C o m p l e t e  9 6 4

Floor Plan

Given that the 911 body shell and floor plan design had essentially been maintained for the better part of a quarter of a century, serious re-engineering of the platform would be required in order to accomodate an all new four wheel drive mechanism.

As a result, the 964 was essentially 87% new when compared to its predecessor, the Carrera 3.2. This was hard to believe given that the 964 shared the same familiar shape as the 3.2, and general body changes were minimal.

However, as was so often the case with Porsche, the changes were not obvious to the eye, but instead lurked beneath the metal work.

As with previous 911's, the chassis base structure (and the body shell) was made of hot zinc-dipped steel. The effect of this was that the sheet metal maintained a considerably longer lifespan when compared to untreated steel. Of course, if the zinc coating was broken, the steel would rust readily, and hence it should be remembered that you can still find rust on 964's.

The front luggage compartment was redesigned to accomodate the new Carrera 4's drive train and differential. In line with this, the fuel tank was required to be reduced from 85 litres to 77 litres. The air conditioning unit was also moved forward, into the luggage compartment, where before it was located in the passengers foot well. This resulted in increased space for the front passenger.

Aerodynamically, the underside of the 964 was enclosed with floor pans running the entire length of the chassis from the front bumper all the way to the back of the automobile. Air flow was as a result controlled through the automobile, even to the extent of directing engine cooling air in from an air duct in the floor pan horizontally and out the rear of the automobile (compared with air being forced in vertically in the 3.2). This has been said to reduce rear lift in the 964.

It has however been found that the pan covering the engine compartment has in the past not allowed sufficient cooling to the engine bay, thus resulting in excessive wear to the engine (in simple terms). As such the most common modification done to 964's today is to remove the rear engine pan (a simple process of unbolting the pan). Overall aerodynamic impact has been shown to be minimal.

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Rear engine pan with air duct whilst providing aerodynamics, can be removed for better engine cooling with little effect on aerodynamics.

Front luggage compartment revised to accomodate four wheel drive transmission.