It would appaer as though the 911/boxster engine BLOCK is also built by Kolbenschmidt
03/11/2005
KS Aluminium-Technologie AG: many years of cooperation with Porsche
ATAG engine blocks also in the new 911 power package
Model offensive: For the last few months, two new power packages from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany have been on the market in the new Porsche 911 Carrera—the S model with its 3.8-liter engine is particularly eye-catching—and the new Boxster. Both model series are equipped with 6-cylinder boxer engines whose blocks were once again the work of KS Aluminium Technologie AG (ATAG), part of Rheinmetall’s Automotive sector. ATAG has been providing the engine block for this Porsche engine design since 1996; so far about 360,000 units have been manufactured and delivered.
For the first time since 1977, the Porsche 911 Carrera (Model 997) is offered in a second performance variant with more cubic capacity: There is a new 3.8-liter engine in the rear of the 911 Carrera S, with 355 horsepower (261 kW) at 6,600 RPM. This high-performance unit accelerates the vehicle from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds; its top speed is 293 km/h. The new Boxster is driven by a 240-horsepower (176 kW), 2.7-liter, six-cylinder engine with a top speed of 256 km/h; the 280-horsepower (206 kW), 3.2-liter, six-cylinder engine of the Boxster S accelerates it to a top speed of 268 km/h.
Moreover, for the market launch of the new 997 model from Porsche, the ATAG engine block experts worked closely with the sports car manufacturer in Zuffenhausen, Germany, to achieve an effective simplification and standardization of all Boxer engine block variants.
Key Account Manager Helmut Karl with a Porsche´engine block cross-section, which is being subjected to special laboratory tests. In the background is Dr. Juergen Klodt from the ATAG Production & Technology unit, who is responsible for the simulations of mold filling and hardening that were performed as part of process development.
Key Account Manager Helmut Karl: "The engine blocks supplied by us for the Porsche Boxer motors have the same external contours and are thus—roughly speaking—equivalent. The different displacement variants (2.7 and 3.2 liters for the Boxster, 3.6 and 3.8 liters for the 911 Carrera) are produced using different cylinder diameters and corresponding variations in the oil and water jacket designs." In recent years, Mr. Karl explained, "We achieved planned quality improvements through measures for design and process engineering optimization which led to a significant reduction of internal and external flaws."
The current Porsche project at ATAG is just one more example of the close, constructive cooperation that has gone on for years between the system supplier in Neckarsulm and the renowned sports car manufacturer in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. This is also reflected above all in the share of supply: KS Aluminum Technologie AG is the sole engine block supplier for the new Boxster / Boxster S as well as the 911 Carrera / 911 Carrera S.
Lower weight a critical factor
Production engineering at its best: The ATAG engine block for the Porsche Boxer engine, which is used in the latest Boxster model series as well as in the new Porsche 911 Carrera (3.6 liter displacement) and Carrera S (3.8 liter) are manufactured in the so-called squeeze-casting process (SC), which combines the low-pressure-like, slow cavity fill with the high post-pressure after-cavity fill typical of die casting. This post pressure effects the infiltration of the porous silicon preforms (see the description of Lokasil below) and enables a thinner-walled, lighter component design compared with the low-pressure casting process.
Equipped with engine blocks from KS Aluminium-Technologie AG under the tailgate: the new Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet (photo left)—the 3.8-liter engine is particularly eye-catching here—and also the completely redesigned, improved-performance Boxster S from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany. Foto (2): Porsche
The patented Lokasil contact surface is a technical highlight of the project: In the aluminum engine block for the Porsche model series Boxster and 911 Carrera, instead of cast-in cylinder liners, contact surfaces made of a special aluminum-silicon composite provide improved application characteristics.
The trade name Lokasil stands for a technology, in which the contact surfaces of the cylinders in the engine block halves are enriched with silicon by infiltration of preforms. This produces a metal-matrix composite (MMC) material whose microstructure consists of an aluminum alloy with a very high silicon content. Ceram Tec AG (Plochingen, Germany) supplies the highly porous preforms, manufactured in a special freeze-casting process.
The advantages of the Lokasil technology are clear: In addition to weight reduction (no heavy cast parts) and compact design (minimal web width), it is distinguished by low thermal deformation, which leads to low oil consumption and reduced emissions, as well as by low wear and simple recyclability of the metal.
http://www.kspg-ag.de/index.php?fid=403&qid=&qpage=0&lang=3&query=911