Thoughts after a weekend and tank of fuel
Discussion
Well, Since we have some newbies considering 996's, and well, any excuse to go on about how much fun i'm having...
I thought i'd write my thoughts on my 996 after having it over the weekend and going through a tank of fuel...
Incase you havent seen it - i did a few 'just got a 911' posts here: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=305220&f=48&h=0
Kinda sums up how it feels to achieve that which some many petrolheads aspire to.
Following that, well I've now began to understand the physics of the 911 now - its not that the rear engine layout is any better or worse than front or mid engined, its just different, and as such, requires a different discpline for cornering. At first I found the car tended to 'wiggle' when pressing on through bends - whether I applied throttle through the corner, or took it through at a constant speed, it seemed to be unsettled on some bends.
I have taken to concentrating on balancing the car before the corner, which is pretty standard, however with the 911 you need to do it slightly earlier, and as i mentioned, slightly differently. Once you have got the car balanced, you hold throttle through the bend - if your feeling brave you can accelerate, but be ready for a twitch as you straighten up.
The horror stories of the air cooled cars of the past make you wary of the car - but you really dont need to be - dont get me wrong, the 996 is a car you need to respect - but my Girlfriend was more comfortable and confident driving the 911 than she was my old lexus.
it really is a car that inspires condifence in you - but if you want to push hard, you better be awake and a good driver.
My car is an early Carrera 2 - essentially the entry level to 996 ownership. However, dont for one second think that makes it any less of a supercar. All weekend I was blown away by just how much power she had. You floor the accelerator and she acclerates, any speed, any gear - she goes like the starship enterprise!
I've driven some very fast (and more powerful) cars in my time, but there is just something special about the way the 996 does it - the accleration never lets up - everytime you change up a gear, there is as much performance, as much acceleration as there was in 1st and 2nd - and the numbers just keep climbing at an astonishing rate!
That brings me onto the next part. The 996 doesnt just defy physics when it comes to acceleration, the moment you need to lean on those big vented discs, the lightly servo'd brakes feel meaty underfoot, and seem to react just as you need them to. Bringing the Porsche to a stop surprisingly soon, and very stable.
Onto the style. I have to be honest, when i was shopping for my car, i found the 996 less exciting than other cars, your used to the shape, you've seen it so often you forget just how beautiful it is. But trust me, wash a 996, and you appreciate the curves, the workmanship, those little details - the more i look at my car, the more she takes my breath away.
I seem to be making more friends as well, the stares I expected, the neighbours that havent even acknowledged me previously, suddenly coming over for a nice chat the moment the 911 is out of the garage is astonishing. you might not quite belive it, but ive lived here a year - and had met 3 neighbours from my small cul-de-sac. In the course of a weekend where most was spent on country roads, ive now met 4 or 5 new neighbours that never gave me the time of day before.
I did experience the back end stepping out for the first time yesterday, having a little fun with another car on a NSL, as we hit a straight i decided to overtake. Unfortuantly (and again, used to front engined cars) i snatched her out into the other lane while applying throttle. As the car tried to straighten on the other side of the road with throttle the tail stepped out - but a very slight lift and corrective steering, which is instinctive to anyone who's ever driven RWD before was all it took to catch her and then I was free to overtake (all within the legal speed limit of course).
And overtaking is what i will finish this epic gush about my new 911. Saturday morning I took the girlfriend out for a picnic - which of course had nothing to do with being able to take the best driving roads in the county to get there. Of course, being a saturday there were plenty of moving obsticles - and for the entire day, everytime i pulled out, dropped to 3rd the girlfriend let out a little squeal.
Not that she was afraid, it was simply that, one second there was a car infront, the next they were a distant memory. Overtaking is so easy, so quick, so efficent, it is simply so safe - and it gives you a chance to experience that 911 acceleration... so much so, on the Sunday the girlfriend took to overtaking when she got the chance..
I thought i'd write my thoughts on my 996 after having it over the weekend and going through a tank of fuel...
Incase you havent seen it - i did a few 'just got a 911' posts here: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=305220&f=48&h=0
Kinda sums up how it feels to achieve that which some many petrolheads aspire to.
Following that, well I've now began to understand the physics of the 911 now - its not that the rear engine layout is any better or worse than front or mid engined, its just different, and as such, requires a different discpline for cornering. At first I found the car tended to 'wiggle' when pressing on through bends - whether I applied throttle through the corner, or took it through at a constant speed, it seemed to be unsettled on some bends.
I have taken to concentrating on balancing the car before the corner, which is pretty standard, however with the 911 you need to do it slightly earlier, and as i mentioned, slightly differently. Once you have got the car balanced, you hold throttle through the bend - if your feeling brave you can accelerate, but be ready for a twitch as you straighten up.
The horror stories of the air cooled cars of the past make you wary of the car - but you really dont need to be - dont get me wrong, the 996 is a car you need to respect - but my Girlfriend was more comfortable and confident driving the 911 than she was my old lexus.
it really is a car that inspires condifence in you - but if you want to push hard, you better be awake and a good driver.
My car is an early Carrera 2 - essentially the entry level to 996 ownership. However, dont for one second think that makes it any less of a supercar. All weekend I was blown away by just how much power she had. You floor the accelerator and she acclerates, any speed, any gear - she goes like the starship enterprise!
I've driven some very fast (and more powerful) cars in my time, but there is just something special about the way the 996 does it - the accleration never lets up - everytime you change up a gear, there is as much performance, as much acceleration as there was in 1st and 2nd - and the numbers just keep climbing at an astonishing rate!
That brings me onto the next part. The 996 doesnt just defy physics when it comes to acceleration, the moment you need to lean on those big vented discs, the lightly servo'd brakes feel meaty underfoot, and seem to react just as you need them to. Bringing the Porsche to a stop surprisingly soon, and very stable.
Onto the style. I have to be honest, when i was shopping for my car, i found the 996 less exciting than other cars, your used to the shape, you've seen it so often you forget just how beautiful it is. But trust me, wash a 996, and you appreciate the curves, the workmanship, those little details - the more i look at my car, the more she takes my breath away.
I seem to be making more friends as well, the stares I expected, the neighbours that havent even acknowledged me previously, suddenly coming over for a nice chat the moment the 911 is out of the garage is astonishing. you might not quite belive it, but ive lived here a year - and had met 3 neighbours from my small cul-de-sac. In the course of a weekend where most was spent on country roads, ive now met 4 or 5 new neighbours that never gave me the time of day before.
I did experience the back end stepping out for the first time yesterday, having a little fun with another car on a NSL, as we hit a straight i decided to overtake. Unfortuantly (and again, used to front engined cars) i snatched her out into the other lane while applying throttle. As the car tried to straighten on the other side of the road with throttle the tail stepped out - but a very slight lift and corrective steering, which is instinctive to anyone who's ever driven RWD before was all it took to catch her and then I was free to overtake (all within the legal speed limit of course).
And overtaking is what i will finish this epic gush about my new 911. Saturday morning I took the girlfriend out for a picnic - which of course had nothing to do with being able to take the best driving roads in the county to get there. Of course, being a saturday there were plenty of moving obsticles - and for the entire day, everytime i pulled out, dropped to 3rd the girlfriend let out a little squeal.
Not that she was afraid, it was simply that, one second there was a car infront, the next they were a distant memory. Overtaking is so easy, so quick, so efficent, it is simply so safe - and it gives you a chance to experience that 911 acceleration... so much so, on the Sunday the girlfriend took to overtaking when she got the chance..
fidgits said:
Onto the style. I have to be honest, when i was shopping for my car, i found the 996 less exciting than other cars, your used to the shape, you've seen it so often you forget just how beautiful it is. But trust me, wash a 996, and you appreciate the curves, the workmanship, those little details - the more i look at my car, the more she takes my breath away.
I am glad you have spotted the often overlooked benefit of Porsche ownership - build quality and engineering integrity.
We all take this for granted and have a moan about RMS etc BUT these cars are so beautifully built - just doing a simple job like replacing a sidelight bulb is a masterpiece of engineering - With my old audi your arm needed to bend in about five different places just to get to the back of the headlamp unit. After much grazed knuckles I gave up and had no side lights until the car went in for service.
Do the same job on a 996 or Boxster and you will be blown away by how much thought has gone into such a simple process - get the little tool from the tool kit, undo the lock and hey presto the entire light unit pops out from the front wing allowing you to change the blub from the comfort of your own home if you wanted to - just don't drop the headlight unit they don't look cheap!
Similarly, I bought a few bits of arctic silver trim for the interior - dismantling the interior is a joy. Know what your doing and everything just clips in, no screws, nothing to miss and everything goes back just as it came out with no scratches or creaks.......still not brave enough to change the dash strips mind ....
framps said:
you let the girlfriend drive it? that's like introducing the missus to the mistress.. it's just not done 
Ahh - that has some history to it, which i may or may not have posted recently...
When I met her, 8 and a half years ago, in our first night over several beers, she revealed something to me...
She said "Do you know, the basic cost for a child for 16 years, without toys, treats or anything, is at least 100,000 quid... I could buy a Porsche 911 turbo for that - and i know which i'd prefer!"
I was sold from that moment onwards.
And a recent conversation regarding the '98 British motorshow, when we had queued for 30 minutes to go have a nosey (and sit in) the brand new porsche 911 (996) - she always thought I did that just for her, she never realised I was as eager to get one as she was...
So, I had to let her have a drive of the new 911 - seeing how it was as much of a dream car for her as it was for me (well, not quite, but almost) and the biggest irony is, she's always nervous and hesitant when driving new cars, and yet, with the 911, she was like a duck to water, and as i said, the second time she drove it she wasnt afraid to give it some beans!
magic torch said:
fidgits said:
she's always nervous
I had no idea.
Ah! bad choice of words... but lets pretend the forum name link isnt there - as it could lead to all sorts of problems!
Oh, and remember - this number was the basic upbringing, no frills, back in '98, and yes, was probably on the low side
fidgits said:
As the car tried to straighten on the other side of the road with throttle the tail stepped out - but a very slight lift and corrective steering, which is instinctive to anyone who's ever driven RWD before was all it took to catch her
I'm buy no means a driving guru but please be careful lifting off the load pedal in a 911. If you had a more serious angle on the car by lifting off you could have discovered the 'interesting' 911 handling trait.
ps - only 1 tank of fuel over the weekend? You're not trying hard enough
sleep envy said:
fidgits said:
As the car tried to straighten on the other side of the road with throttle the tail stepped out - but a very slight lift and corrective steering, which is instinctive to anyone who's ever driven RWD before was all it took to catch her
I'm buy no means a driving guru but please be careful lifting off the load pedal in a 911. If you had a more serious angle on the car by lifting off you could have discovered the 'interesting' 911 handling trait.
ps - only 1 tank of fuel over the weekend? You're not trying hard enough
Perhaps i didnt emphasise the 'slight' lift - i did hardly lift, aware of 'lift off oversteer' is not something I wanted to experience first hand - it was a slight twitch, rather than a slide...
hey, I did over 300 miles on one tank, and with the way she was being driven, that was pretty impressive!
fidgits said:
sleep envy said:
fidgits said:
As the car tried to straighten on the other side of the road with throttle the tail stepped out - but a very slight lift and corrective steering, which is instinctive to anyone who's ever driven RWD before was all it took to catch her
I'm buy no means a driving guru but please be careful lifting off the load pedal in a 911. If you had a more serious angle on the car by lifting off you could have discovered the 'interesting' 911 handling trait.
ps - only 1 tank of fuel over the weekend? You're not trying hard enough
Perhaps i didnt emphasise the 'slight' lift - i did hardly lift, aware of 'lift off oversteer' is not something I wanted to experience first hand - it was a slight twitch, rather than a slide...
hey, I did over 300 miles on one tank, and with the way she was being driven, that was pretty impressive!
fidgits said:
My car is an early Carrera 2 - essentially the entry level to 996 ownership. However, dont for one second think that makes it any less of a supercar. All weekend I was blown away by just how much power she had. You floor the accelerator and she acclerates, any speed, any gear - she goes like the starship enterprise!
Hi Fidgits, glad you're enjoying the new car, I went through what you're experiencing a few months ago. One thing though, I just wasn't as overwhelmed by the speed of the car as you seem to be, and I previously drove an old Pug 205 so it's not a relativity thing. Maybe it's the way it's delivered - one seamless, linear build up of grunt, but the acceleration, even in second doesn't get me giggling. The numbers I see on the dash say it is but for some reason it just doesn't feel as fast as I expected it to.
So, question is, do I whack a sports exhaust on it or start saving the pennies for a turbo...
framps said:
you let the girlfriend drive it? that's like introducing the missus to the mistress.. it's just not done Yes, I actually considered doing that a few months back (along with a bottle of warm baby oil) - and then I thought that if perhaps it didnt turn out as my warped imagination hoped, I might, just possibly, be forced to sell my C4S Cab to make reparation !
Imagine ending up single, poor AND without a Porsche !!!
magic torch said:
chris_w said:
So, question is, do I whack a sports exhaust on it or start saving the pennies for a turbo...
Sports Exhaust.
Seems a very different drive when the sound track matches the numbers.
That's what I was hoping... plus an exhaust is far closer to being an affordable reality right now!
chris_w said:
magic torch said:
chris_w said:
So, question is, do I whack a sports exhaust on it or start saving the pennies for a turbo...
Sports Exhaust.
Seems a very different drive when the sound track matches the numbers.
That's what I was hoping... plus an exhaust is far closer to being an affordable reality right now!
PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE PSE get one as quickly as possible. your car will be transformed so much you will spend the rest of your years wondering why the bloody hell Porsche don't fit them as standard.
Be warned though - can your blood pressure cope with the constant demands that will be placed upon your body AS you will be supporting a constant semi - who needs viagra
PSE PSE PSE PSE
Regards
Darren
PRESIDENT PSE APPRECIATION SOCIETY
ok ok, just checking.
I took mine to OPC today for a warranty jobbins, oil filler tube had split, had lunch in a crap place over the way and got a call, "the drive belt is cracked a little, we had to take it off to fit this filler tube, do you want us to put a new one on instead?"
20 quid, seemed fair. the rest was on the warranty.
3 hours labour to change the filler tube @ £95 per hour + cost of tube (not sure how much), and they also did a full valet which to be fair it was in dire need of, inside and out, the valet would of cost me 200 quid on its own!
I took mine to OPC today for a warranty jobbins, oil filler tube had split, had lunch in a crap place over the way and got a call, "the drive belt is cracked a little, we had to take it off to fit this filler tube, do you want us to put a new one on instead?"
20 quid, seemed fair. the rest was on the warranty.
3 hours labour to change the filler tube @ £95 per hour + cost of tube (not sure how much), and they also did a full valet which to be fair it was in dire need of, inside and out, the valet would of cost me 200 quid on its own!
Edited by DucatiGary on Monday 11th September 18:08
DucatiGary said:
3 hours labour to change the filler tube @ £95 per hour + cost of tube (not sure how much), and they also did a full valet which to be fair it was in dire need of, inside and out, the valet would of cost me 200 quid on its own!
Hmmm, mine needs a good clean inside... might be time to mention the clattery air con...
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