Porsche produces some of the most sought-after sports vehicles on earth and has a large following of devoted owners and admirers around the world. This is due to the brand’s reputation for producing high-quality sports cars as well as its storied history and ongoing success in the motorsports industry.
Porsche has won the most races at Le Mans with a total of 19 victories. This achievement demonstrates not just Porsche’s prowess in producing incredibly fast and dependable race cars, but also its engineers’ ability to “think outside the box” in order to win valuable track seconds.
The racetrack in this instance is the Circuit de la Sarthe, where the 24 Hours of Le Mans have been contested annually since 1923. The “Triple Crown” of the top three auto races in the world includes this endurance contest, the Indianapolis 500, and the Monaco Grand Prix.
Le Mans races have always started on foot, requiring drivers to dash to their vehicles, start the engines, and then race off. Porsche engineers discovered that by placing the ignition key slot to the left, drivers could use their left hand to start their engine while their right hand concurrently engaged first gear, saving valuable time at the start.
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Porsche owners love to boast about how the company’s racing heritage can be seen in their vehicles’ peculiar ignition placement. As Dan Neil discovered, the narrative is false.
Owners of NEWBIE PORSCHEs could experience momentary confusion. It could take a few mornings to get used to the ignition switch on German luxury-sport cars being outboard of the driving position, to the left of the steering wheel, as opposed to inboard, like on every other brand of vehicle known to mankind.
What the heck is going on? The story that most Porsche drivers would likely relate is what their salesmen told them: A racing innovation was the outboard-located ignition keylock, which is now the Start/Stop switch. Running starts were used in the 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans until 1970. Drivers would sprint across the circuit, get in their cars, and take off. A Porsche driver might shift into gear, steer off, and start the car with the ignition switch on the left.
A creative modification to gain crucial seconds at the beginning
The 24 Hours of Le Mans did not begin with vehicles rolling in formation and holding their positions until they crossed the start/finish line until the 1969 race.
Cars were parked on one side of the start/finish line while drivers waited on the other for many years. They all sprinted for their cars as soon as the flag dropped. It was essential to move out in front of the crowd soon to avoid the initial congestion.
Because of this, a lot of racers delayed fastening their seatbelts until after they had navigated the early traffic, which resulted in multiple accidents. Jackie Ickx then shocked everyone in 1969 at the start of Le Mans when he walked quietly to his car and took his time securing his harness before starting the engine.
Over the years, Porsche engineers had seen that placing the ignition on the same side as the clutch, or on the right, resulted in a minute but profound loss of time. Because drivers had to use the same hand to start the engine and shift into first gear, Porsche opted to move the ignition key to the left side of the car.
With the new design, drivers could turn the ignition key with their left hand while shifting into first gear with their right. Drivers had a big advantage over their rivals during those few moments. Some sources claim that in 1952, the ignition key was moved to be located to the left of the steering wheel.
As seen by Porsche’s subsequent victory in Le Mans and every other competition they entered, their ground-breaking idea must have had an impact.
Porsche opted to honor their triumphs by adopting the same change into their commercial vehicles, a trait that is still present, in order to foster their competitive spirit.
Porsche key fob: significant financial savings
In fact, the Porsche 356, which was sold in 1948, a few years before Porsche entered competition, is where the ignition key first appeared. This model’s history is intertwined with the Second World War and the history of the Volkswagen Beetle. Raw resources were scarce after the war in Germany and Austria, where the 356 was designed, thus it was wise to use any economy.
To save a few millimeters of electrical cable and thus lower manufacturing costs, Ferdinand Porsche made the decision to move the ignition key to the left of the steering wheel. If Porsche still exploits this particularity to set itself apart from competing companies more than 70 years later, its origins were wholly commercial.
Many previous Porsches appear to have been forgotten by Porsche’s Twitter account.
People frequently draw attention to the left-side ignition switch, which is a distinguishing feature of the majority of road-going Porsches. This unorthodox positioning pays homage to vintage Le Mans racers, whose unconventional positioning allowed drivers to start their engines as they climbed into their vehicles in the race’s customary running-start format. Porsche likes to highlight this cute little detail. However, as some people may remember, not all Porsches were manufactured with the ignition on the left; Porsche’s social media team appears to have overlooked this fact.
The ignition switches for many Porsche production models were located on the right side of the steering wheel, including different incarnations of the 356, 914, 924, 944, 968, and 928. The iconic 911 has always had the switch on the left, but as many of Porsche’s other models used parts from Volkswagen, several had the more traditional switch placement on the right.
Update: Porsche appears to have removed the incorrect tweet, but we have screenshots of it here.
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Dan Neil, an auto columnist for the Wall Street Journal, recently disputed the legend surrounding Porsche’s left-side ignition.
I just have knowledge of what I have read, like this passage from my Macan’s Quick Start Guide:
In any case, here is the complete article, sans a few images (I’d provide a link, but the WSJ has a paywall, unless you, like me, have a subscriber buddy who forwards an article) for those who are curious:
Porsche owners love to boast about how the company’s racing heritage can be seen in their vehicles’ peculiar ignition placement. As Dan Neil discovered, the narrative is false.
What the heck is going on? The story that most Porsche drivers would likely relate is what their salesmen told them: A racing innovation was the outboard-located ignition keylock, which is now the Start/Stop switch. The 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race was first held in 1970.
The ignition being on the right side, why?
The decision was made to transfer the ignition key to the opposite side of the steering column because the design’s placement to the right of the steering column would put center front seat occupants at danger for leg or knee injuries.
Why do Porsche car models begin with a 9?
The Porsche 901 should have been the 356’s replacement and it offered a six-cylinder boxer engine. As a four-pot to the 901, they had already planned the 902. The 901 was unveiled to the public during the 1963 IAA Frankfurt Motor Show and became a huge hit. Production of the customer automobiles began shortly after.
However, Porsche had not anticipated Peugeot’s legal team. The French automaker has designated its models with three-digit numerals that include a zero in the center since 1929. They have legal protection for that typing in France. Porsche had to change the model name since they wanted to sell their vehicles under the same name everywhere. They used their customary rather practical strategy and altered the model name to Porsche 911. Why? Porsche already had the nine, zero, and one digits for the emblems and the prospects. So they decided to swap the 0 for a 1. The remainder is history.
British automobiles lack an ignition, where is it?
The steering wheel is on the right because in Britain we drive on the left-hand side of the road. The accelerator (gas pedal) is on the right, but the other pedals are in the same location as in left-handed vehicles. The handbrake (parking brake) and gears are often actuated with the left hand.
Britain has some of the highest gas (Petrol) prices in the world. On average, we pay 95 pence per gallon.
In the UK, the legal age to operate a car is 17, while the legal age to operate a moped or motorcycle with an engine no more than 50cc is 16.
In Britain, there are about 225,000 miles (362,000 km) of roads. The Romans built several of the old roadways that are still in use today.
In Britain, there are many different types of roads, from spacious contemporary freeways to winding country lanes typically surrounded by stone walls, grassy banks, or ditches. Since streets were not designed for large lorries and were constructed long before cars were introduced, cities and towns tend to have narrow streets (trucks).
- Similar to American motorways are “M” roads. They are fast roadways and are referred to as motorways.
- “A” roads do not have controlled access; they can be anything from dual carriageways, which have two lanes divided into two, to one-lane roads. They are the primary streets connecting towns.
- The smallest of the three are “B” roads. They could be in the open or have dense vegetation close to the road. Curves and other road markings could be scarce.
The M6 Toll, the first toll road, opened in December 2003 to relieve West Midlands traffic. The 43-kilometer motorway reduces travel times by about 45 minutes all around Birmingham.
On signage, the distances and speed limits are always expressed in miles or miles per hour. 1.6 kilometers make up a mile.
Speed limits are displayed on round signs with a red ring circling the limit. There is a black line that crosses over a white circle at an angle after the speed limit has been reached.
- 112 km/h (70 mph) on highways and dual-carriageways
- Speed limit on single-lane, unrestricted roads: 96 km/h (60 mph).
- 48 km/h / 30 mph in towns and other built-up regions
- 35 km/h (20 mph) in residential areas
Unless there are signs indicating otherwise, the following national speed limits apply to all roadways; all speeds are stated in MPH.
The Woodlands Resources part of the Woodlands Junior website was created by Mandy.
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She is currently a computer instructor at Sevenoaks, Kent’s The Granville School and St. John’s Primary School.
Can a Porsche be operated without a key?
Simply leave your keys in your pocket or luggage to take advantage of Porsche Entry and Drive’s features! When you grab the door handle while holding your key close, the system will immediately check the encrypted access code on the key.
What is Porsche’s abbreviation?
Porsche automobiles have been given a variety of nicknames throughout history. There are plenty others, including The Widowmaker, Pink Pig, Hippie Porsche, Whale Tail, Baby, and Turbo Panzer. For pretty obvious reasons when you are familiar with the vehicle, Moby Dick is maybe one of the most well-known names for a Porsche racer.
The wild seventies, a time largely dominated by Porsche racers around the globe, saw the introduction of the 1978 Porsche 935/78. It was a factory-developed racer that could outclass even the greatest customer-driven Porsche 935s while continuing to be loosely based on a street-911. The 935/78 automobile had a somewhat bigger engine and introduced water-cooled cylinder heads on an air-cooled block. The new, incredibly long and swooping body and the 3.2 liter twin-turbocharged flat-six engine upped power to an astounding 845 horsepower.
Although the car blasted down the lengthy Mulsanne straight at 228 mph (367 kph), which was designed for success at Le Mans, it was unable to take the victory. The car, which was only entered in four races and had the recognizable Martini livery on it in white, has been known as “Moby Dick” ever since. Jochen Mass, a Porsche driver, reconnected with the vehicle at Goodwood a few years ago.