ANDIAL FAQ ~ Question 1

Question #1 ~ I want more power and I’ve seen ads that promise 400, 500 and 600+ horsepower. I am a member of a Porsche club and intend to take my car on the track for some club events therefore I want the most power available i.e. 600+ horsepower. I intend to use the car 80% on the street and 20% on the track. Can you build me an engine?

Performance and horsepower. This is probably the most misunderstood and misrepresented measurement of performance that exists. Logic would seem to dictate that if power equals performance, and horsepower equals power, then horsepower equals performance. WRONG! Horsepower by itself does not necessarily translate to performance.

Making horsepower, especially with turbocharging, has never really been an issue. The 1975, 935 generated 590 HP at 7,900 rpm out of 2.9 Liter displacement. This was twenty years ago!

Could a car like this be driven on the street? Not a chance, this engine had a power band of probably 1,500 rpm and would generate very little horsepower below 4,000 rpm.

Remember, an engines power curve is not linear; 450 HP at 6,000 rpm does not translate to 225 HP AT 3,000.

It seems obvious that a street application using a race motor would be totally inappropriate, however; this is essentially what many "engine tuners" are selling. They build a motor, mount on a huge turbocharger (see question #3), crank up the boost, run it on 104 octane race gas and yes, you can achieve a flash dyno reading of 500 HP at 6,500 rpm. This should be your first clue. When you hear a statement of this nature...RUN!

What needs to come into play here is some common sense. Think about it, the 1998 Porsche Factory 911 GT2 race car, with 3.6 Liter displacement, twin turbochargers, and twenty-five years of racing research and development with turbocharging behind it, generates 485 bhp. Could it be that the factory should have had their cars built by some of the aftermarket tuners? You would think they could save millions in research and development.

The reason the factory invests the amount they do is simple...they need to win races. And to win races, you need to be able to perform, and you need to finish! The factory is after the same thing that you are; consistent reliable performance. The factory understands the relationship between performance and horsepower. Horsepower by itself is not the relevant measure.

The Porsche owner needs to know the right questions to ask. Don’t ask about horsepower ratings; ask what modifications will provide the performance to match your requirements. Define what you hope to accomplish!

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