What's Faster?

[Superman]

My '83 SC seems pretty quick to me, though I bow to many more modern cars, many of which are quicker now. And I've heard all about how Corvettes are Porsche-beaters in the acceleration category (930s and Turbos excluded).

On the other hand, performance cars, and particularly Corvettes, were a little on the sluggish side in the late '70s. Here's my question: How did my car stack up against other cars mfg'd in 1983? I can imagine there were exotic sports cars considerably quicker, but did the 1983 SC accelerate quicker than the 1983 Corvette? Were there any non-exotic cars (for example, RX-7 and Datsun Z-cars) that were quicker than the SC? How did my car stack up at that time?

FWIW: I don't street race much, but I needed a lane recently and drew swords with a hotrod Honda. The Honda was not a match for my baby. I know the newer Mustangs are popular prey for you Carrera guys, and I wonder if they'd be more evenly matched to my SC. This should start some discussion.

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'83 SC

[patalive]

An interesting aspect to this question is how many cars from 1983 are still healthy and running on the street and track. Be interesting to see some ratios of total number of cars each manufacturer produced compared to the respective number running today. Bet Porsches are near the highest, if not the highest.
Chuck
83SC

[diverdan]

Just saw a very stock looking old Honda Civic in the March HOT ROD mag. It has no bottle, but an Eaton supercharger boosts to 27psi. 487 hp. That pulls this 2300 lb. wonder 11.04 @ 134.09 mph in the quarter. Hang on to your pink slip! ".....the world as we know it is coming to an end!"

Back in those days, the little 2.5 Alfa GTV6 was also faster than the 350 Chevies!

Those old Vettes were slugs, but big power is real cheap and little mods are required to the chassis to handle it. However capable, they still remain big and clunky feeling compared to the 911.

Dan

[rstoll]

Was there a 1983 Corvette??

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Robert Stoll
83 SC
83 944

[Pillow]

At 27psi his days are numbered. Wonder what that thing would sound like when it explodes?

I have read reports of the SC 0-60 from a low of 6.0sec to a high of 6.5sec. I am not sure what quarter times they run.

Due to the age of my SC and clutch condition I know I cannot come close to 6.0sec 0-60. For some reason when I slip the clutch under power it burns the clutch and not the tires. Therefore I refrain from stop light drags... I do not think I could light up the meats to save my life on dry pavement. I think I run mid 7s on 0-60. Granted on the open highway I can pull away from almost anything.

The main asset to the SC in my opinion is its cornering prowess over the competition. I usually smoke ricers, Z cars, and even a new Supra in the twisties. I think with a reasonable driver the new Supra would smoke the SC on most all levels though

[Rot 911]

There was no 1983 Vette.

Kurt V
72 911E

[danielt]

I used to have an '84(same as an 83) Mustang that would run ~14.1 sec quarter miles. Only 175 HP, but 250ft-lbs. of torque can do wonders off the line for ~2800 lb. car. Then I learned about curves in step-dad's 1968 912. Hence the 1981 SC I drive now.

[RarlyL8]

1983 was a very, very sad year. No Corvette, Chevy Z and Pontiac T/A were total slugs. I don't even remember what the "fastest domestic car-of-the-year" was. The SC surely was faster than anything domestic.

[Doug Zielke]

SuperM,
To answer your question, just find a few old R & T, and Car & Driver mags. You may be surprised to find the road testers of the day proclaiming the 911 SC to be a "Supercar".

Regards,
Doug
'81 SC Coupe (my "Supercar")

[Automahn]

Superman I can probably andwer your question. I currently own an 81 corvette with a 350 and automatic and an 81 911SC. My 911 will eat the corvette up it would be embarrassing. I have always known that 911's were fast but was quite pleasantly surprised how fast they really are and the nicest thing is they handle good too...love that powerband.

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1981 911SC
1981 corvette

[hoff944]

If I'm not mistaken, match up by year and the 911 and Corvette are pretty close every year nearly from the 80's and on. Anyone going to the Visit in Bowling Green? The Corvette Plant and museum is hosting the Porsche Club for one weekend. Its like last weekend in April.

[patalive]

Don't forget braking! On the twisties, being able to brake later, harder and more often without fade, leaves most all the competition in the dust. I don't think there were many 1983, if any, rice cars nor American cars that could out-brake the SC. That's why the SC, and all Porsches, shine; they are balanced - acceleration, handling the twisties and braking.
Chuck
83SC

[rstoll]

Technology 25 yrs ahead of its time. The 1983 SC will still run with a lot of production cars built today. And will still be running 20 yrs from now.

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Robert Stoll
83 SC
83 944

[diverdan]

Pillow:

That 27psi with 11.2 : 1 compression is an everyday driver! Total maintainence has been a couple of oil changes! I think that boy did his homework on piston and combustion chamber design. Something about air movement through the whole process. I wonder if his piston design would be applicable to P turbos. I have seen lots of wasted pistons on P cars here in the middle east that have had high boost and been run at high speed for too long.

[MRM]

When the Carrera was introduced in 1984, Road and Track did a review and compared times with the 84 Corvette, Lotus, Ferrari, and a few other cars. The Carrera was considerably faster than the 84 Vette - somewhere between a second and half a second faster from 0-60 and topped out at 149 mph vs. about 120. In fact, it was the fasted car available in the US that year. According to that article, the SC was almost a second slower than the Carrera from 0-60, but the old Corvette was much slower than the 84 redesign. In both models, the Corvette tops out at about 110 to 120 while both the SC and the Carrera top out much higher than that.

My brother in law has a 78 Corvette and two friends have mid-70's models. None are slow, but they aren't even in the same class as a Carrera. An SC is clearly faster than Corvettes of the same year, without modifications. I believe the SC can be modified to be even faster than a 72-82 Vette could be modified to do.

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MRM 1984 Carrera Cab Eurospec

[JayJ]

84 vettes top out near 150. Sorry to burst your bubble!

[juan ruiz]

Superman,as you know im VERY involve with the New generation regarding imports, times have change a lot as a few examples:
Ford Focus FR 200 304 HP 13.5 @t 1/4 mile
Mazda Miata 10.00 1/4
Honda civic 12.20 1/4
Fastest 4 cylinder car mitsubichi eclipse
176 mph at the 1/4(not a street car)
This are just a few examples of the cars today that will easily outrun any of our cars including mine, here this thing is Hot and since we don't have emmissions is even hotter the times have come were the new commers are here to stay, must of you guys that have had a encounter with a honda or so, i can assure you that you have run against a wanted to be ,the real ones out there are running 20,30 psi of boost,nitrous injected to the intercooler,etc,even for me is hard to belive and im sorry ,this cars do not explode as much as everyone thinks,so ok will go to the corner department, value,etc,but since the subject is fast thats my 00.02

[cegerer]

I took my wife's 20-year old nephew for a little ride in my 911 last night. His first ride in a P-car. He's sort of into the import scene and Mustangs and not overly impressed with Porsches. He's got lots of stories about various 4-banger econobox cars with nitrous and twin-turbos and the like. I tried to impress upon him that Porsches are, essentially, factory hotrods with little need for these kinds of modifications. After seeing the dual Weber setup, dry sump oil system, twin cams, etc., and then experiencing a 2.5L motor at 7000 RPM in 3rd gear, high-speed cornering and the amazing P-brakes, he's got a new appreciation for true performance. I don't think his Pontiac Grand Am GT with the bright yellow brakes calipers and K & N filter will ever seem the same

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1971 911T - 2.5L Big Bore

[Don in Redondo]

How have the P cars done at Pikes Peak over the years?

Would seem to be an ideal course for a little, nimble, heavy breather, over distances.