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"Or any air cooled car ever made." Are there still any being built? I thought the 911 was the last holdout until they also switched to water cooling. "with lo

"Or any air cooled car ever made." Are there still any being built? I thought the 911 was the last holdout until they also switched to water cooling. "with lots of cars including electric fans to help out the radiator," I had that fan breaking once in my Miata and temperatures went into the red really quickly in LA rush hour.

justin66 8y ago
They switched the 911 over to water-cooled in the late nineties, yes. Prior to that, Porsche got the idle temp problem somewhat under control using powerful electric fans positioned in front of some of the oil coolers, but there's essentially no reliable way to cool four-valve cylinder heads with a purely air-cooled engine (the 959 used separate water cooling just for the heads), so they decided the whole thing was a performance dead end. The air-cooled 911 Turbo did get up above 400hp with two-valve heads before the change, though. > I had that fan breaking once in my Miata and temperatures went into the red really quickly in LA rush hour. No doubt. Once you train yourself to hear that fan, you realize how much the car depends on it.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  The problem is that they lost the air cooler sound. A long time ago I drove an air cooled 911 on track. It wasn't that crazy powerful (300hp) but the sound was just fantastic.
  - justin66 8y ago
    They got big and fat, too. The air-cooled cars had wheelbases similar to your Miata, but they were really pretty small compared to the modern Porsche stuff. The new stuff is technologically stunning, of course.
    - maxxxxx 8y ago
      True. The old 911s were really small. Now everything is way too big, including the Miata. Mine was a 2000 which was already much bigger than the original but the current ones are just way too big. That's not the point of a Miata.
      - justin66 8y ago
        It's funny, I actually admire the extent to which Mazda have managed to keep the Miata small. They're still very easy to pick out in a parking lot when viewed from above, even amidst other sports cars. Is the extra width and weight the Miata has gained over the years down to changing safety standards? I guess on the bright side, in 2019 they're adding a little power.
        maxxxxx 8y ago
        " I actually admire the extent to which Mazda have managed to keep the Miata small." To me the new model has lost all of its appeal. It's way too mainstream. The only interesting thing left is the rear wheel drive.
        justin66 8y ago
        You can still reach over your shoulder and pull the top up. To me that's kind of magical.

justin66 8y ago

They switched the 911 over to water-cooled in the late nineties, yes. Prior to that, Porsche got the idle temp problem somewhat under control using powerful electric fans positioned in front of some of the oil coolers, but there's essentially no reliable way to cool four-valve cylinder heads with a purely air-cooled engine (the 959 used separate water cooling just for the heads), so they decided the whole thing was a performance dead end. The air-cooled 911 Turbo did get up above 400hp with two-valve heads before the change, though. > I had that fan breaking once in my Miata and temperatures went into the red really quickly in LA rush hour. No doubt. Once you train yourself to hear that fan, you realize how much the car depends on it.

maxxxxx 8y ago
The problem is that they lost the air cooler sound. A long time ago I drove an air cooled 911 on track. It wasn't that crazy powerful (300hp) but the sound was just fantastic.
- justin66 8y ago
  They got big and fat, too. The air-cooled cars had wheelbases similar to your Miata, but they were really pretty small compared to the modern Porsche stuff. The new stuff is technologically stunning, of course.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    True. The old 911s were really small. Now everything is way too big, including the Miata. Mine was a 2000 which was already much bigger than the original but the current ones are just way too big. That's not the point of a Miata.
    - justin66 8y ago
      It's funny, I actually admire the extent to which Mazda have managed to keep the Miata small. They're still very easy to pick out in a parking lot when viewed from above, even amidst other sports cars. Is the extra width and weight the Miata has gained over the years down to changing safety standards? I guess on the bright side, in 2019 they're adding a little power.
      - maxxxxx 8y ago
        " I actually admire the extent to which Mazda have managed to keep the Miata small." To me the new model has lost all of its appeal. It's way too mainstream. The only interesting thing left is the rear wheel drive.
        justin66 8y ago
        You can still reach over your shoulder and pull the top up. To me that's kind of magical.