How to drive a 911?

[GrindingGears]

How do you drive your air cooled 911 (AFTER oil has reached operating temp)?

I've heard various opinions regarding the daily driving of 911s:

1) It's an old car and should be driven conservatively. Shift before exceeding 4000 rpm and do not cruise at rpms of that level.

2) It's meant to be driven hard. Redline once in a while and cruise at rpms as high as 5000.

How do you drive your car on a daily basis?

[ben@benlovejoy.]

I believe a car of that age should be driven conservatively ... until I get behind the wheel, and then I don't believe that any more. :-)

Ben

[diy83sc]

An 83 is just breaking in ...

My 83 ran the best after driving it on the track (smooth starts, smooth shifting) and good use of the upper RPM range. I make it a point to shift in the torque range.

[Rot 911]

I drove my 3.2 hard and put it away wet. Needed a rebuild. Did it myself. Now I am going to once again drive it hard and put it away wet. If you want to drive conservatively, buy a Ford Tarus.

[SilverPoly]

the answer is no.2

The harder I push it the better it runs. It spends most of the time in between 4 and 5k rpms with the occassional redline. The only thing I'm gentle on is the 915 tranny.

These engines want to sing and they'll thank you for it!

[dotorg]

I beat the snot out of mine once its up to temperature. I never shift before 4000rpm, and I must be putzing in traffic to do it before 6000. In normal driving, I don't let revs drop below 4000. Cars got no power below that.

And she sounds SOOOOO good at 6500rpm

Well, as long as I have earplugs in.

Like others have said, I baby the transmission. Engine wants to be spanked. Hard.

[Pettybird]

Right... I'm with Ben... In fact, out of respect for such an old car, I think people should just get out of the left lane entirely for me so that I can go the speed I choose. And there shouldn't be any cops.

Yipes man you're talking about an '83 Porsche, not some prewar (that'd be world war ONE) wooden construction car... Drive it like you'd normally drive a car, or as Ben points out, drive it like a normal car until you realize it's a 911. Then you can spend the rest of the day justifying your traffic tickets. It's a tank. Treat it like the military treats their tanks: fanatical maintainance means that you can expect maximum performance at any time.

Obviously, don't be an idiot with the car... riding the clutch, slamming on the gas, then the brakes, slamming on the gas... that'll give anything fits. Drive it responsibly... Your SC is a very docile vehicle, but it should be excercised sometimes. It's good for the car (tell yourself that) to do a DE or two a year...

My '79 cruises at 80 at like 4 grand... think of the Autobahn, eh?

-Doug

[91C2wrencher]

Flog 'da *****!, our p-cars love to be run hard. i swear mine runs or,, er purrs like a kitten after a long days flogging, get on the go pedal and and keep it in the power band.

[Jgordon]

What they said.

[yelcab1]

Drive hard. Drive safe. Drive considerate of others. But Drive your car like you can't take it with you, cause you can't.

[banjomike]

See now I thought this was gonig to be a thread about the unique handling characteristics of the 911 with answers like, "don't lift in a hard corner", "countersteer into a slide and steer with the throttle", or "jab the brakes to about 40% initially to transfer the weight onto the front tires, then really get into the brakes."

[Bill Douglas]

A wise man once said "Don'ts let carbon build up on thems valve seats". His English wasn't good, but it was good advice regarding how to treat a 911, so I like to keep the revs up and have some fun while I'm at it.

[Joe Bob]

Drive it like ya stole it....

[naparsei]

Originally posted by dotorg
Engine wants to be spanked. Hard.

[DavidI]

I torture my Porsche like a red haired step child.....

[goat]

Enjoy the car and drive it, taking in all the above advice.
Cause if you don't, the next owner will....

[ZAMIRZ]

After it's up to temperature it really depends on the situation. If I'm in hollywood or on sunset I tend to just drive really smooth and take my time reaching the speed limit. For the most part I drive conservatively and abide by speed limits, never exceeding 5-10 mph over the posted limit. Even though I said I didn't do this before, late at night when I'm coming home, I open it up. And by open it up, I mean I'll get it up to 115-120 in 5th gear for a good 5-7 miles. But I never ever ever do this any time earlier than 1:30-2:00 a.m. and if I see a truck up ahead I slow down b/c those SOBs radio the cops. Also, I'll never switch lanes at this speed to pass, if you're doing that then it's too crowded. On average when I open it up I'll pass 2, maybe 3 cars and they're always more than 2 lanes over to the right of me.

BTW, the freeways I do this on are the section of 405S between the 118 and 101, the 118 going both ways and the 210 in the hills between San Fernando Valley and Pasadena (Sunland area).

[jerkan]

#2 is the clear choice. SC's are bullet proof and can take the punishment. Drive with adrenalin and relax talkin about it!

[Mark McClure]

My wife drives my car quite often......whilst a a roundabout it stopped for her and would not start.......eventually it did.......she then red lined it in every gear and held it there all the way home..........

The car ran fantastic after that.......I will have to let her drive it every 3 months.

[rs911t]

August 2002: 31-year-old 911T gets a PPI. The leakdown test shows 12,9,14,8,10,12% respectively on cyls 1-6-2-4-3-6. The mechanic says not to worry, drive the car, it'll get better. Problem is, the car hasn't been driven in awhile.

I buy the car and drive 5000+ miles in 2003, including 14 days at the track.

This past weekend I repeat the leakdown test. Engine's been dropped and it's stone cold. Results: 3.5,2,4,2,4.5,4%, respectively.

I rest my case. Drive the car.