Whaletail. K27 turbo. No safety net.
What the 930 was
The 930 Turbo was unveiled at the 1974 Paris Motor Show and went on sale in 1975 as a 1976 model. It was the first production turbocharged flat-six and one of the first turbocharged sports cars from any manufacturer. Engine displacement: 3.0 liters initially, 3.3 from 1978. Single KKK turbocharger. No intercooler until 1978. Approximately 260 horsepower at launch.
The body was widened — approximately 50 millimeters at the rear arches, with flares blended into the bumper line. The whaletail rear spoiler was not styling. It was an oil cooler housing that also generated downforce on the rear axle. Without it, the car was nervous at speed. With it, the rear stayed planted and the oil temperature stayed manageable.
Why it had a reputation
The 930 in 3.0 trim had a steep boost curve. The KKK turbocharger produced very little boost below 4,000 RPM, then everything arrived at once. A driver coming out of a corner half a turn into the throttle would feel nothing — then, suddenly, full boost would arrive and the rear axle would unload as the engine put its full power down. The car was light at the front, heavy at the back, and the suspension had not been designed for the kind of cornering loads the turbo created.
Drivers used to a naturally-aspirated 911 found that the 930 demanded different timing. You committed to throttle earlier, you trusted the engine to deliver, and you held the corner. Many didn't. The 930 earned a "widow-maker" reputation that was partly mythology and partly fair warning.
The 3.3 and the intercooler
For the 1978 model year, Porsche enlarged the engine to 3.3 liters and added an air-to-air intercooler. The intercooler sat under the whaletail spoiler — which is partly why the spoiler grew in size that year. Power rose to 300 horsepower. The boost curve became more linear: lower peak boost, but available across a wider range. The car was still fast, but more manageable.
The 3.3 stayed in production essentially unchanged until 1989, when the 930 was finally retired. The final-year cars got the new G50 five-speed gearbox — a long-overdue upgrade from the four-speed that the 930 had been stuck with for thirteen years.
Variants worth knowing
- Flachbau: factory slantnose option, introduced in 1986 in the United States. Reshaped front end with pop-up headlights borrowed from the 944. Produced in limited numbers.
- Cabriolet and Targa: offered from 1986 onward, less common than the coupe.
- Special editions: SE / Sport Equipment models, mostly cosmetic.
What "K27" refers to
K27 is the model designation of the turbocharger itself. The K27 was built by Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch — a German firm based in Frankenthal that supplied turbochargers to half of the German automotive industry in the 1970s and 1980s. Read the dedicated piece on the K27.