While we’re generally game to drive anything we get the keys to, certain cars give us reason to think twice before pulling out of the driveway. One of these is the original Porsche 911 Turbo, dubbed the Porsche 930 in production trim.
While the 930’s 330 horsepower may seem modest by contemporary standards, the car was notoriously unforgiving when pressed anywhere near its limits. In a corner, getting on the power too abruptly produces sudden oversteer; conversely, getting off the power too quickly produces the same thing.
Driving a 930 fast, then, requires a great deal of skill and practice. That’s why we can’t even imagine how challenging it would be to drive the race version of the Porsche 930, called the 935, at speed.
After winning at LeMans in 1979, the Porsche 935’s reputation grew. By 1984, the 935 was winning some 150 races annually, and we tip our hats to the drivers who were able to push these cars to their (astonishingly high) limits.
In race trim, at one bar of boost, the 935’s 3.2-liter flat-six produces some 600 horsepower, but that can be increased to roughly 760 horsepower in qualifying trim. In the words of Porsche’s Silverstone Chief Driving Consultant, Gordon Robertson, “Ask for power in a lump, and you’ll get it in a lump.”
Saying that the car at first “feels brutal in every way,” Robertson downplays that by admitting, “get the car moving, and it’s anything but.” While we seriously doubt we’ll get the opportunity to drive a 935, we’d proceed with caution if we did. We’re fairly certain the line between manageable and brutal is a thin one indeed.