Original Twin Porsche 914...

[toraider]

The original twin in my lifetime was the VW/Porsche 914.

After searching I have not seen any comparisons and would be interested in hearing from those that have had a chance to drive both.

I would like to hear how a well prepped 914 would fair against a stock 86 Twin at the track.

[strat61caster]

@justatroll has both iirc

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

@justatroll has both iirc

I do believe you are correct. Also seem to recall that the 914 is a fully done over track only car. Haven't seen him in months though.

I know what will summon him!

Light weight pullies are the best mod you can do.

There, he should be here any time now.

[Sapphireho]

Hard to compare cars built decades apart. I had a 914 and stock it was pretty slow, much slower than a twin, but a total chick magnet back in the day. I did the usual upgrades: duel carbs, cam, 911 front end. It went pretty well, but still not fast. In the 80's guys in the PCA were buying them like crazy to make track cars and putting large 6 cylinder engines in them. I helped one guy shoehorn a 3.6L in one. It was crazy fast.

I found a pick of my 914. It was dying from rust.

[WolfpackS2k]

Not many people know this, but Porsche built two 914s with flat 8 race engines stuffed into them. One for Piech, the other..not sure. Panorama magazine did a feature on it last year. 8000+ rpm redline, 300+ hp. Pretty insane stuff, lol.

[venturaII]

I drive a fairly stock 914 occasionally (mildly warmed over motor). Apples and oranges. Not saying one is better than the other, just that they feel like (and ARE) totally different vehicles with absolutely nothing in common from a design POV, other than having a 2 liter flat 4.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by venturaII

I drive a fairly stock 914 occasionally (mildly warmed over motor). Apples and oranges. Not saying one is better than the other, just that they feel like (and ARE) totally different vehicles with absolutely nothing in common from a design POV, other than having a 2 liter flat 4.

Just like when people walk by when I have the garage open and ask me which is faster, my old 911 or the twin. I say I don't really know, the cars are so much different and are each driven very differently. Non car people don't understand.

[Ben_G]

Originally Posted by venturaII

I drive a fairly stock 914 occasionally (mildly warmed over motor). Apples and oranges. Not saying one is better than the other, just that they feel like (and ARE) totally different vehicles with absolutely nothing in common from a design POV, other than having a 2 liter flat 4.

Huh, are you comparing the 914 to the BRZ/FRS? I thought the OP was talking about the Porsche 914 vs VW 914....

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Ben_G

Huh, are you comparing the 914 to the BRZ/FRS? I thought the OP was talking about the Porsche 914 vs VW 914....

I prefer the studebaker 914.

Someone is trying to make a funny, or doesn't know the cars.

There was the 914 4 cylinder which was marketed as the VW/Porsche 914 everywhere but the US. In the US it was just the Porsche 914.

There was the Porsche 914-6. Very few were made.

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

There was the 914 4 cylinder which was marketed as the VW/Porsche 914 everywhere but the US. In the US it was just the Porsche 914.

Sadly, the 914 was never allowed to wear the Porsche badge. All 914s you see with the Porsche crest on the hood were added by the owner.

[chaoskaze]

Good lesson of the day here..... for sharing ur amazing knowledge/experience here.

[Sapphireho]

Maybe OP was initially pointing out how, like our cars, the 914 was a joint effort between two car companies. It was a joint effort between gigantic VW and little family owned (at the time) Porsche. Although they did not produce two different looking cars, just one. The 914 was initially intended to replace the Karman Gia as the VW sport model. When released in Europe, people didn't see it as a better VW, but as a lesser Porsche and sales were very weak. That is why they decided to take the "VW Porsche" emblems off for the image conscious US market and sell them just as an entry level Porsche. The 914-4, as stated above did not have a Porsche crest, and also had the key start on the right of the steering column.

Porsche did make the 914-6. Is was 100% Porsche built. It did have a crest on the hood and had the Porsche trademark key start on the left dash. They only made about 3k of them.

Porsche did toy with the idea of building the 916. It was basically a box flared 914. I think they built like 3 prototypes. The idea was canned because:

1. They needed successful sales in the US. The US market really doesn't want true sports cars, but luxury cars that go fast. It needed a/c to sell in the US. To add a/c ment moving the fire wall so no one over about 5' 6" could fit.

2. It would cost about the same as a 911 but looked too much like it's cheaper 914 cousin.

This concludes the Porsche 914 history lesson of the day.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Porsche did toy with the idea of building the 916. It was basically a box flared 914. I think they built like 3 prototypes. The idea was canned because:

1. They needed successful sales in the US. The US market really doesn't want true sports cars, but luxury cars that go fast. It needed a/c to sell in the US. To add a/c ment moving the fire wall so no one over about 5' 6" could fit.

Supplemental material:
Porsche and VW had a handshake agreement on a rather favorable manufacturing cost for the 914, however the president of VW Heinz Nordhoff kicked the bucket and his replacement did not honor the verbal contract causing the cost to skyrocket (maybe VW was going to eat engineering or tooling cost or something? idk).

If the 914 had made it to market under original pricing at significantly less than a 911 (instead of only a few hundred bucks less than a 911T) it may have been a success. If it had been a success a 914-6/916 full production run would have likely followed and the chassis may have evolved to replace the 911 as Porsche's primary vehicle, a true mid-engined sports car, leaving the 911 to be the grand tourer car it was meant to be (that is if the 928 didn't fulfill that role and obsolete the 911 entirely).

But the failure of the 914 meant we had to wait 20 years for Porsche to attempt a mid-engined sports car again. But oh how life could have been different, an evolution of the intention of the 914 could be a V8 Mustang priced, mid-engined, flat four powered corner carver. But alas, Porsche was banished to the luxury market. Instead we got Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan doing their best to slay the Germans on a budget, so life didn't turn out too bad.

[WolfpackS2k]

So in summary, like a lot of other things in life, we should blame Volkswagen?