How Long does it Really Take?

[kqw]

When you first purchased your 911, how long did it take to REALLY know and understand the handling characteristics of the car?

Having owned a 911 for many years, I can remember that it took almost a year to get that feeling of the car being an extension of body and mind. Experiencing the different climate conditions, braking, acceleration, cornering and of course, 1 or 2 emergency situations.

I cringe sometimes at new to the Marque folks that want to whip the car around because they "heard" that the car handles like it's on rails.

To the Newbe's....Caution..You can get into some serious trouble if you do not understand the characteristics of the 911 design and maintenance of suspension, brakes, tires etc...

What triggered this post was that I read where upon purchasing their first 911, they drove the car home at triple digit speeds....

[Hoffman912]

i think you bring up a very god point -it does take a while to get used to these cars, the way the handle is like no other car. one should never really flog a car unless hey are truely comfortable and know it very well, cause it will come back and bite you if you dont.

as far as someone driving home from purchasing their car (or any other time on the streets for that matter) at tripple digits is just plain assanine and irresponsible. they are just asking for it.

[IROC]

I went to my first DE 6 weeks after I bought my car. I think everyone should attend at least 1 DE as the amount that can be learned in one day on the track exceeds year's worth of street driving.

Mike

[Shaun @ Tru6]

That's a great question, but in my experience the answer changes as your car does. Just after I learned how to drive it on th stock suspension with 16" Fuchs, I went to 17 inch Cup II's, more rubber, better tires, limits were higher. then I R&R'd the entire suspension and my understanding of the handling of the car changed completely. Then (through a series of wheel trades) I got to experience a range of tire choices, and each one had it's own learning curve. Somewhere in there I started going to DE's and that changed everything. Driving my 84 every day made a big difference on DE's.

My short answer is it's a lifelong learning experience with older 911s.

[bkcbuilder]

I think it all depends on your overall experience behind the wheel. I've raced a number of different cars, front engine, mid and rear..open and closed wheel, so jumping in a new car, after a few laps, I have a pretty good sense of what will happen next....subtle little nuances of the car then can be explored.
Total NOOB with 0 track/seat time...scary stuff.
Hate fast street drivers, to many unknowns.....wrong place to test any handling issues....to many innocent victims. Brian

[kqw]

Originally posted by IROC
I went to my first DE 6 weeks after I bought my car. I think everyone should attend at least 1 DE as the amount that can be learned in one day on the track exceeds year's worth of street driving.

Mike

No doubt that DE's teach a lot..

However....how many of us can get in their 911 and IMMEDIATELY know when something is out of whack? I.E., tire pressure is off or, the car doesn't sound right or, a slight miss at certain RPM's or, brake response is a little off etc, etc...I'm sure you'll agree that it takes a bit more experience for NOOB's than attending a DE.

[adamred]

I've owned my 911 for over 3 years, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) due to family and work life have been unable to do any DEs so far. I must say that after doing this to my car in the rain:



I'm a bit spooked and will probably put the car away for the winter early this year after it is repaired and invest the time and $$ in a spring-time DE to hone my skills and get some confidence back...

My rage generally bubbles over, especially when I'm driving with the family when some moron blasts by me, doing 100+ on a crowded highway and 9.9 times out of 10 has no idea how to handle their cars....

[ChrisM911SC]

I would say I have to agree. Being a NOOB, I have spent the last year learning how to work on my car and this season, which is just beginning in AZ, I'm planning on attending several DE's so I can learn how to drive my car. Just my $.02

[kqw]

Please, let me mention that there is NO negative inference when I mention NooB or Newbe...OK?

[wholberg]

Originally posted by kqw
When you first purchased your 911, how long did it take to REALLY know and understand the handling characteristics of the car?

My 78 SC in pre-internet days (mostly word of mouth experience)...about 1 year, that included 2 spin-outs and one sliding into the opposing lane at speed. No crashes.

My current M491 Carrera (owned for 9 months) still has me confused. Understeer is slightly more pronounced, presumably due to increased weight, but I have not been able to induce oversteer with the back end under controlled conditions.

Adhesion limits seem to be greater than the old SC, but I'll have to wait until I can make a DE event to really find where they are.

[kqw]

Originally posted by ChrisM911SC
I would say I have to agree. Being a NOOB, I have spent the last year learning how to work on my car and this season, which is just beginning in AZ, I'm planning on attending several DE's so I can learn how to drive my car. Just my $.02

Good deal...Once that's done, don't forget to master Oak Creek Canyon....

When I worked in Phoenix, I regularly had to make a run up to NAU and would always veer off through the canyon and then up to Flagstaff....On the way back the same thing....I loved it.

For higher speeds (safely), early Sunday mornings I would run through the Indian Reservation in Mesa (just north of McKelleps on Gilbert road....Big, wide paved and straight 3 -4 mile road with no traffic.

[ChrisM911SC]

The Phoenix area Pelicans are planning the Oak Creek run on Oct 8th, and back down through Jerome into Prescott; I'll definitely be in attendance for that. Gilbert road actually turns into AZ HWY 87. It's a great drive all the way into Payson. They've widened it to four lanes the entire way up. I can't wait for it to cool down here and get the car back on the road.

[kqw]

Originally posted by ChrisM911SC
Gilbert road actually turns into AZ HWY 87.

Yes, I know...But that stretch just between Mckelleps and 87 is the Indian Reservation....Great for Early Sunday morning runs...

It should begin to cool down out there in a few weeks.

[Jeff Higgins]

Is it a matter of time or milage? In two years of ownership, I've logged over 30,000 miles, a couple of PCA drivers' skills days, and a dozen or more DE's. I'm just now starting to feel intimate with my car.

The first couple of weeks were the roughest. I've driven performance cars all of my life, but nothing like an early 911. I spun it within a week, driving in the rain, at a speed that my Land Cruiser would not spin at. That was a wakeup call like no other. My only thought was "holy crap, what have I gotten myself into?" I crept back up on its limits very slowly after that.

[Driver Ed]

I have owned it for 5 years, and have put many tens of thousands of miles on it am still learning about the car, as as I change things on it (e.g. lower suspension, replace shocks, etc.) it changes and I relearn things.

I think a year is about right to get a good handle on the feel of a 911. More if you have less experience or you drive less often, and less if you have more experience or if you drive very often. A driving instructor once told me that using your Porsche as a daily driver was a good way to prepare for a DE event -- you're already pretty familiar with the car.

[randywebb]

I've had 911's for about 10 years so I will say 15...

Wet roads are a whole new ball game.

But when the 911 was introduced C&D in their 1965 review rhapsodized about how all the oversteer was gone & how much better the car was than the 356 - you'd never get in trouble yada yada...

[svandamme]

first test drive, it felt like putting on a glove
then i went to pick her up 2 weeks later

last corner before before arriving home , i nearly lost it
very sharp highway bend... 80km speed limit
wanted 100 km's (if my ford escort can get around it at 90 ,then a 911 surely can do 100 ), but forgot i had miles on my dash
so entry speed was a tad higher than i intended

lucky i remembered the "don't brake or ease off the throttle" thing
or i would ave planted her in the armco on day 1 , so i heard the tire squeel, and floored the loud pedal ....
i guess i was lucky

[azasadny]

I've had my 911 for 3 years and I'm still getting used to it... of course, I store it for the winter...

[grobious911]

I have only had my sc for only about 2 months now, yesterday I decided to go on a nice country drive, a road that I used to tare up in my prep'd 510. About 5 minutes into the drive I was thinking to my self wow I could use a few DE's under my belt.

[kqw]

It's not only learning the handling capabilities, which is pretty high by the way but also learning to hear and feel the car when it's trying to tell you something.