PORSCHE FACTORY TOUR

 

Spreken Porsche ?!?  Anya & I just returned from a 2 week trip to Europe.  The highlight of this trip was a tour of the Porsche factory in Stuttgart Germany (well at least for me---Anya’s was probably shopping in Paris).  It has always been a dream of mine to see the Porsche factory, the birth place of our 911 Carrera.  Bar none---no other car company in the world has the Racing pedigree, than this little car company in Stuttgart!  The good people at White Lightning Racing & Porsche Motorsports hooked us up with an exclusive look into the Porsche factory, where the new 911 Carrera (997) is being made.

Most people associate Porsche, with being based in Stuttgart, however they are technically North of Stuttgart in the little town of Zuffenhausen.  Much like Nike, which is thought of as a Portland company, but in reality they are actually based in Beaverton.  The Porsche factory was a good jaunt from our hotel, so we decided to pre-run finding Porsche the night before our tour in our little Audi A3.  It’s a good thing we did, after a few missed turns, we were able to get it right.  Porsche, like other companies…runs a very tight ship.  Only a German company would request you to be there at 9:50 AM (not 9:30 or 10:00) to start the tour.  If you are late, you are S.O.L., as these tours are very hard to get, and must be arranged months before coming to Germany.

 

OPEN SAYS ME---THE GATES TO PORSCHE WONDERLAND!

We made our way to the Porsche factory early in the morning on the day of our tour, with surprisingly little traffic in the downtown section of Stuttgart.  A light drizzle of rain, accompanied us as we pulled up to the parking structure, and pressed the button on the intercom.  Of course the voice on the other end was in German, then quickly defaulted to English, with our obvious lack of German processing skills.  We told them we had an appointment to see the Factory---the control arm lifted---we were in!

We walked from the employee parking lot to the main building that has the museum, where we would meet our Porsche contact.  The employee parking lot was a great collection of various Porsche models (mostly 911’s, a few new Cayman’s, and few Cayenne SUV’s).  As we were approaching the museum entrance, we were startled by the loud scream of an engine at redline coming down the road next to us.  Much like being at the Baja 1000, where the race cars engine noise precedes seeing the actual race car, then the car comes into view.  The car this time was the new 911 GT3, and someone at Porsche was obviously late for a meeting or having a great time "on the clock”.  For Porsche owners, there isn’t a sweeter sound than a 911 near Redline!

 

NEW 911 GT3... WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THIS CAR IN THE STATES

With the serenade of the new GT3 we ducked out of the rain into the Porsche lobby, and were instructed to wait for our Porsche liaison.  We were able to check out the little museum, which has a great collection of race cars, and rare models.  Porsche is in the process of building a new museum across the street that will hold 80 cars, and a new restaurant which is planned to open next year.  I think Porsche is feeling a little pressure to build a better museum, after Mercedes just opened their 8 story museum on the other end of Stuttgart.  It is an amazing architectural delight, I highly recommend visiting the Mercedes museum if you are ever in southern Germany.

Probably the most valuable Porsche in the museum is the Porsche Spyder, the model James Dean crashed.  There are only a handful of these cars left in the world, and this one was model #001 off the assembly line.  Can you say multi-million dollar car?  There was also the 959 supercar, that Bill Gates owned.  Probably my favorite car in the whole museum was the 1998 Le Mans race car of Bob Wollek and team.  A beautiful race car, with a cool color scheme.  Sadly Bob Wollek was killed, not driving in this race car, but as he was riding his bike.  A sad irony, for someone who made his living going 200 mph in a race car, to be killed in traffic.  He was an incredibly talented driver for Porsche, it was nice to see his smiling face on a race print hanging inside the factory on the assembly line.  His legacy still lives large at Porsche.

 

WHAT ELSE?---PORSCHE STREET NEXT TO THE FACTORY

There were also various race engines on display.  One of the more interesting motors was the V-16 engine of the 917 race car from the 1970 overall winner of Le mans, which is also the famed race car of the movie Le Mans with Steve McQueen.  There was a model replica (1:18 scale) in the Porsche store of the famed Gulf-Porsche 917, that I’m proud to say now sits on my shelf in my office.  There was also a cool cutout of the Porsche Cayman.  They basically cut the car in half length wise, to give us an exploded view of Porsche’s newest model.

Our names were called over the loud speaker, and it was time to be let into the factory floor.  We were given our badges, and a noise reducing headset, to be able to hear our tour guide above the loud noise of the factory.  We were then introduced to our tour guide "Monika" she was lovely, and had more knowledge of Porsche and the build process, than any person I know.  She was asked very technical questions (valve geometry, Turbo intercoolers, Ceramic brakes…), and was quick to answer our questions, and able to expand on the build process.  To think that she was this proficient and knowledgeable on the Porsche product line, and this wasn’t even in her native language of German.  She will surely make some German guy a very lucky man someday, especially if he is a Porsche fan!

 

US & OUR TOUR GUIDE "MONIKA" INSIDE THE FACTORY --- THIS WOMAN KNOWS MORE ABOUT PORSCHE THAN ANYBODY I KNOW!

Monika greeted us with a big smile, and said she had a special treat for us today.  She informed us that normally the engine assembly area was “off limits”, but today they would grant us access to see the 911 motors (3.6 & 3.8 liter, Turbo) Boxster, & Cayenne being made.  As a Porsche 911 owner, I know first hand that the flat 6 engine, is the heart and soul of Porsche.  As I mentioned before, there are few sounds more intoxicating than a Carrera engine in the 5,000 to 8,000 RPM range.  I knew this tour was going to be good!!!

We followed our guide past a series of secured gates and doors, to the first area of the assembly line.  It was a beautiful orchestration of man and technology, a line of new Porsche 911’s (997 models) being fitted with their cockpit and instrumentation.  It was a  busy line of skilled workers hand fitting all the elements together.  When I say busy, the work was well executed, but never rushed.  The bodies of the 911’s had already been painted per the customers specs.  Above the assembly line the bodies were lined up in what Porsche calls the “Sequencer”.  Interestingly most of the body colors, were dark with a few white Turbo’s in the mix (which we could tell by the cutout of the body behind the doors in the wheel arches to cool the motor).  I think it was a little distracting for the guys on the assembly line to have a cute American woman in the factory.  Anya and her typical humble response, says she didn't notice anything.  So if any of you out there reading this, had your Porsche 911 made on May 29th and having problems with it, I think I know the reason (smile).

 

BOB WOLLEK'S 1998 LE MANS RACE CAR

The factory floor was very clean, almost sterile, and well lit.  The outside perimeter of the assembly line, was a path for the robot transporters to shuttle parts between assembly stations.  The robots would pull a small train of carts, filled with various parts for the 911.  You had to always be on the lookout for the robot trains on the assembly floor.  Fortunately they have built in radar, and will stop short of rolling over your feet.  I have seen HP use a similar setup in their factories.  In addition to the robots zipping around the assembly line floor at Porsche, there are various trams of parts being driven by Porsche employees.  These do not have radar, and you best get out of the way, because these guys are on a mission to keep up with the assembly line.  I had one zip by me, it’s mirror a few inches from my ear.

The factory at Stuttgart is a flexible assembly line, which basically means it can produce 911’s, Boxsters, and the new Cayman one after another.  Because demand is so strong right now for the new 911 (997 model), the Stuttgart plant is producing only 911’s right now to eat away at the back log of new orders.  The previous version of the 911, the 996 model was received half heartedly, mostly by Porsche purists that felt it was a step backwards in the 911 lineage.  Porsche appears to have hit a home run with the new 911 ((997 model) with the front end of the cool 993 model.  Our guide mentioned to us that every 911 we could see on the assembly line was spoken for, and being made to order.  The Boxster and Cayman, are being assembled in Finland (even though their motors are being built in Stuttgart).  Currently there are two shifts at Porsche working around the clock, each shift producing 75 Carrera’s, equaling a daily total production of 150 cars.

 

911 TURBO MOTOR (996 MODEL)

Of the 911's produced here, only 20% will remain in Germany, with over 50% going to the U.S.  America is Porsche’s most important market, with the East coast being the number one market, and California a close second in sales.  We could see the cars being prepped to ship, outside the factory with white plastic tape over the body panels and wheels.  Auto transport trucks make continuous pickup runs at the Porsche loading docks.  They leave full with the new cars as they are produced, and transport them out of the factory to their new owners.

UBER SUPER CAR---THE WICKED 959

As I touched on earlier, the best part of the tour was being allowed in the engine building area.  All Porsche models, have their engines assembled in Stuttgart, because this is where they have the best master engine builders.  Keep in mind that a worker has to be an apprentice for 7 years, before he or she can work on the line.  Porsche takes their build quality very seriously.  One part I found very interesting as we watched a couple Turbo motors being built, was that the work never changes hands.  A worker will build the engine from start to finish, and it will not pass through another set of hands.  This, Porsche believes is very important for accountability.

The engine room was amazing!  I have never seen so many high end motors in my life.  New Turbo engines hung on chains, awaiting to be taken away and connected to the Trans, then “Married” with the body.  I was able to touch the new engines, check out the oil lines, and even look into the Twin “K” TurboCharges.  The engines are assembled on a moving floor shaped as an oval, with approximately 20 builders working at a time.  This gives the engine builder access to various parts bins as he builds the motor up from crank-case to finished engine.  The engine builders appeared to be very focused on the build process, some of them are fairly young.  That has to be a good gig, with the high rate of unemployment in Germany, and certainly an admirable profession to talk about over a fine German beer with friends.

 

CAN YOU SAY V-16?  THE ENGINE FROM THE 917 RACE CAR, OVERALL WINNER OF 1970 LE MANS

Once the engines are built, they are fitted into a tray with coolant lines and a fuel line.  The motor is then hooked up to the Dyno in a sound proof room, and put through the paces for 30 minutes.  Porsche refers to this as the “Hot Test”.  The engine must produce at least 100% of it’s rated horsepower, or it is unacceptable.  How is that for a quality commitment?!?  We saw rows and rows of engine trays, with hot coolant still in them from the multiple Hot Test.  It is mind boggling to think of how much cumulative horsepower was in that engine assembly room.  It would make any racer giddy with excitement!

The access on this tour was absolutely incredible, we were so close to the cars we could touch them as they hung suspended over us.  Secretly praying they didn’t come undone from the hoist and land on our heads.  I was able to check out the underside of the new 997 Turbo, and see the 4WD system (CV joints, axles, and Front differential box).  I was also able to touch the big Brembo brakes on all four corners, as the cars slowly drifted over our heads.  That is one of the best parts of our tour that I will always remember, being able to check out the new 911’s in such close proximity, and admire some of the finest automotive engineering in the world.

 

EXPLODED VIEW OF THE NEW CAYMAN

After the tour I thought about what we had been fortunate to see on the assembly line at Porsche in Stuttgart.  Even though Porsche is producing one of the most technologically advanced cars in the world, the actual build process is very “hands on” and has an Old World feel to it.  Technology is all around on the assembly floor (various Dell Servers, HP Printers…), yet the actual building of the cars is a very “human” non technical endeavor.   Aside from the glass, every step in the assembly process for the 911, is done by hand…thus the very high prices of the 911 line.  What other manufactures can make that claim?  To have a motor built entirely by hand is unheard of today.  Most car companies have an ocean of robots building their cars.  What Porsche produces in a day, the big manufactures can produce in minutes.  This year Porsche was rated the highest in quality of ALL German auto manufactures. 

 

INSIDE BOB WOLLEK'S RACE CAR...LOTS OF CARBON FIBER!

We really had a great time visiting the Porsche factory in Stuttgart.  We feel very fortunate to have seen one of the greatest cars of all time being built, the 911 Carrera.  We could see first hand the commitment Porsche has in making their cars, and they take their job very seriously.  It is important to point out that Porsche is a very small company, with small production numbers, yet they have won more big races (24 Hours of Le Mans, Paris to Dakar, Baja 1000, F1…) than any other car manufacturer on the planet.  From day one, Racing has been the foundation that Porsche has been built on.  Porsche is still a family owned business, and because of this, they have been able to do it their way.  After seeing the factory, it makes me smile even more when I hop into our Porsche 911 and fire it up.

 

REMEMBERING BOB!

A big “Thank You” to Dale at Petersen/ White Lightning Racing, and to Uwe & Vera at Porsche Motorsports for hooking us up with an exclusive visit of the Porsche Factory.  Also a big "Danke" to Segrid, Monika, & Laura at Porsche in Germany for taking such good care of us at the factory.  You made my dream come true!  We posted a few video clips from our visit to Porsche.  Now I have to sign off and nurse my jet lag.  Auf Weidersehen…Chris

 

PORSCHE SPEEDSTER #1

 

INSIDE OF THE SPEEDSTER, THIS IS A MILLION DOLLAR CAR!

 

NEW 911'S TAPED UP AND READY TO BE SHIPPED TO THIER NEW HAPPY OWNERS

 

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