The Porsche 993 was the last 911 to be cooled by air
Through four generations, every Porsche 911 used an engine cooled by air rather than water. The 993, built from 1994 to 1998, was the final one. It also tamed the old 911's most notorious habit, the tail snapping sideways when a driver lifted off the throttle mid-corner.
Porsche described the fourth-generation 911 as a big step both technically and visually, claiming only about a fifth of its parts carried over from the 964 it replaced. English designer Tony Hatter kept the familiar cabin and body shell but reshaped the panels, with more flared wheel arches, smoother bumpers, a larger retracting rear wing and teardrop-shaped mirrors.
The most important change was hidden underneath. A new light-alloy rear subframe carried a multi-link suspension, nicknamed the Weissach axle and derived from a four-door saloon project that never reached production. It made steering more direct and stable and largely cured the lift-off oversteer that caught out drivers of earlier 911s, while also cutting cabin noise and improving the ride. A system called VarioRam boosted mid-range power by about 15 per cent, and the 993 was the first 911 with a six-speed manual as standard.
The four-wheel-drive Carrera 4 swapped the older car's centre differential for a lighter viscous coupling borrowed from the 959 flagship, sending between 5 and 50 per cent of power to the front. On a dry circuit the rear-drive car was still quicker, but the four-wheel-drive version was reassuring in rain or snow.
The Targa, introduced for 1996, brought a glass roof that slid beneath the rear window, a design kept on later generations, though it was prone to cabin heat, creaks and a temperamental mechanism. A twin-turbo model arrived in 1995, and a 993 GT2 served as the Formula One safety car that season.
Source: Porsche 911 (993)
