Special Issue 2006 Porsche Engineering Magazine Porsche engineering services Porsche has placed its extensive knowledge at the disposal of external cus- tomers from the automotive and other branches of indus- try for more than seventy- five years. Complete vehicles The complete vehicle devel- opment has always been a strength and passion of Porsche Engineering. Excellent design Turning design dreams into reality for customers and for Porsche: such as the 911. Contents Porsche Engineering is a Porsche modular systems; we also take on Whether you require a general Group subsidiary specializing in planning and implementation of automobile developer or specialized contract development services. complete vehicles all the way to system-provider, Porsche When contracted to support car series production. What makes our Engineering can bring you the best manufacturers or original equip- offerings unique is our proven of both worlds. ment suppliers, we offer design and expertise as a volume vehicle development services, from in- manufacturer. dividual components to complex Editorial Page 4 Complete Chassis Testing Engine Vehicle Insights Decades of engine power Seventy-five years Page 19 of Porsche engineering services System Porsche From theory to Page 5 Page 13 confirmation Page 16 Complete vehicle competence at Porsche Page 10 Contents The entire knowledge base of If you would like to know more Porsche Engineering converges in about Porsche Engineering, please Weissach, Germany. Yet it is avail- send an e-mail requesting our able globally. Which also means: image brochure to the following Special directly on-site with you. Wherever address: our competence is required, it’s [email protected] Page 33 Milestones in Customer always Porsche. Development from 1931 – 2006 Electrics & Industrial Body and Production Styling Drivetrain Electronics Engineering Safety Engineering Unconventional ways Expertise from auto- for body concepts motive development Page 30 for other branches of Hardware, soft- industry The shape of ware and system Page 26 the future development Page 22 from one source Accelerated power From designing Page 24 of innovation to the start of Page 28 production Page 32 Editorial Dear Readers, The secret to the success of the managed centrally by the Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG is based Engineering Group GmbH (PEG), on decades of experience that founded in 2001 and based in extends far beyond the develop- Weissach. Thanks to the mature ment of sports cars. Seventy-five development network of Porsche, years ago, Ferdinand Porsche PEG can call on the services of started his own independent engi- other subsidiaries within the group. neering office in Stuttgart, which Where necessary, the resources of The story of Porsche Engineering’s success is based on decades of develop- ment experience in the automotive sector. Porsche has the reputation of being Company founder Ferdinand Porsche with his son Ferry at the drawing board with a one of the world’s most versatile providers construction drawing of the Volkswagen Porsche Type 60. of engineering services since 1931. was to become a cradle of automo- the Porsche Research and phase to series production, with the bile technology. He used customer Development Center in Weissach customer continuing to receive cus- orders to develop vehicles such as are available for customer develop- tomized solutions for his project. the Auto Union racing car and the ment work. By networking all its VW Beetle and made the name of locations and having a close Porsche a synonym of technical exchange of information between We wish you an enjoyable read. excellence. Porsche has continued its engineers, Porsche Engineering the tradition established by com- offers interface competence and The Editorial Team pany founder Ferdinand Porsche in across-the-board thinking for the 1931 up to the present day, and smooth and productive manage- does not only develop sports cars, ment of customer projects. but also implements technical projects for customers around the The area of contract development globe. services gives Porsche a unique position in the automobile sector. Developing on behalf of car manu- No other independent car manufac- facturers, suppliers, and other turer makes its know-how and test industrial companies from around facilities available to external in- the world has always been an inte- dustrial customers. Porsche gral part of the services provided Engineering also supports its con- by the Porsche AG. All contract tractors during the entire product development projects worldwide are creation process, from the concept 4 Porsche Engineering Magazine Special Issue 2006 From back then until today Insights Seventy-five years of Porsche engineering services Long before sports cars bearing The young Ferdinand Porsche had the Porsche name caused a sensa- already been occupied with con- tion among car enthusiasts on structing cars at the turn of the roads and race tracks around the century. On behalf of the Lohner world, the name of Porsche was Coach Factory in Vienna, a purvey- already synonymous in specialist or to the Austrian Royal Family, he circles with innovation and technolo- built cars with a combination of gical competence. When Ferdinand gasoline and electric drive – the Porsche dared to go independent first hybrid cars in the world. This on April 25, 1931 with “Dr. Ing h.c. was followed by pioneering activi- F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktion und ties such as the all-wheel drive and Beratung für Motoren- und Fahr- the four-wheel brake, which he zeugbau” (“Dr. Ing h.c. F. Porsche introduced as innovations into the GmbH, Construction and Consulting world of automobile production. Company for Engine and Vehicle This technical prowess did not go Ferdinand Porsche founded the construction office in the Kronenstraße 24 in Stuttgart in Production”), he had already many undiscovered: In 1906, Ferdinand 1935. years of experience as an automo- Porsche was appointed Technical tive engineer. Director of Austro-Daimler, making Porsche has a long tradition of providing development services for other companies around the world. Regardless of whether these developments concern cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, shipping technology, or agricultural machines. him responsible at the age of just 31 for the entire model range at one of Europe’s largest car makers. Following the victorious launch of his “Prinz Heinrich Car” at the race named after the prince in 1910, Porsche developed the “Sascha”, a lightweight compact car that made its international debut at the Targa Florio in 1922. Just one year later the by now well-known auto- motive engineer joined the Daimler- Motoren-Gesellschaft in Stuttgart. There it was above all the super- Door plate of the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH in 1931. charged sports and racing cars Porsche Engineering Magazine Special Issue 2006 5 Insights From back then until today development of a sixteen-cylinder racing car for the new 750 kg rac- ing formula. The first test drives of the P racing car (the “P” stands for Porsche) were conducted as early as January 1934, and the new car wrote automobile history with its numerous racing victories and speed records. When Ferdinand Porsche began designing an inexpensive compact car on behalf of NSU in 1933, this The Wanderer, the first contract development of Porsche (Type 7). was already the seventh compact car he had constructed in the that continued to strengthen his twelve people was enormous, even course of his career. With the air- reputation as a truly outstanding by today’s standards. In its first cooled four-cylinder horizontally automotive engineer. Ferdinand year the engineering office devel- opposed engine in the rear and the Porsche left the Daimler-Benz AG oped a new midrange sedan and Porsche torsion bar suspension in 1929 and decided to crown his an eight-cylinder engine for the on the rear axle, the prototypes career by establishing his own engi- German car maker Wanderer. These already showed clear leanings neering office in December of projects were followed by a com- towards the later Volkswagen 1930. pact car on behalf of Zündapp, Beetle. In June 1934, Porsche offi- which paved the way for the later cially received the order from the The pace of work initially endured Volkswagen Beetle. Auto Union “Reich Association of the German by Ferdinand Porsche’s team of commissioned the construction and Automobile Industry” to design and build the Volkswagen or “People’s Car”. The first prototypes were assembled in the garage of Porsche’s private villa in the north of Stuttgart in 1935. The decision to build a special Volkswagen plant was born in 1936, and Ferdinand Porsche was given the assignment to plan this new production facility. The Type 64 with its aerodynamic alloy body was created in 1938/39 for the long-distance race from Berlin to Rome. Although the start The Porsche Type 64 is considered the ancestor of all Porsche sports cars. of the war prevented the Type 64 6 Porsche Engineering Magazine Special Issue 2006 From back then until today Insights drive. The Porsche Engineering Office was also requested by the Armament Authority of the German Army to develop tanks, but these saw limited regular use in the war, due to technical problems and material bottlenecks. Following the war, the Porsche Engineering Office, which had moved to the Austrian town of Mercedes-Benz record-breaking racing car T 80 in 1939. Gmünd in Carinthia in 1944, com- peted again for new orders from from being used in motor racing, the elegantly designed coupé is the ancestor of all Porsche sports cars created since 1948. Alongside the extensive Volkswagen project, the Porsche Engineering Office, based in Stuttgart’s district Zuffenhausen since 1938, had been working on numerous other develop- ment orders. The Type 80 was a high-speed record-breaking car pro- duced for the Daimler-Benz AG. The Type 110 compact tractor for farm use set the foundation for the sub- sequent “People’s Tractor” and the Porsche Type 60 (V3) at the exit of the Porsche-Villa in Stuttgart-Feuerbach around 1936.