Car nuts thread ?

[Corey]

The French branch of a local TV station (CBC) came out to film a recent AutoX event. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/videos/media-7926025/art-piloter-sans-se-casser-cou?isAutoPlay=true

That's me in my yellow formula car in the opening shot and a few more on-car shots later. Wish I could understand more of what they're saying, though the title translates to "The art of driving without breaking your neck." LOL!

[Poloturbo]

Cool Corey. Thanks will listen to it. Whats that language?? . Pretty cool to see your car.

 

Lol bought a DSM....again. nice drag car potentiel.  400whp. Forged motor good for 600-700 whp. Looking at turbo setup to slow at 400whp.

 

[queequeg]

Got a seeeeexxxy new neighbor at the car park:

 

 

[Corey]

We had a Maclaren (675? Not sure) show up at a local autocross school yesterday. It drew a fair bit of attention! 

I was pretty stunned to NOT like the 911 Turbo S. At all. Too much understeer in throttle tip-in and steady state, then OMG pendulum oversteer if you ever made any mistakes while slowing. I'll take a new Corvette Z06 for a lot less money, thanks. Or a Cayman S for even less. 

[BlueB]

From what I read, from various reviews, Cayman/Boxter is a lot better balanced car then the 911... 

Edited September 16, 2018 by BlueB

[davekempmeister]

I miss this car so much.  1984 GTI put together in a Pennsylvania factory.  Nothing compared to much of what gets posted in this thread but it was fun fun fun.  Koni gas adjustable , some tie bars, bigger throttle body and some other elementary mods.  Euro bumpers that would do nothing to protect the car.  5 Speed with a Golf ball shift knob.  Always looking to go around a bend or a corner.  Chewed through tires.  (not a factory color.  blood orange/red Sikkens paint, the moldings were dropped and the resulting holes were filled in where the hardware was.)

2100 lbs, 90 hp (@5500 rpm),  1781 cc.

mud flaps.  smooth.   good times.

 

[daveo]

17 hours ago, Corey said:

I was pretty stunned to NOT like the 911 Turbo S. At all.

May I ask which year that was? Have you driven many 911s?

I would suggest trying a GT3 if you get the chance. We think it's the most non-911 like.

[Corey]

3 hours ago, daveo said:

May I ask which year that was? Have you driven many 911s?

I would suggest trying a GT3 if you get the chance. We think it's the most non-911 like.

This was a 2018. I've had quite a few 911 owners as students over the years. I definitely prefer the older ones. I think it was a late 70s or early 80s model that I loved best. 

I understand Porsche's thought process; this is a status car for people, not a race car. So, add in understeer with suspension tuning and electronics. But it's hard to overcome that large tail-centered polar moment of inertia. Quite awkward in slaloms. Like flying an arrow backwards...

I would not turn down the chance to drive a GT3! 

[Poloturbo]

20 hours ago, davekempmeister said:

I miss this car so much.  1984 GTI put together in a Pennsylvania factory.  Nothing compared to much of what gets posted in this thread but it was fun fun fun.  Koni gas adjustable , some tie bars, bigger throttle body and some other elementary mods.  Euro bumpers that would do nothing to protect the car.  5 Speed with a Golf ball shift knob.  Always looking to go around a bend or a corner.  Chewed through tires.  (not a factory color.  blood orange/red Sikkens paint, the moldings were dropped and the resulting holes were filled in where the hardware was.)

2100 lbs, 90 hp (@5500 rpm),  1781 cc.

mud flaps.  smooth.   good times.

 

Awesome 

 

Really like mk1. I raced a mk1 jetta . Incredible input and connection. You don't need 500hp to appreciate a good dynamic driver's  car.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Reminds me of my buddy's old '73 Datsun 510.  What a fun little car that was!

[philw]

On 9/17/2018 at 11:34 AM, Corey said:

....  I definitely prefer the older ones. I think it was a late 70s or early 80s model that I loved best. 

I understand Porsche's thought process; this is a status car for people, not a race car. So, add in understeer with suspension tuning and electronics. But it's hard to overcome that large tail-centered polar moment of inertia. Quite awkward in slaloms. Like flying an arrow backwards... 

The engine's in the wrong place. The older models are much smaller and lacking in modern electronics. I have a couple of mates who "collect" old Porshes, which unlike the new ones actually appreciate in value.

Even so, I don't really understand why a car which likes going backwards at high speed when you don't want it to was quite so successful. Sacrilege it may be, but hanging the engine out there is a strange design choice. Did they actually race the things, or were they always "status cars"?

[Beckmann AG]

3 hours ago, philw said:

Even so, I don't really understand why a car which likes going backwards at high speed when you don't want it to was quite so successful. Sacrilege it may be, but hanging the engine out there is a strange design choice. Did they actually race the things, or were they always "status cars"?

Probably has something to do with ability, and Weltanshauung.

 

[philw]

11 hours ago, Beckmann AG said:

Probably has something to do with ability, and Weltanshauung.

 

That's kind of my point: why waste talent on overcoming something which doesn't really need to be that way? It's certainly an approach, but I'm slightly surprised it wasn't literally overtaken.

[Neil Gendzwill]

19 hours ago, philw said:

Did they actually race the things, or were they always "status cars"?

From Wiki:

"Even though introduced in 1963, and winning the Rally Monte Carlo, the Porsche 911 classic (built until 1989) established its reputation in production-based road racing mainly in the 1970s.

Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, winner of the Targa Florio, Daytona and Sebring in the mid-1970s

Porsche 934

Porsche 935, winner in Le Mans 1979"

 

[Corey]

Having the engine behind the axle leaves more room for passengers and stuff.   See also FWD cars - same problem, other end.  Those pesky passengers get in the way of engines being put between the axles.  

The 911 is a pretty fun car, but you need to be well practiced in it's particular driving style.  I would have argued that it's likely more suited to circuit racing when you get multiple laps to perfect your approach vs. the "3 tries and you're done" approach taken in autocross, but rally is a perfect counterpoint to that argument as it's nothing but dealing with imperfection.  Then again, they're not currently competitive in rally so who knows?  Someone famous said that driving a 911 fast is like flying an arrow backwards.  Ha!  

[Beckmann AG]

One could assume that having the right amount of weight over the back end in a rear-drive car should permit a faster turn exit, all other things being ‘equal’.

Similar to how a board performs, once you learn how to manipulate fore/aft pressure distribution with respect to time and turn shape.

On 9/19/2018 at 6:44 AM, philw said:

That's kind of my point: why waste talent on overcoming something which doesn't really need to be that way? It's certainly an approach, but I'm slightly surprised it wasn't literally overtaken.

Maybe it’s not a waste of talent. Maybe the talented drivers are capable of exploiting the rear engine layout to get something out of the car that ‘lesser’ drivers simply cannot?

Toivonen won the 84 edition of Costa Smeralda in the 911, and he wasn’t even capable of walking without crutches at the time.

Mouton appears to be having a seriously good time in her car as well, while the esteemed McCrae seems tickled by the platform.

 

Each of these drivers come across (historically) as more intent on exploring the possibilities of circumstance, rather than trying to exert control, or to stamp their identity on things.

In a sense, that allows for a more fluid response to situations in which lesser pilots might revert to preconceived notions of how a car should be driven, and by so doing, undo themselves.

Meanwhile, those with a different mindset prosper against apparent adversity.

 

As with skiing/riding, and many other activities,  the magic happens when you let go of what you think ‘should be’ and fully immerse yourself in ‘what is’.

 

Edited September 21, 2018 by Beckmann AG

[Corey]

3 hours ago, Beckmann AG said:

As with skiing/riding, and many other activities,  the magic happens when you let go of what you think ‘should be’ and fully immerse yourself in ‘what is’.

As much as I agree with this as someone that hops in a lot of other people's cars and tries to show them how to drive it, sometimes flying an arrow forwards really is easier than flying one backwards.  See any form of racing involving turns where engine placement is unrestricted (by rules or marketing) - most go as close to the longitudinal centerline as possible to reduce polar moment of inertia.  

Also note that Porsche is careful to keep the engines in the Cayman platform less powerful than those in the 911.  They have made a decision to keep the 911 as the 'premium' vehicle.  

[BlueB]

27 minutes ago, Corey said:

 Also note that Porsche is careful to keep the engines in the Cayman platform less powerful than those in the 911.  They have made a decision to keep the 911 as the 'premium' vehicle.  

This ^ is what pretty much what every parallel review says. 

[philw]

On 9/21/2018 at 12:37 PM, Beckmann AG said:

As with skiing/riding, and many other activities,  the magic happens when you let go of what you think ‘should be’ and fully immerse yourself in ‘what is’.

Undoubtedly, but that's a non sequitur . Hanging an engine out the back is a bad engineering choice.
Traction control isn't magic, but helps a lot. 

Porsche marketing has been interesting, although it's easily sidestepped in the electric near future.

[SnowFerret]

I've been watching a bunch of Goodwood videos lately.  Love seeing vintage racecars racing.

 

 

[Corey]

On 10/6/2018 at 9:50 AM, SnowFerret said:

I've been watching a bunch of Goodwood videos lately.  Love seeing vintage racecars racing.

Beautiful stuff! 

[GeoffV]

On 5/17/2018 at 6:11 PM, Mellow Yellow said:

Only 29k miles! I had an 02, had a ton of gremlins! Here is the 02, loaded and ready to go to the hill.... 195 Donek was longer than the roofline...

Jason I have  R55 Clubman S that is now 10 years old and just upgraded to a  Tesla Model 3. My son will get the Clubman next year. 

This the the first time I am going EV, the acceleration is impressive, specs 0-60 is 4.5 but it is actually 4.2

@trailertrashand I got to experience Alex racing this weekend, great fun.

https://youtu.be/U2SdrlLdRNk

[davekempmeister]

 

This is the ride that is driving me crazy, crazy, crazy. Looks absolutely  amazing.  If I had $18K to burn I would be writing this while driving (I mean while at a rest stop, of course)  down I-95 ("the 95", for those of you in California).

[davekempmeister]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-Volkswagen-Rabbit-GTI/332839597379?hash=item4d7ec93543:g:4OEAAOSw1u9bwhvM:rk:1:pf:0&vxp=mtr&auto

sorry Jack.  totally botched this while distracted at work.  meant to do one post and in the cars thread.

anyway, you gotta love it.  crazy good example of the original.

Edited October 17, 2018 by davekempmeister

[Corey]

Neat GTI!  I haven't been in one of those for a few years.  Light is right.

This past weekend we hosted an 'experience' autocross day in conjunction with a track day.  Come out, do some laps on the road course and also the autocross.  As one could imagine, the road course was busier than the autocross, so we weren't very busy.  I drove a Suzuki Swift GTI and a right-hand-drive JDM Subaru Legacy B4.  The Swift was pretty mushy, but I confirmed that I really don't connect with RHD cars!  I can drive on the left, or center, but my brain goes to mush when sitting on the right side.  I suspect it would get better with practice, but I really struggled!