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Classic : The magic tuft | STERN.de

Classic : The magic tuft |  STERN.de

His rump is almost as well-known as Donald Duck’s, and he’s a whole lot faster – and more dangerous – without the waddling gait. The Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 is one of the most sought-after sports cars in the world. After a trip through the Black Forest, you just keep dreaming. Although – or precisely because – the ducktail is already half a century old.

One of the advertisements for the Porsche 911 RS 2.7 would call the strict guardians of morals into action today. This super sports car from the early 1970s was supposed to have been built for just 500 men, and in fact hardly any significant number of women got behind the wheel of the purist sports car from Zuffenhausen at the time of the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 or the World Cup two years later to have. The 500 vehicles originally planned for Group 4 homologation turned into a few more than 1,300. Although these are not priceless today, they are well on the way there, because a well-preserved 911 Carrera RS 2.7 can cost more than a million euros. The big auction houses RM Sothebys, Bonhams or Goodings rub their hands when one of the legendary street athletes finds a new owner at their events.

A total of 1,580 vehicles were built in the 1970s, because the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 was homologated for Group 3 from the 1,000th vehicle onwards. Porsche is building 200 vehicles in the lightweight Sport version with the optional equipment package M 471. In the pure racing version, 55 units are being built, 17 as the basic vehicle and 1,308 vehicles in the touring version. This touring with the internal designation M 472 drives less snappy and more relaxed, without being a touch unsportsmanlike. In contrast, the sports version with the M 471 equipment package is more spartan, because the white beau lacks rear seats, carpets, a clock and armrests, among other things. Two light seat shells without headrests replace the more comfortable sports chairs at the customer’s request. Even the panes are made of lightweight thin glass and the Porsche crest is initially glued to the front hood.

This is noticeable on the scales, because compared to the 472 Touring equipment package, the 471 Sport weighs an impressive 115 kilograms less and thus has a curb weight of 960 kilograms. Its base price: 34,000 German marks. The sports package costs 700 deutschmarks and the touring package costs an extra 2,500 deutschmarks. As a pure racing car, Porsche also developed the 911 Carrera RSR with the internal designation M 491, which among other things has a larger cubic capacity and, in contrast to the more tame versions, was uncompromisingly designed for use in motor sports.

The Porsche 911 RS 2.7 is easily recognizable thanks to its two spoilers at the front and especially at the rear. The ducktail is not really pretty compared to the otherwise gently tapered 911 boot lid, but it is practical, because it brought the necessary downforce to the extremely easy-to-drive rear end – form follows function, as it has been called for a few years and was already implemented back then. “The 911 Carrera RS 2.7 was intended as a homologation vehicle. It was supposed to be a very light, fast sports vehicle,” remembers Peter Falk, then head of testing for series vehicles at Porsche. The characterful ducktail at the rear was developed by the engineers Hermann Burst and Tilman Brodbeck, who together with the stylist Rolf Wiener created the unusual rear spoiler in order to test it in the wind tunnel and on test tracks in the months that followed. The newly created ducktail not only presses the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 better onto the road when driving faster, but also supplies the rear engine with additional cooling air. This effect is achieved without increasing air resistance and the top speed increases by more than four km/h to almost 250 km/h.

The heart of the Porsche 911 RS 2.7 is the 2.7 liter six-cylinder boxer engine, which saws through so impressively even when stationary that you can hardly wait to see the 154 kW / 210 hp on country roads and motorways spur the early 1970s years to give. The boxer hangs stately on the gas, even if the right bite is missing around the bottom. From the middle speed range, however, things look completely different and the white racer winds its way up the winding country roads towards the Black Forest with a stable rear end and perfect five-speed manual transmission. At just over 5,000 rpm, the maximum torque of more than an impressive 255 Nm at the time is available – a show at the time – 50 years later, at least on paper, it is no longer even mediocre. In reality, driving the RS is a spectacular dream.

The racing engine developed by Hans Mezger and Valentin Schäffer had a displacement increase of 0.3 liters to 2.7 liters, which was also made possible by a thin Nikasil coating on the cylinders. In order to maintain suitability for everyday use, the compression, valve timing and valve diameter remained identical to the established 2.4-liter unit. If desired, it can go from a standing start to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds and the puristic rear-wheel drive vehicle can reach almost 250 km/h on the motorway. The somewhat tamer touring version is hardly any slower at a top speed of 240 km/h.

More impressive than ever today is the great drivability in everyday life and the way the Porsche 911 RS 2.7 delivers its performance even when accelerating quickly. This is ensured not only by the right tuning of springs and dampers, but also by the mixed tires on the front and rear axles. “We wanted to improve traction and handling with wide tires on the rear axle, because the weight is heaviest on the rear axle,” remembers Peter Falk. Back then, for the first time, a production vehicle from Porsche was fitted with different tire sizes on the front and rear axles. Fuchs forged wheels 6 J x 15 with 185/70 VR 15 tires are at the front, 7 J x 15 with 215/60 VR 15 tires at the rear. That too has remained to this day – like the legend of the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7.

Source: Stern

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