I drove a porsche 911!

[midnight armadillo]

it belongs to a friend. AWD, it's the base 911 model from 2009. 345 or so horsepower.

Impression: friggin' awesome. It accelerates like a bat out of hell and the engine sounds are amazing. I cannot imagine why anyone would opt for the 500+ hp Turbo model for driving on public roads

Despite all this, $110,000 is a stupid amount of money to spend on a car (about $100k more than I ever could bring myself to do even given the means). And the seats were too narrow for my shoulders. Quote from the friend: "They have a great sales pitch set up. They just let you take one for a test drive."

[flvegan]

1. Sweet! They are nice cars.

I haven't driven one in a long time (probably an '89 in the early 90's. Do you still have to drive it like you're angry with it?

[Mopar151]

3. My friend has a Carerra 4

maybe an '02. Did'nt seem to require any anger. The trouble with the old style Porsche Turbo was that the narrow powerband did'nt match the gearbox ratios well, so you had to wind the piss out of it in every gear to keep from bogging at the shift (he had one of those, with an ex-IMSA/Andial engine/grenade) The newer one seemed nothing like that - more like you could drive it like granny's 'Yota, and you were still goi'n an effortless 90+. A nicely integrated car, firm but not harsh.

[flvegan]

4. Yeah, winding the piss out of it. Exactly.

Like getting an S2000 to perform, you'll need all 8k RPMs. I wound up buying a 928S4 instead of the 911. Took power over handling and "angry driving"

[Mopar151]

16. I got to drive a 928 once.

That's a good horse! Good used ones are dirt cheap now. The catch? Head gaskets are fragile, 50 hours to fix,

[mopinko]

2. i have taken to telling my kids that if i didn't have to send

their sorry asses to college i could have a really, really, really nice car. i have had a sports car jones for a while. right now i drive a truck. but i have had a couple of great but very old cars. i miss them.
i feel like i could keep my mind a little younger and more active if i drove something a little more exciting. a salesman at the nissan dealer told me that if i drove a z-car i would be 19 again. i am ready.

[triguy46]

8. I waited a long time and have not been disappointed in my first porsche.

It is everything that you would imagine a porsche to be.

[REP]

11. I drive a 350Z GT. LOVE it!!!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

32. That's one of the reasons I never had kids.

Aside from the fact that I can't even imagine bringing a kid into this world, a Ferrari is cheaper.

I've owned seven Porsches and two Ferrari's in my life. I have had no kids. The world is a better place because of this. The last thing the world needed is another one of me. Besides, My little brother and little sister were/are fundies and they have reproduced enough to more than make up for me. Way more.

[Capn Sunshine]

5. May I suggest a classic 911 instead?

WAY Less Money, same fun factor, almost the same horsepower, like this Carrera for around 10k. I could get in this and race that new 911 and the performance difference would really be infintessimal. Which will need work first? Better set aside about $3500 for either, but I imagine the old one will need attention first.

[LeftyMom]

7. Ooh, want.

I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. I do not want to put my mechanic's kids through college. *sigh*

[mopinko]

20. been there, done that.

which is why i no longer drive an old benz. sigh.

[Born_A_Truman]

26. Me too!

It's 21 years old; paid cash and drives like a dream! Love not having car payments and a car that is basically a computer on wheels that needs to be in the shop all the time.

[mopinko]

27. mine was the very definition of money pit.

was a dream to drive when it did go, but i could have bought one that was a couple years old for what i ended up dumping into that thing.
pics

[midnight armadillo]

9. With a Chevy LS1 V-8!!

Dropping a GM V8 into a 911 is just so perverse, and yet so right.

The 911 is an amazing piece of engineering, it's just not for me. I'm built too wide for these little sports cars, being over 26" across at the shoulders. Sitting in the Honda S2000 my left side was plastered up against the door - not fun.

[flvegan]

10. Can you fit a big V8 into the back end of that and still have back seats?

That is pretty perverse.

[midnight armadillo]

12. yes

http://www.renegadehybrids.com/911/LS-1.html

Apparently the LS1 is smaller and somewhat lighter than the air-cooled flat six's in the earlier 911's. You do need to hack in radiators at the front end though!

[flvegan]

13. Yup, perverse.

Nice, but perverse.

[ngant17]

15. I used to own a "matchbox" Porsche 914

more or less glorified air-cooled VWs, but the engine was in the middle where it should be in a true sports car. Hugged the curves really well, I even spun out on a rain-slick road going down a curved merge/ramp to a freeway at night one time, it amazingly seemed to self-correct the hydroplaning, I ended up doing a 360 and stalling out, but it finally was pointed back the same way I was, forward, as when I turned into the curve. I started it up and no one was the wiser. Automobile Atlanta specializes in the brand, they keep a few 914s in good condition for sale.
They even have some rare 916 or 914/6 models which had the 911 motor in it.

If I had to get another sports car, I would go for the mid-engines like the Toyota MR2.

The pricey ones are Lotus Eagle and the Porsche Cayman.

The rear-engine Porsches have fishtail problems which the mid-engines don't have.

[Mopar151]

22. My man Earl has a 914

with a 1.8 Golf engine! He owned the car backalong, and it was a disaster! The original "airsucker" 4 cyl (a Type 4 in VW/Porsche parlance) may do OK in a street car, but they've been grenades in several kinds of racing, and it was no different for Earl. He sold the car in frusturation. I don't know which of our Rabbit racers talked him into the idea after the 914's replacement did'nt work out, but, using a KEP adapter plate and clutch, they transplanted a 1.8 Golf engine, with stock FI and computer, into the 914.
A 6-cyl 911 engine was breifly considered, but they're very spendy, and Earl's a thrifty guy. He told me that he called the guy that he sold the 914 "roller" to, and his wife answered. he explained, and she said "Just come get it!,It's right where you parked it, and it has'nt moved."


It's now rock-solid reliable, and my man is smilin' and wavin' (at least on Bring-downs.)

[ngant17]

29. nice 914 conversion

and thanks for the KEP info, I didn't know about KEP, they seem to be dedicated to the VW/Porsche bodies, if not the motors themselves.

My canary yellow 914 w/2.0l motor was rear-ended on the road by a high-speed hit-and-run driver, I walked away from the collision, it was steady and balanced all during the impact which pushed it forward, I was able to coast and steer it off the highway even during a dark, rainy night. 914s are very stable and balanced even under extreme situations. I never lost control, not at all. But the collision crushed the frame and pushed the trans into the motor and pretty much totaled the thing.

I've moved on to mini-Mopar 2.2 engines, I have two Dodge Caravans, and I've been able to adapt VW parts (2bbl. carb, 009 distributor and ignition) to these engines. Pretty interesting that KEP can adapt these 2.2 Chrysler engines to the 914 trans and body. Maybe I can do that if I even get another 914.

[Mopar151]

31. We have a 914/6 running with us, too

Full race car, Rick got it out of California.

The 2.2 Mopar you mention is a good swap canidate - but the Dakota transmission (for RWD conversions) is a weak POS. One of our crew has one in a Spitfire - the trans gave upat it's 2nd event, and Brian is currently auditioning replacements. Anybody got a BMW Gertag around? And, yes, those are Weber carbs on the 2,2, leftover from Dad's race Omni. The rest of the race engine is stashed away....
It occurs to me that a Subaru WRX or STI engine might be a good fit, like the one Joey's wrenchin' on here

[OffWithTheirHeads]

33. When the ass end starts to come around, stand on it!

and turn into the spin, just like on ice. Gets the rear tires to bite and corrects the problem. Most folks who are not experienced at rear engine cars react by letting off the gas when the rear end starts to get loose. Exactly the opposite reaction is the correct one.

[Mopar151]

35. It is a lot more complicated than that.

The "fishtail" thing has to do with toe change in the rear suspension on trailing throttle - made worse by lifting too suddenly, and too late. Also, the toe change issue has been largely fixed in current Porches.
My hillclimb car has similar weight % as a 911 - and what it does with sudden throttle application has a lot to do with what differential is in the car, and how tight the turn is. I can tell you that, in general, stomping on the gas in a 500 HP car is not the road to health.

[triguy46]

6. I hesitate to post this...

but I love my 03 boxster. :hide: Still bruised from the thrashing I took at the hands of the Cadillac CTS mafia earlier in the week.

[midnight armadillo]

19. The Cayman

aka the hard-top Boxster, is one of the most beautiful cars on the road. At 1/2 the price of the 911 Carrera it's less of a 'show-your-wealth-mobile' to me, more of a 'just-awesome-sports-car'.

Another car that's grown on me since I saw one up close is the Nissan GT-R. Very plain from a distance but up close it's got a lot of personality.

[insanity]

24. the cayman is rubbish

[GoneOffShore]

14. Try the John Cooper Works Mini - Very fast indeed.

And at 32-33K an awesome value.

[Blue_Tires]

17. i want your friend's job...

because i want a fast car for myself...

[midnight armadillo]

21. well...

...he's got a small but decent condo, no wife, no kids, and works about 80 high-stress hours a week typically. I suppose what else is he going to spend his money on? I love him like a brother but wouldn't want his job even for that salary!

[grasswire]

18. I used to own a 912 many years ago.

Sweet.

[Drum]

23. Wowwww...I'm jeal-jeal!

I have such dreams....

:-)

I have always wanted a Porsche. Always appreciated the beautifu shell design, and could only guess at the mechanical engineering underneath. Ouch, the unattainable 959 when it came out! All of the cars that made it to America! The song of one's engine, and the handling (as they blithely pass my Subaru) is enviable.

On a visit to Dusseldorf years ago, a fun dream was realized when I got to go to the Porsche Museum for an afternoon. Bought the books, love the "mark"---from Ferninad P's first models and ever since.

Suh-weet!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

25. I've owned seven of them. The first one cost $12,950.00 out the door

Finest car on earth in my opinion. One of the few cars of this type that will actually run for more than a week or two between trips to the shop. I never had one break down. Ever.

[PJPhreak]

28. I just have to be a bit weird....

Wadda get when you take this...



And this...



With a Bit'O Engineering,A welding/Cutting outfit and a few scraped knuckles you get this...







1962 VW bus with a 520hp Porsche 993 twin-turbo drivetrain under it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XvjVvFdMIY&feature=player_embedded

the look on a 350-Z owners face as you wave while passing him/her in a sweeping right hander at about 6000rpm and pulling away fast....Priceless

[J-Lo Biafra]

30. Epic Win!!!

:D

[OffWithTheirHeads]

34. While we're talking Porsche

For many years I lived in a town called Bolinas, on the Northern California coast. I used to commute to San Francisco over Mt. Tamalpias every day in my 911. Went through about six sets of tires a year but, in addition to what I had learned through my Porsche Club of America autocrossing experience combined with my daily commute, lets just say that I didn't find many people who could out drive me.

One evening, as I was driving from Bolinas to a bar in Stinson Beach, someone suddenly comes up on my ass and stays with me through every turn. This simply does not happen! Finally, we get to a straight stretch and the fucker actually passes me. In a Carmen Gheia! Turn out his destination was the same bar I was going to. Also turns out that the guy owned a racing franchise, the Carmen had a 911 engine and a total racing suspension and the Ghia body had been acid dipped. This was his "sleeper" car. Looked like Grandma's car to the CHP but was essentially a race car that looked street legal. I will never forget that evening.

Damn, I miss my Porsches.

[cleveramerican]

36. I dream of a Boxter

just love any two seat convertible

and any Porsche is a thrill to drive