Contrary questions

If you're getting ill watching the stock market, have some fun watching this:

How a reduced throw SHORTER shifter should be driven , even as it makes the wheels dirty.

Just please don't rev the engine to 4,000 RPM and pop the clutch during break-in. Remember he doesn't own this GT4.

"Most important new sports car of the year"...I think so.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

A proper sports car, and more imprtantly, a proper color. Great video, thanks for posting. Funny, all that 911 killer talk, and understeer did in this mid-engine machine. Maybe Porsche wanted to cozy up to 911 owners?

Where are you going to use all this power but the track?

Sure you can drive it as a daily but would the relatively available ~150HP Miata be just as much fun on a beautiful fall day at 1/4 the price? I never found the fun factor to be more on the 3.2 than the 2.5 986 and my 85HP 914 was more fun than both IMHO.

Can you can have too much power?

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mikefocke, '01S Sanford, NC
Where are you going to use all this power but the track?

Sure you can drive it as a daily but would the relatively available ~150HP Miata be just as much fun on a beautiful fall day at 1/4 the price? I never found the fun factor to be more on the 3.2 than the 2.5 986 and my 85HP 914 was more fun than both IMHO.

Can you can have too much power?

when I was looking at the specs of the new Corvette Z06 convertible; with 600+ HP, it has the same drivetrain as the coupe but no rollover protection.
Without that, there's very little chance of it being allowed on a track; so were do you use the 600HP on the street?

this "how much is enough" question came from a current Prius station wagon owner.

In 25k miles I haven't found a situation where I wanted more torque. My wife has a V-6 Acura now and I find it overly powered and too sensitive for my pedal foot to the point that I much prefer the lower powered car with slower response. I think one of the reasons I like the under-powered vehicle is it forces me to think and be sure before I do something (like 3-4 car passes on a 2 lane) or consider how big a gap there is in traffic when pulling out onto a freeway. If I don't have gobs of excess room, I don't do it. So I'm a minute late. In my youth, I was immortal. There was also lots less traffic then. Gaps were lots bigger. Distractions less (unless you counted the girl by your side).

I had occasion to question a traffic engineer in court where he was appearing as an expert witness last week. Believe me roads aren't designed with common sense any more but with a magic traffic simulator program where common sense inputs are lacking and thus garbage comes out. Don't assume the road ahead is designed for real world safety.

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mikefocke, '01S Sanford, NC
this "how much is enough" question came from a current Prius station wagon owner.......

.....In my youth, I was immortal.

Getting old is a bitch, Mike.

Just ask g-man.



"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

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mikefocke, '01S Sanford, NC
Where are you going to use all this power but the track?

Can you can have too much power?

Ummm....can you have too much fun?

I suspect the enjoyment for most Porsche owners, many of whom spec their cars with power options they never really utilize near the limit, and who don't track their cars, is the warm feeling they get knowing it's there, on tap, just in case......

'Having it' fulfills a quite different array of sport car ownership gratifications than 'using it.'

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

My sister had a couple Corollas and when she got a 6 cylinder Camry she remarked on its relatively better get-up-and-go. I tell most everyone who doesn't think adequate power, meaning the vehicle readily complies with driver intent, etc., is a safety feature to consider how dicey it can be when getting onto an interstate, where the vehicles can be running at 65-85 mph. Many years ago a magazine article noted how a Lotus has active safety with its superb handling, braking, and acceleration. Why not firstly avoid a collision, rather than just protect the occupants after the fact? It's been a great feeling to confidently blend into highway traffic because the Porsche has that capability.
Fortunately, stop signs aren't prevalent at interstate entrances, although they can make sense if there are traffic density/visibility issues, say, at an entrance to Manhattan's FDR Highway. (IIRC)

Long, long ago, I had a V6 Camry. My brother remarked how at 80+ it was only at 3,000 RPM. On the highway, quiet as a church mouse.

Yes, my 385 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque has saved my bacon on a few occassions in real-world driving. Plus, there is considerable fun-factor with the car going forward, but my butt going backwards into the seat coming out of curves. Also, passing on two-lane roads (I even got four cars in one pass going to the beach, once).

Whenever possible, we prefer taking secondary roads and staying off expressways. It's less hectic and usually more scenic. But, there are times when you're stuck behind a conga line travelling below the speed limit. After trailing them for a bit and it's obvious that none of the cars in front are going to pass the slow vehicle, t's nice to know you've got the power to go by 3 or 4 cars when you have to opportunity to do so.

Making regular 60 mile round trips on a rural two lane, it's always so much better in the Porsche (as opposed to the CRX) being that there are more options to pass safely, even two or three cars. When there's an engineer at the front of the choo-choo train* going 10-15 under the limit for no particular reason, and I'm in the third or fourth car back, I may still have the discretion to pass ahead of the whole bunch. Let me stress: never, never over the double yellow hazard line: Too much physical and liability risk!

* Heard an instructor say this to a track class at Lime Rock. He said if he saw a "choo-choo" train lap after lap he'd flag the "engineer" in.

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Guenter in Ontario
Whenever possible, we prefer taking secondary roads and staying off expressways. It's less hectic and usually more scenic. But, there are times when you're stuck behind a conga line travelling below the speed limit. After trailing them for a bit and it's obvious that none of the cars in front are going to pass the slow vehicle, t's nice to know you've got the power to go by 3 or 4 cars when you have to opportunity to do so.

Exactly.

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mikefocke, '01S Sanford, NC
Where are you going to use all this power but the track?

Sure you can drive it as a daily but would the relatively available ~150HP Miata be just as much fun on a beautiful fall day at 1/4 the price? I never found the fun factor to be more on the 3.2 than the 2.5 986 and my 85HP 914 was more fun than both IMHO.

Can you can have too much power?

we buy HP but drive torque. My first car was a 72 Datsun 510 with a 1.6l 4-cylinder SOHC engine making around 100hp. While it was a good first car -- though there were much better ones of course -- I'd never go back to that class of power again. (Well, except I did... I bought a 2002 VW Golf TDi with just 90hp and around 160ftlbs of torque, but in spite of the 90hp the car was a real delight to drive with the torque delivery characteristics of the diesel engine. In my opinion it was one of the best GT cars I've owned with its engine, good seating position and very good view out of the car, its cargo carrying capacity, and its range -- easy 400 miles between fill ups -- and economy (40mph easy no matter how I drove the car). And the topper? A full size spare tire!)

Years ago a good friend bought a new Toyota Corolla. He traded it in after just a short time with it because it was *underpowered*. He moved to a VW Golf Rabbit which was quite a bit more peppy.

I prefer a more powerful engine that while it is seldom one can use the full power the engine makes it is the effortless ease with which it makes torque that makes the car a pleasure to drive.

Now I have to add that even though my 2002 Boxster with not quite 220hp and under 200ftlbs of torque is closer to the Datsun's power and torque numbers rather than the Turbo's numbers (420hp, 413ftlbs of torque) the engine's characteristics are such it has plenty of torque and is a pleasure to drive around town or out on the open road.

That said, while I haven't yet settled on my next car, I'm considering several, and all have quite a bit more power than my current 996 Turbo. When I get too much power I'll let you know.

Can you can have too much power?

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we buy HP but drive torque.

[snip]

That said, while I haven't yet settled on my next car, I'm considering several, and all have quite a bit more power than my current 996 Turbo. When I get too much power I'll let you know.

When there are two black lines from the end of one corner to the start of the next, you have enough power

Power is like cowbell, you can never have too much of either.

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db997S
Power is like cowbell, you can never have too much of either.

[www.hulu.com]

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db997S
Power is like cowbell, you can never have too much of either.

A classic.