INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE PORSCHE 959

1.  The 959 has 6 forward gears, but top gear is labeled as 5th, the 
    actual 5th gear labeled as 4th, and so on. The reason for this is, 
    in the mid eighties road noise tests involved driving away from a 
    microphone in 1st gear at full throttle.  The 959 was too loud and 
    would have failed these tests, so Porsche just "cheated" and 
    renamed the gears.  1st gear was renamed G for "gelande" (cross-
    country, or off-road), and the actual 2nd gear was renamed 1st.  
    As a result, the 959 was noise tested in what was actually 2nd 
    gear, and therefore passed.

2.  Porsche lost money on every 959 they sold.  Each car was sold for 
    the equivalent of about $227,000, but cost nearly twice as much to 
    build.

3.  Despite the many top speed quotes of 194 and 198 mph, the Porsche 
    959 actually tops out at 205 mph.  Every 959 was officially road- 
    tested by Porsche at over 200 mph.

4.  The production run for the 959 lasted from 1986 until the early 
    90's, but 2 additional cars were built in 1996.

5.  Thirty U.S. versions of the 959 were built, but none can be legally 
    driven in the United States.  Porsche would not supply the cars to 
    be crash tested, so almost all ended up back in Europe.  Any 959 
    seen on the streets of America is probably a 911 based kit car.

6.  Because the 959 is mechanically different, and much more advanced 
    than the 911, one would think it has a different interior, but it 
    doesn't.  The 959's interior is identical to the 911s of the time,  
    with only a few minor changes.

7.  Because of its highly advanced 4-wheel-drive, the Porsche 959 can 
    handle supernaturally well at high speeds on slick surfaces.  
    In the November 1998 issue of "911 & Porsche World", a 959 was 
    ran at 180 mph in a relentless downpour with a stiff crosswind.  
    The author claimed, "not a white knuckle in sight".

8.  The 959 had an ironic racing career.  The car was originally 
    planned to compete on the race track in the Group B category, but 
    the only racing this car ever saw was in the off-road Paris-Dakar 
    Rally races (which in most, they were highly successful).  A 
    derivative of the 959, called the 961, was the closest the 959 
    came to professionally racing on the track.

9.  There are what look like fuel-fill flaps on each side of the 959 
    behind the doors, but they aren't for fuel.  These are for filling 
    the hydraulic fluid and engine oil.  You fill the 959 with gas from 
    a flap located on the hood.

10. Amazingly, the Porsche 959 has absolutely zero lift at any speed, 
    due to the intricately engineered aerodynamics.


   