Does anyone else find driving the 911 on the road a frustrating experience?
 

It's got so much potential that sometimes I think a lower powered car would be more fun to tool around in. The 911 belongs on the track or autox. I tried to use it as a daily driver but I found it uncomfortable while wearing a shirt and tie.

Try an upgrade to a turbo tie :D

I daily drive my 911, no cup holder, no stereo, just dual 3inch outlet sweet six music. It puts a smile on my face every day and besides it's fun to set off car alarms.

WTF ??

I drive mine everyday and love it! Only times a tie was an issue was in Sacramento heat one summer day, but I still have the AC

;)


Now, is it frustrating? You bet, but it's also the most rewarding car I have ever been in. Just one good turn, one free straight etc. is all I need to get that grin all over again :)

What's frustrating is when I drive my truck! Damn thing takes forever to get up to speed, brake, turn in.......

You are a funny man Mr. Paterno :)

-Chris

I used to drive mine everyday. I don't have to wear a tie. If I got stuck in serious traffic it was very frustrating. If I had decent traffic then I found myself going faster than I should. It just liked to go 90. I used to find myself thinking "I should be going slower" but I just couldn't. It wasn't me; it was the car.

Now I have a miata. My speed has gone down some, but other than missing the extra speed, the driving experience is almost the same.

I'm counting the days, hours, minutes until I can afford to get another Porsche.

What irritates me is that everyone seems to want to race, even people in SUV's. They also like to tailgate, even when you go 5-10 mph over the limit. The way the power band is you have to rev it pretty good from a stop to get going, so maybe that makes folks think we are trying to race them.

I hear you and can relate to the frustration. But its strange. I have driven many cars (newer) with much more horsepower, but they never gave me that same sensation. Its like that little old car is constantly screaming at me: Give me more throttle, you wimp !!

You think driving a 911 is frustrating?? Try giving it up and see how you feel. I was without a PORSCHE for nine years, that was frustrating!

Believe me, I understand, it's been 2.5 years.

To paraphrase Ralph Nader (insert raspberry here) I find it "Fun at any speed".

I drive a Dodge Grand Caravan daily. When I tried to use the Carrera to see my customers, I'd find myself going waaaay too fast all the time. Then when I slow down to a safe speed, it was painful. Just not fun unless there are twisties ahead and no cops.

Not trying to be funny at all Mr Beers.

I used to use a P-car as a daily driver. Heck, for 4-5 years, a P-car was my only car. Today? The old beater stays in the garage until I have the urge to drive for fun, a run over our area backroads. For the day to day shopping, etc. runs? Ford Ranger, which is better suited for those chores.

Bah, incorrect and blasphemy too!!

The only people that ever want to race me are BMW m3 s, it only makes me mad because they never want to race the Buick, only the 911.

I drive mine as often as possible - almost daily. I work from home, so I don't have a commute. But I take it to Home Depot, the supermarket, anywhere I can. What IS frustrating is that these trips rarely incur any "nice drives" on the open road - but just getting the chance to drive it anywhere is worth it to me. I just worry that I am doing too much around town with it and not enough "running" it.

I drive a Chevy Astro van daily. The thing about ample horse power is you get used to it, then it's not as impressive. I find the occasional drive in my relatively unrefined '77 turbo (by today's standards) always delivers the appropriate thrill. There's something about the whoosshh of the bypass pipe and the crush of the seat cusion beneath your back that seems so gratifying. The older cars 'feel" faster, and it makes all those wonderful turbo noises. After my five-year-old son goes for a ride, he mimics the sounds of the recirculating valve and turbo spool for days while he's plating with his model cars. I wonder what kind of car he'll want later in life??

I find NOT being able to drive my 911 a frustrating experience... it's being painted or I have it torn apart for soem reason or other.

But, I live in a fairly small city with great transit when I don't want to walk or bike or take the new car for errands.

Driving a 911/912 on the Streets is not frustrating but you have to be careful specially when they are tailgating you or when you park the car for some time !!!

Really? Man, time flys. I remember when you sold it.

I sold the Ragamuffin for a number of reasons, but one of them was the SoCal traffic. I could have overridden the other reasons easily, but the traffic is not going away. As it is, later on evening weekdays and very early on weekends is the only time one get get over 50 around here and it's 30 miles one way, and more than that the other, to get ot any twisties in the hills. Evey time I do that, I come down from the hills to a traffic jam of 15-50 mph by midmorning weekends that lasts until the evening.

Nearest track is an hour and that's not a friendly track (CA Speedway). The others are 2, 2.5 and 5 hrs. away. Yeah, it gets real tiring owning a car with the potential the 911 has and only be able to use it when some significant forthought and planning.

I think I'm moving more toward another type of driving, that which I leave for the weekend Sat @ 5AM and come home Monday at 5AM. Couple of 400 mile days a month ought to do it. Daily? Never happen in SoCal. Maybe in a 996 Tip. :eek:

That's hilarious!!

I drive mine every day. It's the rawness of the car that makes it enjoyable even in the worst traffic. The worst drivers, though, are what really frustrates me. By and large, I'm talking about people who refuse to pay attention behind the wheel for whatever reason they have - be it a cell phone, their kids or looking for an address. Rarely, does it seem, that they know of any other car's presence, particularly a 911's presence.

I love mine as a daily driver and I have sport seats, which I love too!

Yeah, when I'm in uniform the seat belt pulls my ribons and rank at times, but oh well, that happens in any car.

Now when I move back to Norfolk, VA, I'll be buying a different DD, because I don't trust parking my Pcar on that base.

Everyone is different, if you don't like it, buy a honda or something else and enjoy your AX and track time in your 911.

-Matt

Only wish I could daily drive mine!
I am like 500 yards from my workplace.
But at least once a week my lunch break is spent on a little cruz in the hills.
But if I did I probably not do it.
Working on a College campus I have seen my share of broken-in cars.

Frustration
 

The frustrating part about owning a 911 is the fact that there is always someone in front of you or trying to take you on. Once you get past these things (amongst others) you can truly learn to enjoy the car. Many people buy 911's because they are cool or wanted one since they were a kid. If you have no respect for the speed limit such as myself, this can be a real downer. The rewarding part of 911 ownership is that it is what it is. The look, the speed, the feel of the road. A true Classic. Enjoy it.

Cheers

I hate driving mine.
Every day.
I should never have bought it.
I turned me into a Porschemasochist.
I'm so confused.

What I hate is the constant racing that goes on every mustang,camero,jap crap and BMW has to pull up nose to nose with me and drop down a gear. Im thinking DUDE this car is a classic WTF are you thinking? Now 30 years ago this car would absolutely lambaste everything on the road outside of lambo or a 512 BB.

I gotta admit I stopped daily driving mine because it got frustrating. I have a long ugly commute and frankly it's no fun working that clutch on a hot day plus the plugs foul up a bit on account of my crazy cams. Plus it rains A LOT here and the rear window leaks blah blah blah. I'm getting old! But yeah - I share your frustration.

Now, as it turns out I am plainning on taking it to work tomorrow. The weather has cooled a lot and it's actually not raining so it'll be ok.

I do find that toward the end of the season I sort of lose the urge to drive it every. Come spring however, after a wnter break, I can't wait to get on the road.

The most frustrating thing for me is all those slow, cell phone talking, make-up putting on, head in the clouds people who get in my way on the on and off ramps! Nothing wakes me up like testing the road holding abilities of the Carrera around those circular ramps at 7:30am on a Monday morning. Never seems to happen when I'm driving the wife's Land Rover. Then again, I probably morph into one of those annoying people when I'm driving her car (minus the make-up, of course).

I absolutely hate driving mine on the road, but on the track it's an entirely different car...

I live in Japan and apart from the highways, the speed limit on most of the roads is a ridiculously low 40kph (just under 25mph)! I can do that at about 4,100rpm in first gear....

Also, when I first bought it, it had been lowered, it had Sparco seats that were mounted far too high up and poorly adjusted pedals. Add to that a bit of a "flat-spot" when trying to take off from the numerous traffic lights and I thought I'd bought myself a total PIG!!!

But once I tidied it up and got it on the track, I discovered an entirely different beast lurking within.

I still can't believe how I can load it up with gear, drive for 3 hours, do a full race day, load it up again and drive home without a single problem... You'd think it'd never been anywhere or done anything. Any wonder these things have such an illustrious endurance racing history!

The things that frustrate me about driving my Carrera? Always having to be on double duty lookout for some a$$wipe on a cell phone to rear end me in traffic or make a lane change into the side of my car. The car has a certain need to be at 90+. Good thing I don't drive it every day. :p

Re: Does anyone else find driving the 911 on the road a frustrating experience?
 

My Bronco II beater is actually fun to drive, leave at the airport days on end, take the dog for a ride, pick up my kid and his friends from football practice, drive through mud filled potholes, park downtown in scary areas. Nobody ever gets curious about it. It's stock, and old school.

But you really have to think ahead on account of the poor acceleration and high CG.

I switch back and forth frequently and find that the Porsche is more of a treat when I take it out. When it gets stressfull I switch back to the humble no-frills car until I get bored with it.

And they are both paid for.

The invisible Low-powered vehicle...http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1161135414.jpg

Re: Does anyone else find driving the 911 on the road a frustrating experience?
 

Its not the shirt and tie...its the shoes...

Dress shoes are not condusive to Heel/Toe

I recall many wonderful and unique experiences from my '82 - but found the aircooled noises to be somewhat annoying at times. Don't get me wrong - I like a motor with sound, but the sound of the aircooling can fatigue you on a trip. And BASS sound - is not my preference either which is why I would hesitate to install the trick mufflers that so many guys are eager to drop in.

In my 928, one thing similar to the 911 is ricer's willingness to race. So I can on 'occasion' make things interesting for them.

Example - On a stretch of lonely coast highway in Florida a few years back, a Honda RSX guy planted himself next to me and kept nodding for me to 'go' with him. My car is under-tire'd (thin) and a gold color which is not aggressive looking. Not thirsting to race - here is what happened. Both cars were very much 'even' for a few seconds but the 928 at 4000 rpm began pulling away from him by a few car lengths. I'm quite sure it had him wondering what happened...

Since the 911 is a classier collector car - it would have diminished the experience to engage him. And if you're feeling relaxed on a stretch of road, a 911 competing with a ricer removes some of the 'class' of the car imo.
________________

'82 Targa - sold
'80 928

Driving in Metro NYC:

As I approach pot holes, I wince, like someone's going to hit me with a bat. Then my car feels like it's been hit with a bat and I feel bad for it. Then I look in the rear view mirror to see what was just torn off the underside of my car. Nothing so far.

No matter where you go, you will sit idle in traffic for at minimum 1/2 hr waiting for who knows what. Surprisingly, my car does not like to sit idle with no airflow for a 1/2 hr at a time. I guess there wasn't such a thing as traffic back in the days when the trombone cooler was cutting edge automotive technology.

Driving the SC in the rain (and in the inevitable traffic) is a risky activity. People don't see you, braking distance isn't great, and Z rated tires don't seem to respond well to water. Personally, I like feeling like I'm hydroplaning rather than driving. Life on the edge. Oh, and I'm thinking of upgrading to Rayovac flashlights from Walmart instead of the stock headlights because they're brighter.

Rain-X anti fog treatment does work wonders I have discovered. It's like a mosquito net in the tropics, gotta have it.

So all in all, the SC is a highly practical vehicle. And that's why I own one.

This past Sunday was a planned trip to the North Georgia foothills and some open road cruising. It was great in the 930 until a traffic snarl at at Burt's pumpkin farm. Just creeping along, working the clutch in and out, strange smells started entering the cockpit. This car was never meant to do this! I feel for those daily drivers who endure 5 days of morning and afternoon gridlock. On the other hand, tracktime is great therapy!

I'll concede that frustrating is stop-and-go in the 911. But other than that, I use mine daily and apart from the aforementioned, even at mundane speeds a 911 is fun when you can whip it into a corner and power out ...even if it is at only 25mph at an intersection. :) Beats driving an ordinary car anyday!!!

Edward

Re: Does anyone else find driving the 911 on the road a frustrating experience?
 

I love to drive my 911SC, but recently I also noticed it is uncomfortable to drive to work. It's not the suspension and stiff shocks. I think it is the seat. I have an original leather non sport seat, and there is absolutely no lumbar support. I don't think you notice it that much when you are all tense and fired up for a spirited drive on the open road. But in the occasional 3 MPH commute on my I-450S in the morning, I like the adjustability and full lumbar support of my Jeep Grand Cherokee.

But I'm not gonna let that original seat stop me. I am looking at what the aftermarket seats will cost. After all, I seem to slowly be building a track car.

I used to be bummed in daily traffic in the SC. The 993? Different story!

George

I've owned my 78SC since 1985. I'm still crazy about it after all these years. After a long drive my wife will usually stop me from making my usual comment..." I love that f*cking car" with her own, "yeah, I know you love that f*cking car".
I just can't drive it enough.

I love my 911 like it is one of my kids, my wife refers to it as my girlfriend and I drive it every weekend as it's too special to drive to work.

I think the seats suck a bit, as I have become quite a fat bastard in recent years, so I need some turbo sports seats to keep it all in