C o m p l e t e  9 6 4

Body

It was determined that the general shape of the new 964 would retain the "essential character" of the 911, obtaining near zero lift in the front and rear without the aid of the whale tail or other additions that would break the classic lines of the 911 (the whale tail, whilst performing its function extremely well, was largely criticised in it's time for its excessively obvious lines). This was essentially obtained via the use of a fully covered floor pan, and an electrically operated rear wing that would raise automatically at speeds above 80km/h, lowering again only when speeds fell below 15 km/h.

The most significant changes to the 964's exterior were the replacement of the previous front and rear impact bumpers with single piece bumpers manufactured of deformable, moulded thermoplastic material (technically referred to as Bexloy APV 573).

At the same time, the old black rubber strips that lined the side of the body attaching the front and rear wheel arches was replaced by a two piece side skirt that was bolted on to the body shell. Given a move away from the torsion bar suspension system, the torsion bar holes just in front of the rear wheel arches were thus made obsolete.

Additionally, the rear tail lights were re-designed into a single colour (red) light with an angled profile (moving outwards toward the base). This was purely an aesthetics issue as the lights are not claimed to improve aerodynamics in any way. Also during the life of the 964, the side mirrors were changed from the square design carried over from the previous Carrera 3.2 to "teardrop" designs in 1992.

The sun roof front wind blocker was also enlarged on the 964 to provide better protection from wind intrusion when the sun roof was left open at high speed (unfortunately, wind noise still remained a significant problem!).

Other details aimed at improving the aerodynamics and functionality of the body included the following-

• The gap between the roofline and the rear window were reduced (the "air vents" at the rear of the roof in the 3.2 were essentially removed- these air vents provided an escape route for cabin air. Air exit points were as a result moved to underneath the wheel arches).

• The front wind shield was glued into a rubber seal with a significantly reduced profile.

• The side windows were less recessed.

• The drip rails were reduced in size where they came close to the wind shield.

• The front oil cooler and air conditioner condenser were place in either wheel arch in front of the front wheel at an angle that benefited increased air flow via newly placed ducts under the chassis near the front bumper.

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The electric rear wing with automatic raising and lowering allows the 964 to retain the classic 911 lines whilst still maintaining required aerodynamics.

Rear roof lowered closer to rear window.

Rear tail light details 

Rear wiper mount point changed from external mount on rear engine cover to mount through rear windscreen.

New tear drop design mirrors introduced in 1992.