Gallery: Photos: Revel in the Evolution of Porsche's Iconic Turbo
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With the 917/10 Turbo Spyder, Porsche brought turbochargers to motorsports.
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This cutaway shows the engine in the Typ 917/51, which delivered 1,000 horsepower and 730 pound-feet of torque from five liters. That gave driver Leo Kinnunen the Interseries championship in both 1972 and 1973.
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To prove the power of the turbo, Porsche decided to use the 917-30 to set a world speed record on a closed course. Driver Mark Donohue did just that in 1975, hitting 221.12 miles per hour at Talladega---that's one mile every 16.2 seconds.
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In May 1974, drivers Manfred Schurti and Helmuth Koinigg took the Porsche Carrera RSR Turbo to the 1,000 kilometers of Nürburgring, finishing seventh.
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Getting into certain racing series meant building production versions of the cars destined for the track, so Porsche built the Typ 930/50. This coupe was shown at the Frankfurt and Paris motor shows, with a mocked up engine using painted pieces of wood to represent the production turbocharger.
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Used in Porsche's 934 race car, this three-liter 930/25 engine produced a whopping 485 horsepower when revved to 7,000 rpm.
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Aerodynamic studies and time in the wind tunnel were crucial to Porsche's racing efforts. Here, the motorsports division prepares for the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans, testing a long nose and a low air box.
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That obsession with aerodynamics even led Porsche to experiment with capped wheels, in the late 70s. The folks on the engineering side argued against it, noting the added difficulty of changing the tires.
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By October 1979, the aero team had reduced the coefficient of drag on the Le Mans 924 car to an air slicing .35. Three of these cars raced, with British, American, and German drivers at the wheel.
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For the 1987 running of Le Mans, Porsche built this engine, a three-liter unit that produced 640 horsepower and 456 pound-feet of torque. That was enough to send the 961 racecar up to 207 mph.
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The 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo was powered by a four-cylinder, 2.5-liter engine that pushed out more than 200 horsepower. Customers could take one home for $23,480.
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In January 2000, Porsche introduced the $123,800 Typ 996 Turbo. "The bad news about the new Porsche 911 Turbo," *Car and Driver* [wrote](http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2001-porsche-911-turbo-first-drive-review), "is that its owners are probably going to get a lot of speeding tickets."
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These days, Porsche uses turbos for uses that have nothing to do with racing, like powering the Macan baby SUV.
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And while the automaker today makes more SUVs than racecars, it's still a force on the track. At last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche's turbocharged 919 took first, breaking Audi's five-year winning streak.
