsche’s upon the running costs and influence some of the traditional (or too many cheaper but newer examples) for the market to economics of Porsche ownership – until that is – the handle and some may then depreciate more than others and independent suppliers find those more cost effective more than we are used to with only the most popular solutions. It may be that sufficient cars are written off models appreciating with time. through accident damage to create a good supply of enough good used engines and gearboxes, but ultimately this will Whatever happens will be an inevitable consequence of prevent many garages from trying to repair or rebuild them market forces so it is not easy to anticipate which models or finding out how to protect other examples from similar will survive and hold values or appreciate and those that premature failures in the future and their general may not. engineering ability will fall as a result. At least we at Hartech already have fully stripped repaired and rebuilt PRODUCT DESIGN PARAMETERS models up to the 996 and introduced ingenious solutions to potentially expensive problems – so the technical benefits Thirdly, the new generation of Porsche’s has been designed will continue to grow within our own business. with different parameters, reflecting modern design and manufacturing principles and the future capabilities of However it is not all bad news as modern technology and repair garages and technicians and their resulting costs. To production quality has resulted in new cars having compensate for inevitable higher garage overheads – improved reliability and moderate maintenance costs in the modern cars are being designed to cut down on the amount first few years - so - although Porsche’s will probably of time necessary to analyse faults and to service and continue to have low initial % depreciation and running maintain them. Unfortunately this means that many of the costs this will probably only accelerate – as they approach components are hardly ever looked at or removed for an age or mileage when expensive replacement units are the inspection. Inevitably this makes it even more expensive only repair options or if there are insufficient “used” spares and difficult if and when the time comes that they have to alternatives available. be stripped down for major repair. So while modern production methods may provide cost reductions they may However this will add fuel to the debate about which older also increase longer-term maintenance costs. models then become viable and which loose favour – as the owner of an older Porsche may not be able to afford (or Furthermore - as the hourly labour overhead recovery rate justify) a complete new engine or gearbox (or a used becomes greater – it becomes more expensive to strip, alternative) for what was a comparatively inexpensive car analyse and try and repair a component than to simply to buy. chuck it away and fit a new one. Consequently technicians are learning less about how and why things work and are FASHION & PRODUCTION METHODS becoming more like fitters than engineers. They will simply test for a fault with a computer and throw away anything Fourthly, Although this may mean that newer cars will that doesn’t read out the right answers – without finding out reach an age when they become expensive to own much why or the cause and hence being unable to work out sooner than before - the World is also becoming much more preventative maintenance measures to protect other similar fashion orientated than discerning, making popular life- models in the future. Similarly, manufacturers may stop spans of all commodities much shorter anyway, while supplying parts for such rebuilds and only offer pre- manufacturers are increasingly designing in planned assembled units instead. This is a vicious circle that doesn’t product obsolescence to sell more new “fashionable” help owners to afford to keep their ageing cars.. products. In automotive terms - whereas the design and style of some older classic cars has ageless appeal, more Although this may gradually have an influence on the modern styling tends to be comparatively short lived with viability of “older” Porsche ownership - ironically the cars designed accordingly. ingenuity of free market suppliers will probably solve any

50 Generally up to 1997 production - all Porsche’s were example, it can be much quicker to mount a dashboard into designed in a typically Teutonic way where the quality of a car that just pushes in with plastic clips that pop into the component parts seemed to be more important than the recesses, than to drill holes to screw it in. However it may economics of production, while the comparatively small then become more difficult (and expensive) to subsequently size of the Porsche business and investment resources, remove without replacing it. In making decisions like this, forced out of date production methods to continue - adding all the previous considerations about garage prices, to productions costs. Consequently - while this resulted in technician quality, production methods, fashionability and them making cars that had the potential to last almost life expectancy inevitably come into focus. forever they rarely made good profits and often lurched into a financial crisis. It was even reported that some models We agree that changes had to be made to the traditional made then were unprofitable. This was in itself a vicious Porsche production methods and concepts and we applaud circle whereby they could not afford the investment to get everything they have done to enable their fantastic, World away from comparatively old-fashioned production beating sports cars – that we all love and admire - to methods – that in itself made the product too expensive to continue development and production at prices that make a profit – unless they lowered the quality – which was increasing numbers can afford for many more years ahead. unpalatable. However – all these changes will also change the way older cars are accepted by the market, looked after and which To some extent the slow development of these cars - of will emerge as the most successful investment - long term. modest styling changes and traditional design links from previous models, created quite small differences as newer It could be that increases in the cost of garage maintenance models emerged – each slightly improved with similar life and repairs will make the pre-1997 cars become too expectancy. The result was a steady supply to the used car expensive to service and repair. Despite the availability of market at a modest enough rate to satisfy demand and a all the parts to preserve them for ever, they may become consistent trend resulting in older Porsche’s being generally uneconomic compared to the quick replacement of a regarded as good investments. However, to reflect all the comparatively inexpensive new engine or gearbox in a Global changes mentioned above, it was essential for more fashionable, newer example. Alternatively the cost of Porsche to modernise production methods, change supplying major assemblies and the higher cost of some manufacturing techniques and alter spares supply policies – repairs (caused by the changes in production methods), may without which they simply would not have survived. still prove too much in newer cars compared to older Within these changes they must have inevitably considered models which then may represent the best buys due to their also the changes mentioned above towards a more fashion ageless styling and lower running costs. No one knows for conscious – throw away society. sure how all this will influence used Porsche prices and desirability – but it certainly needs careful consideration. It is from all this that the latest models (Boxster, 996, Of course we do not know what exactly has been planned at Boxster S, 997, Cayenne and Cayman, have emerged. Now the outset and can only form opinions based upon what we in our opinion - there is nothing wrong with modern find different about the new models, the range of spares production methods that enable a new replacement to be re- being made available and our own observations about designed so it can be made just as reliable and serviceable changes in the World economy and market. as the original – but for a lower production cost price! This in turn can fund continued product development to While we can imagine being a fly on the wall of a board everyone’s benefit. But modern production methods are so meeting in which the question asked was “how long should much more sophisticated - that the serviceable life a Porsche be designed to last and are we in the business of expectancy of the new part can now be much more reliably manufacturing new cars or old spare parts” we cannot be designed in - becoming part of the design process. So sure if it ever happened that way. What we can do is whereas in the past a product may have been designed to be understand why things have changed and fully support simply of the highest quality possible - the designer of a those changes without which the Porsche marque may have fashionable and modern - high profile product, is therefore disappeared. We do understand that – for example - despite likely to consider the question “how long should this huge reinvestment in changes to the 944 S2 to create the product be designed to last”? If fashion and style are 968, it could never be manufactured profitably due to it’s important (and most car designs change styling emphasis design origins in the original 924 created more than 25 every 5 years or so), how much longer after that should the years before. original product be still be performing perfectly? In contrast - the Boxster (and 996) represented an This consideration extends into assembly methods and opportunity to modernise the whole production regime and hence eventually into service and repair times. For so the 968 was dropped and the rest is history. Now

51 Porsche are reported to be earning huge profits – justifying outlook with high overheads and fashionable showrooms – that decision - that will surely preserve the marque for the unsuitable for selling or maintaining older cars. foreseeable future. Now instead of Volkswagen considering the purchase of Porsche (as they were reported to have done Others will avoid (or simply cannot afford) investment in some years ago), Porsche own 20% of Volkswagen – so new facilities or equipment and continue to operate with they must have been doing something right in the last few lower overheads suitable for spending the time necessary to years to result in such a dramatic turnaround in fortunes. look after very much older cars – economically – but they They have managed to make superb, reliable products that may become trapped in a time warp – only ever looking perform exceptionally well and have relatively low initial after a fixed number of increasingly old Porsche’s. depreciation. In the same way that Porsche’s own design, production and financial performances have changed Just as with art, property and the stock market – if it were dramatically and the models seem to have changed in easy to predict the future trends in advance – we could all design priority – so have the independent garages that soon retire and live in the Sun. Because we are not clever service and sell them begun to focus on smaller specific enough to be able to work out exactly what is likely to areas. happen in the future - the intention at Hartech is to fill an unusual gap somewhere in between, incorporating the latest All this may gradually change the whole ethos of Porsche technology and equipment to cater for all models while classic car ownership with traditional experiences gained running with a low enough overhead recovery rate to over many years becoming an unreliable guide to the enable costs to be viable across a wide age range of cars, future . while continuing to seek cost effective solutions to potentially expensive repairs. This will probably emerge We guess that new volume produced cars will generally be with cars aged between say 5 and 15 years old, being the more reliable and inexpensive to maintain initially – main market – new enough to require modern technology reinforcing their reputation and popularity - but will then and old enough to need repairs that could become too reach a point after which they may depreciate more quickly, expensive elsewhere. Meanwhile the models selected by but become unfashionable anyway and are unlikely to be Hartech for sale will be those that we think will become adopted by the classic car fraternity (except perhaps some classics, or good value, for as far as we can see ahead – special low volume variants) because they are not old or thus preserving their viability and the enjoyment of quirky enough. ownership. This would freeze some older models in time as forever popular and valuable while some newer With there being a limited market for classic Sports cars examples may have a comparatively shorter lifespan. anyway – we think that this will increase the popularity and value of some much older classic examples - as their styling Within these groups there have always been 2 entirely is ageless, their place in history is guaranteed and they can opposite exceptions. The first is when – even Porsche – still be maintained economically. However the next have supplied a model that for one reason or another is generation of Porsche cars may not experience that same unpopular, unusually unreliable, expensive to maintain or long life demand as they also age – becoming cheaper to simply lacks the “X” factor of other examples. Regardless buy by a wider customer base – but depreciating more of the production quantities - these have always cropped up sharply as they potentially become more expensive to and as soon as the problems or unpopularity become maintain. Perhaps within each model range a particular common knowledge - they lose value and depreciate variant will become the one to buy – low volume – special rapidly, eventually with just a handful being preserved by features etc. eccentrics. The second is quite the opposite - when a model has such outstanding performance, styling or reputation – This would change the original trend of specialists to that regardless of the maintenance costs or practicality – simply move their operation on each year adding a “year huge popularity, demand and values become timeless. newer” car to the same basic format. Some may drift towards only new cars up to perhaps 5 or 10 years old – It is not always easy to predict which models will fall into shifting focus each year to newer more fashionable cars and which category – but this guide has tried to identify those dropping anything older than that. This would reduce their that are already established and make judgements on those service and repair needs and solve some of the present anticipated for the future. When we are looking to the problems. As Modern car technology also means that very future we must always remember that people are getting expensive diagnostic equipment in necessary to analyse older as well. A customer in his mid 50’s today probably faults, turn off warning lights and even enable cars to wanted but could not afford a 911 when he was young and operate correctly – these would tend to be modern in impressionable but can now finally afford to buy and insure the object of his lifelong desire – stimulating that market.

52 But in ten years time – someone the same age was born 10 and yet the cars are used quite a lot and therefore need good years later and did not necessarily lust after those early cars quality routine maintenance and repairs as they age. This is – but perhaps 968’s or 993’s were their objective. In 20 why we at Hartech have tailored our services accordingly. years time perhaps a mid 50’s buyer then always wanted a Boxster or 996 when he was younger etc. So it is difficult As with all things in life – it is easy to be clever afterwards to predict which cars will hold strong prices over time and but difficult to predict in advance – so what will eventually which will fall away and whether there will be enough happen to the Porsche market as a result of the increased older customers wanting really old classics and also enough number of cars sold and the changes in garage structures, younger customers with comparatively small budgets who prices and design and manufacturing methods – is too much may prefer ageing Boxsters – thus soaking up the increased for us to predict accurately. By raising this subject – all we numbers flooding the older market and preserving values are trying to do – is to introduce some uncertainty that we across the board anyway. feel about how the future will pan out and steer a middle of the road position that enables us to continue to serve the In conclusion - some models will always be a good buy, market needs with excellent reasonably priced services – others may join them or be good for a limited period and however it changes and develops and if necessary steer into others will quickly or eventually become unpopular and the area best suited to our skills – as time sorts out the are probably best avoided. trends. This formula has worked very well to date and we see no reason to doubt that our highly concentrated HOW THIS AFFECTS SPECIALISTS. “engineering” approach and low overhead structure will see us through any changes that occur in the future. It is worth repeating that while some competitors seem to have changed their emphasis from cars 5 to 25 years old to Customer Commendations. cars from new to perhaps 7 years old (reluctantly selling some older part exchange cars), they are increasingly Perhaps the last words should be left to our customers. As catering for the new “fashionable” aspect of Porsche two customer wrote ownership for customers who have little or no interest in maintenance costs or depreciation. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your efforts in repairing my Porsche. Throughout its time with Often they are also getting away from the arduous you and the numerous problems encountered I found you to responsibility of maintenance and warranty work by closing be professional and thorough. I will certainly recommend or sub-contracting their repair and servicing departments you to others and thank you once again" M C (Bolton). and fewer offer both facilities together. At the other end of the spectrum - those unable to afford to modernise - are "Thanks for the recent work, the car feels completely finding they can keep busy concentrating on much older different, driving is now a pleasure. Having had to turn the classic 911’s etc without the need to invest in modern radio up to drown the rumbling engine it's good to turn it technology – with enough demand to happily keep them off to listen to the smooth running" A C (Handforth). going until their retirement. The unusually high quality of even old examples coupled This divergence is leaving a gap in capacity offering with the excellent performance, stunning looks and high affordable services to suit the centre ground - for cars sales values still find favour long after most other cars between perhaps 5 and 15 years old – that very few seem to would be worn out, worthless or scrapped. This however be catering for – needing all the modern equipment and will only be achieved by a very high quality of preventative facilities yet charging a modest cost in keeping with the maintenance and the continual upgrading of a resources of the owners. This is also ironically the age comprehensive records system supplied by an organisation when quality preventative maintenance will have a major recognising this need and responding to it, at affordable influence on subsequent performance and long-term prices, that handles so many similar cars that their expertise reliability. We imagine that this is the very area that most is unmatched. buyers seeking their first Porsche are attracted to. Really old classic cars tend to be for a very limited group Hartech Automotive - as a business - has been set up, dedicated to one make for life – but experience so little designed and continually developed to fulfil this need mileage that maintenance is relatively low and new exactly, responding to needs and the feed back from Porsche’s are obviously limited to very wealthy people for customers. Its success is a measure of this effort and the whom it is not the only car that will always be special to professional competence behind it. them. It is this middle area where they are still reasonably fashionable, desirable and affordable, that most buyers go

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54 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE

Part 3 GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS, Performance figures & Index MENU PRICES. IMPORTANT points Page 54 Standard terms and conditions of vehicle sales. PLEASE READ FIRST Page 56 Standard terms and conditions of service and repair Good Porsche’s that are properly looked after rarely work. prove expensive to maintain and usually have minimal depreciation (compared to similar sports cars) providing Page 57 Hartech Warranty and Guarantee an exciting and affordable experience for their owners. Despite this – some Porsche’s that have been poorly Page 58 Hartech Lifetime Maintenance Plan. maintained, bought from the wrong sources or simply have reached a point where some major repairs are due – Page 63 Background to the Lifetime Maintenance Plan.

can become expensive or depreciate a lot. Page 66 Mileage interval service schedules for the Lifetime Maintenance Plan. This guide pulls no punches in describing the potential faults and models – but please do not allow the photos Page 67 The Hartech Trade Sale Porsche Scheme. and descriptions of failures to put you off – as they are merely to advise you what to look out for on the rare Page 69 General Conclusion to the whole guide and a reminder of occasions that they occur and also to demonstrate that the main trading terms and conditions. Hartech have the skills, equipment and facilities to minimise such occurrence if and when such rare failures Page 71 Performance comparison table for different models. still occur - to repair them at reasonable costs (reduced Page 72 Recent menu prices for different services, repairs and even further through our revolutionary Lifetime models for cars aged up to 1997. Maintenance Plan). Page 73 Recent menu prices for different services, repairs and We feel that this guide is all about informing you not just models for cars aged over 1997 (Boxsters & 996’s) about the good side of Porsche ownership but also the things to avoid – so that it becomes a good experience. It Page 74 An article written by Barry Hart (director) discussing is impossible to achieve this and just put a gloss on engine tuning and power development through his experiences everything – but most Hartech customers enjoy their over 35 years in the racing motorcycle industry and with Porsche experience – mirrored by the typical long length Porsche’s (including photos). of ownership and loyalty to Hartech – over many years. STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE

All cars have some repairs, depreciation costs and Hartech are one of the few businesses specialising wholly eventually corrosion and Porsche’s are no different and in the supply and maintenance of the older , no guide should pretend otherwise – but with careful 924, 944, 968, 964, 993, 996 and Boxster models. These selection of the right car and the future source of repairs can be superb, reliable cars - capable of good performance and maintenance, it can often cost no more than a boring and long life - but there are dangers. e.g. Over half the cars family saloon, yet bring with it far more pleasure and we see for sale - elsewhere - are being sold to avoid the cost satisfaction. of a major repair or in a very poor state. We buy cars in

good condition or with known faults that we usually rectify This guide tries to provide all the information that will before offering for sale. However, where cars are seen help you make the right decisions. Although it has been before rectification and the buyer offers a lower price, broken down into three parts (to help those in a hurry to intending to do the work himself, we may agree a find the right information first) we would advise anyone HARTECH TRADE SALE "AS SEEN" with "ALL IT'S embarking on their first Porsche experience to try and FAULTS" - present at the time of sale or not - without read all three parts. Hartech generate a friendly guarantee or warranty. These are not covered by any relationship with customers and all these various terms, guarantee whatsoever, so the reduced price agreed is a conditions and prices are not a reflection of an abrupt reflection of the customers risk in buying the car at a lower manner but rather to separate the necessary conditions price. Any faults whatsoever that occur (apart from those under which we operate from the day to day covered by statutory regulations), are entirely at the new communication between ourselves and our customers – owners risk and cost. so that everyone knows where they stand without the

need for us to continually refer to them.

54 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE

If the full price is paid, sales include a condition report paintwork is a little scratched or stone chipped, most (following a comprehensive Hartech GOLD check of the dealers refresh those areas by having a repaint in some vehicle), that acts as a guarantee (to protect the buyer from areas (as we do) to ensure that the cars they sell look good omissions and oversights). If the report were misleading in and will last longer. Now sometimes before the repaint any way we would be liable to correct the resulting fault. there will be some small areas of minor early stage However cars of this age can develop unexpected faults, corrosion visible that can be dealt with during the repaint which despite our best efforts to check and inspect the car, and when it is, in our view, there is nothing wrong in we have been unable to detect. If these develop after the repairing those areas locally. So if a large galvanised panel date of sale they are not covered by the guarantee (unless has minor corrosion that is cleaned off, repaired, protected they were the subjects of a misleading description in the and repainted, we defend that approach as superior to report provided). removal of the whole panel (which would deter from the original quality of the whole car) and would anyway be These would be typically caused by normal wear and tear, completely uneconomical. taking account of the age and mileage of the car. If this fault is in complete contrast to the condition report (where Arguments about paintwork many months after a sale are this is supplied as part of the sale), then we are responsible very difficult to deal with, partly because anything could for the repair, but if the description in the condition report have happened to the car meanwhile (like going through a is fair, and the unexpected fault still occurs, then it is not flood, left stood in a damp garage, being damaged, etc) and covered (except by any warranty/maintenance plan that is anyway no one could possibly predict what will happen applicable). over a period of time. Many dealers handle this by refusing to sell any cars older than a few years old but we know that We can still repair mechanical faults economically (as we older cars can be managed electro/mechanically for many operate with modest labour rates, special tools, spares years in a perfectly acceptable way and provide availability and model familiarity) but a comprehensive considerable enjoyment to many owners with smaller Lifetime Maintenance Plan exists to protect the buyer if the budgets – so we intend to continue to sell cars that may be above occurs. In "grey areas" where it is not clear-cut when approaching an age where some bodywork or paintwork or why a fault occurred, and customers are reasonable, we issue may emerge try to adopt a compromising stance. Paintwork or corrosion based defects must be repaired elsewhere as we do not Although our guarantee and warranty covers almost all undertake such work in house. electro/mechanical issues we find the best way to deal with this problem is to make it clear that we do not cover Very few cars develop faults anyway and when they do we bodywork or paintwork issues after the date of sale. This is always try to satisfy our customers. Our policy is to provide not a “cop out” because we have a superb reputation and a car for an enthusiast, reasonably priced, in good condition buy back nearly every Hartech car we are offered, part - reducing the risk to potential buyers and enabling them to exchange and sell many Hartech cars several times over as enjoy and afford Porsche motoring. the years pass by – and all to and from happy and satisfied customers. Indeed we base our philosophy upon this Due to the age of the cars, and for legal reasons mileages principle so providing good cars with excellent paintwork cannot be absolutely guaranteed (since the only legal way and bodywork is obviously to our advantage, its just that if to be sure would be to own it yourself from new). Deposits there is an awkward customer expecting too much from us are non-returnable. with an ageing Porsche, it could become almost impossible to resolve to everyone’s satisfaction and so we think that As our cars are not new, some are bound to have had some the best way to deal with it is to simply make it clear at the minor scratches or paint chips in their lifetime and all outset that bodywork and paintwork are not covered. Porsches will eventually show some signs of corrosion and it is very difficult to predict where and when that will be. So, when a car is offered for sale the buyer has plenty of Some models have particular areas that are prone and opportunity to inspect and accept the paintwork etc. Since others can have quite premature areas that begin to suffer, the condition of body, paintwork, window glass and interior however it is impossible to be sure about what is going on trim is difficult to quantify in a report (often being more underneath the paintwork until it does show itself (and it down to personal opinion) – for all these and the above would be completely impractical and verging on crazy to reasons - we feel it is best to exclude this from our expect every dealer to strip the paint off every car just to condition report, as it can be judged by customers for check the condition and then fully repaint the car – which themselves upon acceptance (and could be damaged after in itself would be harmful as the factory paint finish on new the date of sale) and so we exclude these from any virgin bodywork is always superior). Furthermore, if the subsequent claims after the date of sale.

55 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE

vehicle successfully repaired or generally roadworthy, we However the quality of paintwork carried out by us prior to then do not accept the responsibility for any subsequent the sale as part of the contract of sale, is covered. But faults that may occur with the vehicle, as our best advice paintwork defects or corrosion that did not show itself at will not have been followed. the time of the sale but does do so some time later is not covered. So - as it is impossible to detect until it becomes If while we are working on a car we find that it may need visible - it is a small risk that the buyer will have to accept some small items fitted that we did not quote for (like judging the position from history and general knowledge typically jubilee clips, nuts, bolts etc) we may not always about the model, the condition of the car at the time of the have the time to phone up as each and every minor issue sale and the excellent reputation Hartech enjoys. arises - to get continuous approval for fitting them. Customers must understand that there must be some small We do not accept liability for cars driven in competitive amount of flexibility to maintain efficient working times situations or at speeds exceeding the legal speed limits on and that the cost of contact can outweigh the small cost of a public roads (and this includes going around the Isle of part. If a customer demands an absolute cost limit to be Man circuit or the Nurbergring). After the date of sale, we applied and we find a small part needs fitting – we may still do not cover faults which could have resulted from any do so if we regard it as a safety issue or we may add the work being carried out on the car by anyone else (however cost and time for the telephone call to obtain approval – if well qualified) and guarantees are only valid if Hartech the customer insists on it. have looked after the car meanwhile. We accept most methods of payment including, switch, STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF building society cheques and bankers drafts. We also accept REPAIR & SERVICE credit card payments but add the 3% that we are charged to the bill. We do not accept personal or business cheques. We Hartech are one of the few businesses specialising wholly cannot accept in excess of £10k in cash due to money in the supply and maintenance of older PORSCHE 911, laundering rules (and prefer not to accept large sums of 924, 944, 968, 993, 996 & Boxster cars. These can be cash anyway for the obvious security and employee risks superb, reliable cars - capable of good performance and involved). long life - but there are dangers. e.g. many customer cars are in need of major repairs or in a very neglected state Bankers' drafts and building society cheques must be (especially where they have just been bought) resulting in cleared by providing information about them to us for new owners often inheriting a long list of problems needing verification during banking hours, prior to acceptance. urgent attention - which they may not be able to afford. Direct bank transfers are possible and we can check receipt Due to this and the age of most of the cars, it is not always of these on line. Cars or parts will remain in the care and easy to estimate the cost of repair in advance. control of Hartech until all payments are made in full.

To help we often work to a fixed price, but this only applies Where a repair has been carried out correctly - but an where there are no extra ordinary problems found - such as associated part is found faulty - Hartech will not accept damage to the associated components or other faults not liability for any subsequent problems unless the advice or directly connected to the repair but associated with the recommendations given at the time have been followed, i.e. proper performance afterwards like nuts, bolts and fixtures tuning or repairing engines that are basically worn out that are rusty, seized or otherwise impossible to work with anyway, fitting new pads to worn discs, repairing old without spending extra time on the job etc. electrical parts, welding holes in exhausts etc.

Because we run with low overheads and a low charge out Hartech try to help the owners of older cars by sometimes rate, we cannot afford to include the above-unexpected repairing old parts that would otherwise require more work within fixed price or quoted work unless stated in expensive replacement - but it must be understood that in writing at the time that the job is accepted. We will absorb doing so the further serviceable life expectancy of that part most small problems and delays but not major work which or unit cannot necessarily be guaranteed. For example, if will be charged out extra at our normal hourly rate + parts. we have repaired a particular fault in engines or gearboxes but later some other part of that engine or gearbox fails then If the customer requests that we do no more work than it may be treated as a new problem not necessarily covered estimated or quoted without their approval - we will obtain by the guarantee of the work originally undertaken. this without proceeding but this may delay completion. Where the customer has set an absolute price limit, but we Similarly, if a major engine or gearbox failure occurs, it can believe further work is actually required to render the sometimes be less expensive (or necessary if parts are not

56 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE available or will take too long to supply) to simply replace Hartech have always offered their own warranty and it with a complete unit from a Specialist Porsche Breaker guarantee with all cars sold - to ensure that their customers that has been removed from a crashed or accident damaged have the option of reliable and comprehensive protection. car. This may also work out less expensive than to pay the labour and parts cost of stripping the whole unit down and The Hartech guarantee is a comprehensive written report repairing it. describing the condition and specification of the car. This details the work that has been done and the condition of the When this option is chosen, while Hartech will guarantee parts inspected, which should all be satisfactory and the quality of all their work and that the unit is performing serviceable. It is similar to the report that follows a “Gold correctly - as it should upon completion, faults that occur to major” service except that it should not include anything the unit at some later date are not necessarily covered. This that does not work or that is outside of specifications is a small risk that the owner who chooses this option must (unless specifically mentioned and accepted by the take into account as the reason it is a far less expensive customer). It follows closely the information gathered option than replacement with a fully reconditioned or during the sales preparation. rebuilt unit (supplied by ourselves or Porsche) which would then be guaranteed. Having made this point we cannot If the information in this report is misleading or incorrect remember ever having a problem from rebuilding or then Hartech are liable to correct the error at their cost (for replacing engines, or gearboxes in this way – in fact it has which purpose there is no time limit – only what would be been a very successful exercise. seen to be “reasonable”). This means that the car you thought you were buying must be just that – as this Regardless of the terms and conditions that our description is a contract in it’s own right. Very few other compensation culture force us to describe in detail, we do dealers (if any) will offer such a genuine method of putting our best to help our customers afford to keep their cars in the customers mind at rest about the quality of the car they good running order, but when, despite our best endeavours are getting and that it is as described and confirms all their things go wrong and customers are reasonable, we still try sales information, in writing. to adopt a compromising stance and sort the problem out with as little adverse inconvenience or cost as possible. Our For example, if the report states that a new water pump has reputation is important to us and it is only when customers just been fitted, then it would be “unreasonable” if it failed are completely unreasonable that we may have to invoke within 12 months and if so Hartech would replace it. If those terms and conditions anyway. however it failed after 3 years – it would not be unreasonable and therefore either be covered by the Hartech Lifetime Problems arising are extremely rare and incredibly unusual Maintenance Plan or repaired at the customers cost (if they but now and again it does prove necessary to refer back to are not on the Plan). If a new water pump was not needed at them to protect us against unreasonable behaviour or the time of the sale because the existing one was inspected expectations. Our policy is to provide a service for and found to be perfectly OK, but then started leaking after enthusiasts, modestly priced and enabling them to enjoy “say” 12 months, there will not have been an inaccurate or and afford Porsche motoring. misleading description in the report, because a perfectly serviceable old water pump can still fail unexpectedly (and it n.b. We always try to provide a professional and respectful is almost impossible to predict when). service to customers and to avoid potential problems later, we always try and put agreements or instructions in writing Although it would not then be covered by the guarantee, it - so there can be no misunderstandings using pre-printed would still be covered under the Lifetime Maintenance Plan. customer order forms with customer copies. However Other examples of components that cannot absolutely be where telephone conversations cover authority for work, we tested during sales preparation (unless they have already may record such conversations to protect both parties. failed of course), but might be found to be OK but still might fail shortly afterwards, are - Clutch rubber cush drive, n.b. Fuel filters are not necessary (nor listed by Porsche) Cylinder head gasket, Oil cooler or seals, Torque tube drive for every service and sometimes are not replaced if local bearing, Metal fatigue of gearbox final drive gears, valve seized pipework would fail adding hugely to the cost. In springs etc, Electronic control unit (ECU), ABS units & these circumstances the fuel flow is tested and if Ok the sensors, differential locks, warm up regulator valve etc, filter may be left unchanged. inaccessible hoses etc (list for example not exhaustive).

HARTECH WARRANTY, GUARANTEE and It is important for buyers to remember that when they LIFETIME MAINTENANCE PLAN. buy a used car, it is less expensive than a new one precisely to compensate for the fact that it is not new (as

57 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE explained under the department of trade guidelines for used cars as referred to by Trading Standards). (2) All the services are Hartech “Gold” services carried out at the appropriate mileage intervals, entirely free of There are therefore some items that wear or do not charge (including service parts, oil, filters plugs etc). perform as well as when they were new and yet may be perfectly acceptable for a car of the age, mileage and (3) The internal Hartech labour costs is free of charge for price paid. The written report is not therefore claiming repairs for anything that goes wrong with the car (or that the parts listed are as good as new, but rather that anything found that has not yet gone wrong, but will do are in the condition described and serviceable. so before the next service interval) – or anything that has worn out through normal wear and tear (or that will Under this written guarantee, Hartech are only liable if wear out before the next service interval) are entirely the description is untrue, misleading or unreasonable. free of charge. The only costs that the customer should incur will be for the parts that have failed or worn out The HARTECH LIFETIME MAINTENANCE PLAN (that are not normal service items). (hereafter referred to as the LMP) . Full details about the origin of this plan, what it covers and You pay a regular monthly payment and receive entirely its intentions both for Hartech and non-Hartech cars) are Free servicing to our highest Gold standards at the described in the later section entitled “Background to the appropriate intervals and Free labour to repair almost Lifetime Maintenance Plan”. The details in brief and the anything else that goes wrong with it (you just pay for the terms and conditions are as follows. parts) – including wear and tear items. For Hartech Sales Cars. Although Hartech cars have a Why would we offer this? – Well all specialist garage superb reputation and track record for long-term reliability, businesses have high overheads and yet the work-load tends there are still some things that can go wrong that no one on to fluctuate depending upon the weather, and general earth could possibly have predicted, despite the most business confidence etc. To justify our investment we need thorough checks. Typically these would be items like the a smooth regular cash flow - which this scheme provides. It above water pump, or parts that cannot be practically also benefits the customer by having small regular monthly checked because they are inside the engine or gearbox. payments rather than a huge service/repair bill once/year and then again by reducing the cost of repairing a major Similarly, some electronic circuits or electrical motors give fault. no warning of impending failure. If these go wrong after the date of sale then as long as they would not be interpreted as If a customer never had a single thing go wrong with their having been the subject of a misleading or inaccurate car then they would eventually pay a little more overall into description in the report, then they come into the sphere of the scheme than they got out of it. But most owners would the maintenance plan. This means that the labour to repair happily trade this small extra cost for never having them would be covered free of charge but the parts will have anything going wrong with their car. to be paid for by the customer.

If a customer had a lot of expensive things go wrong with In grey areas, where no clear position can be found, we will their car, then they would be well in pocket through never always be as helpful and accommodating as possible to reach paying as much for the repairs as they would have cost and a mutually agreeable compromise that is fair and honourable. in addition they have some control over the scale of the This is one reason for providing the first three months cover repair and the cost and type of parts used. – after the date of sale - free of charge, to ensure everyone is covered against any small problems that may occur soon If the customer had an average number of problems then after collection. (However if customers decide to try and they would on average get all their money back, but still force us to carry out unnecessary repairs, or to improve the benefit from only ever paying a small regular amount into car they bought and turn it into a new car – when there was the scheme and for a few parts when the repairs are nothing wrong with it, we may decide that the request is completed, instead of suddenly having to pay a lot out unreasonable and it is outside of the scope of the scheme). unexpectedly at one moment in time. The first three months period is usually included free with The main points of the scheme are as follows. the sale but can be extended towards the end of that period by choosing an annual mileage limit and setting up a (1) Anyone on the scheme receives an annual MOT standing order accordingly (full details and mandate entirely free of charge. available from Hartech upon request). Options are available

58 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE for maximum annual mileage’s of 6K, 12K, 18K, & 24K, therefore an attempt to wriggle out of compliance (as many each providing the relevant number of services completely other schemes seem to be) because the whole intention of the free of charge (including free service parts), an annual plan is to be able to help as many customers in as many MOT and the labour for all repairs and wear and tear items, situations as at all possible. However – in all fairness to the for as long as you own the car and continue the payments provider and also because of the very low cost of the HLMP (with very few exclusions). (and bearing in mind that the full costs are being born by Hartech and are not re-insured) – there must be some In addition - if a repair is undertaken that involves the exclusions listed. removal and replacement of some parts unrelated to the fault - but that the customer would also like replaced at the The HLMP cannot cover repairs that must be subcontracted same time, then usually these will be replaced free of - but only those that can be completed within the abilities labour charge, providing the parts are paid for (or for a and facilities of Hartech's own workshops and staff (which small additional cost). This would typically be during an are extensive). It therefore excludes complex electrical or engine or gearbox rebuild to correct a small fault perhaps, electronic work, insurance repairs or bodywork, paintwork, during which it would be prudent to take the opportunity to sub-contract work, internals of automatic gearboxes, fit a few other parts that might not yet be completely worn convertible hood mechanisms, hoods and rear screens, rear out, but would save having to do it again in a few years de-misters, alarms and radios, faults caused by rust/corrosion time. If this occurs a mutually agreeable compromise (or additional work caused by it) – as it is completely outside maybe sought over costs. of our control. It also excludes parts and in the case of air conditioning it excludes anything related or connected - Unlike most Warranties the HLMP DOES cover against which is sub contracted locally in its entirety. normal wear and tear of parts and not just against failure. There are no other similar schemes that we are aware of Where the part required for a repair is not available from that provide this cover – or get close to the total cover Porsche (or delivery will take too long or is too expensive) provided. There are no upper cost limits, no age or mileage Hartech may recommend an alternative to enable the vehicle limits and no limits to the number of claims - providing the to be back on the road as soon as possible or for a more car has been exclusively worked on by Hartech in reasonable cost. Typical of this would be to use another used accordance with it’s schedules, all recommendations have engine or gearbox in circumstances where a repair part is not been followed and none of the few exclusions have been available or too expensive an option. However it is still the invoked. customer who ultimately decides upon the chosen solution. Where the less-expensive option is chosen by the customer, This means that (unlike any other plan) parts can be they should not necessarily expect the same longevity or repaired or replaced under the HLMP before they fail - quality as for the more expensive option (for obvious when they are detected as only beginning to go wrong. reasons). (Other warranties usually only apply after failure has occurred). This reduces the eventual cost, minimises the Also excluded are faults caused by the owner not taking inconvenience and enables the HLMP to cover serious oil proper care and attention to obvious routine maintenance or water leaks etc (not normally covered elsewhere until it (like keeping oil and water topped up etc), not returning the is too late) - noisy parts detected before failure occurs and vehicle to Hartech within time or service mileage intervals, "Grey areas" where a customer is concerned about a accident damage, damage caused by a third party, minor oil problem - that is spoiling their driving pleasure and yet leaks, collection and delivery, etc. In addition - to protect which is still relatively minor. Typical parts covered are all Hartech from unfair claims - the HLMP will only be valid if: engine problems, gearbox, brakes, transmission, water leaks, steering, wheels, tyres, electrics, interior parts, (1) The car is returned to Hartech at or before the agreed instruments, auxiliaries etc. In the event of a disagreement service mileage or monthly interval and that during this Hartech will only allow the scheme to apply in cases routine check any work recommended (whether or not where they agree there is a need (although this would not covered by the terms of the HLMP) but that would effect the affect your statutory rights). future performance and reliability of the car must be carried out under the HLMP terms or at the customers cost (where EXCLUSIONS: By offering a scheme that covers almost appropriate). every eventuality, potentially - for as long as the owner keeps the car - regardless of the total miles covered under the (2) The car must not have any work whatsoever (that is in scheme, Hartech’s intentions are to provide the most any way connected to any item being claimed under the comprehensive and customer friendly back up service terms of the HLMP or that would reasonably effect the available anywhere. The very few exclusions listed are not condition of associated parts) carried out by any other

59 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE party other than Hartech Automotive - or the HLMP may is unreasonable, argumentative, threatening or for any be invalid. other reason the relationship between themselves and the customer has deteriorated to a point that Hartech believe (3) The car must not have been subjected to competition will adversely affect their ability to fulfil their obligations use, nor track days, nor any form of rallying nor the fault in a positive, productive and efficient manner, then they to be related to driving at speeds exceeding the legal speed reserve the right to cancel the contract”. limits on public UK roads. n.b. Buyers NOT taking up a HLMP (or after it's expiry or (4) The accrued mileage indicated by the speedometer after stopping monthly payments) in the event of a must be genuine. Since the costs for the scheme are based problem - will only be protected if the description on mileage covered, there may be customers that decide to provided in the Engineers Report is clearly inaccurate, disconnect their speedometers to gain an unfair advantage. incorrect or misleading, (although in grey areas Hartech We record technical information to check authenticity and will always try and be flexible and accommodating if if we suspect that a car on the scheme has been “clocked” customers are reasonable). we reserve the right to exclude it from the scheme. Unlike other schemes there are no large initial payments The nature of the complaint must be “reasonable” (and (before you may even know how long you intend to keep again Hartech will decide on its acceptability). To the car) and no contracted term – as payments can be explain the need for this clause we should explain – stopped anytime by the owner, which automatically for example - that we have had customers wanting us cancels the scheme without further costs or come back. to completely strip down an engine because they can However, Hartech do reserve the right to refuse to take back a car on the scheme once it is out of cover or hear a noise that they do not think should be heard or payments have been stopped. that they claim was not present when they bought the car. If we in all honesty cannot hear the noise or find it Because the scheme was worked out so that an average normal for the age and mileage for a car at the price customer with an average car will get back what they pay sold – we cannot agree to such a cost on what we in over time, and because there is no additional profit believe to be either unfair (the subject of a hidden element, there is a need to cover unexpected problems that agenda) or an uneducated whim. In these cases we will could not be anticipated when the costs were worked out. use the rule that the claim will only be accepted if “Hartech agree that it needs attention” - This of This is particularly relevant on newer models where they course does not affect you consumer rights . are not yet old enough nor covered enough miles, to find out what any unusual long-term weaknesses are. It would be unfair to expect Hartech to compensate owners for (5) It may also be that the customer really hopes for a free some general design or manufacturing error caused by the engine rebuild once it is apart to investigate some minor manufacturer that would not imply that anything was done internal problem that they claim. It would inflate the prices incorrectly nor any lack of care was responsible on their of the scheme for any genuine claims, if we did not resist part. So any unusual common failure that becomes general such pressures – so while we will do all we can to help knowledge in the fullness of time may result in an increase customers – we do reserve the right to refuse action where in premiums to cover that new fault. Or the repair of that we feel it is inappropriate. If shortly afterwards it became specific fault may them be excluded from the scheme as clear that a fault did occur related to the noise and we were Hartech do not have enough financial resources to therefore wrong to ignore the customers concerns, then we indemnify customers against a common problem that was would indemnify them against any additional cost of an original design or manufacturing fault. repair. We would then still charge for the parts that would have been necessary anyway to have repaired the original Already, most models have some common faults and the problem if we had acted when requested, but would costing has already made some allowance for them (and all indemnify them of any additional parts costs brought about claims have been met to date anyway) so the above clause through delaying acceptance of a problem. All this seems will not be put into effect except in very exceptional typically fair and reasonable. circumstances where an entirely unexpected fault occurs to

a lot of newer cars of the same specification, model or If customers decided to adopt an awkward or mileage that Hartech could not reasonably have been confrontational approach to obtaining an unfair advantage – expected to anticipate and cannot afford to repair for every then Hartech operate the following rule; “If Hartech find car. that the skills and integrity of themselves is being questioned, the attitude of the customer towards Hartech

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Hartech also cannot afford for this scheme to cost them so Hartech’s own employees and the business from unfair and much that they go out of business as this would help no one unreasonable claims and behaviour. to repair a fault, but equally they do not plan to make any additional profits to those they may have made if all the For non-Hartech cars. As soon as this Plan was same work and services had been carried out and paid for announced for buyers of “Hartech Cars”, there was a by all the customers involved. It is the intention that the demand for a similar service for cars purchased elsewhere scheme is self-financing with all the income generated but looked after by Hartech. We considered this carefully paying for all the costs (and a separate account is used for because our records showed that on average they were this purpose). If – in the fullness of time – it turns out that much more expensive to run, over several years, (even if the costs are not being met, Hartech reserve the right to we took out the initial renovation costs) than the cars we increase the scale charges for new applicants accordingly. originally sourced and sold ourselves. Despite this we have now introduced a similar plan for non-Hartech cars that has It is a little more difficult to deal with a necessary increase been worked out by the same criteria as before. for those already on the scheme, however Hartech undertake not to increase the costs for those already on the There are some small changes from the scheme for Hartech scheme by more often than once per year (on the 1 st of July cars. e.g. We must obviously reserve the right to turn down if applied), or by more than either inflation, interest rates, some poor cars that have been so neglected or damaged that the cost of living index – or the generally accepted they would be too unreliable to fit within the costings for increases applying to their industry - whichever is the the Plan. However, those that we find acceptable will go greater. This is to reassure customers that once they are on through our “Gold major” service and if the serious faults the scheme there will be no unreasonable increases applied that we identify, are repaired by us (and both the “Gold – however long they remain on it. Charges for those already major” service and repairs are paid for in full by the owner) on the scheme will be brought into line with the advertised the cars are then eligible for the Plan under almost the same market price for the scheme on 1 st July each year. terms and conditions as for Hartech cars. The costs however are slightly higher to reflect the higher The MONTHLY costs for the Lifetime Maintenance maintenance costs that non-Hartech cars have incurred - on Plan for Hartech sale cars are presently as follows. average. (please confirm that these are current at the date of sale. Vat must be added). If models not listed are sold then a special The newer the car is (and therefore the sooner we get it on quotation can be offered upon request. our scheme) the less difference there is in the costs. If it is an older car, however, even after going through all our Miles/year 6K 12K 18K 24K “Gold major” service recommendations etc, we still found 944 996 997 £48 £60 £97 £133 in the past that because private customers do not on average Boxster Cayman choose such good quality cars to start with, they still cost 944 S2 968 £55 £73 £115 £152 more to repair and maintain. Due to this, there are some 944 Turbo 993 £66 £82 £126 £157 differences between the Hartech and non-Hartech schemes.

911 3.2 Carrera £68 £90 £132 £181 Although Hartech cars have almost ALL known faults 964 996 Turbo £79 £115 £165 £220 corrected (except those few specifically excluded), for non- 997 Turbo Hartech cars, we will allow those faults, which do not adversely affect any other part of the car or have any other In this way we hope to remove the fear of a sudden large reliability implications, to be excluded and not repaired. repair cost from spoiling the otherwise considerable Items such as leaky water pumps or rusty brake pipes pleasure of owning a Hartech Porsche - even over many would not be excluded and must be repaired, as they in years or high mileage's - by providing small regular themselves could have more expensive consequences if left affordable payments. We also feel that if an unfortunate un-addressed. Items such as a noisy rear wiper motor or a event occurs that was neither Hartech’s nor the customer’s sticky passenger electric window could be excluded from fault, then it is right to help the customer by sharing some the scheme and not be repaired (either before the car is of the costs of the repair. Customers considering offers accepted on the scheme or if the fault is discovered during from their place of work for cash payment options instead its time on the scheme). However these items could not of using their company cars will benefit from this ability to then be repaired under the scheme later, but only if both the budget purchase and maintenance costs closely to run a labour and parts were then paid for by the owner. Porsche instead. So far the plan has been working well and everyone involved is happy with it. However it has been necessary to change a few rules recently to protect

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The HLMP for Hartech cars has been costed out to only cover the costs of the scheme and there is no additional The MONTHLY costs for the Lifetime Maintenance profit element included. This is because we believe that if Plan for NON-Hartech sale cars are presently as we have sold a car that subsequently has a problem - that follows. (please confirm that these are current at the date of we should not profit from the repair of that problem – sale. Vat must be added). consequently our plan for Hartech sales cars, is based on a Older models, or those not listed, are not presently accepted non-profit generating set of statistics – resulting in it’s on this scheme – although they may be considered for a exceptionally low cost. special quotation.

These were not too difficult to work out, since we had Miles/year 6K 12K 18K 24K already carried out all the remedial work before the cars 944 996 997 £60 £79 £121 £170 were sold and generally customers for Hartech cars Boxster followed all our recommendations throughout – enjoying Cayman the exceptional reliability that resulted. So even if we have 944 S2 968 £68 £93 £145 £205 got the initial charges for the scheme too low - we will 944 Turbo £85 £104 £165 £205 accept the resulting slight loss, honouring our agreements 993 fully. This is our way of offering a very generous and 911 3.2 £90 £115 £173 £236 valuable, long-term commitment and benefit to those who Carrera buy our cars. 964 996 £102 £151 £211 £284

Turbo However the calculations for the costs of the non-Hartech 997 Turbo cars were much more difficult to establish statistically because customers often did not have every fault repaired during their first service, nor all the subsequent ones Why parts costs are not included. thereafter. So they not only often bought a car with more faults in the first place, but also suffered the additional Everyone would like a scheme that included the cost of financial consequences of not repairing them in good time, parts as well, but not the premiums involved. This is why as well. This made interpreting the statistics very difficult many warranty companies get very awkward about indeed and setting the right charges - almost impossible. As authorising repairs for old cars claiming that the fault must a result, the initial charges are unlikely to be as accurately be due to "wear and tear - high mileage or age" which is did calculated as for Hartech sales cars. never covered, so the cost of a scheme that cover parts honourably, for a Porsche, would be much too expensive. Because of this difficulty in working out the right charges, it may be necessary to alter them after the first year if they However – paying for the parts is actually a very reasonable are too high or too low. If they are presently too low, position. For example, if two identical cars were for sale, increases will have to follow eventually, although those on the only difference being that one had just had a new the scheme will not have any increases levied until they clutch, head gasket and engine oil seals etc and the other have been on the scheme for a full 12 months. had not (because they hadn’t failed yet), then the former would rightly cost more. If a customer bought the cheaper We hope that there will be no need to increase the charges one and soon after needed these parts, his car would end up at all and indeed, if the cars prove to be more reliable than in the same condition as the more expensive one was our statistics suggest (which may well be the case), then originally. So – on this basis - it is not unreasonable for him charges will be reduced accordingly after the first year. to pay a small amount towards the cost for what will be a However, if the charges prove to be too low and the owners better car than it was for many more years and thousands of that are on the scheme find the resulting increases too miles. expensive, they can stop the scheme simply by stopping future payments. Another reason is because our intention is to take all the hassle out of warranty repairs and continue a friendly and Unlike the scheme for Hartech sales cars (for which the helpful relationship with customers despite a problem maximum possible price increases are limited), Hartech arising with their car. If we had a much more expensive reserve the right to adjust the costs each year by whatever scheme covering parts as well, there would inevitably be amount proves necessary to cover the costs. Hopefully – some customers that tried to take advantage by asking for they will prove not be too far out (if at all) and have not things that were not really necessary - like a new engine etc been adjusted outside of the guidelines for Hartech cars - - which - if we were paying for everything - and if we for existing customers - since inception. genuinely thought it was unnecessary - we may have to refuse. This would defeat our objective and create friction

62 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE between the customer and ourselves. Similarly we could expect huge requests for free replacements, just before a car We hope that as a result of the care we take in selecting was offered for general sale, that we may have to refuse on cars, the skill and integrity we apply when preparing them the grounds that they were not needed yet. In contrast, if a for sale or working on customer supplied cars and the range customer would like a worn part replacing before it was and variety of warranty cover now offered, that all our really necessary, we would be unlikely to agree if we were customers will continue to be as happy with their Porsche’s paying for the part, but happy to oblige if they were, since it as the vast majority of our previous customers have been - makes little difference to our labour costs, whether we because despite any unexpected eventuality - we are complete the repair then or in a few weeks time. So by always there for our customers. requiring the customer to pay for the parts, they are unlikely to request anything unless it was really necessary BACKGROUND to the LIFETIME MAINTENANCE and we are less likely to disagree over the timing or PLAN necessity. In this way we both manage to control unreasonable claims and carry out all the work that really is Working out the costs for the plan and historical necessary at minimal cost and in a pleasant and friendly comparisons with Hartech and Non-Hartech running way that would in our view be impossible if parts were costs. included. This Lifetime maintenance plan came about because many General comments years ago, we had noticed that - having very carefully selected cars to buy in the first place (and having discarded We always honour our warranty obligations providing they many others offered to us) and then having carried out such are fair and reasonable - but we do have to be cautious if a thorough refurbishment, it then was quite inexpensive to customers are unreasonable. Fortunately our preparation is look after them, for many years afterwards - however many so good and our after sales service so comprehensive that miles they covered. Furthermore, if we eventually bought we have over the years now built up a huge list of satisfied them back (or more likely part exchanged them for an customers, many of whom have covered over 100,000 upgrade), they were still much less expensive to prepare for miles in one of our cars without major fault (only what we sale again and incredibly reliable. regard as service items such as brakes, exhausts, perhaps a water pump or head gasket once). Although we had been claiming these cost saving advantages of a properly maintained Porsche (and So whereas the vast majority add to an ever increasing particularly a Hartech Porsche) for many years, we thought number of very satisfied customers, pass on that we could reflect this confidence by providing a low recommendations and remain customers for many years cost maintenance plan for our customers that will beat our and often buy more than one car - we feel that it would be opposition and absolutely prove to everyone the quality of wrong of us to support unreasonable claims - whatever the our cars - because if we got the scheme wrong it would cost threats - since these would ultimately be paid for by us a fortune. everyone else. So we analysed the figures for a range of typical "Hartech There are unfortunately some people that rely upon the Cars" and non-Hartech cars (often bought from other threat of bad publicity to scare suppliers into buying them Porsche specialists) to establish the difference and work out off and to achieve a completely unfair repair or the costs. compensation for something, which was not even the fault of the supplier concerned. We try so hard to please that we We had to look at all invoices and work out the split of can do without such customers. labour and parts for every entry and remove items like "buying a child seat" or "buying 17" wheels" - which were Our Lifetime Maintenance Plan is designed to cover the not relevant and would distort the "Maintenance plan" rare misfortunes that are impossible for anyone to predict or analysis. detect in advance (even after the most thorough inspection and preparation) and also all service and normal wear and We only intended this exercise to enable us to cost out our tear items and we honour them fairly and completely. We new scheme, but the results surprised even ourselves and are totally committed to providing the best car and the best supported all our arguments about Hartech supplied cars, services, that we can at a reasonable cost, which for most the basic original quality of the product and the benefits of people offers the chance of Porsche ownership without good preparation and the planned maintenance- provided. worry, disappointment or high repair costs, with a good re- sale value.

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We recorded the running costs (parts and labour) including This graph also allows the difference in costs to be worked the service costs, on a spreadsheet chart for each successive out for a given period and mileage. e.g. A 944 owned for month of ownership (or records) and then let the computer 2.5 years and covering 10,000 miles/year would cost on work out the cost for each customer for each successive average £3,025 more if it was a non-Hartech car (plus the month, divided by the mileage covered to work out the costs of hpi checks, painting, wheel refurbishing, tyres etc progressive monthly cost of ownership per thousand miles totalling £4000 to £5000 saved with a Hartech car, which covered. Then all the totals for Hartech and non Hartech will probably be worth more, be easier to sell and command cars were added up and divided back by the number of a higher price). This enables a comparison of the original entries each month to create the Average cost per thousand purchase price of a non-Hartech car and the corresponding miles per month owned - shown on the following graph 1 value for money to be calculated.

Graph 1 example for 944, 8 valve cars. Graph 2 is a similar comparison but after removing the initial cost of the first services from the non-Hartech cars, to compare the running costs thereafter. This shows that non-Hartech cars still cost more to run, justifying some of Average cost/K miles/months owned the increased charges for the scheme. Although these costs are still 250% more than for the Hartech car, we think that

2000 some of this is due to customers leaving recommended repairs too long and them costing more eventually.

1500 Since non-Hartech cars will have to have ALL the recommendations followed (or some excluded) before they

Non Hartech 944 8 valve are accepted on the HLMP, the starting point will be better than our statistics have reflected in the past. 1000 Hartech 944 8 valve

Graph 2

Averagecost/1000 miles 500

0 Average cost/K miles/months owned Each successive month of ow nership Non Hartech 944 8 valve 140 Hartech 944 8 valve

120

Since ALL Hartech cars have been fully serviced and 100 repaired (where necessary) before sale, (the costs of which 80 do not then come into these running costs) it is not surprising that the initial costs/month are very low. It is also 60 not surprising that - since most non-Hartech cars that have 40

just been bought need a full service and extensive repairs, Averagecost/1000 miles that - they are expensive. 20

What is surprising though is that even after 5 years of 0 ownership, the Hartech car on average still costs only one Each successive month of ow nership third to keep running of the cumulative cost of a non- Hartech car. This is a clear tribute to the more careful and professional original choice of car and the very thorough preparation that has been undertaken. It also perhaps A similar exercise was conducted for all the other models reflects that customers with non Hartech cars do not always listed at that time (but excluded Boxsters and 996’s because have everything repaired at once (or early on) often putting we had no long term records then). We also used up with small problems that eventually need fixing at cumulative averages since the individual records varied greater expense later (and it is less expensive to do all the considerably and would lead to spiky graphs that would be jobs at one time - as we do with our own cars). difficult to read. Cumulative averages gradually smooth out results and show a trend, either rising or falling, that is

64 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE easily recognisable. The following graph 3 shows that that a It is also fair to point out that the non-Hartech cars included Hartech car has much the same running cost/1000 miles some that were really bad and therefore inevitably needed a regardless of it's age being anywhere between 9 and 22 lot more sorting out and still cost more as the lack of care years old and the huge difference for a non-Hartech car. and attention in the past gradually caused more and more components to fail early.

Graph 3 We also compared many other parameters, like the annual mileage covered etc to see if that would influence costs greatly and needed to be accounted for within the scheme. Cumulative av costs/K miles

800 The results mirrored the previous trend, namely that a Hartech car showed little difference in running costs/1000 miles as the annual mileage increased from 3,000 to 24,000 600 Hartech miles/year, while the non-Hartech cars were always more Private expensive to run. 400

Avcost These graphs and statistics gave us the confidence to price our scheme for Hartech cars on a price/K miles basis, to 200 disregard the age of the car and the overall mileage it already has covered (or it will cover). 0 Age from 22 to 9 years old For non-Hartech cars we had to include a slight adjustment for the above differences as age and mileage’s increased.

The following graph 4 is on the same basis as graph 2 (after After analysing all the statistics and invoices and trying to taking out the initial service and repair cost element from make adjustments and allowances for all the anomalies the non-Hartech car). The scale is also different but it still mentioned, the final charges for non-Hartech cars have indicates that the public overall - are not as good at been set at about 30% more than for Hartech sales cars selecting a good car as we are (even though they may cost (varying slightly with the model in question). less initially). The analysis also investigated the costs for different Graph 4 models, revealing that the least expensive to run were the 924, 924S and 944 range. Next came the 944S, 944S2, 968 and 993. Cumulative av costs/K miles The 944 Turbo, while very reliable, is more expensive to 180 work on, resulting in slightly increased charges that do not 160 reflect less reliability.

140 Av The 911 3.2 is next (due largely to their older age and cos 120 design) while the C2 & C4 are the most expensive, mainly t due to the additional service time involvement which 100 increases most engine related repair times compared to Hartech other models. 80 Private

60 The types of service and MOT etc and the intervals Age from 22 to 9 years old between them that we have accounted for in the scheme free of all charges are listed in the following chart. By selecting the annual mileage first, the type and frequency is then indicated. This is both a testament to how thoroughly we prepare our cars and of the quality of the original manufacture, that once properly overhauled, serviced and repaired, the mileage has little influence upon overall running costs.

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Owners that have to rely on garages and specialists can both buy a bad car and select a poor repair workshop – the combination of which can cost a small fortune.

Our plan is designed to enable a low monthly budgeted figure to cover most costs including the unexpected disaster Mileage and service interval chart - which puts off many potential owners in this category. The only additional costs to the monthly fee are likely to be Months 6K 12K 18K 24K MOT for parts that will improve the quality and long-term value 3 A of the car anyway. Many other sales outlets and schemes 4 A claim all sorts of benefits, but – if you read into them 6 A B carefully – you will find that most have get out clauses or 8 B limits that provide the potential to cover very little indeed. 9 A This problem is one of the biggest difficulties for 12 B B A C 1 prospective buyers who can read all sorts of possibly conflicting stories and be subjected to different competitors 15 A sales talk (to secure your business), all of which often 16 C leaves you wondering what and whom to trust. 18 A B 20 A We back up our claims with this scheme, because we 21 A know that our claims are true and our plan is unbeatable, 24 B C B C 1 but for those sceptical potential customers, who are still 27 A unsure, perhaps you should consider that only we have put 28 A our money where our mouth is by offering this Lifetime 30 A B Maintenance Plan to all our customers. 32 C 33 A We also openly publish all our terms and conditions 36 C B A C 1 (and no small print) so they are in black and white and 39 A they bind us absolutely. Ask yourself if any one else is 40 B backing up their reasons for buying from them or using 42 A B them for services and repairs with such a confident, low 44 A cost personal scheme. 45 A These figures have been generated from cars that we have 48 B C C C 1 fully serviced etc, so that is why, we include the full cost of 51 A all the servicing (including all the service parts, oils filters 52 A etc) and the annual MOT as well – to ensure that the same 54 A B care and attention is always applied to cars on our scheme 56 B and the resulting reliability is as good. 57 A 60 B B A C 1 When a car is being serviced elsewhere, it must be very difficult for the owner to know whether a job being recommended really is necessary or not, or if the advice is KEY A=Gold 6000 mile service motivated to increase business. B = Gold 12000 mile service C = Gold 12000/24000 mile Major service Although we only ever advise what we honestly believe to be in the customers best interests - with this new scheme - Of course all this (and the Lifetime Maintenance Plan) are the customer will KNOW that we would hardly be likely to only relevant to those who cannot (or are disinclined to) recommend something that costs us money unless we really carry out the service, repair and remedial work (or some of believe that in the long run both we and the customer will it) themselves. Such owners are particularly vulnerable save money overall by completing essential work at the because practical home mechanics can at least reduce the right time. We would also be stupid to ignore something cost of a badly bought car or sudden expensive failures by that will cost us more to repair if we leave it too long. doing the repair themselves.

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So while it would be against our interests to recommend Main dealers rarely sell such old cars and many of the anything that is not necessary it would also be against leading independent suppliers have moved up market. our interests to put off anything that will eventually cost This is due to the simple fact of life that the older a car more to fix. This - for the first time - puts both the becomes, the more it costs to restore it to tip top customer and us, in the same boat, both seeking the condition. Although we have explained much of the least expensive way to achieve the best reliability following points in earlier sections – it is worth repeating possible. for those who may have skipped those sections and have come straight to this one. Background to the reason why older cars become THE HARTECH “TRADE SALE” PORSCHE problems to conscientious dealers. SCHEME Typically – during our sales preparation - we may spend £1K on a £35K car, £2K on a £10K car and £3K on a The “Hartech TRADE SALE Porsche” scheme covers £5K car (3%, 20% and 60% of their value respectively). cars that may become available under four different An even older model worth £1K may need £4K spending scenarios, all-resulting in the same outcome – a lower on it to make it perfect again – 400% of its value (and so price for a car that is less of a risk to buy than on the open the seller would have to pay the buyer at least £3K to take market. Every Hartech sales car (in any category away the car for it to become a viable proposition). including this one) has been checked against records for accident damage, outstanding finance, etc and has been This clearly demonstrates that there comes an age where road tested and inspected and deemed as a sound car in they simply price themselves out of the market as it reasonable condition. becomes impossible to source a good car cheaply enough to fully restore it and then price it competitively. This is We do not buy or part exchange any cars that we know to indeed another reason why – as time goes by – only the be accident damaged or in such a poor condition that they very good examples emerge as an appreciating asset would be a bad buy for anyone. It will not however while rougher similar examples fall so far into disrepair undergo our pre-sales preparation, nor be accompanied that the eventually become scrapped. Many buyers want with an engineer’s report, nor be eligible for the to restore an older car themselves or pay specialists to do “Lifetime Maintenance Plan”; instead it will be offered at only some it. However this doesn’t necessarily ensure a much lower price on an “as seen trade sale basis”. that the original car they bought, was a good investment, or priced properly and they take a risk over it’s condition This means that the buyer has to accept it with all its since they do not find out the true story until it is fully faults and no comebacks. This wording “with all its checked over - after they have paid for it. faults” does not mean that there are hidden faults that we know about but are not declaring – because we would As Porsche’s age - their condition starts to noticeably always let any prospective buyer know about anything vary after about 5 years old. Up to 5 years old – the lack that we have discovered. Instead it is just a legal way of of care in some service centres – while not necessarily wording things so that it is clear that the buyer is affecting the main integrity of the car – does start to show accepting faults if any exist or emerge – as part of the in small areas of neglect. These will still be fully sale contract (this does not affect your consumer rights recoverable by a more thorough specialist, but if for a Trade Sale contract). The car can still be booked in maintenance is then done on the cheap for a few more for a “Gold major” service and following this can still be years, it starts to show in more major areas. So nice eligible for the “Lifetime Maintenance Plan” @ “NON- examples with popular specifications are expensive and Hartech prices”. consequently bought by those seeking the best and prepared to pay for it. (1) The first scenario will suit customers who do not expect an absolutely perfect car and want to carry out They are therefore subsequently well looked after – some work themselves. Consequently they have no maintaining their high value. In contrast, those with less interest in the “Lifetime Maintenance Plan”. It is suitable to spend - buy a rougher example of the same year car (or for older Porsche’s that may have been taken in part one that is cheaper because it is already of a less popular exchange, are basically straight and sound but not worth colour or specification) and then don’t look after it while (or borderline and undecided) for Hartech to fully properly. We call this “price divergence” as one example restore. This will usually cover cars that are typically holds its value for years while another one is in continual over 10 years old and under £10K. free fall. When a Porsche is quite new there are many who are desperate to be seen in the latest car who cannot

67 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE really afford it. These will buy a cheaper example in a reconsider this policy when many expressed an interest in slightly unpopular colour or specification – just to be these older models. When we explained WHY we no seen in the latest example. When they get older there is longer sold them – they frequently replied that they didn’t more choice on the used car market and buyers take more expect them to be like new but still wanted the main time selecting their next car. Although – for them – it is Hartech checks and benefits. still an expensive car and a serious purchase, the newness They still wanted to buy a car that was properly has worn off the car and is not quite so important researched and deemed a good car by us, but didn’t seem anymore as a status symbol, but more so as a drivers car. to expect the paintwork and interior to be absolutely perfect nor for the minor imperfections to be sorted out. Those with less to spend are also perhaps more interested Indeed many had come from the more traditional “Classic in long-term values and depreciation than those who can Car” experience of MGB’s etc and actually enjoyed afford a nearly new example. So with the car being older sorting out smaller imperfections at home, but were now the unpopular colours and specifications take longer concerned about the history of a car and such to sell and their value falls even more. When this car is comparatively “new” technicalities of, fuel injection, next sold - its condition is even worse, its specification computerised engine management systems and makes it increasingly unpopular and therefore its is priced aluminium cylinder blocks etc. even lower. It is then only going to be bought by someone looking for a cheaper example of that year’s car The “HARTECH TRADE SALE Porsche SCHEME” and it is looked after even more cheaply next time. addresses these problems by providing a car that is as thoroughly researched as our newer cars. This gives the In this way most cars follow a repeating cycle. Good buyer the option to buy a sound older Porsche, with a specifications and well looked after (but comparatively popular model specification, well looked after, probably expensive) or poorer specifications increasingly badly with a few faults (many of which will be reported) for looked after but cheaper). So as the years go by – the consideration – and at a much more competitive price difference in, price, value and saleability - between than if we had carried out all the repairs and originally similar cars - becomes ever greater as the refurbishment to our usual standards before hand. quality “diverges”. Most dealers (Porsche specialist or otherwise) will still part exchange a nice, clean - older (2). The second category of car that is suitable for the Porsche with a popular specification and if it is too old scheme comes about when a newer Hartech car has for them to retail directly, will dispose of it, through recently been fully prepared for sale. The new owner then small car dealer networks or auctions. But they cannot only keeps it for a short time or minimal mileage before dispose of the rougher unpopular-examples, leading to some personal reasons (not in any way associated with these cars occupying most of the media advertising. the quality or suitability of the car nor their complete satisfaction with it) require that it is sold unexpectedly Therefore the private sale prices published (upon which soon. This may be typically due to personal or family the public base their value judgements) are usually well illness or bereavement or sometimes to finance a hot below the true market value of a nice, well looked after business or investment opportunity. The car has already example with a popular specification – that is rarely been fully researched and thoroughly prepared for sale privately advertised. Most buyers of a Porsche over 10 and doesn’t really need to be thoroughly serviced and years old and under £10K use this advertised source overhauled again – but equally cannot be guaranteed or without realising that it is usually a list of predominantly taken on the “Lifetime Maintenance Plan” without. It is unpopular or rough cars. Eventually when they come to therefore suitable as a very low risk buy for someone who sell the car they realise then that their original decision to is not interested in the “Lifetime Maintenance Plan” (or purchase has now cost them a lot to restore and then lives too far away to benefit from it) and wants to buy a become almost impossible to dispose, due to poor history probably perfect car needing nothing spending on it for or unpopular specifications, often costing much more some time - at a lower price. The price difference will not than they expected. We used to exclude 924’s pre 1986 – in this case – be as much as a higher risk car – but still 944’s and pre 1985 911’s from our sales portfolio - represents a significant saving option. because we didn’t want to lower our standards. We found it impossible to buy a nice car, restore it to our usual high (3). The third category is when a “Hartech” car – that was standards and price it competitively compared to sold some time before – has perhaps covered a higher generally advertised prices of far inferior examples (for mileage but has been looked after by Hartech at service reasons described above) – and which the public intervals etc and comes back for re-sale. It might by then incorrectly assume are average prices that set a fair have aged to become too old for the current Hartech market price. However our customers encouraged us to range (as that moves up every few years) and may have

68 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE deteriorated a little in some unimportant areas – but it sale until the exact terms of the sale – and all the above was originally fully researched and thoroughly prepared options – have been agreed. and Hartech are aware of any mechanical or cosmetic imperfections that they no longer want to address on a car that is now older and of lower value. It will however still be a much better car and a much safer choice than one chosen in the open market. IN CONCLUSION

(4) The fourth category is when a fairly new Porsche with We hope that the contents of this guide have proved useful a reliable full service history, becomes available and is and helpful. There are many conflicting sales ploys and unlikely to be old enough or high mileage enough to adverts, recommendations and claims made by various harbour any serious faults. Although it will benefit from organisations about Porsche's and their services. Our the Hartech preparation, never the less, there are some intention has been to inform you about as many aspects of circumstances in which Hartech would consider a lower the Porsche experience as we can, warn you about the many trade sale price. For example - for anyone living some dangers that exist and also to inform you about ourselves. distance away or who does not intend to take up the Lifetime Maintenance Plan option and perhaps already You may well find all this confusing and not know who to has a local Porsche specialist that they trust – they may trust, so perhaps the final consideration to all the prefer the initial service and preparation to be carried out information contained within this guide should be to by them locally – so that they get to know the car from imagine the time and effort that has gone into it's the outset. This makes perfect sense to us and in this case production and our willingness to provide a copy free of a lower price on an “As Seen” basis may be agreed. charge, even if we never hear from you again.

Some cars may be in a grey area where it is not clear Add to this the Lifetime Maintenance Plan that we offer, what is the best direction to follow and may be offered that could only possibly be viable if all our claims about the with 2 prices covering the normal sales preparation as a virtues of a good and well - prepared Hartech car (or a fully Hartech car or on a Trade Sale basis – as a less expensive sorted out non-Hartech car following a “C” service that is alternative – or negotiation may result in some other properly looked after), are true. Finally, we would like to mutually acceptable arrangements. Hartech will not invite you to visit us and take a look for yourself and see if negotiate on the advertised retail price of a full Hartech there is any way we can enhance the prospect of you really prepared car – as the quality of preparation and back up enjoying your Porsche experience to the full. services - is so high – and the price so competitive – that it leaves no room for any further negotiation without MOTOR INSURERS that may be worth obtaining a compromising the quality of preparation that we refuse to quotation from are: - Peart 01539730666, consider. However any other suggestions are always Heritage 01212466060, welcome. Furthermore we will offer our stock of good Osbourne 01816412016, used and new spares to all such purchasers, together with Nowell & Richards 01785 255514. technical advice etc, to enable them to still enjoy the Jardine Faber 10604 639011 experience of Porsche motoring - safely and reliably with Performance Insurance 07000 911 966 older cars at the lower end of the market. Footman James 0121 561 4196 Carole Nash 0800 298 5566 In this way we can help those seeking an older but never the less sound car (or who do not intend to take up the Presently Supermarkets are trying to increase sales or have “Lifetime Maintenance Plan” or who do not require a recently started an insurance section and seem to be very report or guarantee) or simply want to work on it good value for money. Asda, Tesco and Sainbury’s are themselves - to be more confident in their choice, amongst those active at present. (avoiding typical pitfalls) at a much more competitive price. By adding the HARTECH TRADE PORSCHE CAR SCHEME to our innovative range of services we hope to reinforce our commitment to satisfy our Customer details are protected by the Data customers needs in an area largely abandoned by many of Protection Act until they have “sold on” the car, at our competitors or those for whom the “Lifetime which point we feel it is fair (if asked) to inform the Maintenance Plan” is not required. To keep all the above new owner of the background to a car and it's history options open – Hartech do not now fully prepare cars for - thus assisting future planned maintenance. Any customer wishing to protect any information

69 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE whatsoever about their car, arising during their Hartech Automotive. Legal action will ownership, can permanently achieve that by writing result from the illegal use of the enclosed to us. documentation.

All prices listed were correct at the time of print but may have been altered due to parts or exchange rates changes, changes in hourly rates or general cost of living rises imposed after the printing of this document. Customers should always check current prices when placing an order or authorising work. A final reminder of our IMPORTANT TRADING Usually the price is discussed anyway – with the TERMS customer – before any work commences – but this is not always possible. (1) WE DO NOT ACCEPT CHEQUES.

Hartech only use the word "Porsche" to clarify (2) WE CHARGE TO RE-FUEL IF RESERVE the make of car that the business specialises in. IS LIT - SO PLEASE LEAVE ENOUGH TO Hartech are entirely independent of the official ROAD TEST (before and after service/repairs) Porsche Organisation, Porsche Cars GB, and any &/OR CHANGE THE FUEL FILTER ETC (we of their associated organisations and by using the cannot afford to risk running out of fuel on test word "Porsche", imply no connection whatsoever off site). with them. (3) SOME MECHANICAL OR COMPLEX ELECTRICAL FAULTS CAN TAKE HOURS This guide is based upon our experiences OR DAYS TO TRACE AND MAY STILL BE and may not be accurate, true or relevant to UNECONOMIC OR IMPOSSIBLE TO every situation or car. It has been prepared RESOLVE OR REPAIR. IF SO WE STILL CHARGE OUR INVESTIGATIVE TIME FOR at great cost to help prospective owners WHICH YOU MAY SET A LIMIT IN make better choices. It has not been ADVANCE. provided with the resources of a publisher to check details or content. By it’s nature it (4) IF ASKED TO INVESTIGATE A is provided at our cost - so if it proves to be “POSSIBLE PROBLEM” BUT FIND THERE IS inaccurate, wrong, grammatically incorrect NONE – WE CHARGE FOR OUR INVESTIGATIVE TIME (UNLESS INCLUDED or c.w. spelling mistakes etc or is simply not IN A SERVICE CHECK LIST ANYWAY). to your taste – while we apologise – (and would appreciate being informed about (5) THE LIFETIME MAINTENANCE PLAN IS such errors or omissions) we do not want to INTENDED TO PROVIDE FREE LABOUR TO enter into any discussions or REPAIR FAULTS. WE MAY HOWEVER correspondence about the content or the CHARGE OUR TIME TO INVESTIGATE REPORTED FAULTS THAT DO NOT EXIST. consequences. Readers should therefore not rely upon it absolutely but use it to form a (6) TO AVOID MISSUNDERSTANDINGS this part of their research, allowing for COMPREHENSIVE BUYERS GUIDE explains in occasional errors or omissions to provide a detail all of our TRADING TERMS AND broad picture. Its contents are - in their CONDITIONS and HOW WE HANDLE OUR entirety - the property of Hartech BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS WITH OUR CUSTOMERS in various different situations. Automotive and are not to be reproduced in any way or passed off in any way to a third party without the written approval of

70 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE

ANY CUSTOMER placing their business with us is deemed to have READ, UNDERSTOOD & ACCEPTED all of these TRADING TERMS AND CONDITIONS (a copy of which is in reception if required).

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PERFORMANCE COMPARISON TABLE

Model Eng Type Valves/cyl Speeds Type 0-62 Top Bhp size mph speed 911 Turbo 3300 6 cyl 2 5 Man 5 168 320 996 3387 6 cyl 4 6 Man 5.2 174 300 993 3600 6 cyl 2 6 Man 5.6 168 272 964 C2 & C4 3600 6 cyl 2 5 Man 5.7 162 250 968 Sport 2900 4 cyl 2 6 Man 5.7 162 240 944 Turbo 2479 4 cyl 2 5 Man 5.9 162 250 Boxster S 3179 6 Cyl 4 6 Man 5.9 156 252 996 Tiptronic 3387 6 Cyl 4 5 Tip 6.0 171 300 3.2 Carrera 3164 6 cyl 2 5 Man 6.1 152.3 231 944 Turbo 2479 4 cyl 2 5 Man 6.3 153 220 S2 Road &Track test 2900 4 cyl 4 5 Man 6.4 N/A 211 Boxster S Tiptronic 3179 6 Cyl 4 5 Tip 6.5 153 252 968 Coupe 2900 4 cyl 4 6 Man 6.5 157 240 924 Carrera GT 1984 4 cyl 2 5 Man 6.5 150 210 993 Tiptronic 3600 6 cyl 2 4 Tip 6.6 165 272 964 C2 & C4 3600 6 cyl 2 4 Tip 6.6 158 250 Boxster 2.7 2687 6 Cyl 4 5 Man 6.6 150 220 Boxster 2.5 2480 6 cyl 4 5 Man 6.9 149 204 S2 2900 4 cyl 4 5 Man 7.1 149 211 Boxster 2.7 Tiptronic 2687 6 Cyl 4 5 Tip 7.4 147 220 Boxster 2.5 Tiptronic 2480 6 cyl 4 5 Tip 7.6 146 204 924 Turbo Mk 2 1984 4 cyl 2 5 Man 7.7 143 177 968 Tiptronic 2900 4 cyl 4 4 Tip 7.9 154 240 944S 2479 4 cyl 4 5 Man 7.9 142 190 944 2479 4 cyl 2 5 Man 8.5 137 163 924S 2479 4 cyl 2 5 Man 8.5 134 150 924 1984 4 cyl 2 5 Man 9.6 126 125

These figures are for comparison only and have been obtained from a variety of sources. We do not claim that they are absolutely accurate nor that any model listed - will necessarily achieve the figures quoted. They are usually obtained by testers familiar with optimising wheel spin etc that the public would find difficult to match. Although the tiptronic versions seem comparatively slow in the table (because they are taken from a standing start), once mobile (over say 20mph) the acceleration is comparable (or even better on occasions as they automatically change up at peak revs, enabling optimum changes during full concentration on steering control - to be applied).

Over page is a sample of our “price menus” for common service items (including parts & labour). Prices in grey boxes apply when combined with a “Gold major Service” demonstrating potential savings. Eg, timing belt change on a 944S2 £295 separately but £97 combined with service (effectively costing only £252 + VAT for the £450 service). Prices are correct as at 1 Jan 2007 – always confirm when booking. VAT extra. * = Not a common requirement for this model. The first chart covers models up to 1997 (which we regard as too old to be offered the standard Hartech or Porsche list of service checks as they are no longer sufficiently relevant to the problems involved) and the second chart is for more modern cars and includes both options.

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Classic Porsches – Up to c.1997 All Prices Subject To VAT 944 Lux 944 944 Turbo 968 911 S/C 964 993 S2 & 3.2 Gold 6000 Mile Interim Service £120 £120 £120 £120 £165 £165 £145 (Optional Interim 6000 Mile – Designed As An Additional Oil Change & Checks When Doing c.12000 Miles Per Annum) Gold 12000 Mile Service £310 £330 £350 £330 £450 £560 £350 (Expanded Version Of 12000 Mile Porsche Service Schedule) Gold 12000/24000 Mile Major £430 £450 £495 £480 £570 £680 £640 Service (Greatly Expanded Version Of 12000/24000 Mile Porsche Schedule) Timing Belts (Both) £250 £295 £295 £340 - - -

Timing Belts (Both) £78 £97 £78 £97 - - - (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) Timing Chain (Inc. 944 Top Tensioner Pad & - £220 - £275 - * * Both 968 Pads) T/chain Etc - £185 - £240 - * * (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) Water Pump £420 £420 £420 £420 - - -

Water Pump £350 £350 £350 £350 - - - (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) Cylinder Head Gasket (Water Cooled Cars) £680 2.5L £725 £775 £725 - - - £725 2.7L Cylinder Head Gasket £630 2.5L £675 £725 £675 - - - (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) £675 2.7L Oil Filter Housing Re-Seal (Oil Cooler) £250 £275 £275 £275 - * *

Oil Filter Housing Re-Seal £220 £245 £245 £245 - * * (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) Front Engine Re-Seal (Crank, Cam, Balance £300 £360 £320 £360 - * * Shaft Seals, O Rings, Etc) Front Engine Re-Seal £250 £310 £270 £310 - * * (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) Clutch £690 2.5L £770 £930 £560 From £930 £1050 £770 2.7L 85/6+£100 £825 Clutch £660 2.5L £730 £890 £520 From £875 £975 (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) £730 2.7L 85/6+£100 £750 Front Brake Pads £90 £110 £110 Std £110 £100 £110 £120 £120 SE Front Brake Pads £40 £60 £60 std £60 £50 £60 £70 (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) £70 SE Rear Brake Pads £90 £110 £110 £110 £100 £110 £110

Rear Brake Pads £40 £60 £60 £60 £50 £60 £60 (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) Front Brake Pads & Discs £220 <86 £285 £285 std £285 £285 £285 £340 £240 87> £340 SE std Front Brake Pads & Discs £190 <86 £260 £260 std £260 £260 £260 £315 (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) £210 87> £315 SE std Rear Brake Pads & Discs £240 £285 £285 £285 £285 £285 £330 std Rear Brake Pads & Discs £210 £260 £260 £260 £260 £260 £295 (If Done At Same Time As Gold Major Service) std

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.Modern Porsches – c.1997 on All Prices Subject To VAT

Boxster 986 2.5 & Boxster 986 996 2.7 3.2 S Standard 12000 Mile Service £225 £225 £225 (Standard 12000 Mile Porsche Service Schedule)

Standard 24000 Mile Major Service £395 £395 £395 (Standard 24000 Mile Porsche Service Schedule)

Gold 6000 Mile Interim Service £130 £130 £130 (Optional Service Designed As An Additional Oil Change & Checks When Doing c.12000 Miles Per Annum)

Gold 12000 Mile Service £300 £300 £300 (Covers All Of The 12000 Mile Porsche Service Schedule But Additional Checks Carried Out)

Gold 24000 Mile Major Service £550 £550 £550 (Covers All Of The 24000 Mile Porsche Service Schedule But Numerous Additional Checks/Tasks Carried Out)

48000 Mile Extras £80 £80 £100 Fuel Filter & Polyrib Belt

Brake Fluid Change £60 £60 £60

Clutch £600 £650 £600

Clutch £550 £600 £550 (If Done At Same Time As Service)

Front Brake Pads £110 £125 £125

Front Brake Pads £60 £75 £75 (If Done At Same Time As 24000 Mile Gold Service)

Rear Brake Pads £125 £125 £125

Rear Brake Pads £75 £75 £75 (If Done At Same Time As 24000 Mile Gold Service)

Front Brake Pads & Discs £300 £360 £360

Front Brake Pads & Discs £275 £335 £335 (If Done At Same Time As 24000 Mile Gold Service)

Rear Brake Pads & Discs £330 £360 £360

Rear Brake Pads & Discs £300 £335 £335 (If Done At Same Time As 24000 Mile Gold Service)

•

n.b. For all non standard examples including Carrera 2 & 4 S’s, turbos etc where the price is not included above, please phone or e-mail to establish the current price at the time.

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POWER OUTPUT, TUNING & DYNAMOMETER TESTING . By Barry Hart (Director Hartech )

PREAMBLE

Whereas 30 years ago there were many local foundries that could cast engine parts and small engineering machine shops that could make something special for you (a cylinder head, gears etc) it is almost impossible to find anyone to do these things anymore.

Similarly, 30 or 40 years ago engine tuners were common and they worked on engines that went to tracks to race and learned a lot about the subject.

For a combination of costs and promotion reasons – more and more racing since then has introduced rules to prevent changing very much from the standard road going derivative. Often you have to use the same head and gears and they even test engine power and kick out anyone exceeding modest limits.

Meanwhile the Internet has enabled technical issues to be easily located and discussions and arguments to develop about what to do and how to tune things or make them faster – from contributors who probably have never made a part or tested their theories.

It seems that many human beings need a belief system to be happy and they defend it vigorously. If we look at religion or politics (for example) without being controversial – it is clear to me that there are a number of different religions and political beliefs – any one of which is usually in the minority from all the others collectively. Despite this – people are prepared to go to extreme lengths to defend their own beliefs.

Similarly with engine tuning and related issues it seems almost as important to those interested in the subject and extreme arguments evolve about what and who is it right and wrong based largely on intellectual arguments and statistical reasoning (and you can always make a statistic seem to support your case).

This article is different because while it covers a number of tuning issues it has been written by someone who has made and tested different parts to prove or expose different theories and used his own beliefs to set the results against others in track racing situations – and frequently come out on top despite being hugely the underdog in terms of finances, resources and riders/drivers. I don’t claim that that makes everything right but just that it cannot be far from the truth – to explain the achievements listed.

So if you are interested in engines, power and performance then there is a lot of conflicting information around. Much of it these days is from people who have never had the opportunity to test out if what they know technically actually works or not. I notice also how much others seem to value qualifications rather than experience. Here at Hartech we have three employees with degrees (or equivalents and one with even higher qualifications) but more importantly the founder of Hartech previously had both his own business and worked as a director of a public company while designing, developing, manufacturing and racing motorcycle engines – with considerable success. There are very few people who have covered so many areas of expertise all of which is relevant to working with Porsche’s and training staff. It means that there is an understanding of design issues, manufacturing, jigging, tuning, tooling etc – all of which aid the work that we do with Porsche’s.

The following picture is a collection of images from one of the first premises I had my business in showing various machines and operations including gear cutting – probably from around 1970.

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Every day at work this experience is in use to analyse problems, repair faults, design replacement parts or repair systems (especially for the 996 and Boxsters). All this adds to the quality of service provision at Hartech. Unfortunately, despite enjoying a racing background, there are so many standard road Porsche’s needing proper care and attention, that we cannot devote any time to tuning or racing and so this expertise is not often recognised by others who are involved in the competition side.

However that expertise within the business, has resulted in this article that demonstrates the standards reached. It covers the way ideas developed, theories were tested and results were formulated. It originally draws from racing motorcycle development but equally applies to Porsche engine tuning, dynamometer testing and general automotive engineering excellence.

INTRODUCTION

Anyone seriously interested in engines and their development should enjoy the enclosed lengthy stories (mainly from the Motorcycle Industry) which I promise do eventually come back full circle to their beloved PORSCHE engines. In the process I will be mentioning things that I have found out over the years. I have included stories in the text to humanize the reasoning and discoveries so that you will see how and why opinions turned out the way they did in the hope that you will find some common thread that will give you confidence in the outcome.

I do not do this as an ego trip nor to try and establish myself as the only expert in the field (been there, done it and got the tee shirt) – but I do so simply because there are a great many well educated people who think they understand particular subjects from a technical or intellectual position but have actually never had the opportunity to experiment and find out if they were right or wrong. I found out that it was very easy for me to misunderstand the relevance or application of some of the theory – but I only discovered this when things didn’t work out as expected and I had to experiment to establish differences that steered me back on the right path again. There are increasingly few people who have had the opportunity to do this. Although I often found myself going up blind alleys – gradually – over the years – trial and error combined with actual testing – enabled me to sort out a lot of the theory and understand it’s relevance and accuracy.

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Photo of the 350 cc carbon fiber fame that resulted in a change of industry.

I also eventually realised that manufacturing in dying industries is beyond recovery and so trying to learn how to make successful racing motorcycles was fruitless in the UK and so I moved on to involvement with Carbon Fibre Development and Aerospace eventually coming back to my own modest business involved with my love of performance engines and cars within the Porsche world and found the knowledge accumulated invaluable but the understanding of others sadly lacking. What is right and wrong seems to have moved right away from what can be proven and tested to what can be regurgitated from Internet sources or text-book theories that no one seems to have ever actually been able to test for themselves. Opinions and arguments persist that none of the protagonists can actually prove one way or the other. Because the opportunity to test theories has generally disappeared – people seem to have decided that “right” or “wrong” nowadays depends upon the value of the argument and not the results of testing the issues anymore. This is why my own actual testing and the results should be of some interest to anyone involved in engine tuning and testing.

When there are different opinions - the difficulty for readers is knowing whom and what to believe and what to doubt so I have taken the trouble to explain the stories surrounding each discovery – in the hope that you - the reader (who has probably never had the opportunity to carry out similar experiments) may never the less - find some common understanding and both follow the logic and appreciate the outcome or discovery – gaining something useful and relevant when we eventually return to discuss Porsche’s.

I will start by going over some very basic points about engines – because what I learned at College and University, I found unhelpful and often misleading when I had the opportunity to actually develop engines and I had to think out a lot of the very basic subject matter for myself. This may be because education was poor at the time, or because I wasn’t clever enough, or because the theory and lecturers were too distant from reality. Whatever the reasons – to make sure you too understand these issues and get the maximum benefit from the content – I have decided to review those basics again. Those of you who already know all about them will no doubt appreciate that there will be some readers who need this grounding to benefit from the rest of the content and you will skip over most of it without being offended by its simplicity.

I found that it was strange how often I thought I knew about a particular issue that I had been taught or just reasoned out – but in practice found that it didn’t work as expected. This may be because I was not the cleverest of students – or perhaps not intellectual enough – but never the less – my inability to understand some things forced me to test and experiment – after which at least I understood it better.

I hope that some of you find it useful – but I do not present this information on the assumption that it is necessarily right and that no one should ever question it – but where I managed to prove a particular issue to myself – I am not going to enter into lengthy discussions or indeed arguments afterwards with anyone else who has not proved their worth – because I simply do not have the time nor the patience.

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BASICS.

BREATHING

Piston engines are basically air pumps. They draw air in, compress it, mix it with fuel, ignite it and the resulting force rotates the crankshaft and the engine then gets rid of the waste exhaust products – commonly called suck, squeeze, bang, blow (in 4 strokes).

Of these “suck” can be a misleading concept - as air only moves into the engine because the pressure inside is lower than outside (the pressure drop caused by the piston’s downward movement). It could therefore be more appropriate to imagine the air being blown in by the higher pressure outside than being sucked in by the piston in some way. This is important because it changes the understanding of what is going on and somehow makes you appreciate that the forces that are helping the air to go into a naturally aspirated engine are not actually very big as the greatest negative pressure possible inside the engine is zero and the maximum outside is atmospheric pressure at around 15psi – so the highest possible pressure acting on the air to move it into the engine is 15psi (very small indeed). Actually no engine can “suck” a pure vacuum in one stroke with the inlet port open so in practice the pressure difference is much less.

Generally the greatest volume of air you can theoretically get into a cylinder is its own capacity. In the early 1950’s one of the first engines to manage this was the NSU Rennmax 250 cc twin 4 stroke – that managed 100% volumetric efficiency (fully filled its own cylinder with air). Some engines today can actually exceed this slightly in one small rev band due to the dynamic inertia of the incoming charge being so high.

The air is mixed with fuel and ignited so that it burns – increasing pressure on the piston as it begins to move down the cylinder. This is important because at top dead center a massive force on the piston would not produce any torque (as the con rod is in line with the crank throw). If the fuel exploded rather than burned (called detonation) it would possibly force down on the con rod while it was still rising (slowing the engine) and would not release the energy in such a controlled way.

You can imagine Turbochargers and Superchargers creating greater than atmospheric pressure outside the engine (and also actually creating some inertia driven mass flow by virtue of the propeller blade angles) to help more air get in and engines like this can exceed 100 % volumetric efficiency. Intercoolers and external air intakes can lower the induction temperature and effectively enable a cooler and therefore denser air to pass into the engine – improving it’s filling and increasing the potential compressed pressure before the temperature induces detonation.

Although power often increases as revs rise (because there are then more firing impulses/minute) – this also ironically makes the amount of time available for the air to get into the engine reduce – getting less as each cycle takes less time to complete. Eventually there is insufficient time to draw in enough air – with the comparatively small pressure differences - to create worthwhile power and the engine reaches it’s “breathing limit”. The torque created is a measure of the pressure pushing down on the piston acting through the con-rod on the crankshaft offset (@ half the stroke). The greater the pressure, the greater the torque. How much work can be done (how much that torque can be used to do) is a measure of both the torque figure and the revs (or how often it is being applied). So Power is a function of torque * revs. As the revs rise the torque gradually reduces as the breathing limit is reached (so each individual power pulse becomes a little less strong) but the revs keep rising – so for a while the power increases - although the torque decreases. For this reason the torque always peaks at lower revs than the power.

This then leads to all sorts of arguments about whether torque is more important than power and which makes a vehicle accelerate the quickest – which will be answered later in the article.

The exhaust gas is at higher pressure than atmospheric conditions so it is easier to evacuate the cylinders than to get air in and so it is not so critical in tuning terms - as the intake system (usually having smaller valves as a result).

To get more air in at high revs (when the time available has reduced) it would be an advantage to keep the inlet valves open longer – or make the lift greater – but if this timing was used at lower revs, air would spill out again as there is so much more time available and air speed is lower.

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Most traditional engines could not vary any valve timing so were designed for a general range of power for all uses. For competition engines it was then not too difficult to alter some of the timings to create more power at say high revs. However usually – to try and exploit the inertia charging effects - as the power increases then unfortunately - the rev range within which that power is produced is reduced.

This would not matter if the number of gears was infinite – or a system was invented that gave continuous gearing changes without too many losses. But as we have to live with a fixed number of gears – the amount by which we can increase the power but reduce the power band is eventually limited so that it still works well within the gear change points. So eventually there is a usable limit to how much you can increase the power but reduce the power band to end up within the revs that you drop to - as the gears are changed up through the box (or else the engine would fall outside of its own power band as you changed up through the gears).

More gears in the box make it possible to run with a smaller power band so the more gears you have – the easier it is to tune an engine to work well over a smaller rev band.

To some extent then – traditional tuning started out from the rev band useable within the gearbox and developed the power band to suit.

Because racing didn’t need low gears (as they would never be used) nor ironically very high gears (as circuits are usually too short to achieve very high top speeds) - close ratio gearboxes for racing helped this situation by reducing that rev drop and giving more scope for tuning in a smaller power band.

The piston pushes down on the con rod on to the crankshaft rather like a human arm pushing down on a torque spanner to produce torque in a similar way to propel the car. Initially (just after the “bang”) the pressures from combustion are high but the crankshaft angle is small (while the con rod is almost in line with the bore) so that high pressure is somewhat wasted, as it doesn’t push down on the crankshaft in a very efficient way. As the piston falls the pressure reduces but the angle of the crankshaft through which it pushes – gets greater – so the torque produced is comparatively constant. Then as the piston continues down, the pressure on it reduces further and the angle gets worse again (after 90 degrees of crank turn from top dead center) and the force turning the crankshaft reduces again. By then another piston is reproducing the cycle so a relatively smooth power delivery depends to some extent on the number of cylinders and their configuration.

Fuel (petrol mixed with air) burns quickly but if the compression pressure is too high it explodes and this does not produce good power – firstly because it often explodes before the piston has reached top dead centre – so the force actually works against the rotation of the crankshaft – slowing it down and secondly because the force is too high while the piston is near the top of the stroke and the angle of the crankshaft results in a lower torque being applied to the crankshaft. The pressure and temperature of the fuel is higher if the amount of air “sucked in” is greater or if the compression ratio is higher (as both produce a higher temperature and pressure on the compression stroke).

Traditionally therefore – high compression pistons were a good way of tuning because most engines were designed for long life and not too near their design limit – so there was always some scope for higher compression which always improves power (but moves nearer to the limit when the fuel detonates). When engines are outside their optimum design revs for maximum torque or power (or the throttle is less than fully open) – they trap less air and so the pressure and temperature that they compress the fuel to is less and the resulting burn produces less of a force on the piston.

If it were possible to alter the engines basic design as the revs rise – then variations to the camshaft timing, valve diameter, valve lift, inlet tract length and shape, exhaust length, compression ratio - as well as ignition timing, fuel ratio etc would all be on the menu.

If all these things could be varied to suit different revs and conditions, then it would be very difficult to tune such an engine any further because most traditional tuning was to alter the power band and the revs that maximum power was delivered at – rather than to alter the basics of the engine. If an engine with all these adjustable features could be designed to produce maximum power at any and all revs - it would leave little scope for tuning.

Perhaps the only possible changes in such an engine would be to admit more fuel and run “richer” (as engines these days are restricted by emission standards), alter the ignition timing to suit and raise the compression ratio closer to the limit.

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Other basics involve reducing the mass (weight of the parts) of the engine or the car to improve acceleration.

DYNAMOMETER LIMITATIONS

Most of my knowledge of dynamometer work relates to 20 to 30 years ago with racing motorcycle engines – so much of what I learned then may indeed be common knowledge now. If so I apologise in advance for being old! It is still valid knowledge however for Porsche’s and engines in general and most of the important discoveries I made for myself - do actually cross-refer directly to any engine testing and therefore to Porsche development and testing (p.s. when I say that I made these discoveries – I am not claiming them as original because I am sure that many more clever people than me - over the years - found out these very same things long before me – but my point is that I didn’t really understand them myself until I made the discovery – for myself – if you see what I mean – and this then changed my understanding of what was going on and what was important etc). I think I was less interested in studying the subject by reading than I was in making engines that went faster than anyone else’s – and probably learned these various points while pushing to extract more power and build faster engines rather than as an academic exercise. .

The only photo I have of the original dyno engine rig.

When I was designing and making racing motorcycle engines, most tuners then used dynos running at fixed engine revs. They would set a load on the dyno and wait while the engine settled down and then - when the power output had settled down for each individually pre-set revs (and power peaked out) they would take a reading (that later enabled results to be calculated) and then increment the revs up etc until they could produce a graph indicating what the output was at each given engine speed. The assumption was that this was the power output graph for the engine.

INDUCTION SIZES

This seemed very logical but was a serious mistake. I first realised this when I noticed that at each fixed revs – while we were waiting for the power to build up - engines with big induction tracts reacted differently to those with smaller ones. Engines with big inlet tracts and/or valve timing when set at a fixed revs - would start off with quite low power and then slowly and steadily increase at the same revs – often for several bhp – over several seconds (sometimes over 30 seconds and rising by 12-15%). Engines with small inlet systems produced their maximum power very quickly and then stayed the same however long you let them run for under power.

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I realised from this that although the big inlet engines eventually produced impressive power outputs - on a track the situation is quite different and the engine is always in a dynamic state changing continuously from one speed to another every millisecond and never ever settling down at a fixed revs for several seconds. In previous decades when engines were less powerful there may have been a lot of time spent at peak revs in going along the main straight – but as tyres, handling, brakes and engines improved – the tracks got no longer – so eventually the whole race became virtually an acceleration and braking test and engines are always accelerating and never running at fixed revs on full throttle.

This might suggest that engines with smaller inlet systems (and therefore less powerful under these test conditions) might actually accelerate more quickly than those with bigger inlets that never stay at one fixed rev long enough to reach their maximum power potential.

To test this I actually altered otherwise identical cylinders and the re-tests proved the same thing – big ports – big power but slow to appear – smaller ports - less eventual power but more stabilized - measured at the start of each speed test. Then I recorded the power after 1, 2 and 5 seconds (and so on) at a constant speed and compared results - the smaller inlet ported engine ALWAYS produced MORE power at that point than the bigger ported (eventually more powerful) engines – which always took time to exceed the smaller ported cylinders immediate output.

The consequence was immense because it made me realise that engines breathe differently depending on the load on them and the rate of change of engine speed (acceleration). It was possible to make engines with large inlet systems that when the unsteady gas flow had settled down and exhaust temperatures and resonance’s had stabilized – produced enormous power on a dyno but under acceleration on the track were not as fast as engines with smaller induction areas that stabilized more quickly and therefore in a dynamic situation accelerated more quickly (early 4 valve head engines seemed to suffer from the very same problem producing disappointing power at low & mid range revs until technology sorted it out – including the Porsche 944S1 16 valve engine, Volkswagen and Peugeot 16 valve Gti’s etc).

This meant that many development engineers and tuners were going in the wrong direction – thinking they were producing a faster engine as they enlarged inlet ports and waited for the huge power outputs to read off the dynamometer - while actually developing a slower one (under acceleration).

I realised from this that the only way to have a meaningful measure of torque or bhp (as it would affect a vehicle in motion) was to bench test engines under load and accelerating conditions as close as possible to what they would experience in the actual vehicle on the road and any other resistance or constant on purely an engine dyno – could or would mislead the designer and developer into going in the wrong direction for the best track performance.

This was important because I was designing actual castings for cylinders and cylinder heads and so there was much time and money spent before it was possible to get a casting – machine it – assemble it and test anything and therefore understanding the direction to go in – (at the design stage) was essential. This also explained why a number of tuners at that time were putting metal filler back into some ports – making them smaller – but gaining a less powerful but faster accelerating motorcycle. The technical journalists and the public at the time assumed that they had found some new “magic” secret for port design but actually it was more likely because of this phenomenon than any magic tuning miracle.

Of course it is much easier to change things on a dyno in a factory than out on a circuit with a running machine – so if I was going to benefit from this discovery – I realised that I had to measure the rate of acceleration of an engine on a track and then try to reproduce that acceleration on a computer controlled engine dyno – but could not find one (or perhaps afford one) at the time to do the job.

Eventually I found a “wind”dyno that would reproduce acceleration curves with a virtual cubic resistance (very similar to dynamic motion) – using it to produce timed accelerating dyno runs - and looked forward to developing more competitive engines (which it did and helped my understanding enormously). I thought that I had now found a set of rules and a method of testing that would enable me to predict what the outcome of different designs would be – to test them on a dynamometer and that the results would now be representative of what happened on the track. But typically yet another factor came into play and I was yet to be confounded by another problem that I was not expecting.

TIME AREAS

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Having found my ideal dyno set up I then tried to find a set of rules to explain the different performances of different engines – something I could use to design an engine almost perfectly first time (before it ever ran on a dyno) – as I didn’t have the resources to tune and change things for weeks under a development programme. Now in 2 strokes, the cylinder and its ports are very similar to the head and valves in a 4 stroke – they both control timing and mass flow volumes. Whereas in a 4 stroke design one may consider the affect of different valve sizes, port sizes, valve lift and valve timing – the 2 stroke had a hole in the cylinder wall that was uncovered by the piston on the way down and covered up again on the way up – but doing much the same job.

At the time – some 2 stroke tuners in Japan were referring to “half time area” as a way of measuring the predicted power output of particular cylinders (because some mention of this came out of the Yamaha factory – I believe). So while I was doing my tests - I also measured all the opening and closing times and the port areas in case I could find a link between the results that would enable me to design the perfect cylinder first time. I then plotted them on three-dimensional graphs of power, torque, engine speed and port area. Although it made some sense it never really followed any fixed rules until – one day – I realised that the area we needed to compare was the “effective” area of the port. By this I meant that the port (just like a valve) opened at a speed controlled by the stroke, con rod length, position, and engine revs. It gradually uncovered more of the area and then gradually closed again. The “EFFECTIVE” area uncovered through which air could pass was a measure of all these parameters and not just the flat area of the porthole. It was – if you like – a measurement of the average area uncovered for the average time uncovered – or the “time area”.

This is an important concept and if you struggle to understand it yet me use another analogy to explain. Imagine a door is opened very slowly and as soon as it is fully open it is closed again very slowly. It will not allow as many people through as if it were opened very quickly – held fully open for longer and closed very quickly so the overall amount of time from starting to open it to it being fully closed was the same – the door area was the same – but the speed at which it was opened and closed allowed more or less people through even though the overall amount of time it was open was the same (the time area of the second option was greater).

In engine terms and remembering my mathematics - I realised that the integral of the formula for the height of the piston at different crank angles could be used with limits of the angles at which it opened and closed the port * the width - to work out the “Time area” of any port (and similar formulas can be derived for valve opening effective time areas using the camshaft profiles etc to calculate the answers). Unfortunately the ports also had curved tops and bottoms – so got wider and narrower as the piston moved up and down which complicated the formula – needing another dimension that I did not know how to calculate – but I solved this by breaking them down into smaller squares and achieved my aim – a measurement of the time area of any port.

On its own this was not enough because a big capacity but comparatively low powered engine would have a bigger port area than a much smaller capacity but relatively more powerful engine – so in this case referring to the time area of each would not explain why one was more powerful than the other – or how “tuned up” it was – unless the actual capacity of the engines being compared was re moved from the equations. I.e. I needed to equate these results in a way that allowed for the differences in engine sizes and only dealt with the port sizes in relation to the cylinder capacity. So I needed to equate the results in a way that found the same rules regardless of the size of the cylinder. To achieve this I then divided this “time area” by the cylinder capacity to achieve a measure of the “specific time area” – a way of comparing the relative time area of different sized engines.

Then – to my utter amazement – when I plotted the graphs of torque and bhp against this “specific time area” I found an exact correlation with ALL my records. To double check I then measured the ports of other engines that I had not tested on a dyno (even some from port drawings in magazines and books – that I had never physically measured myself) and found that they all predicted the maximum power output within about 5%. I had finally found a way of predicting power output theoretically without making anything!

However – after the initial euphoria at my discovery – I soon realised that all this wonderfully complicated exercise that took many years – actually gave an answer - as rough and ready as they come – bigger ports make more power. It seems so simple now that the pursuit of that result seems almost silly – but there was so much hype at the time about the actual designs and shapes of different cylinders etc that it did clarify a sort of standard set of rules that applied to all of them.

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It was a wonderful example of technical complexity confirming bloody obvious common sense – more air mass flow needs bigger holes to pass through or if they cannot be made bigger they can be kept open for longer (by different timing etc). It did not however enable the fastest accelerating engine to be predicted as I already knew that bigger ports needed longer to stabilize and so in an accelerating mode (when they never can stabilize) they could actually be worse. There was therefore a limit to this rule that could only be tested out under accelerating conditions and measured acceleration not just power.

All this also was found to be equally true and relevant of 4 strokes – so that the longer a valve area is open or the faster it opens or the more lift it has – or the bigger the head or valve area – the more air it has the potential to pass. Of course this has to be within a limit that it will work at the right point in the rise and fall of the piston – or it would blow it all back out again – but strangely – tests proved that long before the engines stopped producing useful power - the narrowing of the power band became measurable and obvious and moved outside the scope of a practical number of gears and ratios within which to drive it. So it was actually quite easy to recognize during a test – when the limit had been reached and there was no need to go any further.

This calculation of “Time Area” also made me understand that – as the revs rise – so the time for each rotation of the crankshaft reduces proportionally – so the available time for the air to find its way in (or the exhaust gas to find its way out) reduces. This means that quite aside from piston speed and dynamic forces limiting the physical maximum revs at which the engine will not blow apart – so too the volume of air it is possible to pass through a hole is eventually reduced by the reduction in time that it is open for. So if bigger holes make more power but greater revs reduces time areas (because the “time” part of the equation is reducing as revs rise) – there is bound to be an overlap when the maximum possible has been reached or an ideal time area (or revs) for a particular engine size and power band and a rate of acceleration.

So the only handicap to this simple rule was – yes as specific time area increases then so does potential maximum power – but as the specific time area increases the power (or torque) initially rises and broadens (as the engine starts to work properly) and then carries on increasing in maximum power but reduces the power band dramatically. There needed to be an over-riding limit to the calculations beyond which more power could be generated but not under accelerating conditions.

POWER BANDS & GEAR RATIOS

This was a fantastic influence on the design and development of engines because the number of gears was actually limited within the rules – so it was possible to work out the drop in revs in advance (or indeed change the gear ratios to suit) and then pick the part of the graph that worked best in the range that you were forced to work within as you changed up through the gears and design the main engine parameters accordingly. (As a side issue to this – as I had a gear cutter and used to design and make close ratio gearboxes – I also made different ratios for different circuits – long before it became common practice - and this made up for my tuning limitations by enabling me to crudely narrow power bands for some high speed circuits and use different (closer) gears to suit) – a practice that later became common place for all competitors.

A STORY ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF NUMBERS OF GEARS AND RATIOS.

A nice story about this involved a doctor of science at Queens University Belfast who had become quite a World recognized and respected expert in motorcycle engine development. Despite this he also commendably offered his support to local race events – often as a scrutineer, Very popular over there was the 200cc racing class (for which no manufacturer made purpose built racers nor developed engines or tuning). It became a kind of amateur shop window of home tuning expertise and a good friend of mine (we will just call Richard) competed in this class with a 200cc Suzuki – winning almost every race to the chagrin of the racing community – what was his secret – why did his bike perform so quickly?

Someone officially protested that he engine may be oversized and this apparently led to the good Doctor having to measure the bore and stroke to verify the capacity. In so doing of course he would get to see the cylinder ports that everyone assumed would also indicate where all this performance had come from. Richard was too clever for that and made some cardboard sleeves so that when the head was off and the inspection took place – the ports were covered over so although the capacity could be measured the ports were invisible. This increased speculation that something very special had taken place in the port design that everyone was keen to discover but there was actually never anything particularly special about either the ports or the tuning – the engine was fairly conventional – this maneuver was actually a very clever smoke screen that distracted attention from the real secret.

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Races in Northern Ireland tended to be mainly on road circuits with long straights and sharp hairpin bends needing a gearbox that would operate from a very low first gear to a very high top speed – all trying to keep within a narrow racing 2 stroke power band. The Suzuki had a 5 speed box but even after making a close ratio version (that helped him achieve some considerable success) what no one knew was that - as a special favour - I had later made him a 6 speed close ratio gearbox that fitted into the same engine casing. The extra 6 th speed within a close ratio box enabled him to keep his engine within a similar power band to everyone else but pull from slow corners all the way to the end of a long straight all within the best power band.

Similarly a New Zealand 500 cc Suzuki rider (with similar circuits over there) needed some low first and second gears (to storm out of hairpin bends) – a stretched third to fourth and a close fifth to sixth to reach a high top speed – so I made him a variety of ratios for his bike – on which he achieved great success. As the years unfolded the availability of different ratios for different circuits became commonplace and the advantage was eventually lost – but it proved the importance of gear ratios and power bands to me at the time!

Picture of the Silver Dream Racer (number 306) at the Daytona Raceway for which a special closer ratio gearbox was fitted due to the consistently high speeds on the oval track)

BACK TO PORTS, POWER BANDS & DYNO TESTING

Returning to the engine tuning issue - so far I had discovered that – although bigger ports (or opening periods) produced more ultimate power in a smaller rev band - there is a limit to port sizes (or opening periods) to produce a broad power band and also a problem measuring the right result to achieve the best rate of acceleration rather than just the maximum horsepower at fixed revs (or acceleration that did not reflect the acceleration rate of the actual vehicle). This established a need to test actual acceleration to add a further dimension to the theory of engine design. The question was where to go from here.

I understood that theoretically acceleration was proportional to torque (not bhp) because it is roughly proportional to the torque divided by the resistance. Bhp was the torque multiplied by the revs and a constant. And so I realised that quoting

84 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE bhp anyway could actually be a misleading guide to potential acceleration. However conversely I also instinctively felt that a multi cylinder engine accelerates better than a single of the same capacity despite usually developing lower torque but using more firing impulses of smaller magnitude. I figured that probably both torque and bhp must be essential and neither one on their own would necessarily prove to be best. The need now was to quantify the type of ports and the amount and ratio of bhp and torque – at different revs - to provide the best acceleration.

DIFFERENT CYLINDER FIRING SEQUENCES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON OUTPUT.

At the time most motorcycle racing engines were singles, twins or 4 cylinders – but strangely the 4 cylinder engines almost always fired 2 cylinders together and so were effectively firing like a twin. So to be different - I spent some time developing a three-cylinder sequential firing 500cc engine to see what benefit came from smaller impulses but more of them in a smoother positive power delivery. I also continued with much experimentation with different engine types and outputs and actual performance – trying to make sense of it all.

Photo of the Phoenix Four engine (this was the 500cc version) showing 2 of the 4 pistons firing together like a twin (because it was a 2 stroke).

The very first time I ran the 500 cc three cylinder engine that I had built, round the Isle of Man TT course (in fact only the second time it fired up) it was the fastest through the speed trap (including works Japanese bikes) despite being under- geared.

An interesting reason to explain this immediate performance was a happy coincidence. When I designed the three cylinder engine I did not know as much about tuning as I later found.. Now the engine had the same stroke as both the 250cc and 350cc Yamaha 2 stroke (that was the fastest at that time). The only difference was that my bore size was 60mm (whereas the 250 was 54mm and the 350 was 64mm) – so I made the port heights the same as those engines - but the port widths in proportion to the difference in capacity. Without realizing the significance of this – I had made the specific time area exactly the same – so although I had to alter the exhaust design to suit – the engine was actually perfectly tuned (by coincidence) right from the outset.

But there was something else that contributed towards the exceptional performance. I always felt that smooth firing impulses would enable an engine to accelerate quickly but technically didn’t understand how to explain that gut feeling. In

85 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE my search for an answer I discussed things with a university graduate (who was much cleverer than me) and he suggested that I studied the problem of strain energy – which I did.

STRAIN ENERGY

I found that it was a difficult concept but that a lot of power is lost basically winding up the parts of the engine and transmission system before it gets out at the tyre and it is lost when the throttle is closed. Also an engine (or any mass system) has a limit of the amount of energy it can transmit in a sudden sharp pulses and some is stored in the mass of the moving parts as well as in straining it. Although big masses (huge flywheels) could help smooth the problem they also go against the theory of higher acceleration coming from the lowest inertia – so in a way were self-defeating.

Engines producing bigger bangs and huge torque - also generated a lot of lost strain and stored energy within themselves and this explained partially why some modestly powered multy’s that fired in sequence delivered better top end performance than torquier firing together engines.

To explain with a simple analogy – imagine a torque wrench fitted to a crankshaft and turning it to drive the car forward in gear. The bigger the torque applied the faster it will accelerate. Power could be thought of as the speed that the torque wrench is being rotated at – the faster it is rotated the faster the car will go – so where is the strain energy? Well – now put the torque wrench in a vice and pull it to 80 ft lb for an hour – lots of energy has been extended but when you let go – where is it and how did you get any of it back again. It has all been lost straining the torque wrench and the molecules of the bench and vice. For those not sure how this analogy explains how an engine propels a vehicle – if you imagine this torque wrench on the crankshaft being pushed down by a hand – the hand represents the piston force acting through the con rod and the torque wrench represents the crankshaft stroke (or the offset of the crankshaft journal). The harder you push (or the more pressure on the piston - or the more force on the torque wrench) the faster it goes and the greater the crank throw (or the further out you push on the torque wrench) the greater the torque as well.

Obviously if you could apply less torque you will loose less strain energy and if you could twist that “lower torque” quicker on the front of the crankshaft – this may be less wasteful than a huge torque twist applied more slowly and being unable to transfer all the torque to acceleration and being largely wasted as strain energy.

Anyway these practical considerations of torque, theory and practice meant that torque was not the only “GOD” of performance and at high revs even smaller impulses can transmit higher proportions of that smaller amount of torque and still accelerate quickly if there are so many of them that the strain energy lost is minimized by the smoother power delivery.

MORE ON FIRING SEQUENCES & PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

So I realised from this that many more things had to be considered than pure theory alone and were important in the quest for speed. We needed good torque but also modest torque delivery at higher revs or (multi cylinders), low inertia, smooth power delivery, inlet systems that stabilized gas flow almost instantaneously (while breathing conditions were transient) not those that when stabilized produced the greatest outputs etc.

At this time the only thing that everyone talked about was the maximum power output they had found regardless of the power band, torque, firing sequence or inertia of the engine. I realised that we really needed a different way of describing the performance of an engine to predict how it would accelerate a vehicle around a track – but so little had been written about this – I was very much on my own trying to solve the problem. I figured that a graph that overlapped peak torque and power as revs increase (within the range being used) would probably be an ideal scenario and set off designing and making different engines to experiment with the theories and find out what difference some of the changes would make (which I was fortunate enough to be able to do having a machine shop that could manufacture anything including crankshafts and gear wheels).

So far I had already quantified the port areas (specific time area) for maximum acceleration, bhp and torque at different revs but only knew that engines with different firing sequences produced different strain energy and engine inertia characteristics

86 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE and that this had quite a big effect on engine performance for maximum acceleration – but to be able to measure it effectively I needed different testing methods and options.

The picture below shows me (Barry Hart some 30 years ago) with Christina Raines and David Essex and the Silver Dream Racer he built for the film using the Phoenix Four engine (that I had also created)

At this time I had sold my own engineering business (in which I had designed, built and sold engines, gearboxes and complete racing motorcycles – including the Silver Dream Racer for the David Essex film of the same name) to Armstrong Equipment plc and joined their subsidiary Armstrong Motorcycles as Technical Director in charge of Engine Development in Bolton Lancashire. This added to the responsibilities of managing a development team and having to account for everything I did to a main board of directors. I had to justify the many tests and experiments we carried out to find the right direction to steer our limited resources into to compete with the might of Japanese industry. This was very difficult when the concepts I was discovering differed so much from what was regarded as conventionally acceptable technology and I struggled to convince the board about my reasons for their support.

During the experiments I found out something else unique at the time. Most 2 strokes do not have a separate flywheel so it is unusual to alter flywheel mass as is common in a 4 stroke. Most 250cc competition was between twin cylinder alternate firing Yamaha engines and firing together “Rotax” in line twin cylinder engines.

We dyno tested both and found that the Yamaha was well down on power compared to the Rotax – yet was usually quicker (or at least as fast) around a circuit. A lot of this was explained by the smaller port areas (as described earlier) but the question was why and how much difference would it make – how much did the different firing order contribute to the result.

Most multi cylinder engines then were 2 strokes and often fired cylinders together. Indeed we had our own 250cc in line – contra rotating - twin cylinder - firing cylinders together. It was fired that way (together) because that was supposed to be the only way it would balance correctly. However I realised that it could also balance if it were firing alternately as long as the crankshafts were then rotating in the same direction and made up a primary transmission that achieved just that. The engine looked the same from the outside – everything else was identical – the only difference was the firing order – it fired twice/rev instead of 2 cylinders firing once together/rev .

I had already demonstrated that the three-cylinder engine had better performance than a twin or a 4 cylinder firing as a twin – than the bhp figures alone would suggest due to the smoother firing intervals – but there could always have been other explanations as the engine’s basic cylinder designs were also different. This new engine re-design enabled us to quantify and experience the difference applied to exactly the same engine with all the other parameters exactly the same and so

87 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE would show what difference the new firing intervals made by themselves and dismissed any other possible explanations for any changes that resulted.

Now the “firing together” engine was almost impossible to start, produced very little power under 8000 revs, pulled strongly to 11,500 revs and stopped almost dead at that – refusing to go any more – making gearing and gear change points crucial.

On the dyno the alternate firing engine was a little less powerful than the firing together engine (for a technical reason to do with the piston sealing face being opposite on one cylinder) in fact it was more like the Yamaha but had a smoother power delivery and revved on higher than the firing together version but producing successively less power while still revving on and on until the big end bearing speed was exceeded and the big end bearings gave up at some 14,500 revs at which point almost no power was measurable.

On paper it was therefore relatively uninspiring (apart from the huge rev band) as it didn’t seem particularly interesting because it produced less torque in its power range and was expected to be much slower on the track but - unbelievably the alternate firing example astounded everyone involved – you could start it by the pull of your hand on the back wheel, it revved cleanly – gradually improving pick-up and revved on and on through it’s enormous rev range. It was cleaner and faster to drive and if we had sorted out the piston-sealing problem – it would have been a world-beater at the time. It was a totally different engine and yet every part inside (except the gears that reversed the direction of one cylinder) was identical – the only real difference was the firing order.

It seems that the loss of torque and power was made up for by the much smaller losses in strain energy and also that the more frequent firing intervals made the engine dynamics stabilize much more quickly in an accelerating mode – as if it was breathing completely differently.

Of course heavy flywheels are used to damp down firing impulses and reduce strain energy while storing energy – but they would have a similar influence on breathing as altering firing intervals on engines in which the flywheel mass is practically impossible to alter. So even in 4 strokes – optimized tuning needs to be altered to maximize the potential of any particular tuning set up or component.

This made me realise yet again the inadequacies of the dynamometer engine testing systems we were using at the time – since the various results measured on the dyno - did not equate to the huge differences found driving around a track and so I tried to find a dynamometer that worked dynamically to help me develop the engines.

So far I had quantified quite a lot to do with the port areas, bhp and torque at different revs and engine firing sequences in different engines, strain energy and engine inertia for maximum acceleration – but now added this astounding difference in different firing sequences in the same engine - and still continually reinforced the need to be able to measure the results effectively.

The old wind dynamometer did not find favour at Armstrong (despite my protestations) and I had to use their existing water dyno used with fixed engine revs all over again. It seemed like going backwards and was the start of considerable disillusionment with trying to continue the direction I had started while working for someone else. But typically yet another even more important factor came into play – so I was yet to be confounded by another problem that I was not expecting.

Because we could buy in Rotax engines almost identical to our 250cc engine for the 250cc class without investing in development – at a lower unit cost - we decided to use them in the 250cc class and squeeze our own 250cc engine up to a 350cc engine to compete in 2 classes. The extra torque from the 350 made the alternate firing gearing trick too fragile so we had to revert to a together firing engine and 2 examples were finished on the day of the last flight to the first GP of the year (the Argentinean GP) having never been race track tested – only dynamometer tested as a single cylinder version - producing power from 8000 rpm and 85bph @ 10,500 rpm which should have been very competitive with a 2,500 power band.

The practice feedback was that they were powerful and reasonably competitive starting to produce good power @ 8,000 rpm - but only revved to 10,000 revs per minute whereas on our test dynamometer our single cylinder test engine revved to 10,500. With the gear ratios worked out for 10,500 rpm this lack of revs was a serious problem for the riders having to slip the clutch as they changed up the gearbox – but they said that if we could get the revs back they would do very well.

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We quickly built up a twin on test (in case that had something to do with it) but it was just the same as the single and revved to 10,500. What was the difference? Both engines in South America only revved to 10,000 and stopped dead. Various weird theories emerged but remember they were in South America – one day from the GP and we were in the UK mystified.

Then by pure coincidence (or was it divine intervention) the light fuse blew in the dyno room while we were in the middle of this test and we noticed something we had previously not seen under the glare of strip lighting present – both exhausts were cherry red hot at the header pipes – for just a couple of seconds - then quickly cooled black again as the throttle was shut. Knowing that exhaust resonant dynamics are dependent upon exhaust temperatures we thought that we may have found the answer but had no bike to test the theory on so we telephoned Argentina with a potential solution - to put asbestos tape around the exhaust headers. Well they though we were mad and took some persuading but eventually they carried out the mod and got 10,500 revs immediately and they finished 7 th and 12 th (if my memory serves correctly) – one of the best debuts for a wholly new motorcycle that had never been on a track before - in the history of the Sport.

The airflow over the bikes had cooled the exhausts differently to that on our test set up cooling fan and this caused the problem.

So now I realised how misleading static dyno tests could be because – quite apart from needing to quantify the port areas, bhp and torque at different revs and engine firing sequences, strain energy and engine inertia – for greatest acceleration and still be able to measure it effectively - I also realised more than ever now that you could produce misleading results on fixed dynamometers and such a simple thing as unrepresentative air flow over the vehicle could dramatically upset the results. I knew that what I needed was something that accurately reproduced in the dyno room what the vehicle experienced on the track both dynamically and practically – but I began to see that perhaps what we really needed was a measure of the accelerating capabilities of the whole vehicle – as it runs on the road as a whole entity rather than run the risk of a mistake by testing on a fixed dyno. I had found out that performance on the road or track could not be easily predicted by testing on a dynamometer and that many weird and wonderful things could dramatically change actual performance – which was all we were interested in.

Firing sequences, airflow, inertia – all dramatically changed otherwise identical engines or gave misleading results and the only way to prove the result was to test acceleration of the whole vehicle.

DRIVER/RIDER FEEDBACK – RELIABLE OR NOT?

I also realised that the best benefit would come from altering some of the previously fixed dynamic parameters of the engine so that it would produce more torque (and power) over a greater range, and developed variable timing exhaust valves, variable induction lengths and inlet timing devices etc to try and spread out the power band to get the best of both worlds (both torque and power).

Working to a contract that prohibited me from doing anything similar for three years after leaving – when I eventually went to another job I also changed industries to the composite area – but another nice story is that 2 years after I had left the industry the Honda engineers visited the factory to discuss using a new engine in the Armstrong bikes. They proudly showed the engineers their new exhaust valve device in their racing cylinder – and were taken down to the dyno room and after rummaging about in a cupboard produced one of my experimental cylinders almost identical but made some 5 years earlier. So why had we not put it on the track sooner – well lots of ideas showed promise but it takes time to develop a new idea until it is better than a well-optimized older idea that might not hold as much promise but has been perfected for many years by hundreds of tuners and race mechanics worldwide. And even these new ideas still left the problem of how to quickly measure the results in a meaningful way – to speed development and avoid wasting time and money going down blind alleys.

You may think that all that is necessary is to make changes and measure lap times – absolutely logical and theoretically the perfect answer – why bother too much with theory – simply build different examples and send them round a track and bingo the answer will be in the lap times – WRONG – because I also found that it would not necessarily do this - for yet another complicated reason.

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With the ability to alter engine characteristics we were able to send test riders out on similar bikes with different power delivery. But we found that an engine with smooth power delivery and high torque (but lower top bhp) was criticised for being far too slow by the riders (because it didn’t take off when it hit the power band) but the chassis was complimented for being wonderfully stable and drivable (due to the smoother power delivery). This meant that - as the Engine Development Director - I was criticised for doing a bad job while the Chassis Director was praised).

Then the other bike was tested with the same chassis but the more powerful (less torquey) engine (that was less stable and more peaky) and the engine (and I) were suddenly “flavour of the month” while the Chassis Director was in trouble for doing something wrong with a motorcycle that now bucked around and was less drivable.

The riders impressions of the bikes were totally opposite to the outcome because - amazingly – when the riders were shown evidence that their lap times were better on the much criticized torquey engine’d machine than the bad handling more peaky version – they still wanted to race with the engine that felt faster but tried to get it fitted into the other chassis – believing that would make it handle OK - which never worked of course. Riders/drivers are naturally competitive and they believe that they will overcome handling problems – so just want to be given what feels like the fastest engine. It is difficult to get them fired up to drive at the limit with an engine that feels slow to them – even if it proves otherwise! I had built something following my own theories about flat torque curves - and they hated it.

This meant that not only were engine dynamics capable of changing the performance of basically similar machines – but also the drivers impression of the performance (and their own preferences) were also unreliable guides to the best choice (this is a bit like the thrill a turbo gives coming on song but often almost impossible to drive controllably out of a corner under power).

So another solution may be just to follow lap times and to hell with the riders impressions – but then other factors come into it – how hard would they ride a bike they didn’t like – how much extra risk would they take, how “fired up” would they be if the engine didn’t feel fast? Surely - you would think – they eventually chose a bike upon which they achieved the fastest lap time - WRONG AGAIN! Racers have to have an exaggerated belief in their own capabilities (or they would never go on the track out at all) so they all believe that they can tame a powerful but difficult bike.

Despite the promising start to its racing debut - they actually started to perform badly on the torquey bike and eventually proved their own case by poor performances. Indeed this criticism of the flat but torquey engine in the 350cc machines got so bad that the riders refused to race them unless they were made with the more peaky engine and I refused to change it – believing it to have the best characteristics proven by the original lap times and my own (now dynamic) dynamometer testing of accelerating characteristics. Everything I had discovered led me to believe in that engine although – to be honest - I was still unsure if they were right or wrong. They all wanted to race the poorly handling more peaky engine'd version that they originally lapped slower on – while I had spent years going in a direction that I believed in and wasn’t prepared to throw that all away just to satisfy them.

Politics then came to play when (to teach me a lesson or to try and get their own way) they informed our Chairman (and my boss) that the 350cc bike was un-competitive. I came in for considerable criticism but fortunately was so busy developing the next 500cc engine that the now discredited 350’s were permanently parked up and forgotten about.

The 500cc engine stripped down to its many parts, designed and manufactured by Barry Hart @ Armstrong.

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Then – one day – rider injuries lead to a virtually unknown Scottish rider, temporarily taking over our works 250cc ride and he enquired about the 350’s in the corner of the workshop - under the dustsheets. Seeking an extra ride he ignored the criticisms from the other riders (and indeed my own reservations about the machine – in which I even said they were “apparently” uncompetitive) and entered one for a Donnington Park International event on the grounds that it gave him another “ride”.

After simply pumping up the tyres and fuelling this “forgotten” bike – his debut was crowned by winning the race by about half a lap on his first ride! and waxing lyrical about “the best all round bike he had ever ridden”.

That machine went on to break the lap record on every British Circuit, won the British 350 cc championship and was even 3rd in the world Championship French Grand Prix with the other 2 previously disparaging works riders eventually requesting their own identical machinery – admitting that the 350cc bike was actually more competitive than their other 250 cc machines and then carrying on riding them with enormous success.

Quite apart from demonstrating the frailties of human behavior and relationships, ideas, theories and pressure groups - all this also showed that you cannot always rely upon rider (or driver) feedback and you cannot rely upon any type of testing other than of the actual machine on the road or track – and only then if you can measure the acceleration of the machine while it is on the road or track and make allowances for how the power delivery may affect handling etc. This is the only way the designer can be sure if his work is going in the right direction if it sometimes takes proof (or confidence) by way of race wins to prove to others that some departure from tradition is worth believing in.

Committing huge expenditure to new ideas takes a lot of confidence and criticism is unmercifully if it doesn’t work - so the confidence of a designer in his reasons to believe a certain direction or principle - is crucial to breaking new ground and producing better engines. My own self-confidence and technical beliefs could have been destroyed if it were not for that lucky coincidence of offering someone else a ride.

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Neil McKenzie on the 350cc carbon fiber framed Armstrong racer.

That rider (Nial McKenzie) became one the Britain’s most successful of all time (and still commentates for Sky Sports today). He was always a modest and down to earth guy – able to rise above the issues that caused the problems in the first place. However the issues behind the story meant that - not only did we need a different testing procedure to reproduce what went on at the track but we also needed then to reassure ourselves that WE knew what was best and not rely purely upon the feed back of the riders or indeed the test results (as they were not all as honest and pragmatic as Nial). If we had listened to them originally – one of the most successful British bikes ever raced would never have emerged and much of the thinking and theorising that went into its original design and development – would have been discredited and wasted – completely throwing future development principles in different directions and losing a very beneficial understanding of what was most important .

So now I had to add to the ever growing list of requirements (to quantify the port areas, bhp and torque at different revs and engine firing sequences, strain energy and engine inertia, firing sequences, reproducing actual air flow – for greatest acceleration and still be able to measure it effectively) – the ability to overrule rider preferences and resist politics though absolute belief in the accuracy of the test criteria.

As I could not ride to a standard to prove to myself what was right or wrong – I still needed something to reliably test if a particular engine was performing well or not. To solve this I thought of using a little rail bogey on a track – fitting the engine and measuring acceleration over a distance – but realised then what a huge difference gearing makes to the outcome and anyway would airflow etc be the same?. This gearing alone would make it difficult to measure different engines unless they happen to have the same gearing (and gearboxes were a physical part of the engines then).

MORE ABOUT GEAR RATIOS

People imagine that the gearbox fixes the revs that drop as you change gear – but it doesn’t it only changes the proportion of the revs that change. If a gearbox drops 1000 revs changing up @ 6000 revs in 4 th say, it will drop only 500 revs in 4 th if the change is made @ 3000 revs. You see if you consider an engine revving to 10,000 revs/minute and dropping to say 8000 revs/minute when you change gear from say 1 st to 2 nd (a drop of 2000 revs/minute) – the rev drop is 20%. If you improve the revs to 11,000 revs/minute and change gear – the actual drop is still 20% - but 20% of 11,000 r.p.m. now which equals 2,200 revs/minute. This means that to make best use of the gearbox - you would need to not only raise the peak revs but also broaden the power band (usually almost impossible as raising revs usually shortens the power band). It also meant that

92 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE changes in the revs of different engines or the same engine being developed could only be properly checked if the gearing was also altered accordingly. Then the next problem – if you need to keep an engine in a certain rev band and be on power in the slowest corner and also reach an improved top speed – you actually would need another speed in the gearbox to achieve all this if the peak revs were raised. Finally of course – you will all have noticed that gear ratios are a bit of a compromise anyway because you can achieve almost as much acceleration despite dropping more outside the ideal power band in low gears than you can in higher gears (where the resistance has increased much more) and where you need smaller rev drops as you change gear to ensure the engine was performing at it’s best for that road speed and increased resistance.

Now because the resistance to motion increases as the speed rises (roughly cubically), as power bands changed and firing sequences altered and the strain energy lost changes as the engines breath and perform differently - etc - so too the ideal ratios and numbers of gears needed also change and of course to suit driving around particular corners on song etc etc. Complicated isn’t it!

However it all lead me to one conclusion – it was absolutely essential to help develop road going performance - to measure the actual vehicle in its entirety while it is accelerating on an actual road or track and that this is certainly the only reliable way to compare results.

It is only comparisons anyway that prove anything tangible and the actual figures are at best misleading. What would you prefer – an engine that felt fast and that had high bhp figures to boast about or a smoother one with which you actually could drive more quickly - even if the top bhp was proven to be down?

Motorcycle racing was moving towards racing standard production engines (with major technical changes largely banned – much like car racing today) and that increasingly took the fun out of trying to dream up ways to win with new technical ideas – so much so that I eventually left that industry to become involved in carbon fiber development and eventually management in Aerospace but noticed some years later that big Japanese motorcycle racing engines were being raced with identical internal parts but built to run with different firing sequences that suited different circuits (so they had obviously found out the same thing). They often referred to some of the optional firing engines as “Big Bang Engines” presumably firing more than one cylinder at the same time and different firing sequences suited particular circuits exactly because they provided very different acceleration that suited the surfaces, tyre degradation, circuit geography and general handling etc.

This all reinforced to me how important the method of testing an actual vehicle was – if the results were going to actually help engineers to go in the right direction when deciding what issues to spend their time designing, changing and developing and testing - to improve performance. The old idea of dynamometer testing a single cylinder test engine at fixed revs was about as irrelevant as it was misleading - I really still needed something that reliably measured acceleration of the actual machine in it’s entirety and under it’s own steam on a track.

Regrettably - I never could think out how to make such a device – I just wasn’t clever enough. I imagined it could be done by accelerometers linked to computers etc etc) but even though I failed to develop such a dynamometer - by my different understanding of the important issues and changing the focus of the designs, developments and tests I had managed to design, develop and manufacture engines (from a very small and under funded engineering workshop) that competed favourably with the might of Japanese opposition – winning numerous National and International events, TT Races, The North West 200 etc, etc.

I never had the resources to developed my engines to the same degree as the Japanese opposition – yet even with sometimes less than the top riders of the time – not always the best tyres – and many other disadvantages – they frequently performed at least as well – due largely because I had managed to understand the necessity to practically and reliably test out theories and realise that it is easy to intellectually misunderstand the relevance, significance or even the actual end result of many different ideas – and as a result I managed to build engines with the best principles within their design and to test them in perhaps a more relevant way to reduce time and precious resources being wasted.

BRING IN THE BRAINS

You may conclude that it was my own inadequacies that caused my difficulties and that if I could enlist the help of more clever individuals – I could have developed such a device. Perhaps – but before we go down that road - I would like to

93 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE recount one last very relevant story in this dissemination of established theory and practice, that tends to cast doubt upon this answer.

Although 2 strokes differ to 4 strokes because the breathing is controlled by opening and closing port holes in the cylinder walls rather than with valves and camshafts – never the less the principles are almost the same – so this story is relevant.

While I was manually working out the results of every dynamometer test, a young university Engineering graduate was seconded to my section for 3 months experience. His specialization was computer development of engineering issues - so I grabbed the opportunity to get him to program a system that calculated all the dynamometer test answers and printed out results etc. Nowadays this is simple and common knowledge – but 30 years ago it was very new. Anyway the things he did were brilliant and further enhanced our ability to get the best out of an under-funded resource to be competitive.

Now the position of the ports in the cylinders in a 2 stroke were the equivalent of the timing of the camshafts and valves in a 4 stroke and so – within the World of Motorcycle engine development – every engineer was used to discussing and comparing notes about the point at which certain ports opened and closed and the resulting affect of changing that timing on performance. Now most engines at that time had the same crankshaft stroke – so it became easy to compare notes between different engineers and different factories by discussing the distance down the cylinder that the piston uncovered the port being discussed (or the crankshaft angle it was at). This was similar to 4 stroke engineers discussing valve timing by using crankshaft degrees at which valves opened and closed or the lift at top dead center – as 2 different ways of talking about the same thing.

We had for years both measured these distances and of course also manufactured the cylinders to these measurements – altered them to see what happened and dyno (and track) tested numerous different examples. The exhaust opening height was by far the most significant measurement with just half a millimeter difference having a profound affect on performance. So I asked the graduate to set up a computer program in which I could input the stroke, con rod length and the exhaust port height at which it opened and reveal the corresponding crankshaft angle (or visa versa) – eventually linking it to the power output results.

He did this but the answers were slightly wrong (wrong enough to invalidate the exercise). His port heights or crankshaft angles were about 5% out. At first he would not believe he could have made a mistake – so I got him to check his computer work – but he found nothing wrong there, insisting that my measurements must be wrong. “What after 10 years of discussing these things with the best designers in the World we were all wrong?” Apparently he thought we were.

So I then got him to physically measure a test engine with a degree wheel on the crankshaft and see for himself that his answers were wrong. Even though he could see that for himself – he still believed his computer results and assumed there was a mistake in his physical measuring – this despite those engineers from all over the world for many years all agreeing with those physical measurements. It was a weird experience as no explanation was forthcoming.

So the problem went back to his university where his lecturer thought he was right and eventually the head of both Science and Mathematics – who all sent him back to find the error in the physical measurements. No one would accept the possibility of them making a mistake.

Now I knew there was no error there and with a complete stalemate I reluctantly got out all my old college books and went through them myself to find an explanation. I thought it would only expose my own inadequacies but to my amazement the answer was staring me in the face.

There, the bottom of the page, the formula for the calculations in my old books stated that “since the length of the centers of the holes in the con rod is proportionally so many times more than the stroke of the crankshaft of the engine – a small part of the formula can be ignored”. I thought – hang on a minute – the con rods were only about twice the length of the stroke so they were not “many times the stroke” – this was not ignorable – so I calculated the answers by putting in that extra bit of the formula (previously advised to be ignored) and the answer was spot on what I expected.

Apparently either the reference books they used no longer even explained that condition but just carried on using the old formula assuming it was always right or they all didn’t understand the significance or relevance of the omission. The textbooks so slavishly used by everyone in the Universities Worldwide used this exclusion because at the time they were

94 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE originally written (decades before) – old Victorian steam and gas engines had con rods 20 – 50 times the length of the stroke of the crankshaft and no one had ever up-graded the information so it applied to modern engines.

What this revealed to me was that without checking practically that the theory is right (and even when it WAS proven that the answers were wrong) the belief in text books, computers, UNIVERSITY lecturers and heads of departments - completely blocked out any consideration that it was even possible that they gave the wrong answer – even when they physically were able to check it themselves and see an obvious anomaly – because they didn’t know that con rod lengths had shortened so much – they didn’t understand the purely practical issues that influenced the academic ones.

ANYONE CAN MAKE MISTAKES

This was when I first realised that Engineering may be in decline in the UK. I met with fewer and fewer proper engineers who knew what they were talking about from experience and an increasing number of text book wizards who knew very little of any practical use. A common thread to all this was their absolute belief in what they read and complete disinterest in reality – as if the onus of proof was now just what made intellectual sense rather than what resulted in better performance on the road.

Given the opportunity to design Armstrong’s first road bike (a 4 cylinder 750 cc 2 stroke based on the Silver Dream Racer), I had to cost out a production run of 2000 to reach a proposed selling price.

Picture of a steel framed Phoenix four racer that was to provide the initial design parameters for the proposed road bike.

I then found that I could not even trace businesses in the UK that could manufacture some items. Often equipment 40 years old and under dust sheets was proposed – as I increasingly realised that “engineering” was almost finished in the UK. Production costs in the UK were 9 times that of Japan and 3 times that of Italy making the viable production of such a machine in the UK impossible.

Much later I later realised that this decline had been on going for more years – probably before I was even born and so this problem between theorists and those increasingly few engineers who have actually tested anything, made and tested different parts and tuning etc is bound to increase. There are therefore increasingly few people who ever have the opportunity to test out these theories and more reliance is being placed on the validity and accuracy of text book theories that students understand intellectually but cannot prove are right or wrong – so major mistakes are increasingly more likely. This isn’t really the fault of those mislead because they are increasingly left in the hands of education with less and less opportunity for experimenting and finding out for themselves. There are therefore many who can intellectually understand

95 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE why something should work as described and explained in books and by lecturers but increasingly few who can prove for themselves if it is right or wrong – increasingly relying on those text books and theories that might be inappropriate (and often arguing their case vehemently despite not being able to personally substantiate their confidence except through intellectual means). This has regrettably now found its way on to the Internet where many of the Forums are full of theorists arguing about technical issues where they can only base their arguments on theory and almost no one has ever actually made or tested anything.

For many - the opportunity to test things is restricted to the physical components, parts and engines they have available to experiment with – and if the testing methods are misleading or the drivers unable to convey what is right or best – the chance to confirm the theory gets less and less until people have no option than to rely on things they really cannot prove or disprove. The result of this is a lot of time wasted arguing about what is right and wrong – what is relevant and irrelevant – and all without the facilities or opportunity to actually prove anything (and not unlike the comments that are clearly demonstrated in web site chat rooms). Arguments have to be conducted at theoretical levels with no chance to ever actually come up with a defining answer – which is a great shame for all those taking an interest.

I do not therefore criticise anyone for making a mistake – in fact I find it interesting how logic often fails to find the right answer. I was lucky that I was able to make anything I wanted and test it out and soon learned that education, books, theories and ideas actually handicapped people precisely because by laying down a huge set of rules and explanations they actually restricted thought processes by intimidating engineers from questioning their validity – they created boundaries to creativity that lead many up blind alleys. They tended to ignore what they were told would not work and believe too strongly in what they were advised or what seemed to make intellectual sense. Their inability (or disinclination) to test or check enough variations to steer their thoughts towards the truth was their only failing. My ability to ignore a lot of this theory was partly because I wanted to know for sure what was going on and naturally distrusted what I was told by others – but also because – with full machining facilities – it was often quicker to make and try 2 different options than to argue about the advantages and pitfalls without ever really knowing the answer.

I remember well an occasion when both myself and Mike Eatough (my fellow director at Armstrong in charge of chassis development) noticed a drawing being proposed by one a design draughtsman for a suspension link and simultaneously saying – “that won’t be strong enough!” Well he produced lots of calculations and technical arguments - but we just repeated our position and to prove the point quickly went to the engineering shop and made the part and tested it – and it failed dismally exactly where we predicted.

This ability to have an opinion on what will and what will not work – without even resorting to calculations does actually develop in engineers that have the opportunity to try lots of different things and test them out. It is a significant part of human development that the decline in engineering in the UK is having a major impact upon and the reducing quality of new designs that we see in everyday life. More often now parts you buy for home improvements break immediately, new designs for bridges don’t work etc, etc – all a result of general practical decline – for which there is not real solution.

REVIEWING THINGS SO FAR

By recapping on what I found out for myself over many years - it becomes more obvious what the relevance of that experience is to the Dynamometer testing of Porsche engines.

I had discovered that most dynamometer testing does NOT reproduce road-going parameters closely enough to be meaningful. Neither brake horsepower nor torque on their own could be the main focus of attention as both in different ways influence performance. Individual rules (or technical parameters) of a particular engine cannot be used as proof that they will have the same affect on different engines since simply changing firing order, numbers of cylinders etc. can completely transform otherwise identical engines. For every change in timing, parts or masses (such as flywheels) a different set up may be best – if only it can be measured accurately and relevantly.

It is a happy coincidence that the design of a flat 6 lends itself to an extremely light crankshaft (aiding acceleration potential) and minimal strain energy losses (through smooth power delivery) and so the 911/Boxster concept has a lot going for it compared to most other engines.

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However - my ever growing list of requirements (to quantify the port areas, bhp and torque at different revs and engine firing sequences, strain energy and engine inertia, firing sequences, reproducing actual air flow the ability to overrule rider preferences and resist politics though absolute belief in the accuracy of the test criteria) now needed the addition of not to rely upon engine dynamometers alone.

Having destroyed the relevance of fixed engine dynos – I know that many believe that roller dynos are the perfect answer – but as my dynamic arguments and experiences with temperatures and air flow show – they too can be quite unreliable. Static dynamometers (with rollers) cannot reproduce accurately airflow over an engine or fuel surge and this can dramatically change power output and revs. Furthermore the resistance to motion (and inertia) of rollers and the problems of tyres skipping ahead of the roller speed (not to mention the download needed to keep the tyre and roller in contact) never accurately reproduces the car traveling down a road and therefore never can be relied upon to truly represent the result you seek. They may even alter the breathing of the engine in a dynamic state (and would be even less representative by taking fixed speed readings). Even the inertia of an accelerating car alters the load on the rear tyres as it accelerates and drag increases in an entirely different rate to that on a rolling road dyno in which it has no affect.

Furthermore - driver’s impressions cannot be trusted to confirm the best set up – only a reliable unbiased measure of actual road going performance can achieve this.

Gear ratios, number of gears useable and overall gearing can change the optimum power/torque output graph needed for the best results.

Text book formulas, experts, academics, even Universities – cannot be trusted to provide the right answers – only testing and measuring accurately can do that – if it can be relied upon.

SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR DYNAMOMETER TESTING?

Hopefully if I have managed anything so far in this story – I have managed to confirm the benefits of actual road testing. Now - if measuring the actual vehicle on the road was enormously expensive, complicated or time consuming – then there could be an argument for using these other methods as the best practical alternative – but the fact is that the best method (actual vehicle measurement) is also by far the cheapest, quickest and most convenient – so the fact that it is also the very best possible method - makes me wonder why it comes in for so much criticism and argument – what is there to argue about?.

So now - many pages later - I hope that you will accept that it is dangerous and often misleading to trust too much the theories or expert opinion of others - to be sure that the part you have fitted improves things, that your results are relevant, that the theory is correct, etc, etc you need to measure the only thing that really is relevant – how it effects the forward movement of the car. And - in a purely pragmatic way - the only way to be sure of the results - is to test the actual car. – but how?

HOW DOES ROAD DYNO WORK?

The problem is no different to that I had with testing a motorcycle and I never found an answer until I read about an in car electronic bhp and torque measuring device – and I was fascinated both by the claims as to it’s accuracy and to see how it worked (and it’s low price was an added attraction). I assumed it was some kind of accelerometer (measuring acceleration forces) or perhaps used GPS systems to track motion and worried about how that could be very accurate. However when I found out and understood how it worked - I was gob smacked - because it was so simple yet so perfectly accurate – I simply couldn’t believe it. I was also very upset that I hadn’t thought of it myself years before.

We are trying to measure the rate of acceleration. By knowing the diameter of the wheel, the gearing (gearbox and final drive) and measuring the number of cylinder sparks/unit of time – the computer can easily calculate exactly the rate of acceleration in any gear against an engine speed.

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In the dyno manual it explains that wheel spin absorbs power-heating tyres and therefore would make the results inaccurate. Actually – of course – wheel spin is seen by the recorder as fantastically fast acceleration (because it is measuring the rate of rise of engine revs with a spark frequency measure and using the gear ratios and wheel diameters to calculate the speed of the wheel so that – obviously – any suddenly increase in revs it interprets as rapid acceleration of the wheels - if the wheels are spinning) and so this must be avoided. However providing the wheel doesn’t spin - the result will be as accurate a reproduction of the vehicle’s performance as you can ever get. By taking over 260 readings within typically 7.5 seconds – the accuracy cannot be in any doubt.

WHY DO WE NEED TO MEASURE bhp OR Torque AT ALL?

At this point it is worthwhile considering if we need to relate this to bhp or torque at all – or merely need to compare acceleration (which it does automatically) – however while the manufacturers, magazines (and everyone else) refers to those old bhp and torque parameters all the time - some comparisons would at least enable meaningful discussions to take place with others.

The computer compares this acceleration with various resistances to calculate what torque (and hence bhp) would be necessary to achieve the acceleration that it measures. Remember Torque = Inertia (resistance) * acceleration – so if we know the resistance and have already measured the acceleration – calculating the torque is child’s play and further calculating the bhp (knowing both engine revs and a constant) is even simpler.

The difficult one is measuring resistance (or inertia) which is in effect the sum of all the things that make the vehicle not want to accelerate – like weight, frontal area, rotating masses, tyre drag etc, etc.

The following are examples of the things measured by the test system we use.

(our comments) Test Weight: 1497 kg (which we adjust for fuel load and driver weight etc) Engine Type: 4 stroke Transmission Type: M TC Stall RPM: N/A Axle Ratio: 3.78 Test Gear: 2 Tire Width: 255 mm Tire Aspect: 40 % Wheel Diameter: 17 inches Drag Coefficient: 0.32 (which we follow advice on) Frontal Area: 22.00 Ft^2 (which is general) Drive-train Loss: 0.24 (this we can adjust to suit ourselves) Air Temp: 10 C Relative. Humidity: 60 % Barometer: 999 mb Elevation: 64 Ft Correction Fact: 0.971 SAE OBSERVED CORRECTED Sample# Delta Time EngSpd Speed Acc Wind drag Torque Pwr Torque Pwr (sec) (rpm) (mph) (g) (lb) (lb/ft) (hp) (lb/ft) (hp) ------30142 31396 0.4706 1570 15.5 0.24 4.54 105 31 138 41

Although we are not sure if some of the parameters (like frontal area) are spot on accurate – it doesn’t really matter since we are always only interested in comparing the same models with each other - for which those parameters will not change and we can compensate in the general correction factor to achieve like for like results. We usually conduct the test in 2 nd gear – so wind resistance is not a significant factor. The adjustments for air conditions are extremely minor and do not have a major influence upon results.

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We always test on the same stretch of road (which is slightly uphill to minimise wheel spin on very powerful cars). We adjust the drive train loss for that uphill slope, fuel load, model type, driver weight and weather conditions with a correction factor.

CORRECTION FACTORS

All test techniques have to use some correction factor for internal losses – if they are going to try and record a measure of flywheel performance while inevitably connected to a transmission system under accelerating conditions - and we are no different. We have found that a correction factor of 0.24 (24%) (including an allowance for the internal resistance and the uphill slope) provides very close results to those quoted by Porsche and as such provides something reasonably meaningful to discuss with others. On a flat road it seems to be about 19 to 20 %. But whether it is right or wrong - it is all relative and we use the same parameters on all tests to enable us to compare results.

If I had this device when I was testing out our racing motorcycles – it would have made a huge difference – particularly in verifying the impressions that the riders fed back before getting sidetracked.

Bearing in mind that it takes a few minutes to set up and about 30 minutes to analyse - in my view it is the biggest breakthrough in vehicle testing I have ever come across.

It provides the results we need simply and in the most relevant way possible with excellent comparative powers and recording systems.

IF YOU DON’T BLOW YOUR OWN TRUMPET – NO ONE ELSE WILL

Many comments on the web site state that it doesn’t matter if the results of a particular test are right or wrong because they are all measure changes. As my lengthy stories prove - this is not necessarily so if the test does not reproduce exactly what happens to the vehicle in motion on a road and may easily mislead by showing better results that do not reproduce on the car.

First of all – if you already knew about everything I have written about then the exercise will not benefit you – but if I have revealed anything new or thought provoking then you have to consider - is it worth your while listening to my ideas, theories and advice?

Well that’s up to you – but I would like you to consider the following.

If today - 6 people working in a small privately owned engineering company - decided to make a formula 1 racing car in their spare time, designing and developing their own engine, transmission and chassis, testing it themselves and paying for the privilege from the money they earn manufacturing and selling engineering products for most of their working week – you would think they were mad and destined to abject failure.

If they managed to build a competitive car - you would be impressed. What if they took it to a Grand Prix on a trailer – switched hats to become mechanics – placed an un-contracted driver in it with stock tyres they bought and standard fuel – what do you think the outcome would be?

Supposing the car then recorded the fastest practice lap or finished the race in the first three or was fastest through the speed trap – what would you think of the capabilities of the people who created that car – then? With less time and money than their opposition they would have to rely upon the accuracy of their imagination to go in the right direction quicker than anyone else. This could only be the right direction if the combination of their experience, education AND test results combined to solve the problems and point towards the most important areas to concentrate their limited resources on. I would ask you to consider if it would be remotely possible for them to achieve this if they had got some fundamental technical issues relating to engine performance priorities and dynamometer testing completely wrong

Well – without seeming immodest – it is a matter of record that I achieved all that (and when I retire perhaps a book may trace all those successes) with the only difference being that it was motorcycles and not cars (although my engines were used in cars in the USA with great success) – and if I had to explain how that was possible I would claim it came from the

99 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE preparedness to reject established rules and theories when they didn’t work and yet make sense of them again after finding our what the error or explanation was. It was because I managed to seek the truth in terms of performance and had the confidence to challenge accepted rules and seek answers when they didn’t fit the results or the experiences.

If you do find some value in my experiences I can now follow on and describe how it relates to the 968 engine, testing and tuning and finally something to produce more performance.

The 968, Boxster and 996 & 7’s variable camshaft-timing device and the 993 variable induction tract - are examples of using new technology to stretch the useable power band of an engine. It enables the optimum camshaft timing and induction length for good breathing - to be used for low, medium and high revs, improving the torque over a wider range and increasing acceleration.

SO WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN PRODUCING TORQUE AND POWER?

However many different ideas exist about what makes and engine powerful. People rave about camshafts, exhaust systems, chips etc but – all other things being equal - the main influence on engine power is the true compression pressure achieved before ignition. As long as the fuel mixture is not too hot (so it can detonate) and is ignited at the right point - then (apart from minor adjustments to fuel and ignition timing) the maximum power will come from the highest trapped pressures (measured physically in the cylinder). Indeed – when you open up the throttle – what you are actually doing is allowing more air to pass into the engine so that when it is compressed by the static compression ratio – it achieves a higher actual compression pressure and temperature before ignition – so your adjustment of the throttle pedal is the equivalent of increasing the cylinder compressed pressure and hence achieves more power. It would actually work quite similarly if the throttle pedal could somehow alter the compression ratio instead and thinking about it like this somehow helps me understand what is going on better.

It is important to purposely test something you expect to be beyond the optimum setting to confirm that you have indeed got the best set up – so in doing this I found something vital about the compression ratio issue while dyno testing very peaky engines that hardly had enough power to accelerate themselves up to the revs that produced power (and this ironically could probably only have been experienced in a dyno room test). I noticed that although there was no power being produced (that I previously assumed was because the engine simply wasn’t able to breath in enough air) I noticed lots of air going in the induction tract. It was noticeable because of a petrol mist that was spilling out and showing a kind of fog being drawn into the induction tract and the volume going through the exhaust system. I never would have considered this if I hadn’t been standing looking at the engine under test in the dyno room. So I measured fuel flow and found this remarkably high also despite there being no measurable power.

I wished I had more equipment to measure the air flow but sadly did not – but I did notice that when the engine eventually started to produce some power – the airflow seemed little different – so this puzzled me immensely and contradicted my previous assumptions. I previously assumed the engine outside it’s tuned zone simply didn’t breathe in enough air to produce any power – suddenly coming “on song” and everything starting to work instantaneously - but it seemed this was not so. I had to find an explanation since this flew in the face of everything everyone had talked about with these engines for years.

I wondered if in fact the compression pressure reached was not quite high enough for meaningful combustion and then suddenly became enough and power stared flowing – as if there was a lower limit to compression pressure before meaningful power could be produced. This would also mean that the exhaust gases were too cold and the exhaust system would be contributing little. To test this theory I made a set of cylinder heads that gave much higher static compression ratios (much too high to stop detonation at higher revs and power outputs – 15 to one and 20 to one) and tested them. The result was quite remarkable as very good power and torque was then produced at very low revs at which the engine in question was previously regarded as useless and well outside of its power zone and resonance frequencies – despite breathing in almost exactly the same amount of air. Of course the engine eventually seized up as the revs rose and the compression pressure became too high – but it proved the point unmistakably.

It also explains why so many engines with worn piston rings or leaking valves still manage to produce quite good power when the engine revs are high enough for the camshafts to run in their tuned area (often referred to as “on song”) but not at lower revs where the torque disappears – because they allow the air that they do trap to escape (or the worn piston rings do

100 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE not allow enough pressure drop to be achieved to help the in coming charge) and do not therefore achieve a high enough compression pressure to run properly. Typical of this is the 911 3.2 Carrera for example – which suffers excessive ring wear and then becomes very peaky to drive – poor at low revs but quite fast in the original power band over 4000 revs/min).

So - although special camshafts, high compression pistons, etc all have the effect to increase that pressure – if it is then lost by poor camshaft timing, leaking valves or piston rings etc – then the power will also be lost proportionately. This is why exhaust turbo chargers or superchargers work so well – because they pump in more air – so more is trapped and the compression pressure reached at the point of ignition is potentially higher. So - providing that the valves and pistons are not leaking - then another way of looking at maximum possible power is to fill the cylinder with the most possible amount of air – to enable it to be compressed to the highest practical pressure before ignition. Similarly another way of looking at tuning for a spread of power is how to achieve good compressed cylinder pressures through good cylinder filling over a wider rev band.

With a naturally aspirated engine – everything you do to make it breath in and trap more air at high revs (large inlet ports, large valves, late camshaft timing etc) works against you to efficiently trap the maximum air at lower revs. This is because the air going into the engine has both mass and resistance. At any engine speed the right sized inlet ports help the inertia of the incoming gas to allow it to continue rushing into the cylinder even when the negative pressure in the cylinder is minimal – but different sizes are needed at different mass flow rates (or engine speeds/throttle openings etc). Big port holes and valves are needed to reduce resistance at high air flow rates (or revs) to produce maximum power - but at low revs (when the pressure drop is not so high) – big ports make the gas stream too slow to get the ram effect (and are open for too long allowing the charge to escape back out again) and so the power band choice has to be made at the design stage unless the valve sizes, timing, valve lift or inlet port sizes can be varied with engine revs and load. For road use – you need both torque at low revs (to make it drivable) and power at high revs (to enjoy it’s performance). Porsche’s variable inlet timing systems (although mechanically crude) help achieve this by optimizing inlet timing in both ranges.

GOING ON THE RACE TRACK

Although it improves the range over which good torque figures can be produced – many owners are beginning to seek different performance characteristics for track use. America is usually 10 to 20 years ahead of the UK in general domestic developments and there are a great many Americans who can afford to own a Porsche as not only a third car but also only for track day use. This seems sensible in view of increasing road safety legislation – speed cameras etc. Furthermore once you have experienced the thrill of driving quickly on the track - you find it is so impossible to reproduce anything like that sensation – even illegally on the road – and soon you find that you confine your need for speed to track use only.

This is just starting to become affordable (and more sociably acceptable) in the UK and so more owners will be seeking advice on how to improve purely track day performance in suitable cars (and hence more technical information and indeed differences of opinion are now exposed on the Internet).

Now the suspension, gear ratios and engine tuning that will be best on the track will not be the same as for the road – so owners will have to decide which area is more important to them. Because the U.S.A. has been more advanced in this area - I find they seem to have more suppliers of this type of information and products etc than we do at present. However – despite this – cars like the 968 will be quite difficult to optimize since most owners will not warrant the cost of a closer ration gearbox and this in itself limits what tuning can be done.

EVEN MORE ON GEAR RATIOS.

Lets trace the gear ratios of a 968 and see what I mean (refer to your driver’s manual graph “transmission diagram”). You will see that first gear can achieve about 40 m.p.h and 5 th gear about 135 m.p.h. You will rarely on the UK circuits that I know - be able to use first gear – you will never be going that slowly and you will rarely be finding a long enough straight to exceed 135 (often much less) – so you will effectively – at most be using a 4 speed gearbox (often only 3 speeds).

Now if you draw a vertical line from peak revs in each gear – where it crosses the next sloping line is the engine revs you will drop to when changing up a gear. In 2 nd to third this is about 1500 revs and from 4 th to fifth about 1,200 revs – so allowing for building revs through a corner (as you couldn’t “drive” the car into a corner while flat out in a lower gear) – you only need a powerful engine between say 4,500 revs and top revs (say 6,400) to negotiate a circuit quickly.

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Next – look at the torque and power graphs at the same revs and you will see that you get maximum torque almost level between those revs already and a steadily improving bhp line (as the speed increases).

Graph showing bhp and Torque against engine revs 944 turbo & 968

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Now a measure of the work done is the area under the torque graph – hence – unless you can increase it all (and because any timing changes that raise the graph at one end will almost certainly lower it at the other - achieving the same or less area)– it is already theoretically perfect. In practice - it may well be that a little more slope upwards @ 4500 revs and downwards towards then end of the torque graph would drive round a circuit more quickly but for most practical purposes it is already an ideal vehicle for track use (and hence it’s huge popularity).

Many 5 speed Porsche’s can only use 3 speeds for track use – which forces the rev range over which they have to be driven to be much greater and since most do not have variable engine dynamic systems – they perform a lot slower.

Because the 968 already has 6 speeds (and assuming no one is going to the expense of changing the ratios) then already as a stock item it seems almost tuned to perfection theoretically.

Acceleration is proportional to torque but whereas power is the same at the rear wheels as the engine (except for transmission losses – so the shape of the curve is the same – but the actual figures are perhaps 12 % lower) torque is quite different as it is dependent upon forces and radiuses – so the torque does change at the output of a gearbox from that going in from the engine – depending upon which gear the car is in. Fortunately the change in torque from the input to the output of a gearbox is almost exactly the same as the change in rotational speed – so if the gear is capable of achieving twice the speed as another gear – it is giving half the torque output (and so on).

The lower the gearing - the higher the torque. It is this rear wheel torque that mainly influences the acceleration of the vehicle.

A graph plotting the rear wheel torque relative to road speed will give a good pictorial representation of the performance potential of different engines.

Graph showing the rear wheel torque of 944, 944 S2, 994 turbo and 968 against road speed.

You can see from this that if acceleration is proportional to rear wheel torque, then the acceleration reduces as the car changes up through the gears – roughly as shown by the pictures above – the fastest cars having the higher torque figures for given road speeds.

But most people cannot change the gear ratios – so what is most important for them to concentrate on.

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We could make the engine rev higher to produce more bhp from similar torque – but if we increase the revs that the engine produces its best torque or bhp at then this is like increasing the gear ratios – because the power band in each gear will be at its best at higher speeds in those gears – so unless we can reduce the overall gearing to compensate – raising the revs to produce more power at high revs is not always the best approach as it will tend to overgear the car.

It works for formula 1 engines because they are limited in the number of gears and are very light – and have enormous budgets. The actual torque they manage to produce during each cylinder cycle is not much more impressive than most high performance engines (as there is a limit to how much air you can force into a cylinder space through conventional induction) - so they increase revs to three times the usual revs (from 6,500 to perhaps 19,000 rpm) – produce similar torque but three times the power (since power is proportional to torque * revs). How you may say does this help if torque is the main influence upon acceleration – well if they left the gearing the same but revved the engine to 3 times the revs – the car would go 3 times as fast and would be geared for say 600 mph – so they then gear down the rear axle ratio by 3 times and get 3 times the torque at the back wheel as a result – speeds back to 200mph at the higher revs and 3 times the torque.

Raising the revs a little is usually possible in most production engines and is usually beneficial to improve induction charging but it does also increase the rev drop when you change gear. But - providing the revs are not raised so far as to overgear the car and do not reduce the power band within which the car operates between gear changes too much it is a worthwhile exercise.

Apart from this limited increase in revs – there are only 2 main areas of improvement left which are - maximizing the cylinder pressure reached under compression and reducing general inertia.

There are only 3 ways to improve cylinder compression pressure – blow more air in - ensure that the air that has been so efficiently trapped is not then lost through leakage – increase the compression ratio. Of these the easiest and least expensive way to achieve this is to ensure that the air that has been so efficiently trapped is not then lost through leakage since it just requires good piston ring and valve sealing.

Blowing air in is a great way to improve an engine since it increases torque within the originally designed revs (preserving the usefulness of all the gear ratios) and providing a very flexible engine without over stressing it dynamically.

TUNING THE 968

The 968’s spindly valves, short valve guides and large valve head areas often promote valve flutter and the seats quickly become shaped so that they don’t seal perfectly but the valve heads “bounce around” a bit at high revs. Consequently one of the few things can be done to improve this model is to make sure they are regularly re-cut and re-seated – perhaps checking the valve guide wear regularly and replacing early.

The 968 pistons are extremely dramatically cut away and present a very small contact area to the bore for support (as with all racing “slipper” pistons). They do wear (as do the bores) more so than the S2 as they have quite a lot more taper and ovality (so rock more in the bore) - so again – as the concentration is on compressions – replacement should also be considered (despite the cost). Rings are very well developed and rarely wear out but can loose stiffness and some bores have a strange wear pattern that causing poor sealing..

What about tuning with cams, cam timing or re-chipping? I do believe that the engine parameters could be improved for purely track use - by altering the camshaft profile and/or timing – but it is a slow process. With standard camshafts, the exhaust timing could only easily be altered by changing the diameter of the anti flap roller or a whole cam belt tooth but this has very little effect compared to inlet timing and I doubt exhaust timing is worth the time experimenting with.

Personally I don't like the way Porsche specify the camshaft timing settings at such a low ramp angle and I believe that various different engines could perform better or worse due to minute variations in both the cam profile throughout its lift and in comparison to the setting technique and the position that the inlet and exhaust cam happens to find themselves in relative to each other.

Certainly to experiment with any pair of cams that can alter the timing and test the results reliably would

104 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE probably achieve a better result in some engines – for track use - but it is a long drawn out procedure and (for reasons already exhaustively explained) needs to be tested on a vehicle in motion). To do this economically it probably needs a vernier cam adjusting system (like on 911's) to enable a relatively quick and predictable adjustment to be carried out quickly enough to believe the comparativeness of the immediate test results. This would alter both inlet and exhaust timing at the camshaft drive sprocket after removing the distributor cap and rotor arm – which is not ideal but may give a clue as to which direction to go in so that the inlet can be optimized and exhaust timing adjusted later. I may make one someday – if I ever find the time and someone interested enough to test the results.

TYRE GRIP THE LIMITING FACTOR.

Obviously some gas flow porting will improve the engine as it would benefit from better breathing at high revs and can stand the resulting slight drop at lower revs – and I believe that some tuners are blowing air in by various methods (superchargers and turbo chargers) – all of which improves that vital compression pressure and will improve performance. I am not sure that blowing a lot of air in is necessarily a good idea though for reasons of traction available. Because a car can only be accelerated at a rate that the tyres can adhere to the road surface – if they spin – all the tuning that achieved that is a waste of time. You only have to see the improvements in formula one cars by controlling the initial and cornering power output (and hence acceleration) with a computer program (in which Renault seem currently best) - to just hold back wheel spin - to understand the benefits. Traction control is a great thing but is not fitted to the 968 (although such a retrofit system would then encourage more “blown” engines).

I don’t know if it was a coincidence that the 911 had a rear engine or great forward thinking – but there is no doubt that the extra weight over the driven wheels (and the weight transfer under acceleration) helped transmit huge torque figures successfully. The added coincidence that the engine/gearbox layout enabled a 4 wheel drive system to be made that transmitted even more torque than the heavy back end could manage on its own – further enhanced the performance benefits of today’s cars.

The 968 is lighter at the rear than a 911 (helping the general handling) but this limits the amount of torque (or power) that can be successfully transmitted. This is why in almost standard form – it makes such a marvelous track day car.

Of course the other route is to use the power available better by reducing the inertia of the engine and this could be quite easily done – for example - by replacing the dual mass flywheel with an undamped one say from one of the 944 range. I haven’t looked at this option yet but am sure that it will be possible to keep the timing triggers the same or use other parts to achieve the right timing.

The benefit of engines with changeable timing/breathing systems allows designers to build road going engines with power outputs similar to highly tuned racing engines – with broad power bands – that are increasingly difficult therefore to improve upon and also comparatively expensive.

In the UK in general - relatively few of the public can afford the huge costs of purely a track day car and so the relative low cost of a 968 again just begins to be considered as a viable option that can be used both on the track and road. The 944 turbo may be even more so but unfortunately – although they are relatively easy to tune – when they come “on the turbo” – the rate of change of torque is so sudden that traction can be lost – wasting all the potential advantages. A turbo with more progressive build up to its power delivery - would drive better but it is not easy to achieve and also get high b.h.p. figures. I know that the huge surge of turbo power is exiting but in terms of drivability – it is a handicap.

The 944 S2 has more controllable power delivery but is not quite fast enough in testing conditions – but is remarkably inexpensive to buy.

HARTECH 3 LITRE TURBO DEVELOPMENT.

By way of an experiment – we at Hartech are building a 3.0-liter turbo in a 944 turbo chassis. Our intention is to run it with slightly higher static compression than the 968 turbo, slightly lower charge pressure (to compensate) and a standard 944 turbocharger, waste gate and chip (to make it more affordable). Although this engine has the potential for extreme power – we are seeking drivability as a first priority and hope that the extra exhaust capacity spins up the standard turbo more quickly – delivering torque at a much earlier stage (assisted by the slightly higher static compression ratio) and therefore not

105 HARTECH AUTOMOTIVE experiencing such a dramatic rate of change as the power streams on. Then we hope that as the revs rise the turbo eventually is a little under capacity as it reaches high outputs – to protect the whole engine and transmission system and smooth the power delivery to feel more constant.

This is similar to the American adage that there is no substitute for capacity. Increasing capacity of an existing engine inevitably produces more torque since the general design of all the ports etc is effectively smaller for the new increased capacity invoking good breathing at lower revs while the breathing at the top end probably limits ultimate peak bhp but equally protects the original engine parts from premature failure. The increasing of capacity ironically therefore naturally fits in with our theories to increase torque in the mid range first and limit peak bhp.

Although details are scarce about the factory 968-turbo engine – our engine will probably turn out to be almost the same since it uses a variety of standard Porsche parts already capable of building up such an engine (and I confidently expect Porsche may well have designed and used the same parts for the same reason).

We have purposely designed this to be able to be built by anyone – anywhere in the World – with access to some new or used Porsche parts – at reasonable cost. So far the only parts we have had to make are cylinder studs and the only modifications were to put an oil feed off the near side of the balance shaft housing (for the turbo charger) and to re-machine the top of the pistons to lower the static compression a little. This lowering of the static compression ratio is essential because if you pump in more air then the pressure and temperature after compressing it would be too high and result in detonation – so you need to lower it again to bring it back to reasonable figures. Indeed some tuners that fit turbos or superchargers to standard engines actually achieve huge bhp precisely because they haven’t lowered the compression and run perilously close to detonation.

The parts used for this hybrid engine come from a 968 and two different 944 derivative engines/cars sold and available Worldwide.

Anyone with a 968 or 944 turbo would be able to build this engine using donor parts from the other and one other component from another 944 model using the cylinder head from a 944 2.7.

We have made the new cylinder studs from high tensile steel but I am half expecting them to be unable to hold the cylinder pressure. If they do fail we could machine the heads to fit “Wills” type rings or alter the head bolting system (and we already have a relatively inexpensive design up our sleeve to do this - if it is a problem) – but we do not want to use it unless it proves necessary so as not to overcomplicate the design and keep costs within the reach of others.

Unfortunately I do not have time to indulge in any communications about this project until it has been successfully completed. The engine was built in just a week over a year ago and I am still struggling to find the time to finish the car and get it running.

The problems with some 996 and Boxster engines and gearboxes and the relatively few people capable of fixing them has resulted in me spending a considerable amount of time developing solutions (including machining out cracked liners and fitting a Hartech replacement as shown in the following photo – the RHS being the replacement liner).

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Quite apart from this – the Hartech business is so busy looking after customer cars, preparing them for sale and generally developing the business that any other competitive aspects are impossible to consider and it is very hard to find time for anything else at all.

CONCLUSION

Although my best known work was in the Motorcycle industry – I actually always preferred cars – but when I was a teenager – car racing was financially out of the question and hence I started racing motorcycles and when I found out how much it hurt when you fell off – decided I was better at designing and making them than riding them – so racing is very much in my blood. The only car that I liked then was a Porsche and since I was 22 years old - I have owned a 356C, several 911’s, 924 and 924 Turbo, Carrera GT, 944, 944 S2 and 944 Turbo (ignoring the sales cars in stock). I still own the 924 Carrera GT one of the most satisfying cars I have ever driven.

My love affair with Porsche’s was due to their uncompromising pursuit of my type of designs for torquey, nimble cars that were exciting to drive and encompassed all the design principles I learned to follow. While alternatives were too slow or heavy my Porsche’s always brought a self-satisfied smile to my lips on the road or track.

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Picture of my first 911 in about 1973

Although engineering is my expertise – I have previously used that experience to help keep older Porsche engines, gearboxes and cars performing (using parts generally available) in standard form – building the business accordingly and training staff into my way of working – which is now so deeply embedded in the culture of the business that it will continue with this young team even after I eventually retire .

While I personally enjoy tuning issues – and would like to participate in other new directions - there are many serious technical issues about how to maintain the new generation of 996 and Boxster Porsche’s (when the engines, gearboxes and suspension get tired) through current lack of availability of some parts that were always available for the older cars – following the new “disposable parts” age of modern cars. To help to look after such customers – that whole issue will need all of my attention in the future – so any further tuning and racing will not be able to form a large part of our business in the short term.

However - I hope that this article has proved interesting. Many web site contributors have expressed different opinions upon what is and is not important with dynamometer testing. Some say it is irrelevant because it is only comparative – others quibble about details.

Often the opinions I read about reflect a stage I was at in the past when I believed intellectually the same thing as the contributor – only to discover later that it was not so and why. I hope therefore that you will appreciate having the benefit of my experiences and perhaps – if I have managed to express the stories well enough - that you may also follow the logic and the outcome to obtain a different perspective on the whole issue of dynamometer testing and Porsche engine development. I hope that I have demonstrated that the whole subject is both much more complicated and yet much more simple than many others seem to think and that while it is true that any type of dynamometer will demonstrate a change it is absolutely not true that a change for the better measured on some dynamometer systems will always result in a faster accelerating car on the road or track.

One thing that successful racing experience develops is pragmatism and first and foremost you have to decide if all you seek is bigger figures to impress others with or a car that goes faster. I believe that the only way to be sure of the latter is to test the whole car in motion on a road.

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Previously – systems did not exist to do that and yet now – a system exists to easily and quickly test your own car – that gets nearer to the result you probably seek than the most expensive alternatives on the market that most businesses would struggle to justify the cost of. It will accurately reproduce acceleration and power outputs and reveal the condition of your car and the benefit of any changes you may make.

The results take a little time to input but you can always rely upon it to reveal the true performance of your car. Indeed if several owners Worldwide used this device to test local tuning options with comparative parameters – we could conduct a meaningful analysis Worldwide to everyone’s mutual benefit.

I am sorry that I am too busy to enter into any discussions about the contents of this article.

Barry Hart

109 Boxster and 996 Engine relatively easy when the only option offered is a new engine), the differences in car specifications Rebuilds, Repairs or combined with the fact that we offer more alternative solutions (to almost any and every Replacements failure) than anyone else (while giving customers Index the widest possible choices) obviously makes simple and specific advanced menu price Page 109 Options and prices – short version Page 112 Introduction of the original guide – now updated. structures difficult to provide. Page 113 Warranty options and implications. Page 116 General problems briefly discussed. Solutions briefly To help customers with engine problems, to decide mentioned. what action to take, we have come up with the likely Page 118 Technical analysis of the cylinder crack problem. Cylinder liner options, cost that most customers seem to have to pay or Page 119 Cast iron, hard chrome, Nikasil. choose to pay – but in all cases the individual final Page 120 . cost can really only be established after further Page 117 Lokasil) Page 126 Fatigue and Thermal Expansion. investigation and choosing from the options available. Page 128 The practical evidence The following engine repair and replacement prices Page 129 Differences in cylinder wall thicknesses between are therefore only guide prices – as in our experience different models and in the 3.2 and 3.4/3.6, castings Page 134 Checking other possibilities – no 2 rebuilds are exactly the same. This is why we Page 135 Cracks before failures have a massive spreadsheet containing all the various Page 136 Solutions alternatives to calculate prices quickly for specific Page 138 Hartech replacement Liners customers and to value various alternative options that Page 140 Other Failures Page 143 Choices they may be being asked to consider. Page 146 Rebuilding a damaged engine. Page 150 Typical Engine problems, Costs & General discussions The following list of options and alternatives gives about related points of interest. Page 152 Cutting edge technology, Manufacturing Techniques. some idea of the complexity of the task. Page 153 Fashion, Repair costs. Page 155 The influence of A Litigious Society & the Internet. (1) Although the Boxster and 996 engines are Page 156 A Suggested Practical Solution. Page 157 The problem with New Technology. basically the same there is a cost difference in removing and refitting them. BOXSTER AND 911, 996 ENGINE REBUILD PRICES & OPTIONS - SHORT VERSION (2) Air-con usually needs to re-gassed in a Boxster if the engine is coming out but not in a 996 – so If you have an engine problem with your Boxsters with air con cost more. Boxster or 996, there is no better place to consult - than us. (3) Tiptronic models cost more for the engine to be removed and reinstalled. We offer more options for a quick and viable solution than anyone else and almost always a (4) When a rebuild is carried out – although we rebuilt engine proves a better and less expensive don’t give an option for replacing some things alternative than replacing with a new engine, a (like chains, new intermediate shaft bearings, used engine or a rebuild elsewhere (because we gaskets, seals and shells which all engines get) offer solutions and modifications that are not there are other options (like removing the available anywhere else). valves, decoking, regrinding and cutting seats and fitting new stem seals) that alter the prices. Although potential customers naturally always want to get an idea of costs in advance (which is (5) Some parts from early engines are no longer available and the modified – later part - may not

109 mate with the other perfectly good old parts in the engine - requiring more new parts being (11) No Vat, collection or storage charges replaced to get it all working again together have been added to any of these prices yet. than are strictly necessary to repair the original fault. We are gradually working through the list (12) If the car is also having a service of these parts and where possible manufacturing (depending upon the type of service and or modifying alternatives to save unnecessary what is involved) there may be some costs, so prices will reduce as more options additional discounts taken off the total price come on line. to reflect duplication (like new oil etc).

(6) In some cases (like a cracked cylinder (13) Even making a chart to list price options head) we may have a good used alternative is difficult because - for example – if we available and if so (and the customer chooses investigated a noisy intermediate shaft bearing, that option) we charge considerably less than we may be able to replace it by removing the the retail price of a new replacement (and we gearbox and flywheel – without removing, stock all the new and used needed parts to stripping or rebuilding the engine, by fitting a rebuild any engine type). new bearing, modified spindle and carrier “in car”. Or – if bits of the bearing have broken up (7) If – while the engine is out – customers and damaged other parts and circulated debris take the opportunity to replace a worn clutch, an all around the engine oilways, the whole engine RMS or intermediate shaft bearing etc, then the may have to be removed, stripped and rebuilt. cost of that work will be much less than the Then - if the debris has also damaged the usual menu price for that job on its own. cylinder bores and crankshaft journals, and/or if it needed some new parts that were (8) If some diagnostic work was necessary to incompatible with some other old parts, then it establish what the fault is before realising that may need new crankcases, crankshaft and the engine subsequently needs a rebuild, this intermediate shaft – at which point it may even may be fully or partially charged for. prove better to recommend a whole engine replacement (good used or new). So from the (9) If a customer requests an engine to be initial diagnosis of a noisy intermediate shaft stripped to find the fault and then prefers the bearing, we could end up with the “in-car” option of fitting a new engine, the old engine repair costing around £400 to a new engine must be rebuilt to exchange with Porsche and costing around £8,500 to £12,000 (depending avoid a surcharge of around £1-2K. Prices for on the model and specification) and all for the new engines therefore assume no rebuild of the same original initial diagnosis. exchange unit because the decision to fit a new engine was made before the strip down phase. If (14) We stock rebuilt bottom ends and however the customer requested a new engine complete engines to save the customer time but we decided to strip first (not them) then we waiting to rebuild their own bottom end or would cover the rebuild again costs. engine.

(10) If – in the course of stripping the engine – (15) If a bearing or big end or main some bolts are corroded into the engine and bearing shell has been destroyed it can damage the thread or snap off and need re- spread debris around the engine that ends helicoiling – or exhaust straps are so corroded up in all the oilways and pump housings that they snap upon removal (etc) there may be etc – so we have to undertake additional extra charges to cover the additional costs. stripping and cleaning of other parts that

110 can add up to £120 to the cost of a std shaft bearing and spindle, chains, gaskets , shells, rebuild in which the fault does not usually seals decoked etc Boxsters around £1700, 911’s require it. around £2200.

The price charged will then depend upon the (d) Typical bottom end rebuilt for exchange as condition of the damaged bottom end or above but also having one liner replaced, Boxsters engine. So, an exchange unit, where the around £2300, 911’s (including the other 5 bores replacement is a stock bottom end/engine that re-rounded with support rings), around £2600. has already been rebuilt – will require the original damaged engine to be stripped and (e) Engine exchange (not removed, fitted or inspected to establish the faults and cost of running) Full rebuild for Boxsters (including new rebuilding it. Stripping and inspecting the old intermediate shaft bearing and spindle, chains, exchange unit is not charged for and if the gaskets , seals de-coked etc) around £3500, 911’s exchange bottom end/engine has had the same (as Boxsters but also including re-rounded bores work done to rebuild it as the damaged one – and support rings) around £3900. there are no extra charges and the cost is the same, but if the damaged one has extra work (f) As (e) above exchange engine (not removed, or parts needed (like say a new crankshaft or a fitted or running) but including a replaced cylinder replaced liner) then the exchange unit will be liner, Boxsters around £3950, 911’s (including the priced as if it was the original damaged engine other 5 bores re-rounded and supported) around being rebuilt. Customers can always have £4450. their own engine rebuilt if they don’t mind waiting. ENGINE EXCHANGE ENGINE REMOVED AND RUNNING and TESTED AGAIN The range of prices that follows is typical for customers paying the full price (and who are not (g) Typical full engine rebuild removed, refitted and on our Maintenance Plan – which would be running (including new intermediate shaft bearing considerably cheaper with no labour costs, just and spindle, chains, gaskets , shells, seals – fully de- parts). coked etc), Boxsters around £4450, 911’s around £4950. WORK ON AN ENGINE IN A CAR (h) As above (g) engine removed, refitted and running (a) Typical top end rebuild in car (valves and etc but including a replaced cylinder liner, Boxsters heads not de-coked), with new head gaskets, one around £4950, 911’s around £5450. side only around £700 - both cylinders around £1250. REPLACING A COMPLETE ENGINE WITH ANOTHER ENGINE (Exchange) (b) As above but with valves and heads etc reconditioned – one side only around £900 – both (i) Remove original engine and replace with a sides around £1500. good used engine – at current used engine prices (check at time of job) Boxsters EXCHANGE HALF AND FULL ENGINE around £4500, 911’s £5000 to £5500. PRICES (Customer removal and refitting) (j) Decide to fit a new Porsche engine (and get it (c) Typical bottom end rebuilt for exchange – no running again) without stripping the original cylinder damage – received as a bottom end (top engine, Boxsters vary between about £7000 to already stripped) - (including new intermediate £8600 (depending upon the current price from

111 Porsche and exchange rates) 911’s about £10850 A new engine costs about twice as much as a (with the same proviso’s). rebuilt, modified and improved engine (between about £2550 and £5350 more – depending upon (k) As above (j) but having stripped and rebuilt the model etc). the old engine to exchange with a new one at additional cost, Boxsters vary between £7500 to BE SURE OF THE DIAGNOSIS £9200, 911’s about £11450. Finally – when making decisions about which ADDITIONS option to choose - do be very careful to consider For engines removed, replaced and running again that the fault (and therefore your choice of - remember to add, extras for tiptronic (around solution) that you may be being informed about by £170), air con re-gas (only Boxsters £100) and others - may in fact – not be right. Vat (currently 17.5%). We have received many engines that were In a “worst case scenario” If an engine has a described as “beyond economic rebuild” that damaged crankshaft, rods, oil pump housing, actually had extremely minor faults that would scavenge pump and an intermediate shaft (which have cost below £2000 to repair. is almost impossible to imagine ever happening) – these could add about £3200 to the rebuild price By correctly diagnosing your fault, we may find (if only new replacement parts are available). So that the new engine you were offered elsewhere a 911 tiptronic that needs the above replaced becomes a minor rebuild at a fraction of the cost – could cost around £8320 to rebuild and get or a full rebuild – still at a considerable lower cost. running again - but a new engine would cost around £10850 (still £2500 more even in this This is the end of the “Short Version” and the “worst case scenario”). original long and details version follows but has been brought up to date. By comparing all the above typical prices, it can clearly be seen that in most cases a rebuilt engine INTRODUCTION. (please note that the in the least expensive option. information provided here is to our best knowledge correct at the time of going to press COMPARING A REBUILT ENGINE WITH A in January 2008 – always check the current GOOD USED REPLACEMENT price).

A rebuilt engine (fully running again) with or Before we start detailing faults and solutions it is without replaced liner – but with all new seals, important to us to put the incidences of failures shells, de-coked and with modified bearings and reported mainly on the Internet or brought to us supported bores (911’s) will cost between about for repair - into perspective. We do not know £4450 and £5450 (depending upon the model etc) exact National or World wide figures but it is very whereas a replaced used engine (that might clear to us that most cars have been performing already be damaged or worn out anyway) usually very well with no problems at all for many costs between £4500 and £5500 (about the same). thousands of miles.

The above prices for engine rebuilds assume full No one contributes to an Internet site to explain de-coking and reconditioning but where why and how their car never went wrong and customers prefer to simply replace the original worked just fine – nor do they seem to praise cylinder heads as they were (not de-coked) there supplying dealers or service and repair centres is a further saving of about £330. when nothing goes wrong. So it is easy to read

112 into the complaints that do occur that there is a most rebuilds until the offending engine is huge problem – which there is not. partially or wholly stripped down and inspected and then will quickly be able to offer alternative We think that the problem really comes about options to owners who can decide how far they because the cost of repairs (if things do go want to go with the rebuild. We also cannot wrong) is quite high and in some circumstances update this guide whenever a part price from – higher than previous models – so for some Porsche changes or exchange rates alter – so owners it becomes too expensive and hence the although - in this document - we provide some complaints we all read about. typical examples and the associated costs, you always need to clarify the current situation This may be partly due to the fact that there are before proceeding. relatively few specialists who can rebuild these engines (compared to the older cars) and so The Porsche warranty system, other warranties there are a greater number where the and our own Lifetime Maintenance Plan also recommendation is to simply fit a new engine. may influence the chosen rebuild route and Similarly, if the cost of stripping down to therefore must be discussed. Finally different investigate a problem is high and it seems models, whether or not tiptronic or Boxsters certain that the result will require a new engine, with or without air-con influence the final price. then it can be avoided by making that decision It is complicated to explain so please bear with more early on – resulting in more our approach. recommendations for the most expensive alternative of a new engine. The fact that a However - if you have an engine problem with number of engines were replaced under your Boxster or 996, there is no better place to warranty in the early years has also reduced the consult - than Hartech. We offer more options familiarity of both Main Agents and for a quick and viable solution than anyone Independents with the internals and therefore else and almost always a rebuilt engine proves delayed knowledge about the specific nature of a better and less expensive alternative than the problems and what alternatives can be replacing with a new engine, a used engine or a considered. rebuild elsewhere (because we offer solutions and modifications that are not available Some of the higher costs are incurred because anywhere else). of design changes that have made the cars less expensive (relatively) to manufacture and WARRANTIES (Hartech’s, Porsche’s, etc) indeed to buy - but cost more to fix if they do go wrong. Some are because repair workshop If you have Hartech’s Lifetime Maintenance labour rates have increased dramatically in the Plan cover, we will usually cover the cost of last few years. Some are because design labour and charges for parts and sub contract improvement have meant that only a new costs. However it is not our style to ignore a redesigned spare is available and there may “small print clause” and so we must explain that have to be other replacements of perfectly good when we introduced the scheme we did not parts to mate up with the new design. have years of experience of these new models and so put in a safety net clause to say that if a We have prepared a comprehensive internal common problem emerges that affects a lot of menu system so we can work out the costs of cars and therefore is clearly a design fault or different options – which covers hundreds of manufacturing defect then we may not be able potential alternatives – giving a calculated to cover some or all of the associated labour answer - but it is impossible to be certain about costs under the scheme. This was not an attempt

113 to wriggle out of anything – just that we are too can result in a reconditioned engine at much small a business to manage the consequences of less than the normal customer price. However if a completely unpredictable potential problem the fault had nothing to do with the cylinder that emerged in most cars over time and had heads but they were already removed and the nothing to do with our standards of care and customer wanted to take the opportunity to was entirely out of our control. recondition them (de-coke and grind in valves etc with new stem seals) then we would offer So far – although we have undertaken a number this at a modest extra option. Similarly with of repairs (including engine rebuilds) we have replacing old cam chains – just the parts cost not invoked this clause (and probably would try would be added. to reach a compromise if we ever did) – but we had to put it in because if (for example) every I suppose I should not really comment on the single car has a serious but unexpected fault Porsche warranty system and readers should after say 10 years or 150K miles that needed the check out the details for themselves in case my full engine rebuilding – we could not afford to information from Porsche turns out to be cover the labour cost for everyone on the inaccurate. But, in the context of this guide - I scheme from the very small contribution the will outline what I understand to be the cover Plan charges. These are typically £44/month presently provided. If this is wrong please (6K cover), £55/month (12k miles cover) etc contact me and I will immediately correct and plus Vat but that also includes 1, 2 (or more) publish the error. This Porsche warranty seems free services (parts and labour depending on the a sensible option for owners of fairly new or annual mileage chosen see relevant section) and expensive cars and I frequently recommend an annual MOT. Deducting our usual servicing callers to consider it while their cars are and MOT costs the warranty element is very relatively new. small (under £12/month + Vat for 12K/year cover). Parts are chargeable but for most repairs I believe that the first 2 years are included and - usually form about a third to a half of the total then there is an option of an extension for a cost – so the warranty still provides an further 5-7 years – so cover lasts for between 7 advantage if the worst happens at a modest cost & 10 years from new (depending upon who I and of course it does cover just normal wear ask). I understand that it is presently costing and tear of parts like clutches, brakes, etc and £895/year (£75/month). I believe that (amongst no need for a failure – just evidence of wear or other things) it also covers a first engine a problem etc. replacement but not a subsequent one (only the first time it occurs or is needed) and that As our Plan has no age, time, mileage, claim obviously certain conditions have to be met nor number of claims limits – we felt that we before the option is acceptable and I believe had to protect our interests if ever it became some minor costs are still paid for by the necessary through a common product fault and customer (for some of the engine removal and not through any fault of our own. replacement time) – but please check for yourself. When we do rebuild an engine under the Plan we offer to include fitting new parts (that were If a Porsche warranty is not in force then there not part of the fault) free of labour charge (if the are some failures that may still be partly work to fit them was no more than to fit the old covered following a goodwill request to Porsche ones anyway) or for a small extra cost (if there from the Main Agent (and I believe this usually is a little more work) but not the whole cost eg. applies up to 4 years old and/or 50K miles – but new shells, rings, etc at parts costs only. This probably is flexible – so please check). How

114 much is dependent on too many details and We have a policy that if we have to replace an variants for us to cover here but can result in a engine with a used one, we do not usually pass contribution to the full costs. on that strip down cost. However this is because we exchange the old engine and out of it I understand that Porsche Main Agents will recover some parts that may be useful in the usually charge for stripping down even if the future. engine is subsequently to be replaced (this may well vary with the particular dealer) – but some However if we replace with a new Porsche or all may be re-charged by them instead to engine - we are charged an additional £1,500- Porsche - Germany. They also operate a menu £2,500 if we do not send back the old engine system with many variants – so if you ask the fully assembled (after stripping it to find out cost of an engine and say fitting it – there may what was wrong) – so there is a huge potential still be other aspects of the job you didn’t ask rebuilding cost involved there in our cost about that may be charged – so you should structure and no way of recovering anything as always try an obtain a full estimate if you want the old engine is sent back. We have decided to to avoid unexpected extras being charged after only partially charge for this rebuild as a gesture the event. I also understand that the Porsche to our customers (unless there is a customer’s warranty is free for the 1 st 2 years & if so a 7- own warranty in force and the engine needs to year cover would be charged for the last 5 years be fully stripped to analyse the cause and enable and cost £4,475 the warranty assessor to see the parts and make a decision about cover). In this case – if we Lets say you buy a three-year old car and want already felt that we knew the cause and to warrant it with Porsche for the last 4 years – therefore didn’t need to strip it down but in it will cost you £3,580 (if my maths are correct) order to obtain the warranty contribution a strip plus the inspection fee (something over £100). down was essential – then some of that cost is passed on – but the customer still benefits from In contrast if we exclude our free servicing the warranty contribution. (that’s included) from the monthly charges under our scheme for say 6000miles/year cover With engine problems still reported on – the cost of our scheme would have been £912 relatively new cars – we think a Porsche (over the same period) but then we do not cover warranty is worthwhile considering as an on the cost of parts – but then we continue cover going cost although the incidences of major for the life of the vehicle. In our view this failures still seem relatively rare. Porsche scheme could be worthwhile now that there are a few unknowns with engines and Various other organisations offer warranties at a transmissions – providing the customer can cost. Some may be a worthwhile option but afford the cost – while ours seems more suitable others may actually almost be a waste of money for older cars where customers have bought an as they often exclude “wear and tear” items – older example because they cannot afford a providing an easy escape clause if the costs get newer one and so are less likely to be able to too high (and many have quite low thresholds). afford the extra for the Porsche warranty and It is not uncommon for a warranty engineer to want the cover to last longer or their car is too state that the engine or gearbox was Ok for “x” old to be covered by Porsche anyway (we have miles and “y” years - so any failure must then no age limit for models covered or once on the be due to wear and tear so it is not covered. scheme). Perhaps independent Porsche centres (like us) are most likely to see cars without any warranties (or non Porsche ones) and so the

115 relative costs and benefits of warranties are CYLINDER CRACKS irrelevant and the customer has a big problem on their hands if they have an engine or The reasons for the cracks are not yet proven transmission problem and needs viable nor agreed by everyone, but we are sure we solutions. understand the problem.

Picture shows a Boxster 2.7 gearbox main input We have measured that the bores are going oval shaft bearing failure that was repairable. The – wider in the pressure direction and narrower broken bearing is visible at the bottom of the side to side. We think that this means that either picture. the Lokasil pre-form is distorting within the exterior cast aluminium sleeve (due to faults in the cast-in interface) or the whole bore tube is not able to resist the combination of cylinder pressure and the driving force of the piston on the thrust face.

Picture showing a typical cracked cylinder block

There seem to be a small number of typical problems and some general ones.

GENERAL PROBLEMS

The main design of all the Boxster and 996 engines is the same and many parts are actually interchangeable. The cylinders are part of the To use metal casting dies it is essential to crankcases – so cannot be replaced individually design casings without trapped sections and to (as they can on older 911’s or more powerful avoid minute distortion caused by interior webs, later models like the 996 Turbo). a straight tube offers uniform expansion - so – to fit in with both ideals, these bores are like a A few std 996’s have experienced cracked hollow tube with a cast in ring in the centre cylinder liners and some businesses are now holding them in place. offering replacement liners when a bore seizes or cracks (our own version is currently under The following photo shows the tubular test). protrusions that form the cylinders and that they are not restrained around the outside diameter. You can just see the ring around the centre of the tube defining the join between the internal Lokasil pre-form and the outside cast-on sleeve.

116 thickness is similar. The 3.4 and 3.6 996 engine has a piston 3mm bigger than the 3.2 S but the outer casting mould is the same size – so the cylinder wall thickness of this more powerful engine is measurably thinner than the preceeding engine sizes – resulting in a similar scenario to the result of boring a conventional engine out bigger – too thin!!!!.

So whatever the technical reason for the gradual ovality that we can measure on the 996 engines (and eventual cracking), the increased power combined with thinner cylinder wall thickness seems contributory to their eventual failure. If so - The difficulty is trying to establish why they we guess the problem will gradually affect more have cracked. and more engines as they age. As it becomes increasingly more difficult to justify huge expense The cylinder liner is a “Metal Matrix Composite” repairing older cars – we are currently (Lokasil) cast into the block. It is roughly half the manufacturing and testing various affordable thickness of the cylinder resembling a freestanding solutions. tube with a piston inside pushing on the thrust face under load. All the 996 engines we have stripped and rebuilt for any reason have shown measurable signs of Lokasil technology has some good properties but this elongation of the bore on the thrust side if the wall thickness is thin, it may eventually (going oval) and the amount is increasing with age reshape or crack under stress, repeated heating and and mileage. If this means that it will eventually cooling or interfacial bonding problems (or all affect a lot of engines then any engine rebuilt three) taking several years to move just 0.1 to meanwhile for some other reason may eventually 0.15mm oval. also suffer a cracked liner in the future – requiring yet another rebuild. Or an engine with one cracked If the supporting outer aluminium cylinder casting liner repaired – may crack another one again later. is thick enough to withstand any movement of the liner then it may be OK. But if it is too thin, the So to avoid this duplication, we have perfected liner may distort with age and/or load and crack. ways to prevent future cracking by modifying This would be rather like boring out an existing engines that are stripped down for repairs caused engine for bigger pistons and more power by other failures. The following report reflects our resulting in thinner cylinder walls. (Historically findings and progress. many different manufacturers found out that previously good engines became unreliable when the capacity was increased by over boring too much).

The 2.5 & 2.7 Boxster engines have the same bore. The 3.2 Boxster S has a larger piston an cylinder bore size (and more power) - but the outside diameter of the casting mould has also been increased to compensate, so the cylinder wall

117 The technical explanation for the failures shown above – that follows - may lead to many readers and owners over reacting – because if I am right – that the above failure may eventually affect most 3.4 and 3.6 models that have been manufactured. To enable the technical explanation to be digested properly, rather than generate anger and concern – I have put a general review of the whole background to this situation at the rear of this technical article – to minimise any adverse consequences about to be revealed and provide more general information about the technical difficulties. This may seem long-winded but I think that for those really The photo above shows another typical liner interested in the problem – such a detailed, crack on the thrust face of the bore – before balanced and progressive collection of facts and complete failure. Notice how the cylinder looks experiences is necessary to grasp what is going like a tube in space unconnected to the outer on. cylinder block. TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF THE Below is another almost identical example PROBLEM OF CYLINDER LINER except it is from the other side of the engine and FAILURE. therefore on the opposite face – but still the thrust face of the engine when driving under Although there are issues with other mechanical load. parts like intermediate shafts that can fail (i.e. if you have an early car – you may also need a Both of these engines were still running when new crankshaft to match up with the different the car was collected and we have not yet intermediate shaft offered as replacement etc received one that had the piece completely inflating overall cost) there are many ways broken out from the bore area. around pure mechanical problems – but the cylinder liner failure is different because the . causes are unfamiliar and repair costs high - having the biggest influence on repair costs possibly looming for many owners.

CYLINDER LINER METHODS and TECHNOLOGY.

Let me straight away admit that I am not an expert on metal matrix composites. The internet is full of reports about books and studies that you can buy and read but I do not have the time to do so – and anyway it is not my remit to solve the problem – just to try and help those whose engines have failed because of it.

. However I have managed to pick up some clues and I find many similarities between what I

118 speed read on the Internet and what I am Nikasil. finding in practice – all of which had brought me to the following conclusions. While Photo of the Armstrong 250cc 2 stroke alloy describing the whole situation I intend to use an cylinder with Nikasil bore that I designed and analogy that will be a theme throughout – to developed in 1981. help non-technical readers gain from the experience.

I think we should start by describing previous methods of making cylinder liners, seeing how we can identify the strengths and weaknesses and fitting them into a common analogy.

Cast Iron.

Used originally for whole crankcases – they provided a relatively cheap and hard surface – easy to machine and re-size – with good lubricating properties. The main disadvantage was lower thermal expansion than the aluminium pistons and high weight. Natural porosity provided the small pockets to trap and Other examples were similarly an aluminium hold lubricating oil. alloy casting or tube (with similar strength and stiffness to cast iron) – plated with a thin hard They could also be cast into homogeneous nickel/silicon type coating (typical thickness monolithic tubes that had good relative stiffness 0.1mm) and honed to size. and strength Advantages are closer bore tolerances (because Hard Chrome. the expansion of the main tube is similar to the aluminium piston as the engine heats up), good Usually an aluminium bore is plated with a thin strength and stiffness and a hardwearing surface layer of hard chrome. Unfortunately hard with microscopic porosity and excellent thermal chrome electroplates quite unevenly and so conductivity. must either be plated very thinly (to reduce the unevenness) or must be ground to size Disadvantages are that the manufacturing cost is afterwards. The grinding in itself has to be slow high and an engine problem can cause a score to and with small surface reduction rates to stop go under the plating and wreck the cylinder. the localised heat generated from de-bonding the interface behind - joining the chrome to the Steel (plated with Nikasil). aluminium. The result has all the advantages of good thermal conductivity (heat transfer), light This is used in applications where the liner must weight, strong and stiff base liner, but is very be thin and stiff (so needing the extra strength expensive to produce. and stiffness of steel) and the surface is again plated with a thin coating of Nikasil for hard wearing.

119 This now has the same wear advantages of an masonry drills or lathe tool tips) into the molten aluminium Nikasil bore, slightly more stiffness aluminium before the cylinder block is cast. but the disadvantages of the same high cost and similar lower thermal conductivity and Then they are then bored out and honed to leave expansion as the cast iron bore. a microscopic surface of aluminium and nickel silicon carbide. Because (apart from any plating) the individual molecules are monolithic and bonded together The analogy I want to use (to help with the next within the molecular structure of a pure metal - example mainly) is to imagine the grains of all the above bore methods have what can be nickel silicon carbide – to be much larger like described as monolithic materials for the very small ball bearings cast into molten majority of the bore – and if we imagine this to aluminium. When the bore is ground out it be like a tube – relatively stiff and strong. I leaves a smooth bore - which is aluminium in don’t think any analogy is necessary for the some places and hard ball bearings that are majority of readers to picture what they are like ground into the smooth internal diameter in or how they will behave. The stress is put into others. the main material and resisted by all the molecules being stuck to the next ones by being The problem is that the aluminium is not hard bonded together across their whole surface to and will score – so if we wipe an acid down the make one solid piece of material. bore to etch away a little bit of the surface aluminium (but not the steel balls) – we are left Alusil. with a surface made up of hard ball bearings with the surface ground smooth and small gaps Photo of a standard 944 Alusil cylinder casting. between them – allowing space to trap oil. This is what is done to create an alusil bore – except the grains are much smaller than ball bearings.

The tube will still be relatively stiff because the ball bearings are stuck together with aluminium all around every part of the balls and between them and the next ball – making the material almost monolithic.

Benefits are good tensile and compressive strength and stiffness, lightweight, good thermal conductivity, excellent wear properties. Disadvantages are high cost because of (a) the inclusion of the grains in all the casting mix and

(b) the bore preparation is expensive and time This is perhaps the first alternative that needs an consuming. analogy. Because Alusil is so stiff – designers have We can imagine that it is made by pouring become used to casting the whole cylinder small ground up particles of nickel silicon block so that the central cylinder bore is a tube carbide (like the stuff used to make the tips of sticking up out of the block so the top of the tube is not joined to the outside by any casting webs etc (as shown in the previous photograph).

120 explaining it to me). A monolithic material can The advantage of this is that the tube is free to only exhibit the qualities (and problems) of the remain perfectly round and is not distorted by base material whereas if it were possible to mix the differential expansion across a block and different materials together – it would be through the interference of any webs – possible to add good qualities to make the connected to the cooler exterior. This enables a resulting composite perform better. tighter piston fit and better cooling, compression and longer life – although any Additions of molybdenum etc, to steel (for distortion that might have occurred through example) has improved hardness and strength joining the tube to the outer casting would have but being monolithic has not changed general been minimal – probably less than 0.01mm properties much. anyway – so although it is a good idea it is by no means of huge significance compared to the A composite allows a material to be thought up distortion we have measured. that exhibits the different qualities of the But, because the material is so stiff and reliable different materials that it has been made up of. – these – free standing round tubes have become a good design feature. Plywood is a composite that joins wood with the grain in one direction with wood with grain in another direction – bonded together with glue Lokasil. – to make a much stronger and stiffer composite (in all directions) than comparison to a standard The photo below shows on the left hand side an piece of wood cut to the same dimensions. original cylinder bore and reveals the line dividing the central Lokasil cast in liner from Fibreglass and carbon fibre composites the outer cast aluminium cylinder of the rest of similarly can utilise the high tensile strength the crankcase. and relative stiffness of these materials by bonding them together in different directions and thicknesses with lightweight interlayer fillers.

It seems to me that metal matrix composites differ in that they are more like granules or very short fibres of the various materials bonded together rather than long fibres in a resin and that the granules are bonded more interfacially in a molten state than glued. My interpretation of this expression “interfacial bonding” means that instead of all the material melting into a monolithic mixture, the individual grains of

different materials bond together leaving, for Lokasil is a metal matrix composite. In their want of a better description, small gaps between pursuit of cost reduction and improved quality – them. The result would exhibit different materials technologists have for some years properties to those of a molten mixture because now been developing these “metal matrix each grain would maintain its original composites”. What are they? – well I am not properties rather than be changed as it was entirely sure (and would welcome anyone melted into a diffused alloy.

121 This process can enable them to be lower fatigue influenced creep to apply) Meanwhile temperature moulded more accurately than say the traditional engineers only see the advantages a steel casting – with surfaces already made of they have been told about and find it difficult to hard materials (or whatever features the fault because they don’t yet know enough about designer wants) by mixing in granules with the subject and have no evidence to question the different properties (that do not get modified glowing presentation. because the method retains their original properties) - saving manufacturing costs and Lokasil is a metal matrix composite and is often subsequent heat treatments. claimed to be 75-80% porous. It is therefore light, and probably being made of what we can From what limited research I have had time to imagine as being similar to granules of nickel do – it seems that a metal matrix composites silicon carbide with gaps in between to retain can be made by diffusion bonding (where I oil. imagine different granules are heated until the surfaces stick together), powder metallurgy The liner (or tube) of the material is called a (where I presume a bonding agent is used), “preform” because it is formed in advance into casting (in which I presume the casting a tube and then is cast into the main aluminium temperatures melt some of the chosen materials cylinder block in the same way that cast iron but not others) and even laminating (by liners used to be. wrapping or laying different layers of “tin foil” type materials together and heating them in a The result should be relatively cheap to compressive mould. produce, light, with a very hard wearing bore surface with excellent heat transfer qualities and It is the technology of the future and will long life – so why the problems and why could undoubtedly – over many years – gradually take testing not show the problem existed? over from traditional metal manufacturing techniques for many applications. However it is Well Porsche would not be the first in the early stages of development and not all of manufacturer to find out over a period of use the problems or solutions are yet known. The that their latest bore finishes had problems that general situation reminds me of my time within affected many of the cars (BMW being a the composite industry and enables me to see common example). why and where possible difficulties may arise. If (as we suspect) the repeated application of It often can be a problem when a group of heat, stress and fatigue cycles gradually – over a highly intelligent boffins are defending the period of time – causes creep under load to de- work they have done while probably equally stabilise the shape until it cracks – then the only defensive traditional engineers are being asked way that could have been found out in advance to take on the new technology. The Boffins over is by testing cars in a similarly way to the day to state the benefits but often do not have enough day use that now exposes the problem. practical experience to foresee reasons why applications may create a problem they didn’t They would have to be started from cold, driven imagine (if they have made a composite to for say 20 miles – left to cool and then repeated. achieve say a hard liner bore with good heat This cycle would take perhaps 8 hours - so to transfer and relative stiffness – they may not reproduce a problem that now affects some cars consider how it would work when it was cast after usually about 75K+ it would be necessary into another tube that perhaps was not stiff to drive the cars every 8 hours for an hour – enough – or they may not expect heat, stress or 24/7 – and to cover 75K would then take about

122 3.5 years before it revealed itself. Furthermore - made - in time. Knowledge of the outcome will if the problem @ 75K only shows in one in a enable the right decisions to be made by owners thousand cars (say) then you would need 1000 and hopefully some viable solutions to be Porsche being driven for 3.5 years to find one found. failure.- perhaps – if you were lucky. Then you would have to decide if it was relevant or just a We think we know why they do fail. Several one off. theories have been muted – some to do with the stability of the deck, others considering If – in the fullness of time – it turns out that a deterioration of the coolant causing local high number of cars fail at say 150K – and this overheating. Some can be discounted like “that turns out to be the norm – then it may have been coolant seeps in and then the attempt by the necessary to drive around for 7 years to find the piston to compress the “incompressible” liquid problem – which is totally out of the question – cracks the liner” since this would then happen at the car would be out of date before it ever a random point around the circumference and reached production. not always in the same place. So several people are looking at the evidence and trying to deduce So – even if you thought that there may be a what the cause is so they can see if any problem with creep and you tried to set up to solutions can be found. test it – you could not possibly have the time or resources to reproduce the circumstances that We know from measurement of all the liner now lead to this unfortunate situation for some bores that something unusual is going on. owners. We are used to seeing bores that wear out and So when new technology is being implemented obviously this is most noticeable in the thrust even if there was someone clever enough to direction – but the top of a piston (above the top anticipate a serious potential problem and ring) is machined much smaller than the rest – wanting to test out the possibility, it would be so never touches a normal bore – leaving a step practically impossible and it is unlikely that just down the bore where the ring has worn it. anyone involved would seek “bad news”. Worn bores can therefore always be felt as a step near the top of the cylinder. This then refers back to one of my original points – that if you want to drive a car at the No such steps are visible or measurable in any forefront of technology, with the latest features, of the engines we have seen – yet they measure manufactured at a cost you can afford (and like the bores have worn – quite a lot bigger at therefore with new production and materials the top across the thrust face direction (typically technology) you have to accept the likelihood at least 0.1mm). that there may be some unexpected problems emerging that would be almost impossible to However if you now measure at 90 degrees anticipate or anyway to test. (across the bore sideways) you find that the Amongst the first engines to use these Lokasil bore there measures less than it was when it was cylinder bores were the 2.5 and then 2.7 Boxster new and smaller than it is further down the engine. The 996 followed a year later – so if bore. Again this can be by as much as 0.1mm. everything else was equal you could expect the Boxsters to fail first. Owners and businesses Using a 3-pronged bore micrometer (see photo like ours – all need to know if this problem of following of a Hartech liner – note the lugs to cracked liners – is likely to affect just the few hold the liner in a jig for reaming to size) - that reported cases so far – or all or most of the cars is designed to even out ovality. If a 3.4 bore is

123 measured this way it seems almost the same be guesswork and conjecture – however I still diameter all the way up because the think it is possible to predict some likely circumferential length is the same and where qualities and problem areas and see how they the ovality is – 2 prongs move in but where it is stack up with the evidence found in the failures bigger the other prong moves out – minimising we have seen. the affect – so the bores seem almost the same size all the way up. First we must try and imagine what the liner will be like and see if this helps us to predict any likely performance parameters.

This is why I used the ball bearing analogy earlier because the difference in the Lokasil liner to the Alusil liner can be imagined using the same components.

Imagine now that rather than casting a tube made up of ball bearings in molten aluminium (in which the final mixture is completely solid), we coat each ball bearing in a thin film of glue and drop them in a mould made up of an inner

and outer tubular sleeve – so that when we remove the sleeves we are left with a tube made There is no other explanation that makes any up of ball bearings stuck to each other with glue sense other than that the bore cylinder has and gaps in between where they are not distorted in an oval shape getting bigger in the touching each other. thrust direction (the direction of maximum force). We then grind the bore accurately and have a similar looking liner to the Alusil example with Any investigation of the cause must then look at ball bearings in the mix, except that instead of the Lokasil preform technology to see if there is there being solid aluminium between the balls any evidence (or logical explanation) as to why (that needed etching away at the surface) there the tubular liner can distort oval with use and is nothing between them except a thin layer of time when the old Alusil ones didn’t seem to. glue at the small contact points (and the resulting tube is much lighter). So - to try and work out how these Lokasil preforms will work and what the problems may Each ball is therefore stuck to the next one be - we must then delve into – what is for me – through a minute contact patch where the 2 an entirely new world of metal matrix materials concave surfaces touch and each ball probably technology. is in contact with 6 to 10 other balls through a similarly small contact area. If my past experiences are anything to go by then we must be devils advocates when I hope that you can imagine what this would presented with glowing benefits and must try feel like and how it would be different to the and put an almost tangible explanation together solid (Alusil) example. If you can - you should for the failures we have seen. Much of what we be able to go along with the following decide at this early stage of development - will generalisations of what we can predict.

124 Well the tube would be comparatively light, tendency to soften when hot – you could porous and therefore have good lubricating imagine this happening at the joint faces quite properties. prematurely. If the heat transfer were through smaller areas (and therefore less) then you How stiff would it be? Well the steel balls would also expect the temperature near to the would be very stiff – so as long as the glue source (in this case the cylinder wall) to be kept bonding them together remains stuck - the tube higher and the temperature gradient across the would be very stiff indeed. Stiffness describes matrix to be higher – although excellent thermal how far something will stretch for a given load conductivity is generally claimed for these (or stress) and it is called the modulus of materials. rigidity (stress applied/elongation resulting). You could expect the stiffness to be very good Why is this important? Well I know that Carbon up to a load that started to break down the joints fibre “creeps” under load, over a period of time between the balls and then a sudden become - when the resin softens and allows the forces quite poor as the joints progressively pulled that are being transmitted through the fibres to apart and the strength reverted to that of the allow them to slightly slide the fibre in the resin glue. a very small distance (but does not fracture). If this happened to a Lokasil tube – it could lead How strong would it be (tensile strength)? Well to creep and therefore local deformation. It again – as long as the glue held it would remain would be slow and take a sustained force to very strong but as soon as the load exceeded the move very far – each time re-setting as the resin strength of the glue, it would break very quickly cools - but would never the less be something because the surface area involved, bonding you could anticipate. them all together would be comparatively small and any crack or break would quickly overload Now we come back to the Boffins. Would they the remaining contact areas to sudden failure. know about this potential problem (or if they The change from being rigid to failure would did would they realise the significance of it) then be quite sudden. when they are promoting its use in a cylinder liner? If the aluminium tube that is cast around So these considerations would expect a the Lokasil preform is thick enough to restrain relatively rigid and strong tube up to a limit at any potential movement of the Lokasil preform which it would quickly fail quite badly. (for any reason) then the preform would retain its shape – hardly ever wear out – and become a What about thermal conductivity? – well it superb solution to a previously expensive would not be the same as the solid steel (that the element of engine production. ball bearings are made of) because the heat from each ball that is in contact with the bore So would the boffins have thought to test creep area can only now transmit it’s heat through the resistance under load and temperature or would small contact patches of glue that connect it to they assume that the outer support tube would the next ball and the oil that may sit in between be strong enough anyway to support it for all the balls. time and just carry out their tests cold (as you would with a metal liner). Perhaps they may How would this heat all being concentrated even test out different thicknesses of outer through the small contact areas affect the glue? support tube (but not be able to reproduce the Well it would get hotter/unit area than if all the road tests for 70K described) to find a suitable heat was transmitted through a larger area (the size (but that may still lead to eventual creep principle of a fuse – if you like) – so if it had a that they may not have adequately tested) – who

125 knows? Would they consider that the application is an unsupported tube and would THERMAL EXPANSION they appreciate that 2 dissimilar tubes are not as stiff as one monolithic one? Again - who knows What about heating and cooling? Well yes the – but the evidence very strongly suggests that continual differential expansion and contraction the physical sizes of the parts (the outer of the balls and the glue (each with different supporting tube) is not large (or thick) enough coefficients of expansion varying with the to prevent some form of creep occurring and temperature gradients) may promote a kind of that this is eventually responsible for the fatigue failure across the joint points between failures. the balls. Perhaps this is where the creep comes from? Compressive strength. It does seem that the thermal expansion of metal Normally compressive strength is not a high matrix composites is generally lower than – for priority when analysing the suitability of example – aluminium. Could this be causing the monolithic metal parts because it is naturally problem between the co-joined materials? very high in comparison to other materials – because the part is solid. However an 80% Once the liner has been cast into the molten porous composite would have gaps in between aluminium outer cylinder sleeve – what sort of the component parts so any load that was stress exists between the aluminium and the applied that could either fracture the interfacial composite liner? bond, or slip it a little (under perhaps load, heat, fatigue or all three) would allow the other If the outer aluminium sleeve always expands constituent parts to move – resulting in more than the inner liner (even though the heat crushing. So we would expect a metal matrix source is from the hotter inside) then gradually composite – to crush sooner and more easily the interface between the 2 different materials than a solid piece of metal. will be put under a repeated type of stress through tension and flexing of the substrate FATIGUE materials. Are these the type of movements that are causing the problems through a type of de- The other possibility is fatigue – how would this lamination at the interface? Or could it simply affect the Lokasil liner in particular. be that the support that the outer sleeve gives to the inner composite gradually reduces through Fatigue is caused by stress reversals. If the continuous differential expansion and stress exceeds the strength of the component at contraction until the inner liner eventually is the place where it is maximum (and therefore free to expand without the strength of the outer maximum strain and elongation) then it can liner to support it and cracks. Indeed – if the induce a small local crack. This in turn reduces outer aluminium got hot enough it could expand the remaining surface area until it is too small to away from the inner composite liner – leaving it withstand the loads and finally fractures. effectively unsupported. After this – if the inner preform cracks under the load - does the load How would this affect our ball bearing tube? get transferred wholly to the outer sleeve (rather Well – if the glue we had used would crack say than be shared between the composite and the after being stressed “x”K times then the glue outer sleeve) so that eventually it is really just would start to break down and leave less contact the strength of the outer aluminium sleeve that patches to bond the remaining balls together – has to support the loads from the combustion promoting a kind of fatigue. and driving forces on the bore face? If so then

126 the thicker or thinner the outer sleeve – the Because the piston is manufactured oval longer it will last. How Should The Composite (narrower side to side), and the drive comes Behave? from it pushing on the cylinder wall - the piston driving forces will concentrate on the centre I think from this it IS possible to imagine how a third of the chordal width. The face that drives tube made from glued together ball bearings the car would take the biggest force (although would behave. the opposite face would feel the compression stroke forces to a lesser degree). It would be very stiff up to the failure point then fail suddenly. It may creep under load – Although the Lokasil preform does not use ball distorting little by little over time – the creep bearings but presumably small granules of the because of loads, heat, fatigue, or all of them nickel silicon carbide type material – the logic put together. of the analogy must be similar. If it was heated then the ball bearings would not expand much Remember also that the liner is loaded by the and there is not much glue in between them to pressure of combustion and the force of the expand either – so the overall expansion should piston on the cylinder wall. be less than a monolithic material.

The pressure is constant but cyclic (and So although we are not exactly sure how a generally proportional to throttle opening and metal matrix composite is constructed or works, load) giving a repeated hoop stress to the liner nor how the Lokasil cylinder preform is made – every time the engine fires. The car only moves we can never the less deduce that if it is used as along the road because the piston cannot move a free tube sticking up in a crankcase casting – sideways – being restrained by the bore and it is then the loads on it would be greatest in the the force of the piston against the cylinder wall direction of thrust and near the top and greatest – translated through the con rod to the of all on the driving face. crankshaft that converts that cylinder wall pressure from the piston to rotation to drive the We can deduce that the liner construction may car through the gearbox and wheels. lead to gradual “creep” and that therefore the liner could crack anywhere but still be So the loads on the cylinder wall are high – and supported by the outer sleeve (which if it was add unidirectional hoop stress to directional thick enough, or the crack was too recent to piston driving loads in the fore and aft promote creep or the preform is suitably positions. While these stresses are repeating supported - may not get any worse), or each time the vehicle is used, it heats and cools gradually go oval towards the top until the bond (another type of stress reversal) and the nature between the granules was broken and a crack of the porous cylinder wall also exposes the would appear from which complete failure microscopic surface granules to repeated would be imminent. We can also imagine that it pressure cycles through the very porosity of could crush under quite low compressive loads. their construction. The same freestanding tubular construction has The pressure of combustion is greatest near top been used by Porsche before without any dead centre and the force of the piston on the serious problems but in those cases the material cylinder wall (which varies with both pressure was monolithic aluminium and as such would and con rod angle) would be greatest near the have greater strength and stiffness. By casting a top of the bore. Lokasil liner inside a sleeve of molten aluminium (to make up the cylinder tube) the

127 outer aluminium tube is much thinner than before and if the inner Lokasil liner could not We would expect most failures to occur after a support the loads over time then the outer would high mileage or frequent use and high mileage. similarly not be able to once the crack has initiated and the loads transferred out to the If the failure is influenced by something similar thinner outer wall. to typical metal fatigue rules we would expect to find a segment cracked almost through but These types of unexpected failure can often be still able to stay in one piece resisting the cured by a very small increase in sizes – so if combustion and driving loads when only the outside diameter had been increased by say connected by a small section at the bottom until 20% - it may well be that no failures would eventual failure. have occurred. If the cylinder became very oval but had not If the technology was almost right but the size fractured this would increase the bore clearance of the cylinder wall was just marginally too thin and also become too out of round for the piston – then smaller bore versions of the same rings to seal properly against the different curve crankcase construction would last longer of the cylinder wall. If this happened we may (because the forces from the piston on the expect to see evidence of blow by down the cylinder wall - would be greater as the bore front and rear piston face below the rings. diameter, capacity and power output increases). Evidence of all the above is abundant. So – if our completely amateur analysis above - of what is going on - is anything like right - we could expect the following evidence to emerge. THE EVIDENCE

Because all the Boxster and 996 engines are We now want to see if the evidence we have almost the same basic design - we would expect uncovered in the engines we have repaired or the 2.5 and 2.7 Boxsters to give the least rebuilt – matches the above expectations that trouble, the 3.2’s some trouble and the 3.4’s to we have already deduced. be most affected (because the forces will increase with cylinder diameter). Compressive strength. At first we had reports of a few 2.5 Boxster liners slipping down the bore If the bores can “creep” we would expect to be until the top ring jumped out over the top and able to measure that the distance (diameter) the piston dragged the liner down, wrecking across the bore in the direction of the thrust face engines. will increase and the distance at 90 degrees to reduce and the difference to get less as the As we knew that the preforms were cast in – we measurement is moved down the bore. We could not explain this phenomenon – until we would not expect this to be explained by wear read that there was a production problem with but instead for there to be little or no wear - some early crankcase castings and it was only distortion present. We would expect the decided to machine out the “cast in” preformed ovality to be measurable even if the liner had liners and replace them with machined Lokasil not cracked and was still running perfectly. liners pressed in. Apparently it turned out that they used too much closing force compressing We would expect failures to only ever be on the some against a top hat shoulder and although driving thrust face, in the centre 30% and at the they couldn’t see the evidence – it crushed the top. liner internally underneath the top (on some) –

128 which promoted the eventual failure. We assume from this that they used a similar pressure to what we would all be used to using to compress a monolithic material liner (like aluminium, Alusil or cast iron) but perhaps did not appreciate the difference in its construction to a monolithic material. This is good news because it suggests that they did not appreciate that the normal loads you would expect to use for a monolithic material were too much for the Lokasil material – i.e. the compressive strength must be less. Our first assumption about the construction and its influence on properties - seems proved.

Bore measurements. If – as we suggest – the preforms can creep under load and/or heat and/or stress cycles (or perhaps some mixture of 2 or 3) – then liners that have not failed should reveal that trend when measured.

Every 3.4 engine liner we have measured (and that is a lot) whether the engine liner has failed or not, shows an ovality in the 3.4 996 engines of about 0.1mm (after around 50K miles) to

0.175mm up around 80K miles. What is more convincing is that the measurement side to side is actually smaller than the original bore size Measured with a three-pronged bore and less than it is lower down the bore (where it micrometer the sizes seem almost constant is joined to the main crankcase by a cast in ring (because – as already described) they reduce the – so cannot distort) by about 0.075mm and the affect of ovality if the circumference has not bigger they get across the thrust face – the changed). smaller they get in the opposite direction. I cannot imagine any other explanation for how a tube gets gradually wider nearer the top in the Some of this (about 0.05mm) is the initial wear thrust direction and narrower at 90 degrees that all bores seem to take at the start as they (where there is no thrust) but has not worn nor run in (or perhaps some settling of the liner to stretched bigger in circumference - other than aluminium bond interface) but the rest is that the tube is distorting oval. distortion. Creep is a strange phenomenon because usually The following photo shows different when a monolithic material is tested – as the measurements taken at 90 degrees to each other stress is increased – so does the elongation at the top of a 3.4 cylinder bore. (stretch) and the divisor of the former by the latter (the modulus) describes the maximum load point from which the material will return to its original shape and size when the load is

129 removed. This is called the “elastic limit”. After expansion etc. and you know what – it is full of this the greater load will permanently stretch the such topics (all mainly book adverts and material to take up a new shape or size. reviews).

Creep seems to occur when a material can be So as soon as I tested and researched the tested once and does return exactly to the problem and saw the evidence for myself - the original size – but after repeated or prolonged cause of the cracks was easy to see. If the loads, heat whatever – something else gradually overall size of the liner and the preform (the changes things and a minute but permanent set cylinder tube) was too thin – then the liner takes place. This could change future testing for could creep gradually bigger in the thrust modulus to a more time based/heat gradient direction (and this forces it to go narrower in approach. the opposite direction) until the stretching finally exceeds the elastic limit of the material Previously most metal tests were done at and a crack appears. We may not fully know constant room temperatures (because moderate why but it is probably caused by temperature, heat made little difference) and the stretch was differential thermal expansion rates, fatigue and measured by strain gauges. stress related creep setting up the movement and eventual failure. Traditional strain gauges are temperature sensitive and would give the wrong readings if It seems very similar to standard metal fatigue heated too much during the test. Because of this in metals (except they are not so prone to creep there are not (or certainly were not) an but set up a crack initiation that grows with abundance of test equipment suitable for testing time) and if so you would also expect some for temperature variable strain (and therefore other clues. For example it can be quite a for the modulus) of material at elevated or predictable problem whereby the number of increasing temperatures. This being the case it stress reversals can be tested and repeats every is not surprising that not only would it be time to failure. impossible to practically reproduce car tests to see what might happen after thousands of miles The difference in the car engine is that the way and warm up and cool down cycles – but it may it is driven will vary considerably. If the failure also have been difficult to test raw materials to is mainly load or stress related then owners who try and reproduce similar situations in a regularly use full throttle acceleration will laboratory. experience the shortest cylinder “lifespan”. If it is the number of stress reversals then the If only I knew more about the subject – I wish I mileage and revs it was driven at will be the did and I wish I had time to find out more – but main indicator. If it is the heating and cooling I simply do not have. However – if our gradual cycle then the number of starts, stops and cool analysis of the situation and the material was downs will have the greatest influence. anything like right – you would expect the Internet to be carrying a lot of information But many cars have a mixture of all three and about books and papers written all about some anyway more than one owner – so to determine of the following subjects relating to metal or predict how it was driven and what the matrix composites:- “Interfacial Bonding, contributory factors are to calculate the exact Elevated or high temperature modulus, mileage that a particular liner may fail – is Incremental temperature modulus testing, Creep extremely difficult – in fact it is impossible. All resistance of metal matrix composites, we can say is that it seems to occur from about coefficients of thermal conductivity and 50K upwards, often around 75 K – but many

130 engines are running OK after 100K – but all of them that we have measured have oval bores PHOTO measuring wall thickness of a 3.2 (worse as mileage increases) – so may crack engine one day or allow such a lot of blow by that the oil film supporting the piston against the liner There is a general manufacturing variance of wall breaks down and they seize up. only 0.5mm between the cylinder bore and the rough outside of the outer aluminium cylinder So why are the different engine sizes apparently casting – so these figures are the averages affected differently? (because the outside is not machined but a rough cast surface). The casting sizes are very With metal fatigue, once a problem has been accurate indeed but the position of the bores in identified, it is relatively easy to prevent a the castings varies by about 0.5mm. reoccurrence by increasing the section by as little as 10 or 20% thicker. In steel this can The old 944 Alusil blocks had a wall thickness change the metal fatigue failure from a low of between 8.4 and 9.2mm (depending upon the number of thousands of stress reversals to an model) – the cylinder tube height was greater – infinite life. In alloys like aluminium – there but this was cast in a very strong and stiff will always be an eventual failure number but monolithic aluminium. still – small changes in sizes or design shapes (to avoid stress raisers like sharp corners or The 2.5 and 2.7 Boxster have the same bore of sudden section changes) can increase the life 85.5mm and a cylinder wall thickness of 8mm span enormously. (the 2.7 obtaining its extra capacity by having a longer stroke). I have only recorded the most How this works out with metal matrix minute movement in these cylinders after huge composites – I don’t know but for sure section mileages – so they seem to be relatively OK. sizes must come into the equation. Logic would suggest that an engine with a If this is right then there might be a clue to why bigger bore would need a bigger wall thickness the 3.4 engines seem to be the most affected. To because although the cylinder pressure from test this out I have measured the wall thickness combustion (giving hoop stress to the cylinder of the different variants. wall) may end up being very similar – the resulting force on the bigger piston and the larger internal cylinder wall area - will be proportionally bigger and therefore – so will both the forces from combustion and the forces from the piston pushing on the cylinder wall to drive the car. These extra forces combined may not be exactly as high as the increase in bore or cylinder wall area – but will still have some proportionality – because although the piston area (and hence driving force) is proportional to the bore radius squared - the combustion pressure is acting through an increase in surface area directly proportional to the increase in bore diameter.

131 The 3.2 Boxster has a bore of 93mm and a wall Another PHOTO of the interface between the thickness of 8.75mm – 10% thicker than the 2.5 Lokasil preform and the alloy cylinder wall – and 2.7 and so appears to be increasing in size also showing the burning starting due to with increasing loads, in the right direction and increased piston clearance and ovality. proportion. The 2.5/2.7 seems to have a Lokasil wall From this you could reasonably conclude that if thickness of about 2.75mm (hence an the 2.5/2.7 Boxster does not generally have a aluminium thickness of 5.25mm. problem with the cylinder liner cracking, then perhaps the increase in wall thickness of the 3.2 The 3.2 has a Lokasil wall thickness of about may be sufficient for that to be OK too – or at 2.75mm (hence an aluminium thickness of 6mm least the problems for both may not occur until – or 12.5% thicker). So far this would predict very much higher mileages (and that does seem that both would be reasonably as reliable as to be the case and again measurements show each other. very minimal ovality or movement). If the 3.4 engine (with a bore of 96mm) followed the The 3.4 has a similar Lokasil wall thickness as a same rules as the 2.5/2.7 and 3.2 – as the bore 3.2 @ 2.75mm, but because the overall wall increases - then you could reasonably expect the thickness is less (7,5mm) the supporting wall thickness of the bigger engine to be at least aluminium wall thickness is much less at only 9mm+ (similar to the old 944) – but it isn’t – in 4.75mm – which is 10% less than the 2.5/2.7 fact it is smaller than the other 2 @ only 7.5mm and a massive 21% less than the 3.2 engine and and that is at least 17% smaller than the very even less than we would like to see it at for a minimum we expected to find. 3.4 engine.

How significant is this? Well by ordinary metal So if – because of creep and lower initial fatigue experiences – 17% it is a huge strength – the main resistance to the cylinder difference – but there is another point that liner stretching is provided by the outer makes it even more significant. These figures aluminium cast cylinder – the 3.4 has reduced were obtained by measuring the whole of the its influence by about 21% while increasing the wall thickness – that is both the Lokasil preform forces by somewhere between 4% (calculated and the outer aluminium cast support tube from the increase in bore diameter) and 20% added together. Now we need to check the (from the amount of power increase). Lets thickness of both individually. round up on a figure of say 10% extra load for a 3.4 over a 3.2. If so this means that the 3.4 has a generally weaker resistance to cracking (if we ignore the contribution of the Lokasil liner) of around about 40%. Well the Lokasil must have some contribution – but from these calculations the reduction in cylinder liner strength, stiffness, creep resistance or fatigue resistance of the 3.4 engine over the smaller Boxster engines must be somewhere between 20 % and 40% - I would guess about 25% less.

Designing it this way seems a very odd thing to do. I was puzzled until I noticed that the reduction in wall thickness between the 3.2 and

132 the 3.4 was exactly half the difference of the difference in the bore diameter – suggesting that It seems to me that this is what has (in a the outside shape of the cylinders was cast the nutshell) happened in a small way to the 3.4 same size for both. engines. Instead of casting the crankcases with different internal moulds for each model (or So I needed to compare the 3.2 and the 3.4 making the 3.2 thicker than it needed to be) it crankcase castings. Then I found that they both seems as if the same basic casting has been used appeared to use the same moulds to cast the for both but just use different sized Lokasil cast internal shapes of the cylinder wall and in – preform liners and the resulting weakness therefore had the same outside diameter of the may explain why 3.4 cylinder cracks are liner despite having a bigger bore in the 3.4 starting to be such a relatively big problem (and (and 3.6). In other words the 3.4 is like a 3.2 sadly the 3.6 engine seems the same). bored out 3mm bigger in internal diameter without any corresponding increase in the So what responsibility should Porsche have for outside diameter of the cylinder sleeve despite this outcome? That is not for me to answer. the increased forces involved. Should they do anything more about it than they already are doing? I am not so sure about that either.

They have to push technical and cost reduction frontiers and it is not possible to test everything to reproduce road use over time. New technology always throws up unexpected problems and most failures not covered by Porsche’s own warranty or extended warranty are really too old to be regarded as the whole responsibility of the manufacturer. How long should a high performance sports car engine last before rebuilds or replacement anyway?

Porsche have tried to come up with a cost The photo on the previous page of the 3.4 effective method of providing a long life bore crankcase on the left and the 3.2 crankcase on with good thermal heat transfer properties that the right, shows that the increased liner perhaps has not quite lasted as long as they thickness off the 3.2 is because the bore is originally hoped or expected – despite – smaller and that the same internal casting sizes probably completely successful practical tests (and hence probably the same casting moulds) and trials. However – we feel that it could have have been used for both. been avoided and that it was always going to be a potential problem to reduce the effective wall Now if we ignore the potential problems with thickness so much – and because of that it metal matrix composites and look at simple would be nice if some gesture could be made in common sense – anyone surely realises that if the circumstances that would lower the cost of you keep boring out an engine and putting repairs. Our philosophy (shown through our bigger and bigger pistons in it – producing more Maintenance Plan) is that – if we are looking and more power – while making the liner wall after our customer’s car permanently and thickness gradually reduce - the day must surely something goes wrong, that we should try and come when it all turns to tears for someone! share some element of responsibility – if we can afford to do so and stay in business. However

133 this is for our customers locked into a business CHECKING OTHER POSSIBILITIES. relationship with us, and Porsche do provide their own alternative with their own warranty If we are right about the reasons for these scheme so they already are similar. various failures - then a lot of engines are going to be affected eventually – and the Providing whole complete new engines (even consequences are wide ranging - so we did not subsidised) adds unnecessary expense. What just sit back and assume out first explanation would be better are subsidised crankcase sets, was right. In fact we have machined out the and/or short engines. This would reduce overall Lokasil liner to test its individual stand-alone costs for all owners at any age. qualities. The material seems very stiff but brittle and easily cracks at quite low Although we can rebuild the whole engines deformations and stress levels. there are not many that could manage the crankcase rebuilds reliably – so short blocks Photo below of the Lokasil liner only after would overcome this and the remaining rebuilds fracture testing. Notice the very coarse porous would be quite manageable by most competent matrix construction. Porsche garages businesses World-wide.

But we don’t know what their philosophy is towards longevity of the products and would they consider the problem to be acceptable if it turns owners away from long term ownership towards a buying philosophy that encourages buying new or almost new – who knows what decisions have been taken internally. Certainly making a gesture over relevant prices (as previously suggested) would clearly demonstrate that they do care! Many parts of the engine are very well designed and thought out so fixing this problem with subsidised parts while designing out the We have also made smaller test pieces and problem in future – would be a positive step in tested them to see what happens under heat and the right direction. by holding a constant bending stress and then heating the material it is possible to find a Other evidence. temperature at which it slowly but steadily bends – until the heat is removed – when it sets We would also expect to see some engines that again – rather like you might expect a plastic to haven’t cracked showing signs of burning down behave. If the bend is too much then a surface the piston face and cylinder wall due to the crack quickly appears. increased ovality and piston clearance and indeed - we have seen just that – in fact we have The Following photo shows a piece of Lokasil seen 2 pistons seized only on one face (due to permanently bent under heat and load and the blow by burning and degrading the oil having a crack starting at the point of there). deformation – as expected. The load on it was constant but the bend only occurred at one high temperature and quickly stopped as the heat source was removed

134 through temperature variations (expansion and contraction during the hot molten aluminium flowing up against the colder liner) or perhaps a gassing problem. So we machined the outside aluminium cylinders gradually step by step smaller and smaller until we revealed the Lokasil tube inside – but in each case the bond area between the two materials looked sound.

Photo of the aluminium part of the liner being machined off gradually in steps to find out how centrally it was located.

As a result of this test, we also wondered if inside the cylinder - a minute space could have appeared between the Lokasil preform and the outer cast aluminium through a bad inter- material bond and that this allowed the Lokasil liner to crack under load and move over to touch the aluminium – eventually cracking it as well - in the process.

The following photo shows us machining out a

Lokasil liner to see how central it is and how well it is bonded. Shading shows it having been cast off centre but the bonding seemed OK. Cracks Before Failures.

We have often seen what appear to be cracks in the Lokasil cylinder wall in engines that have not shown any signs of liner failure – see photo below of a typical crack.

The crack is at 25 minutes past the hour and is not in a vertical line with the cylinder but veers off at an angle.

We suspect that these are the first signs of the problems of a relatively weak preform made of a metal matrix composite – failing to a small surface crack (for whatever reason – be it stress, heat, fatigue, thermal expansion/contraction, We also considered if the molten aluminium interfacial bonding problems etc, etc.) that later bond where it flowed on to the Lokasil liner will put all the load onto the exterior support may have caused a problem at the joint face aluminium tube – that in the case of the 996, 3.4

135 and 3.6 is much thinner than the earlier Boxster SOLUTIONS models of the same basic engine. If so it may be perfectly acceptable if the outer sleeve can From the manufacturers point of view - it seems withstand all the resulting loads (or at least last that casting a thicker outer cylinder wall, or long enough for the life of the car) but not if the supporting it with webs to the outside or a outer sleeve is too weak closed deck design – would have solved the problem (or making the Lokasil preform with perhaps a carbon fibre (or similar) spun outer diameter to resist movement) may have prevented this problem – but we have to live with it as it exists and solve the problem with existing engines.

We originally decided to manufacture a replacement liner to repair a cracked single liner – when we imagined the problem was caused by a manufacturing fault.

But looking back on my own experiences when Carbon Fibre Composites were relatively new and the huge (almost insurmountable) problems that the traditional engineers had in finding the right applications and understanding the important design criteria – I can only conclude that Metal Matrix Composites are going through a similar learning process.

I applaud Porsche for pursuing new technology Photo of the casting and finished machined liner and modernising their production – so that they we produced and also showing the inside of the can continue to provide such wonderful sports crankcase half with the original liner machined cars and I accept that not all new things can out. practically be tested to reproduce exactly what happens out there in normal use. We manufactured a pattern and produced a cast liner that was machined and Nikasil plated – to However the 996 seems to have thinner cylinder fit to a damaged crankcase half and all that went walls than anything similar and we are sure that OK. this has created a problem that may cost several owners a considerable amount to repair as the We arranged the casting so we could machine it cars age. Because of that - if only they offered a to be supported inside the outer crankcase half gesture of some sort to make rebuilds to improve rigidity and then we realised that we reasonably viable – no one would be able to could machine 2 diameters and fit rings inside criticise them too much for these failures. the top of the other blocks – to prevent them from cracking in the future.

136 The photo below shows the bottom liner being a fail in the future. So this seemed like the most Hartech fitted Nikasil liner; the centre one has is cost effective solution and is one of those we an original cast in preformed Lokasil liner offer (together with fitting a used engine etc – machined ready to receive the support rings and please refer to other parts of this guide for the top liner has already been fitted with those details). support rings.

Photo showing a set of support rings that will prevent further movement of the liners in the block and stop them cracking or going more oval despite the thin cylinder walls. If the bores are not badly oval (say in a low mileage car that was stripped down for another reason other than the bores being cracked) then we recommend this extra job to prevent future failure of the cylinder liner.

But what about bores that are not cracked but The other bores showed no sign of wear at the are very oval already? top – so we assumed they were OK, but when we did eventually measure them and discovered Well, we have tried and tested a great many the problem of ovality – we realised that the ways to re-shape the oval bores that have not additional piston clearance may present a cracked to return them to a round shape with the problem and after researching the whole thing right piston clearance. Fortunately a particular and realising the causes, we put the re-sleeving combination of pressure in 2 different directions development on hold until we explored other and temperature, achieved the movement we solutions for the other un-cracked but oval wanted - so we can now fit the top support bores. sleeves and therefore not only return the bores to a more round shape with a reduced piston With new crankcase sets costing about £2500 + clearance, but also prevent further movement. Vat * – it is viable to rebuild a damaged engine This now makes the option of just replacing a with new crankcases (and hence bores) and if cracked liner and re-shaping the other oval we also fitted the new support rings in the top bores and then supporting them, a viable option they would be unlikely to ever become oval or (or in engines stripped for other reasons, re-

137 shaping and fitting the support rings as a undertaken. We want to establish the lengths preventative measure). This has become the that we have gone to so far and the quality of best and cheapest option available. the work we have done in trying to understand and provide a viable remedy for this problem – So far we cannot reproduce the repeated while simultaneously informing interested heat/load/cooling cycles that may have created parties what we think about the whole situation. the movement over many years in the first place We do not know how far through the production i.e. whatever tests we do - the bores remain just runs - the problems will manifest themselves – as oval even after repeated heating and was there a point where Porsche improved the squeezing cycles - but then Porsche didn’t seem construction of the preforms – or did they to manage to reproduce the problem under test change something in the manufacturing conditions, either. process? We will endeavour to find out by inspection – to assess what we need to do in So this seems to reinforce our theory that the good time to help repair engines that have failed movement is indeed the result of very long term - but it may just take time (as the other failures continuous stress, heat, expansion, contraction did) to find out how extensive or short lived this etc over several years and cycles (creep) – that problem is. neither we can produce – nor were Porsche able to (it seems) at the outset – until the evidence Meanwhile all we can do is offer our opinions, emerged years later. solutions and various options for repair and re- assembly – making our own recommendations – We have now covered enough test miles to be but allowing the customer ultimately to make satisfied with our replacement single liner the decisions about what to replace and how far option for cracked bores – and customers can to go – depending upon their circumstances and choose to also have the other bores machined future plans for the car. externally and fitted with these restraining rings (they take support from the outside casting which is many times stronger than the bore and resist any further movement). Or they can Hartech Liners. choose to have them re-shaped to reduce the ovality and fitted with the restraining rings to Our Hartech replacement cylinder tubes don’t keep them the right shape just sit up without any support (like the original) but sit against a machined surface in the original Where bores have already distorted very oval bore – to support them and prevent distortion (but the strip down is not for a cracked liner) we while the homogeneous thickness adds strength can offer to fit our special restraining rings (to to resist hoop stress and we consider the Nikasil prevent further movement) or re-shape the finish superior. ovality away and fit the restraining rings (whichever the customer prefers) to all six Our cylinders are designed to be fitted bores. Customers can therefore choose if they individually but if more than one or two bores do or do not want these extra preventative steps. are damaged then replacement crankcases are also available from Porsche at little extra cost – We have taken the trouble to explain all this so customers can choose between a re-sleeved partly because other independent specialists are set or a new replacement – with an extra cost aware of what we are doing and trying to copy for the Porsche alternative. Different prices our initiatives – and we want the credit for the apply to different models. extensive research and development we have

138 Picture shows a liner being assembled into a crankcase.

Our system has been specially designed to suit applications where only one or two cylinders need replacing in the original block – when this is a much less expensive option than changing them all or a new set of Porsche crankcases (and if the other bores are visibly and measure

OK or can be re shaped more round again and OTHER ENGINE TYPES supported). But this is not a guaranteed solution as the reasons for the crack may mean that the Although the wall thickness of the liners in the other bores still fail in time (especially if the Boxster 2.5, 2.7 and 3.2S are thicker (and have problem is caused by a void behind the pre- not yet shown signs of “going oval”)– some form – between it and the outer casting tube – have failed for other reasons (often debris from that will still allow it to move even if the another failure or seizure from another cause) outside is restrained) – but it is a relatively and so we have now produced liners for all inexpensive potential solution that is these models. worthwhile and has proven OK in all the engines fitted with them so far. Only time and The left hand side picture is the 3.4 and 3.6 mileage covered will prove or disprove the liner, the centre is the 3.2S liner and the one on value of this modestly priced extra option long the right hand side is for the 2.5 and 2.7 engines term, but there is so far no reason to doubt that (which have the same bore but different it is a permanent solution. strokes).

The following picture shows a 996 block with (see photos overpage). the nearest cylinder fitted with a restraining ring at the top, the next centre cylinder has been machined to accept a restraining ring and the furthest away has a Hartech Nikasil plated replacement liner fitted.

139 Pictures show the intermediate shaft bearing failure and the damaged internals.

OTHER FAILURES

Cylinder heads fit 3 cylinders and are not individual as before. This can increase The stud holding the bearing together was replacement costs. Crack visible in next originally only 8mm diameter and sometimes photograph near spark plug hole. breaks whereas the replacement is very much larger. We are now manufacturing a replacement stud with a larger diameter that enables us to replace an intermediate shaft bearing in the car (if it has only worn and not yet failed) and also to fit this to full rebuilds as a stronger alternative to std.

The intermediate shaft sometimes has a bearing failure and since they modified it in the last few years – only modified shafts are now available. This may have a different chain drive (a Hivo chain instead of a roller chain) – so if you have an early engine – a new crankshaft may also be required (even though yours is OK) – just so it can run with the new replacement intermediate shaft. The following picture shows the difference in We (amongst others) are developing a more the old and new intermediate shafts. cost effective solution to this problem.

140 Picture shows a damaged big end journal

This picture shows worn out shells (centre two)

A picture of checking for crankshaft run-out.

We have found a crankshaft where the main bearing failed and the subsequent loss of oil feed to the big end resulted in that also failing. Upon stripping down - the crankshaft was found to be bent. We are not sure at this stage if the If a big end or main bearing fails, the crankshaft had bent because the big end failed crankshafts cannot be re-ground (being and hammered against it or the big end failed Tuftrided) and anyway – even if they could be – because the crankshaft was bent and the extra there are no oversize bearings available. So a load on the main bearing initiated the wear on crankshaft problem may require a new the shell. crankshaft, which is only available with the new hivo chain drive so if you have an older engine Whenever a big end fails like this the crankshaft you would need to replace the intermediate is usually scrap and the con-rod is also damaged shaft as well for compatibility. because the bore becomes oval. Con-rods are

141 split by being cracked into 2 pieces leaving a version of the seal that should improve the broken joining face (common modern practice) problem (time will tell). However very few and will always need replacing if the big end engines have a chain running near the rear main was damaged. We have found big end shells seal (AND THIS ENGINE HAS TWO). So we that have curled inwards yet still run OK so this also think that it is the oil being thrust at high may be a potential future trouble spot causing speed against the seal inner face by the them to overheat and we recommend replacing movement of the two chains running around the them whenever we undertake a full strip (some crankshaft, that makes sealing more difficult 944’s circa ’86 had a similar problem and and have tested a couple of shields to provide a solution) long term solution.

The following picture shows the remains of a Picture of our in house RMS alignment tool. big end bearing shell - after failure.

.

This tool has improved the resulting quality of life expectancy but may not overcome poor basic seal design – so is not always fool proof. New Con rods are only available in matched sets of 6 even though you may only need one. VARIOCAM CHAIN GUIDE RUNNERS We often have good used examples available at a lower cost. The guide supports with the oil fed lubrication - on the Variocam hydraulic chain tensioners – Although Lokasil bores are supposed to be able seem to wear out very quickly and so nearly to be re-sized, oversized pistons are not always need replacing. available from Porsche (although we have placed an order to manufature ocversize pistons The following picture shows the typical wear on ourselves!). A scored bore may therefore the curved surface that should be smooth. presently require a new engine (from some suppliers) or at least a re-linered one (from others), or a replacement crankcase - until oversized pistons become available.

RMS – the much talked about rear main crank seal – is prone to leak. We have made a special tool to help align it and can now supply a better

142 ENGINE REPAIR CHOICES

There will be a lot of choices to decide upon when considering the right option to follow. For example, the prices for new engines and an alternative of new crank-cases, vary considerably with the model, exchange rates and Porsche’s own pricing policy (that has resulted in fluctuating prices in recent months). The type of engine (age and specification) may or may not influence additional costs when only redesigned parts are available.

Prices of good used engines from breakers vary CHAIN LIFE. with their own pricing policy and the market demand (but could get cheaper as scrapped cars Chains have been known to snap – so we age and are worth less or more expensive if always fit new chains during a rebuild (as they demand outstrips supply and Porsches prices add little to the rebuild cost). increase).

VALVE SPRINGS. Porsche may introduce a short block option one day that will reduce rebuild costs and increase We have had one incidence of a valve spring the number of places capable of handling the failure. The customer had no compression on repair. one cylinder (assumed to be caused by a cracked liner initially) so he was extremely Of preference, some customers may lean pleased with the relatively low cost of the repair towards a new engine (regardless of the extra (especially as he was on our Maintenance Plan cost), others may prefer to replace and had no labour charges). cracked/seized bores with Porsche’s own new crankcases and others with a Hartech Picture shows the LHS valve spring broken. replacement liner or a competitors alternative.

Some will prefer to take the opportunity to replace some other relatively inexpensive bits (that hadn’t failed yet) for very little extra cost but improving the potential life of the rebuilt engine while others may just want the least expensive option to get the car running again.

Sometimes a failure sends debris into other areas and damages them and on other occasions the very same failure doesn’t – so there is a potential difference in costs there that can only be established after a full strip down, clean and inspection.

143 So, every engine failure will result in a different doing it all again (i.e. will make a loss on that set of recommendations and it is therefore very job). difficult to provide guide costs. It would therefore also be very easy for an unscrupulous It has never happened that one failed within 1 dealer to suggest a modest cost only to inflate it month (in fact – touch wood we have never had hugely after stripping and inspecting the engine. a failure at all) but if it did I suppose we would lose out again although they are all still running While we will never rebuild an engine perfectly OK – Jan 2008). The one month grace knowingly that would have a very short lifespan period does not cover minor things like minor (if asked to - we would simply request the oil leaks or noises that were not so loud (say) in customer take all the bits away and pay for our the previous engine etc - as long as the engine time to date), never the less we do accept that works OK as a used engine there is no liability for some customers – they just want the car from us or the supplying breakers that it has to running again – just as it was before the be as good as the customers old one before it problem. This would result in us only fixing the failed. problem and any obvious subsequent damage so that when the engine is rebuilt it should be just Used engines have been a very good option to as reliable and last just as long as before the date - however the day is bound to come when incident – but may not be any better than that. one will fail and the customer will no doubt be upset. They therefore offer a good cost option – In this case valves and heads may not be de- with a small risk but no come back if after 1 coked, (although we insist that all chains, shells month a failure of the original engine occurs. and seals are always replaced) etc but the engine and its overall life expectancy should Furthermore we have bought some engines still be as good as all the others of similar age from breakers that were taken from crashed or and specification that are still running Ok. burnt out cars – that actually had damaged parts Indeed it should in some ways still be better as inside, leading to speculation that the owners it will still have some newer parts. knew of the engine damage and chose a different way to get a payback from their Very often - replacing a damaged engine with a insurance company. used one from a breakers - is a viable option but of course there is no guarantee about the We do sometimes get offered very low mileage subsequent life expectancy of the engine. ones (usually at a £500 to £1K premium - recently fitted a 4000 mile engine for example) Breakers rarely accept a warranty other than and as the customer is paying extra it must drive that it works OK when it is fitted. I suppose to as well as that claim would justify. We often be fair they have no way of knowing either swap items like water pumps and alternators etc when they buy the crashed car. so the customer gets his own back (at no charge) to be sure that they are as good as the Because we buy a number of engines and original (because that’s is what they actually gearboxes from them and have a good are). However if the replacement engine reputation in the specialist field we usually get 1 appears to us to have covered less miles or to be months grace and they play fair with us - in better overall condition than its predecessor however it costs us a lot to remove and fit an then we may leave in the auxiliaries on the engine and if we do so and it doesn't work right grounds that they should be an improvement not straight away - we have to accept the cost of a disadvantage and therefore to our customers benefit.

144 Similarly - if we fit a used engine on the Obviously we therefore also take a considerable customer’s behalf - and it goes wrong - we lose risk when we try and help our customers by because we have to remove and refit another fitting a used engine - but for some it has been one. It would be better for us if the customer the only option they can afford and so we bite bought the engine and we just fitted it - so it’s at our lip and get on with it. their risk - but then the breakers could exploit the customer’s technical short-comings and not A rebuilt engine usually costs about the same as worry about losing the customer in the future - fitting a good used engine, and we warrant all as they will be unlikely to ever deal with them our workmanship and that we have fitted all the again anyway (but some breakers are parts we claim to have done, so with all parts reasonably trustworthy). So by us buying and inspected, new shells, seals and chains etc – it supplying a good used engine - there is some must potentially be a more reliable option. control over quality and some come back (all be Furthermore - if anything was done wrong there it limited). then we would be liable for the cost of fixing it. If we rebuild a customer’s engine the advantage However - if any part subsequently failed soon is keeping the same engine number and afterwards it may be a more difficult situation to replacing a lot of old parts with new ones, and handle. If the failure was caused by a part that modifying some known weak areas to improve we recommended but the customer declined to them in future – resulting in a very good quality fit - we have no responsibility as our best advice engine on completion. However – although we was not followed. If a failure was a part that rebuild to the best of our ability – if something was not damaged or involved in the failure but else goes wrong we may or may not feel some just happened to reach the end of its life (as it responsibility depending upon the individual would have done if the engine had not failed circumstances, so we are very careful how we somewhere else in the first place), then again advise and rebuild engines. we do not feel liable - but depending on the circumstances we may consider a shared cost We are trying to offer something sensible that is compromise on fixing it if the customer was worthwhile for both us and our customers - but reasonable. If we were responsible we would it is not a big profit earner and subject to repair again at our full cost difficulties with customers who anyway may be thoroughly fed up with the cost and We offer more options than our competitors if a inconvenience of the repair and are looking for customer’s engine fails – with a wide range of a messenger to shoot. costs and solutions. But while the repair or replacement of Boxster and 996 engines may To help us to work out the options for our help our customers make the best choice for customers in such complicated variations, we them, if we replace with a new engine, we lose have prepared a very comprehensive internal the old engine and if a new one is being menu system to help us both guess in advanced replaced, we have to reassemble it for return to the likely costs and also actually work out the Porsche or face an uneconomic surcharge. final cost once the full extent of the problem is Although our labour cost is much lower than known. Porsche’s, we still have to subsidise this work to make it competitive (as we have no reclaim We try not to estimate on a best case scenario structure from them). and then add more as time goes by and the full extent of the damage is revealed – but instead prefer to include typical expectations so often

145 the final cost is similar or slightly less than our estimate.

Of course we cannot work out every possibility but do our best in good faith. We are aware that competitors may estimate a price and then add to it as they find more things needing replacement. We try not to do this and prefer to work on the basis of our usual experiences. Our estimates may therefore seem higher than others initially but probably be more accurate by the end. Our estimates therefore include the other items we generally find damaged and are not therefore always going to be the cheapest at the estimating stage – but often will prove the Furthermore the assembly system is extremely lowest upon completion. time consuming and difficult – much more than any previous engine we have encountered – so RE-BUILDING A DAMAGED ENGINE. it is expensive and takes a lot of hours.

Whenever an engine suffers a serious problem it The next picture shows the crankshaft housing is impossible to guarantee that every being assembled. consequential piece of damage has been found and corrected.

It is not viable to test every metal part for hidden cracks that may have occurred and difficult to measure any distortion that may have happened to bores, the flatness of faces and the general condition of castings etc. So any rebuild is prone to have a small element of risk.

More robust engines (like the older 911’s and the 944/968 range) tend to be less difficult to find all the potential problems and rebuild (perhaps because their origins go back so far compared to these new engines). Differences in labour rates can make the The very design of the Boxster and 996 engine rebuilding of an engine not viable in some more make it more difficult to check everything and expensive repair centres but viable in others. they seem a little more fragile in some areas Furthermore there is a good argument for that could still provide a problem in the future. deciding as early as possible to replace an engine (if it has to be replaced with a new Picture of a partially assembled 996 engine. engine) before stripping it right down – to avoid unnecessary strip down and rebuilding costs – if there is an imminent part exchange with Porsche (and no warranty implications).

146 Owners have to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages – how long they want to keep the Picture shows the collection of debris in the car – how much risk they want to take when sump from a failure. authorising the rebuild and selecting the choices made.

An engine with a cracked liner may just need to be repaired with one new liner, and various gaskets and seals, oil, coolant and power steering fluid (lost during removal) – and the final cost may be quite modest (perhaps under £4000+Vat). However – if that is all that the owner authorises (and no other damage), then the opportunity to replace some other vulnerable components at the same time is lost and there is no guarantee that the next liner will not fail soon afterwards – incurring the labour and fixed costs again. A more common price Even if an engine runs on for a few seconds, including usual replacements would be around small pieces of debris quickly circulate around £4500 + Vat. the engine – despite the various filters and gauzes and can always go up the bores between Alternatively the owner may decide to have the pistons and cylinder walls. new crankcases or even all 6 liners replaced (or bores reshaped round and support rings fitted), Picture of a typical collection of debris after an the valves overhauled (and as with all rebuilds engine failure. we insist must have new chains, shells and seals etc) it can virtually end as a fully reconditioned engine that should last for many more miles (and may prove more reliable than the original as a result of gradual improvements in parts and the improvements expected from the Nikasil bores and supported liners) – for a very similar cost to the same exercise on any other Porsche engine.

If the engine was an old design and needs a new crankshaft or intermediate shaft and the shrapnel from the failure has damaged the oil pump then the cost of the rebuild can be very much more than if it was a newer engine anyway. A rebuild where the bores are Ok and In all this we provide options and allow the another part failed can be relatively customer to decide what they want to do. inexpensive. For example, a std intermediate However, we refuse absolutely to re-fit shaft repair with a Hartech bearing and stronger damaged parts or rebuild in such a way that we spindle, may cost under £3,500+Vat but is know will imminently fail. We will not usually nearer £4500 + Vat (with customers therefore be a party to an attempt to just get a usual option choices and other typical damage). car running long enough to dispose of and give

147 someone else the problem of another imminent failure on an engine we have recently rebuilt. Very few places can manage the repair of these engines and gearboxes and even less have tried Picture shows an oil pump housing damaged by to provide cost effective solutions and debris from a different failure. engineering alternatives – but they are great cars and a few failures that are repairable at reasonable cost are – in our humble opinion, a small price to pay for the pleasure of owning and driving such a fabulous car (pictured in our showroom below) – especially as the risk seems comparatively low.

However the choice of replacing say a new cylinder head or a second hand one that is perfectly OK – is an acceptable option.

Some parts (like chains) that are showing no sign of failure – but are relatively inexpensive to replace and are known weak spots – we insist upon replacing and will not take a risk with ourselves. In other areas where we do allow a customer choice - the level of guarantee we offer will reflect that choice and while we always guarantee our workmanship – we do not cover parts or work that we recommend but the Picture over page shows a rack of engine parts customer decides not to replace or have done. not including the crankshaft housing, pistons, This decision and risk is entirely their own. The inlet system etc. whole problem of repairing a potentially expensive problem is therefore never entirely risk free because even a new engine may eventually fail (as the original one did to initiate the problem in the first place and they have been known to fail at under 10K miles).

Repair centres (whether they be Porsche main agents or independents) are in a difficult position whenever a failure occurs and the customer wants to take out their frustration and disappointment on someone – or to find someone to take legal action with.

148 later. If this ever occurred we would try to work with the customer to minimise the cost and consider if it was appropriate to share the responsibility – provided that we feel we have a productive relationship that is likely to result in a satisfactory solution.

We will not however offer any help in situations where our good intentions have failed to provide a perfect answer and the customer immediately becomes legalistic and confrontational. The situation is not one that will ever be solved by such an approach and we are advised to react likewise if it occurs.

This picture shows just how complicated the engine is and how many parts are involved in the work even after it has been removed from the car.

In the same way that the original Porsche the customer bought may not have been expected to fail so soon, the independents that do try and offer a viable solution, do not have the smallest fraction of the resources to test out their solutions and it may therefore take many years to find out what the best options are. They do have an advantage however that (with the benefit of hindsight) they know exactly where those weak areas are and can concentrate on a solution without worrying about politics, legal So – if you experience a failure please arguments over who should pay, re-tooling, re- remember some key points. manufacturing or replacing FOC. They can simply concentrate their energies on a solution (1) The problem exists through no fault of and make it available to the public. Hartech and we are trying to find cost effective solutions to suit the future Where we offer a less expensive solution than needs, requirements and financial say a new Porsche engine - there is therefore an resources of the customer. element of risk and anyone accepting the options to save money must also accept the (2) Such a huge range of options come into possibility (however rare or unexpected) that play that it is impossible to be certain the engine may one day need to have a further about a cost until the whole situation is rebuild to correct something else that failed reviewed and the availability of parts

149 and current prices have been The following examples rely on current prices established. and may vary considerably and should be confirmed at the time of an enquiry. Porsche (3) More often than not we find that what price changes - may alter which solution is most has been described as a serious failure favoured! elsewhere - requiring a new engine - turns out to be repairable at modest Crankshafts and Intermediate shafts are only comparative cost. supplied by Porsche to a new design – so if either fail the other may have to be replaced on (4) Repairing an engine takes time and earlier models to match up (and crankshafts cost cannot always be started immediately – almost £2K) until our (or other) less expensive especially if there are others in progress options are proven and available. and parts and other stripped engines and cars are already under way taking up The present cost for fitting all 6 Hartech liners storage – even when you enjoy the is almost as much as a new set of Porsche space in our 10 ramp workshops, crankcases – this is why we designed them to be photographed below. used – mainly as a one off replacement for a cracked liner. We believe that our support rings will prevent the remaining liners from suffering the same fate.

TYPICAL ENGINE PROBLEMS & COSTS

Cracked cylinder liners (all prices add Vat)

If you have an early type Boxster and a cylinder liner fails & others are found to be cracked, it will cost around £7000 to re-liner all 6 bores and replace chains, recondition the top end etc which is more than if the customer prefers new Porsche crankcases instead of liners (@£5800), because the liner solution is specifically designed to suit single or double liner failures. If the engine was also so badly damaged that it (5) The original cause of the failure may needed crankshafts etc as well then it would indeed be a part that is not directly probably be cheaper (for this model) to buy in a linked to the engine (like perhaps a new Porsche engine and fit it (@ about £7000 to computer or fuel injection system £8600) than have it fully reconditioned. causing an engine to blow up or a leaking radiator leading to a seizure that However if only 1 liner had cracked, the piston doesn’t leak once the coolant has was OK and the customer really only wanted drained away). This will be impossible that repaired - it could cost as little as £3700 if to detect until the engine is repaired and no other damage had occurred and no other may then delay final completion and reconditioning or preventative maintenance was add further to costs. This would be as carried out (although it is more often £4500 frustrating for us as the customer and with customers full options exercised). again - patience is requested.

150 However, with the 996, even if all 6 liners were premature decision is taken to avoid a full strip replaced (or the crankcases replaced) it would down and recommend a new engine. still be over £4,800 cheaper than a new engine because new 996 engines are currently much In many of the cases we have received - where a more expensive than Boxsters. new engine or gearbox was previously recommended elsewhere, we have managed to In both cases, although the price of a good used rebuild or replace it with a good used one – for engine is always subject to change and there are considerably less cost and with excellent the risks described earlier – never the less they results. This may be because the decision to offer a solution for a slightly the lower cost that replace with new was taken without a full usually works out just fine (subject of course to investigation or because the labour rate to do availability). that elsewhere was too expensive to make it a viable option. Intermediate Shaft Failure. However – there are occasions where the If the intermediate shaft bearing fails there is evidence of the failure is sufficiently clear to usually a lot of oil dripping from the bell make an early decision and often then a new housing area under the engine. replacement engine becomes a sensible alternative. If the car is a later type then the least expensive repair (with no other reconditioning) could be So far – although there have been common reasonably inexpensive (from around £3500) failures – the results have been quite different. but if it is the earlier type then the only Porsche supplied replacement part available - will not fit For example we have had a lack of cylinder - and a new crankshaft is also needed, when the compression being both a cracked cylinder liner cost becomes much higher (from around £5,000 (that was expensive to repair) and a broken typically with a used crankshaft or £6,250 with valve spring (which was inexpensive). a new one). Because of this we have found a new bearing to fit the old shaft and expect the We have had a noise like a big end – turning out eventual minimum cost then to reduce to around to be a big end (and very expensive) and also £3500 (or under £800 if it can be repaired in the being a damaged later type intermediate shaft car because it has not yet completely failed or (much less expensive). put debris around the engine). There are still things to be learned about these Crankshaft Failure. engines and very few places where they can strip down, analyse, come up with cost effective If the car has a later intermediate shaft then a solutions and rebuild them – so customers must typical repair to replace a crankshaft will appreciate these difficulties and be patient when usually cost around £7,700 or £6,800 if a good we are trying to establish causes, remedies and used crankshaft is available and chosen costs and also expect to be without their cars for (depending on the model and what other some time. We are now rebuilding exchange damage/reconditioning work is bottom ends (with and without replaced liners) requested/essential) as crankshafts cannot be to reduce rebuild times by exchanging like for reground. It is very important to remember that like damaged bottom ends. because of the additional costs of rebuilding engines for exchange to Porsche – often a Our cylinder re-linering service has been designed to enable us to repair the crankcases

151 the moment they are apart, by machining them of potential alternatives but does allow us to internally and fitting pre-manufactured stock quickly provide a price (or price alternatives) in liners the same day – to avoid delays. advance and during rebuilding to allow the customer to steer their eventual solution in the Despite the various uncertainties – we feel that - direction they want and for a price they if you have a problem with your Boxster or 996 hopefully can afford. engine or gearbox – we offer the widest range of cost effective solutions. GENERAL DISCUSSION POINTS OF GENERAL INTEREST Etc. It may turn out that your problem is quite inexpensive to repair or a potentially very (1) Cutting Edge Technology expensive one – but whichever it turns out to be – we at Hartech have the widest possible range Porsche have always been at the forefront of of alternatives available with different options making the latest technology available to their to suit all pockets and customer requirements. customers through early application in customer cars. This is partly what has created the Any general prices we have mentioned are excitement and satisfaction in owning and usually for typical rebuilds or replacements driving their products over several decades. (including decoking parts, new chains etc – unless otherwise stated). Vat is extra. All other They were amongst the first to provide their usual extras associated with a typical example public with turbo charging, 4 wheel drive, 16 have been included. Prices were correct in valves, variable cam timing and lift, stability January 2008. control etc – but always those brave enough to put new technology in the hands of customers All rebuild examples have new head gaskets run greater risks that there will be some initial and seals, full engine rebuilds with cranks teething problems - than those that sit back and and/or big ends & mains - also have a new wait for them all to be ironed out – while their bottom end gasket set, shells and seals. own customers drive outdated technology.

Extras. If the car is a Boxster (or a 996 where So – over the years – although Porsche have we cannot avoid loosing the air–con gas on been at the cutting edge providing exciting stripping down) and the customer then wants it technology for enthusiasts to own and enjoy – re-gassing you must add £100+Vat to the above there have always been occasional problems costs. associated with the latest developments. This is in my opinion a small price to pay for the sheer If the car has a tiptronic gearbox it is more exhilaration of their ownership – of which the expensive to remove, replace and bleed so you problem with liner cracks seems a typical must add £170+Vat to the above costs. example.

If the car is a 996 you must generally add £100 (2) Manufacturing Techniques + Vat to the costs. There is also a pressure upon manufacturers to The internal Hartech menu system has over reduce manufacturing costs – without reducing 1000 lines of choices, compounded by a quality – through new manufacturing variation for all the different models and techniques and materials technology. specifications with an over ride for different disasters and conditions. It provides thousands

152 Porsche perhaps never previously had sufficient resources to modernise their production But although their parents are more used to techniques for the relatively small numbers having things repaired than simply replaced – made – gradually falling further and further even they are finding that as overheads escalate behind others – and stuck with labour intensive in the West and labour costs become the methods and products. This progressively dominant cost in pricing work, a new reduced profits and forced them into a vicious replacement (made by modern techniques at circle – increasingly impossible to escape from. lower relative retail prices than ever before) So while they were implementing leading edge becomes and attractive alternative to a repair. ideas into their products – they had to do so by fitting them on to cars that cost too much to Manufacturers are taking this into account when make – almost going bust in the early 90’s. deciding what spares to offer and at what prices – so it can be more viable for everyone They had to change to survive and so the new concerned to quickly replace a whole unit that generation of whole cars (including engines) was manufactured for a low cost as a whole had to embrace all the well established rules for entity (often manufactured in a third World modern manufacturing – of reduced component Country) than to strip and repair one that cost parts (to reduce handling costs), radical reviews more to make in the first place, needed lots of of each machining operations (is it really different spares to be stocked and handled and necessary etc) and new materials technology. considerable skilled labour to reassemble. Perhaps it was this that led them beings amongst the first to include metal matrix It has now become possible to reduce composite liners cast into the new crankcases – manufacturing costs by making parts that used offering reduced manufacturing costs and to be manually assembled in a more modern improved long life expectations. Without way – so that half covers (for example) may be modernising their design and manufacturing bonded together around a central electric motor processes – Porsche would have either gone rather than bolted together by hand with screws. bust or priced their products into a range that Similarly parts are pushed together in a way that few could afford to enjoy. small moulded-in clips pop into place to hold them together (rather than lots of screws) – (3) Fashion. great for reducing assembly costs but often making them impossible to strip down without Our whole society is changing and our young breaking the very parts you need to rebuild are more ready to discard products because they again (of which dash boards of the latest cars have become unpopular, unfashionable or for are perhaps a good example). minor technical problems than their parents before them were. The resulting assemblies may work just as well but are increasingly impossible or expensive to This is just a function of the increased relative repair but cheaper to replace than trying to wealth of a Country and when it reaches a point repair the older screwed together versions. where people can afford to be seen in new things rather than old worn out ones – they Engines and their associated components are all cannot resist the temptation to buy new rather moving towards this solution as labour costs than keep old things going for longer. increase for highly skilled mechanical work.

The problem with repairing the 996 engines is (4) Repair Costs. typical because they are very labour intensive

153 and some parts are also expensive while others have to be changed to upgrade to a later spec If we do not want to strip the engine down (the earlier one being discontinued) which adds (because we are sure that the cause makes unnecessary costs. replacement the best option) but the customer still wants it stripping down – then that will be If – after stripping down to inspect and evaluate at their cost including any exchange rebuild. a rebuild – the option of a new engine is taken then it is bad enough that someone may have to If a good used exchange engine is the final pay for the initial strip down – but because option (regardless of how much or why we may Porsche require a fully built exchange engine to have stripped down the original engine) then we avoid their surcharge of around £2500 – this will usually make no charge for that strip down also has to be added to the cost because – only charging for removal of the old engine, someone has to rebuild it again to send back to supplying and fitting the replacement and Porsche. getting running again etc (although some used engine suppliers – aware that they can With Porsche main agent labour rates being apparently get a good price for even a damaged roughly twice that of our own, it is usually engine from Porsche are adding this to the cost cheaper for them to make the decision as early of a used replacement). An old used engine is as possible – to simply replace the engine with a always a risk for everyone although – so far – new one – before the strip and rebuild costs touch wood - we have had 100% success with become too expensive. this solution (Jan 2008) but one day it is bound to result in further problems. Even independents would have to rebuild an engine again to avoid the customer losing the A better solution is a rebuild so that at least the surcharge and although this is less expensive – condition of the internals are known and/or it still adds to the cost. replaced – and this often cost about the same anyway and gives more peace of mind. So early decision-making is essential. If the best choice is for the original engine to be Our policy is to do what we reasonably can to rebuilt – all the costs for work done are help the customer – but ultimately they will chargeable – but the customer still has several have to make the decision about which solution rebuild options to consider. They may want to suits them best (and our menu system helps to only have the actual problem fixed and estimate the cost of various options to assist replacement of any other parts necessary for a with this decision making process). rebuild (like gaskets etc) but to keep costs down they may not want to take the opportunity to So if we want to strip down the engine in order replace other parts that are old, worn out or for us to make a decision about the best final vulnerable – but that are still working OK at the option – but then decide that the best option is time. In this case any future failures are entirely for us to supply a new engine – then we will at their risk. only partially charge for our strip down and rebuild for exchange (unless a warranty is in If they follow all our best advice and have place in which case we will adjust up our everything replaced that we recommend, then charge to share the benefits with the customer). we do offer an element of goodwill if – in the This reduces our profit but helps the customer near future – something else goes wrong that and is subject to our discretion at the time and needs fixing again. It is practically impossible depending on all the factors. to work out in advance exactly under what

154 circumstances this would work – or what we into providing a free replacement at the would be able to do to help – but our reputation minimum and even compensation if possible. is excellent and customers would have to rely This in turn makes manufacturers reluctant to upon our discretion and integrity in the say – “OK – sorry we didn’t get that bit of new circumstances at the time – to achieve some technology quite right – so we will offer you a redress. replacement at half price” (or whatever) for fear that some high powered lawyer somewhere will However – if we are trying to help extend the use that admission to win a case to set the life of an engine by trying to avoid future precedent that this proves a manufacturing fault problems by implementing some new solution – and is their whole responsibility – and that customers must accept that we cannot then put a everyone should be compensated thereafter mileage or time limit on the resulting repair or while their image is permanently damaged. So modification, because basically it is not our what can they do to avoid a problem adversely fault that these engines have some weak areas affecting their image? and although we will be doing our best to help solve a customers problem – if the Well it seems that Porsche already do a lot to manufacturers themselves could not make the help. The car is covered for the first couple of engine more reliable in the first place – and years under warranty and then they have could not predict what would go wrong over dispensation to still accept a warranty fault and time and use – then it would be unfair to expect replace an engine FOC or ask for a reasonable us – with our comparatively miniscule resources contribution – if circumstances permit. – to carry the can. Then they offer a warranty (admittedly at The Consequences of a litigious society customer’s cost) that covers engines up to 10 years old and (I think) 120K miles. So far - not Taking on board all of the above – if you want bad at all. to drive a car that out performs most competitors and embodies latest technological It is what happens to customers who didn’t take advances and features and as such invokes such up the warranty and have a car say over 5 years admiration and pride of ownership (and old and have a problem (or over 10 years old whatever else you may describe a Porsche as and 120K and have a problem) that most of the doing for you) AND you want to be able to complaints refer to. afford to buy it in the first place - then you have to accept that there may be some adverse Porsche have a problem with this group because consequences of the manufacturer trying to they may be unlikely to admit a manufacturing design and build to that exacting specification – weakness and only have a limit to the length of especially in the early stages of a new time it is reasonable to expect them to technology and a new product. compensate owners of older third or fourth hand cars for mechanical problems. Yet the publicity The manufacturers are also aware of this risk – may be damaging and owners possibly which they simply cannot avoid – if their whole disillusioned, which is still bad news. product ethos revolves around superior competitive performance. The Influence of the Internet. However – one of the consequences of our modern society is a tendency to try and force All Porsche’s (and other comparable cars in anyone providing a product that has a problem greater or lesser degrees) in the past have had a

155 small number of reliability problems – the old engine) and while this may be right for insufficient to seriously dampen their reputation replacing a nearly new customer engine under but the Internet has enabled a small number of warranty – it is not necessary - nor viable - for complaints to quickly be read by a considerable the owner of an older car. They do not need number of people through the ability of the (nor would expect) new inlet or exhaust Internet to find information by search topic. manifolds, alternators, starter motors, wiring looms, power steering pumps etc all thrown in. This has made a comparatively small number of They just want the main engine problem fixed. failures appear to be affecting almost everyone and can quickly diminish the reputation of It is a well-established practice elsewhere to product and service providers and worry new offer replacement engines without all the and prospective owners unnecessarily. auxiliaries and in “short block” form.

The problem of the cylinder liners failing on My suggestion is for Porsche to offer engines in 996 3.4’s may be typical and may be harming 2 new forms. Porsche’s reputation, however - most engines are presently working just fine and only a few (1) Complete with cylinder heads and are experiencing the problem – so it has been camshafts – but without all the other magnified out of proportion – but – if my auxiliaries. analysis of the causes and consequences is right, (2) As short blocks without even the heads then I suspect that many more engines will and camshafts. eventually fail in the same way – and so the problem may very well get much worse in the And they do not then need the old engine future and hence this lengthy attempt to make returned so saving the rebuild costs. sense of the situation. If they didn’t subsidise the costs – they should A SUGGESTED PRACTICAL SOLUTION still work out at about – at a guess £4K complete with heads and perhaps £2.5K as short When this new generation of water-cooled 6 blocks (or if not – I feel sure that Porsche could cylinder engines came out (Boxsters and 996’s) sell them for those prices without it adversely there seemed to be very few manuals generally affecting their present profitability). available to the independent sector and very little internal engine and gearbox spares If they did subsidise the costs as well without provision for repairs. We were informed that admitting any manufacturing fault – or losing countless parts were simply not available. But any money on the deal - then they could be as time has gone by – more technical priced at perhaps say £3K and £1500. information and a wider range of parts has made rebuilds possible. It may well be that this idea would be less practical if Porsche main agent hourly labour The weak areas seem to be – the cylinder liner rate prices were added to then swap the other cracks – intermediate shaft bearing failures, old parts over from the old damaged block to chain and tensioner failures, big end and main the new one – but owners of cars in the over 5 bearing failure and the RMS. year old (or even over 10 year old) category are quite likely to have the work done in the New engines are available at between £6K and independent network where it could be viable. £10K – but come complete (and have to be fitted – with an expensive surcharge attached to

156 In any case we have had to change parts over when fitting new complete replacement engines THE PROBLEM WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY anyway (and almost always when fitting used replacement engines from crashed cars) and the I have fortunately been intimately involved in older they are the more likely it is that wiring the difficulties in implementing new technology looms etc are particular to the vehicle and by being in charge of a Carbon Fibre research would need changing anyway (and tiptronic or and development facility for three years (put air con cars have differences). together by a manufacturer – in the early 1980’s) to help industry to use the new People generally accept it when (on an older technology. What I discovered immediately was car) a water pump, alternator or starter motor that nothing worked as reliably as the boffins fail and I don’t think they are important to their that were involved in producing the new thinking when an engine fails big style – so material intimated. Their extremely complex, providing those parts new - simply adds to the unfamiliar and challenging formulas for costs unnecessarily. Similarly the inlet calculating how to use it were out by factors manifolds are unlikely to need new replacement often as high as 3 –10 times and applications – etc. failed that they thought would be OK. This led to a lot of initial disillusionment by traditional This solution would standardise the spares “metal engineers” trying to use an unfamiliar specification (gaining benefits of volume and new material to advantage. simplicity while reducing stock inventory) – reduce transport physical sizes and costs and Since my job was to find suitable applications placate all the irate owners – restoring an and develop markets – it was essential that I excellent public image for Porsche and become understood exactly what could and what a marketing triumph – and all at no cost to couldn’t be achieved, what applications were Porsche. suitable for the material, how strong and stiff etc it actually was and what unknown factors Why do we propose such a step – well our there were. analysis of the problem inevitably draws the conclusion that we really do expect many more A good practical example that may interest car existing engines to suffer in these areas enthusiasts (and is actually very relevant to the eventually – so by offering a short block cylinder liner problem) was when Lotus asked Porsche would be replacing all the main parts me to re-design the front wing support tubes for that are known to go wrong prematurely in Ayrton Senna’s car. some engines – all at a stroke. They were using tapered carbon fibre tubes New crankshaft, rods, pistons rings, extending from the central tub and they were no intermediate shaft, main drive chains and where near as stiff as the technical formulas of tensioners, and cylinder bores – would all be the time predicted. The result was that at high provided at one go enabling the damage speed - the wings dropped down toward the limitation by rebuilding the engines in a reliable road surface – which increased the “ground way for renewed long life at reasonable costs. effect” and drag and slowed the top speed down Even if the liner problem has not been resolved whereas when they braked for a corner and by then the new engines should still last for needed the “ground effect” they sprung up over 70K more – and if it has been resolved – again and lost it. It worked the opposite of what even further. they wanted.

157 They wanted a new strut that weighed the same Well we did manage to develop a tube that was but was 10 times stiffer – an incredibly difficult 10 times stiffer and only 10% heavier or 9 times task. stiffer if the same weight (not bad) – only because we had worked out how the material However – our research showed that tubes are worked based on actual tests rather than the least likely structure to be stiff in a academic theory (the result actually being a composite design – and only really have any mixture of square section small tubes and “I” merit if they are needed to be very flexible (like sections inside a round exterior packed out with fishing rods), to have a good coefficient of a lightweight spacer material). restitution (as in gold club shafts) or are made of a homogeneous or monolithic material like Similarly (and again relevant to the cylinder steel. liner failures) there were many applications where heat was involved that did not work out This is basically because whichever direction as stiff as original design calculations the fibres (or granules) are laid in - the tube suggested. I remember asking the “boffins” at exerts loads and forces in all directions and so head office to confirm that carbon fibre worked there is always one direction or another that the the same at elevated temperatures – which they fibres are not working in. Beams in bending are again confirmed absolutely with some irritation stiff if there are some layers put under stress that I would ask such a basic question – yet tests and strain by bending that are put into tension proved otherwise – as temperatures rose (even and compression and by keeping those layers moderately) – so stiffness reduced. apart by using a central stiff spacer. So an “I” beam works because the top and bottom layer is Then we realised the significance of the fibre perhaps 70% of the material and the central being bound in a resin and as the fibres were vertical member keeps them perfectly apart simply like human hair – they were actually forcing bending loads into becoming tensile and only stiff because of the resin surrounding and compressive loads – which the materials are bonding them. So we tested just the resin and best at resisting. this reproduced the same elevated temperature stiffness reduction – and we were able to add A hollow tube in bending – has no central another parameter to our own predictive stiffener to keep the layers being most strained performance charts that varied with temperature apart, and also in addition allows the sides at 90 and resin type. Unbelievably - the “boffins” degrees to that to stretch outwards (making the really had not considered this aspect despite tube section go oval) which then reduces the them manufacturing the very resin bonded distance between the stressed surfaces even carbon fibre material that we were using! more and promotes more bending. We also (Carbon-Carbon as used in brake discs of found that 2 tubes (one fitted inside the other) course eliminates the resin weakness – because were not as stiff as one homogeneous tube of it bonds carbon to carbon without a resin and the same outside dimensions because the does therefore eliminate heat from reducing interface allowed some additional movement effectiveness). under load. So we found that tubes are also not naturally as stiff if they are made up of more We also noticed a new phenomenon (to metal than one monolithic tube outside another one (a engineers) that we called “creep” namely that a Porsche cylinder liner made up of one cast liner composite under load and elevated temperatures inside another will therefore not be as stiff as a will very slowly creep towards a small but monolithic liner of the strongest material). permanent deformation – even though the loads were within the “elastic limit” determined by a

158 one off test. This is also not uncommon with shortcoming and what the limitations were. I plastics. think that the problem with the Lokasil cylinders as fitted to the Porsche 3.4 and 3.6 We never had to work on elevated temperatures engines - may fall into the same category. AND tubes under bending stresses – but our development work would suggest that (1) they It has not been our intention to criticise Porsche would not be very stiff (would easily distort – or Lokasil - indeed we have tried to present a oval) and (2) they may creep under elevated balanced view of things and support their use of temperatures. new materials technology. We also think that they provide comprehensive warranty options to Although the understanding we developed cover typical potential failures. enabled us to accurately predict the results of various designs and situations (almost for the The age and mileage at which a manufacturer first time with any accuracy), the sheer number should still feel a responsibility to subsidise of influential “boffins” – involved at the time, problems (if at all) is not for us to comment made acceptance of our findings unbelievably upon but does not seem unreasonable. We do slow and generated huge mistrust, however, have a responsibility to our customers competitiveness and politics. So - although we who usually have slightly older than new cars could predict within about 5-10% what the and often considerably older and higher outcome would be – the difficulties in mileage. persuading the “materials fraternity” to accept these findings and the difficulties for practical Our intentions in raising discussions about the “metal engineers” to communicate effectively causes and consequences of engine problems with them was huge. are merely to enable us to communicate with our customers about our findings and the Such problems with new technology are not solutions we offer to them – if any of the uncommon. Not everyone can think of or failures affect them or they want to take timely predict all the problems and solutions in preventative measures to protect the future advance. For example - although metal fatigue reliability and longevity of their cars. was understood - I don’t think it was considered when the first jet airliners were pressurised (to fly higher) and that each take off and landing would result in a stress reversal that would eventually cause them to crash through metal fatigue failures (I think to the windows or window rivets of the Comet). Similarly the inner bulkhead design of ships failed by the same lack of application of well-known technology in that application. However once it was understood - the solutions were relatively easy to find.

It was just like when I was in the Carbon fibre composite industry 20 years ago – it wasn’t the technicalities that were the problem but understanding how to apply them (or if they needed to be applied) that was their

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