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Danny M of OH.

What is an ?

The is a lightened, limited edition, performance version of the venerable Porsche® 911 Carrera® made for the 1993 model year which according to Porsche® both commemorates the 20th Anniversary of, and captures the spirit of the original 1973

a section of the RSA press release from PCNA.

For more Press releases go to the OEM info/Factory data page.
The original 1973 Carrera® RS was available in Europe but unfortunately in the USA. Porsche® decided to build the 1993 Carrera® RS both to European spec and a limited number in compliance with US regulations. These US spec cars were assigned the name .

Rear deck lid emblems.

The intent was to create a basic lightweight, no frills 911 with minimal luxury options. Fitting the with the M030 sport suspension package, which included the use of much of the running gear from the 911 C2 Turbo, led to higher performance limits. The Turbo's progressively wound coil springs, larger diameter front stabilizer bar, and upgraded shock absorbers were standard equipment for the , as were 17” diameter C2 Turbo wheels. The rims were 7” wide on the front and 8” wide on the rear (as opposed to the 7” wide front and 9” wide rear wheels of the C2 Turbo).


Factory stock 17 rims.
“Mille Miglia Cup I” wheels were stock rims for the .
(click on the image above for more data on wheels).


According to Porsche Cars North America, as published in the Porsche fact book for 1993:

“The is a new derivative of the Carrera® 2 for drivers who demand an even higher level of feedback - feedback so detailed, so precise that it usually is found only in racing cars. Indeed the designator “RS” - German for “Renn Sport” or “Race Sport,” is traditionally reserved for the highest performance Porsches. In a Porsche RS model, refinements in the suspension, steering, wheels and tires all work in combination with perfectly coordinated weight reduction to create a dramatically different driving feel.”

Due to larger than expected customer orders, Porsche® continued building the through August 1993 and therefore, 84 of these “1993 model year only” cars were not released until 1994. Interestingly enough, the 1994 models all differed from the 1993's by having “RS” in their Vin number (as opposed to the “PS” of the 1993 models) [show me] and by having rear seats fitted [show me] in place of the dual storage bins that were standard on '93 .



Fred Schwab - President & CEO of PCNA 1992 - 2003.


Fred Schwab - President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) during his speech at the concours banquet at the 1992 PCA Parade in San Diego, when he announced the introduction of the as a one year only model for 1993, said

“If you like to autocross, this is your car. If you are a time-trialer, you need this car.
If driving is for fun, this is your car - the car that the Porsche Club of America built.”



Warren G of CA's color-to-sample one of a kind Maritime blue .

Factory Options available on the :

Unlike the regular 1993/1994 911's (C2's & C4's) which had an extensive list of 48 factory options to select from, in the spirit of being a no-frills lighter-weight 911, the had only four. These were:


Option code Description Option Price
220  Limited Slip Differential [40% locking value] $   913
331  Porsche CR-1 AM/FM digital display stereo cassette with 2 speakers [show me] $   986
573  Air Conditioning with automatic temperature control $2,805
650  Electric sunroof $1,952

To find out which of the four options an was fitted with when it left the factory, you need to check the cars ID label which has the three-digit codes for each option as listed above printed on it. The ID label is located in two places, one is on the underside of the front hood behind the latch and the other is on the first page of the Maintenance manual.

The ID label is underneath the hood, just behind the latch.

The option codes are at the bottom of the ID label and usually start with “C02” which means fitted with a catalytic converter (see sample ID label shown below).

Occasionally option code “C36” is present and this indicates that the car was originally delivered to Canadian spec with the speedometer graduated in kilometers per hour and labels on the car were in liters rather than gallons.

Although the description of option “331” states “Cassette radio with 2 speakers” all were fitted with two door speakers, a windshield antenna, antenna signal amplifier and associated wiring - for this option it was actually only the Porsche CR-1 radio/cassette in-dash unit that was added.

The ID label located on page 1 of the Maintenance manual.

For more information on option codes found on ID labels, go to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) page.

Exterior Colors:

 

The was available in three basic factory colors

Color Code
  Guards Red G1G1
  Black A1A1
  Grand Prix White P5P5
There were also two metallic colors available for an additional $1,036.
Color Code
  Polar Silver Metallic A8A8
  Midnight Blue Metallic F8F8
Additionally, it was possible to order your in any color you specified - this was referred to as “color to sample” for an additional $2,498 irrespective of whether the color you specified was metallic or non-metallic.

  Interior:

All interiors were black with black cord fabric covered sports seats as standard [show me]. It was possible to order the seatbelts and webbing door pull-straps color coded to match your cars exterior.

The interior door panels comply with the weight saving theme in that they were devoid of the armrest and door pockets that were standard on C2 and C4 911's available in '93. Instead of a complex opening mechanism the simply had a webbing strap in a loop that you pull to open the door.


Lightweight door panel
Interior door panel.

In order to meet type certification requirements in 1993 came with electric windows (the two rocker switches on the drivers door are visible top right of the panel pictured). The significantly lighter manually cranked windows were not used because the car would need to be re-certified in this configuration which would involve embarking on an expensive and time consuming crash test campaign.

Red seatbelts and webbing pull straps for opening the doors were a popular choice for Guards Red and Black cars, with blue belts and straps being fairly common on Polar Silver models.


  Model recognition:

The easiest way to recognize an is that it is the only 964 series 911 fitted with the large fixed rear spoiler or “whaletail” as opposed to the regular 911 C2 or C4's moveable “letter box” type motor-driven spoiler that mechanically deploys and stows depending on vehicle speed. Additionally there is an decal in front of each rear wheel well at the aft end of the door sill and of course the rear deck lid emblem.

When the cars were delivered to the US, the emblem and side decals were shipped loose in the glove compartment and dealers were given an instruction sheet showing to how to correctly locate the emblems and decals on the car if the owner requested them to. Consequently, not all 's are fitted with model identification emblems on the rear deck or decals on their flanks just aft of the doors.


When the was introduced it was the cheapest 911 available and sold for $10,000 less than a fully equipped C2.

Ironically, nowadays the market value of an is $10,000 higher than a C2 in similar condition with similar mileage.

  Published article:

Click on this image to read the Panorama article - What is an RS America.

To read an article published in April 2006 in the Porsche Club of America national newsletter “Porsche Panorama” entitled “What exactly is an ?” click on the above image.


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