911 turbos (all of them) drag race - no surprises

[masraum]

Not earth shattering or even surprising, but hey, a bunch of 911 turbos accelerating together. What's not to love!

The only 911 turbo that I've ever driven was a 2001. I test drove it at a dealership when I ultimately bought my boxster. 415hp, I think or was it 405. I didn't do an extensive test drive, but it didn't feel very fast. I'm sure it was fast, but it didn't feel fast. It was very nice, lots of leather, etc..., but it didn't really do anything for me. Maybe that's because they are more like a GT car or maybe there was something wrong with that one, I don't know.

1/4 mile standing start
1/2 mile rolling start
braking from 100mph



I'm sure that for the 997, 991, and 992 you need reinforced internal organs to withstand the launches that those things are capable of performing (wow, their 1/4 mile times were all <11sec). I have to say, the 2 sexiest beasts (to me) are the 930 and the 993 turbo. I know that a 964 is better than the previous generations in almost every way, aero, suspension, power, etc.... I wouldn't turn one down, and if I was looking and found a fantastic example at a great price, I'd probably buy it, but I would prefer the pre-964 style, or if going for something better, then I have to think that the 993 is the pinnacle of the air cooled cars.

Wow, Becky was young and cute and treated herself to a 930 with a pretty sweet sounding exhaust. It's a shame she smoked the clutch.

[Racerbvd]

Thanks for sharing.

[masraum]

Here's another race by the same folks, 992 Turbo S, 991 GT2 RS, 992 GT3

The results were more interesting.

1/4 mile standing start
1/2 mile rolling start
braking from 100mph

[A930Rocket]

Looks like the old adage of more horsepower wins every time.

[GH85Carrera]

Way back in 1976 one of our PCA regional members bought a 76 Turbo. We all drooled on it, and he was giving rides. When the boost came on, it was thrill ride. Of course back then I had my 74 914 2.0 with a whopping 95 HP and 0-60 of 10 seconds so the 930 was a rocket.

The Corvette club challenged the PCA to an autocross at an airport. Each club designed 1/2 the track. The Corvette folks had one big sweeper, and a 1/2 mile straight. The Porsche club had a sharp 180 at the end of the straight, so brakes were tested hard. Then a long slalom and a few fun gates to the finish. The fastet Vette arrived on a trailer, and had such a radical cam it sounded like a drag car that would no idle, and it had open pipes. He said it was "stock" and I suggested he drive it a couple of miles to the McDonald's and get a drink. He refused.

The 930 showed up with his wife and daughter in the car from over 200 miles away. He unloaded their luggage, and was ready. The Corvettes all screamed down the straight, but had a heck of time stopping. Remember this was 1976, no one had ABS or traction control or giant brakes.

The 930 just obliterated everyone's times. Had we done a drag race only the Vetts would have won. The 930 was just an astonishing car for the era. The new Turbo is just orders of magnitude faster but 46 years of evolution and improvement is just amazing. The most exotic and powerful cars of the 70s are toys compared to modern cars.

I suspect no one at all was surprised at the results of the video.

[wildthing]

Shouldn't he have used the regular Turbos, not the S models? Not that it matters...

[ted]

17 sec 1/4 for an 80s 930?
That with a G50? lol

[masraum]

Originally Posted by ted

17 sec 1/4 for an 80s 930?
That with a G50? lol

I don't think the 930 got a G50 until 1989. Prior to that it was a 4speed. I would assume the G50 would make it faster.

The girl driving her own 930 got a 14.something the first time around. THe second time around she smoked her clutch (reason for the 17 sec 1/4).

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by ted

17 sec 1/4 for an 80s 930?
That with a G50? lol

The original 930s with a better driver were much faster than that. Also remember it was the 1980s! In 1984 when the standard non turbo 911 Carrera was introduced to the USA, the car magazines all tested it and proclaimed it the fasted car sold new in North America. It had the fastest 0-60, 1/4 mile and top speed. In 1985 the Turbo was re-introduced to the American market, and it had the title of fastest car by a huge margin.

By today's standards, yea it is nothing special fast at all.

[ted]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The original 930s with a better driver were much faster than that. Also remember it was the 1980s! In 1984 when the standard non turbo 911 Carrera was introduced to the USA, the car magazines all tested it and proclaimed it the fasted car sold new in North America. It had the fastest 0-60, 1/4 mile and top speed. In 1985 the Turbo was re-introduced to the American market, and it had the title of fastest car by a huge margin.

By today's standards, yea it is nothing special fast at all.

Yeah the 930 4 speed is a strange car to drive.
I'd have to left brake it often and keep it spooled up.
But once they are on boost its exciting.
Maybe it's the boggy lag followed by the rush of boost that fools you into thinking it's a rocket.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The original 930s with a better driver were much faster than that. Also remember it was the 1980s! In 1984 when the standard non turbo 911 Carrera was introduced to the USA, the car magazines all tested it and proclaimed it the fasted car sold new in North America. It had the fastest 0-60, 1/4 mile and top speed. In 1985 the Turbo was re-introduced to the American market, and it had the title of fastest car by a huge margin.

By today's standards, yea it is nothing special fast at all.

She may be a great driver, but she said that she'd never drag raced her 930. She is a relatively young girl with an old 930. I think those are supposed to be difficult to launch for a drag race, long first gear, old-tech turbo, rear engined traction, etc.... And it was her car, so probably not being launched the way a magazine would launch a press-car.

I thought it was interesting that at the beginning she mentioned concern that her transmission would hold. I understand that the 4spd in the 930s was supposed to be pretty stout. The good news is that a clutch is cheaper and easier to replace than a transmission. You want a weak spot as sacrificial, and hopefully, that weak spot is going to be cheap and easy to protect the stuff that's not cheap and not easy.

I believe most of the magazines put the 3.2L cars in the 5sec range, and then the 930s were in the low 5s and maybe even high 4s.

Yep. And per this link, the 3.2L cars should have been in the 14s for 1/4 mile and the 930 should be in the 13s.
https://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/porsche-0-60-mph-times/

[ted]

Originally Posted by masraum

The good news is that a clutch is cheaper and easier to replace than a transmission. You want a weak spot as sacrificial, and hopefully, that weak spot is going to be cheap and easy to protect the stuff that's not cheap and not easy.
https://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/porsche-0-60-mph-times/

I'm pretty sure I could of saved the clutch and broken a CV, or at least that's what happened last time I launched a 930.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by ted

I'm pretty sure I could of saved the clutch and broken a CV, or at least that's what happened last time I launched a 930.

Ouch!

[Les Paul]

Of course there were bolt ons mid 80’s for the 76 and 77. Big IC’s, various K-27’s headers, cams, punch it to 3.2, lightened fly wheel, big reds, all far surpassing the 86-89’s. Now there is efi, twin turbo’s just $$$$ and more$$$. And they are 2600lbs. I think I’ve spent well over 100k before the efi. Oh well, only money. Can’t take it with me. And my wife lets me after 37 years.

[Les Paul]

She’s a keeper.

[javadog]

That really wasn’t a very informative race. The guy that set it up doesn’t know all that much about Porsches and some of the bigger differences in the race outcomes were down to bad driving, or the engine speeds the cars found themselves in at the start, with respect to their gearing, in the rolling start races.

Plus, the guy’s somewhat annoying to listen to.

It would be nice if they picked up the bill for the clutch in the 930, it’s going to need a flywheell too. $$$

[mattdavis11]

The only 930 I have driven was a 1986 cab, and it was raining. It wasn't hard to bust the arse end loose.

[pwd72s]

I was a bit surprised...at how slow the once considered greats were.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I was a bit surprised...at how slow the once considered greats were.

It’s more a function of the driving and other problems than anything to do with the cars. They aren’t as fast as the modern stuff, to be sure, but the modern cars will make you dizzy when they accelerate.

[speeder]

Wow...boring. Not what any of those cars were designed for and how hard is it to turn a quick 1/4 mile in a newer car with 5-600 HP and an automatic transmission?

930's were quick cars but not from a standing start and not at low speeds.