... in a factory far, far away ...
... there was a sports car manufacturer that would only put flat-6 engines in their hand-built cars; and those cars dominated everywhere, especially on the tracks.
This phenomenon became known as the Porsche Menace.
Eventually other manufacturers tried their hand at competing with them and set out to beat them, and sometimes they did.
This era we now know as the Attack of the Clones.
But Porsche pressed on and even with their smaller engines placed in the most unusual location (behind the rear axle) they kept winning and winning and winning. They won every type of race, including the big 3: The 12 Hours of Sebring, The 24 Hours of Daytona and The 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This was the Revenge of the Six.
(BTW: Do you know why it’s only 12 hours at Sebring but 24 at Daytona and Le Mans? - It’s because there ain’t a racecar or a driver that can last 13 at Sebring!)
And then the company struggled through the 80s and early 90s and almost went broke, but for...
A New Hope.
During this period the water-cooled engines were introduced and cars were now built by C3PO and R2D2 instead of manually as before. The Factory became more efficient and more factories were built.
This was a happy time at Porsche since their cars became very popular and the company became very profitable. They were building larger and larger and more powerful flat-6 engines 2.5L, 2.7L, 2.9L, 3.2L, 3.4L, 3.6L, 3.8L and 4.0L, and then ...
The Empire Strikes Back ...
... and environmental regulations became more and more stringent.
The Republic and the Trade Federation required higher and higher efficiencies and Porsche complied by making their flat-6 engines produce almost no pollution and even made electric and hybrid cars, and that was fine for a while.
Porsche even orchestrated the Return of the Jedi by bringing back the Porsche Family into management with Jedi Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of the Jedi Master himself, Ferdinand Porsche.
But those in the Death Star: Darth Vader and The Emperor specifically, mandated that they should double their miles-per-gallon in the next 10 years!
That basically started the demise of Porsche’s long-lived normally aspirated flat-6.
Porsche decided that The Force was not strong and announced that for the year 2017 all Boxsters and Caymans (with very unique exceptions) would now be equipped with flat-4 engines which were to be turbo charged to offer more Force. Eventually the announcement was also made to include the iconic 911 as well. With the exception of the super-performance models, such as the GT4, Spyder, GT3 and such they will all be powered by turbo charged flat-4s. The Force Awakens!
After all this saga, the only thing I can say now is...
... may the fours be with you!
For more information on "the fours" and more, please visit my website:
www.PedrosGarage.com
Happy Porsche'ing,
Ⓒ2016 Technolab / PedrosGarage.com