The cams are driven at 1/2 crankshaft speed.. That is accomplished via the IMS.
The surface speeds of lots of timing chains are being elevated.. Flaws take a while to note, the new engine was also subject to Porsche Accounting, just like the M96. |
The design for the IMS may have been fine if they had figured how keep the bearing lubricated without drying out and sizing. Maybe something like a American V8 main bearing....you keep oil moving through it to keep it lubricated.
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I don't understand why there was even a reason to produce a different engine for the "lesser Porsches" I mean, it's not like they needed two flat 6 engines in their line-up. Why not continue the tradition of using the same basic engine in all of their cars with tweaks here and there to fit the specific need. Every other manufacture does it. They have a few engines that share the same architecture, and they modify them to suit the specific application. GM did it on a HUGE scale with the LS engine. I mean the same basic engine found in a common work truck, shares much of it's design with the LS7. They even made a FWD version. If Porsche was going to produce the "GT1" engine for the Turbos, GT3's etc... why not just use the same engine for everything? Even if they are a little more expensive to produce (which I doubt) how much did it cost to start from scratch and produce the M96? It just seems to me like they held onto the M96 for about 5 years too long. I mean, in it's entire production, was it EVER a big hit? I would say the opposite. I do not consider myself a "Porsche Guy" (although I know a little about the brand)so my perspective comes from other import manufacturers, and even in circles of people who don't know the difference between a 986, 968, 996, or 997, the Boxsters (first to receive the engines) have a bad reputation for engines that self-destruct in significant ways. If I were Porsche, I would be embarrassed by the M96 and would have done something about it ASAP, not drug it out for 14 years. That's just my $0.02 though. |
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Also, can anyone tell me why there was a need to drive the cams from opposite ends of the engine? Again, it seems unnecessarily overcomplicated. |
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Practical application and time will illustrate the weaknesses of the "IMS-less" engines, as with every engine throughout time. What people generally don't understand is the "lay shaft" as an intermediate drive for the valve train has been in place since the mid 1950s with Porsche engines. This is depicted here in this image of a 1955 Porsche Spyder engine I was working with a few years ago.. That shaft below the crank is the lay shaft, it transmitted mechanical energy through bevel gears and shafts up to the exhaust camshafts, that then drove another shaft and bevel gears to drive the intake cam, just like an M96, the only difference is chains Vs. bevel gears. http://www.rdtlabs.com/Pictures/4cam...pics%20307.jpg Notice the plain bearings, not a roller bearing like the M96. http://www.rdtlabs.com/Pictures/4cam...pics%20303.jpg Shaft that is driven by bevel gears, driving exhaust camshafts http://www.rdtlabs.com/Pictures/4cam...pics%20112.jpg Exhaust cam and bevel gear to drive intake cam http://www.rdtlabs.com/Pictures/4cam...pics%20115.jpg http://www.rdtlabs.com/Pictures/4cam...pics%20272.jpg The moral of the story is the fact that Porsche used an IMS style design since 1955 when this engine was produced, the IMS was NOT a new design for the M96, but the roller bearing support Vs. plain bearing support was. The IMS isn't the reason for engine failures. We'll see just how wise removing the IMS was in time.. We are already beginning internal development on the "new" engines. |
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When I first saw the proposed "new engine" I knew it was going to be hell on timing chains.. From the reports that I hear within some dealer networks I am part of failed timing chains are occurring. |
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The reason why the cams are driven from the opposite end of the engine via the intermediate shaft is because Porsche can use the same cylinder head on opposite banks of the engine. If they used the same end to drive the cams, then a "mirror image" second cylinder head design would have to be employed. Another cost cutting excercise..... Jakes pictures of the twin cam bevel drive engine is very illuminating - it would have taken a Porsche master tech quite a few hours to select, assemble and shim the componants to spec - something that Porsche wanted to get away from when adding up the assembly hours to produce a financially viable car. Beautiful engine design though - I hate to think what it would cost to manufacture today though :eek: |
Here is the front of the EZ30R engine with the chain cover removed, and from what I've read, timing chain failure has not been a problem up to and beyond 100K miles. Jake, I've never seen the 9A1, is it similar in design?
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x47/kcpaz/EZ30R.jpg |
A million is a big number.
Why did Porsche develop a mass market engine in addition to the older high end design they still use on some cars?
Because they had to achieve a profit or go out of business. Volume and low manufacturing cost lead to profit. Long production runs with the same basic design allow development costs to be amortized over many more units. Same reason the '97 Boxster used the 996's front endparts. You can hand build a limited number of engines in cars that sell for $100k but not for one that you sell in volume for as low as $40k or even one that sells for $70k. |
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I can't imagine it was a cheap process to design, test, redesign, tool, and manufacture a completely new engine... especially when you consider the cost of revisions (although I'm sure they didn't anticipate the enormous failures of the early motors). I understand parts bin construction, and actually, I think that theory would prove what I'm saying. How would it be more cost effective to have two different engines to manufacture and two different engine assembly systems? Not only that, but good luck selling a "high-end" German sports car with the mentality of "Well we pinched as many pennies as we could to give you the least expensive thing that we thought we could get away with and still turn a profit". Obviously that's not their marketing strategy, but this seems to be the reasoning a lot of people use to explain things like the M96. |
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It takes no less than 16 hours to complete the cam timing procedure as the components must be surface ground for precise adjustment. These engines were produced when a single builder assembled the entire engine, the same way we do the process here under our roof.. No automation, no robotics, nothing less than human hands. The IMS/Layshaft provides a means of inherent balance for the engine as well The higher the surface speed of timing chains, the more they will wear and the faster the chain rails that support and tension them will wear. I'll bet that the designers also didn't "master link" these chains, so changing them can prove to be just as near impossible as the M96. I';ll know all about it when I get the 2010 Cayman engine apart in 2-3 months. |
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