I HEART Sportomatic!

[tgittens]

Warning this is a vanity post...The most delicate, finicky, and misunderstood variation of the species is...AMAZING! After hearing so many grumblings and disparaging remarks and upturning of noses every time someone says "cool car, what is it" and the word "Sportomatic" comes out I felt the need to post a little accolade.

Let's not forget that the same genius that developed the gearboxes that we all love and praise also created this one. It's like a new song that you don't quite get at first but then suddenly becomes your favorite. And just when you thought you knew how to drive, Porsche throws you this curve ball. It is alien, it is unusual, but when mastered it is incredible.

I've had my Sporto for 4 years now and I can say that I'm just now starting to get it. Granted I don't have a lot of hours in it because it prefers to be in the shop then on the road, but that's a factor of years of deferred maintenance which I'm finally getting to the end of sorting out. I'm also sure that the best this car ever drove was the day it left the factory and I hope to get it back to that place one day. But where it is now is definitely encouraging and, believe it or not, lately I've been more apt to jump in the Sporto then my '70E which is extremely well sorted.

My only advice to a Sporto newbie is to drive it like a manual. Don't sit in "D" and putt along. This car was meant to be driven! If the objective of our obsession is to have fun then Sportomatic delivers…that is all.

[Daves911L]

Tristan,
Just stumbled across this looking through older pages. I will second your praise for the sporto. I've had several over the years and they are neat. Those that belittle them have just never taken the time to learn (or perhaps don't have the skill) to operate them properly. Also probably the majority still running around out there are worn and incorrectly adjusted. But when both car and driver are correct they are remarkably quick machines offering a very unique driving experience. I'd have another in a heartbeat. Maybe I should round up the parts and convert my '68 from its current rather common 5-speed to 2-pedal operation!
DG

[Griffinroydonal]

I would like an auto but wondered what horse power it would stand before becoming a boat anchor. I had 2 928's one manual - one auto, The auto was faster 0-100 every time.

[CountD]

Originally Posted by tgittens

The most delicate, finicky, and misunderstood variation of the species is...AMAZING! After hearing so many grumblings and disparaging remarks and upturning of noses every time someone says "cool car, what is it" and the word "Sportomatic" comes out I felt the need to post a little accolade.

This is typical. Every person I talk to about a Sporto always trashes it, and NONE of them have ever driven one. Growing up my dentist had one in his 911 and he really liked it. He had a couple 911s, but he said the Sporto was a sweet ride. I think the thing that killed his affection for the Sporto was the lack of replacement parts...

[Fishcop]

You won't hear a disparaging remark from me - I loved my sporto. But it didn't stop me from changing it out after years of life-extension programs keeping it running, it just got too hard chasing redundant spares...