Porsche giveaway car and $50K - how long do they last?
- Thread starter Mr Boochie
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Never...EVER go into a fast corner off the gas in a rear engine Porsche. Never a good idea in any car but the 911's will tail swap fast in that situation. Although he probably went in too hot wouldn't let off the brakes and recover steering. These days 500 HP is no big deal...until you slide behind the wheel and turn up the noise.
Modern sports cars are potent creatures and don't suffer amateurs well. Why I stuck with a WRX. Far more chassis than engine has pulled me arse from the fire a few times.
Modern sports cars are potent creatures and don't suffer amateurs well. Why I stuck with a WRX. Far more chassis than engine has pulled me arse from the fire a few times.
Mike_S
Well-Known Member
The GT3 is a lot of car! It's a track built weapon! It takes a lot of skill to drive it quickly.
It can take a 45mph corner at 80+mph, you just got to know how to handle it. Apparently he did not.
From experience, the 991 GT3 wants to go from rear engine RWD to front engine FWD at every transition.
The car will bite you before you even know what happened. It really takes an experienced driver to get most out of it.
One less 991 GT3 on the road.
It can take a 45mph corner at 80+mph, you just got to know how to handle it. Apparently he did not.
From experience, the 991 GT3 wants to go from rear engine RWD to front engine FWD at every transition.
The car will bite you before you even know what happened. It really takes an experienced driver to get most out of it.
One less 991 GT3 on the road.
heck, an old Beetle would do this, but those were generally slow enough to make it a lot less likely to get people into real trouble on dry roads. Wet or slippery roads though you could very quickly be looking at where you came from.
I forget the website but some years ago there was one that was entirely pics and vids of wrecked high end cars, often with the story. Most were something along the lines of someone renting or buying a fast car without having any experience driving one and completely destroying it within hours.
Nice: 
Yeah I rolled my '64 Bug when I was a kid. We got out rolled it back over pushed it to get it running then drove away giggling. We weren't too bright...not that I'm all that bright now.
Haven't driven a 911 since my accountant's car in the late '90s. Nice car as I recall. What I posted earlier was advice he gave me before taking off. That car ended up in the trees that used to be outside turn 10 on Summit Point main.
All rear-engined Porsches oversteer to some extent since forever. The guy's first stop after delivery should have been driving school to learn how to drive the damned car.The GT3 is a lot of car! It's a track built weapon! It takes a lot of skill to drive it quickly.
It can take a 45mph corner at 80+mph, you just got to know how to handle it. Apparently he did not.
Oh well, too late now!
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We'd call that "winding up the rear end." The dreaded fatal oversteer happened a turn after the first apex boo-boo. You can feel the rear end "winding up" like a rubber band, ready to snap. You need to apply a touch of gas with the brakes to get the rear end to settle down. If you applied only full brakes, you are doomed.
Most smaller sports car suspensions are set up this way, for finer control. However, too much speed, braking, and late steering input, even my S2000 (FWD) will snap on you if you don't hit your marks and try to oversteer to correct.
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Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Might take a second can of rubbing compound, but that’ll buff out nicely. Gonna see that car on the road again
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Strapped down on a flatbed car trailer.
something about oversteer scares the passenger, understeer scares the driver.
Everything I have now tends to plow pretty bad into corners despite being RWD. Poor weight balance and suspension thats just not designed for handling. Its just what you get from an iron V8 and a solid rear axle, especially one with suspension designed for a soft ride. On those if you try and power through a corner its more inclined to just go straight through and over it than kick the back end out. Thats actually how I wrecked my previous Mark VII. The GPS gave me a sudden "turn here" and I was going too fast for the turn. Instead of making the turn it went straight across an island, breaking a large chunk out of the wheel where it slammed into the curb and bending everything on the front driver's corner upward.
Quadman2
Lunatic Member
If it was indeed the "winner"...difficult to feel sorry for him.
Power and lack of sense just don't mix well.
I remember years back when trying to decide on a Dodge Charger R/T. The sales-type was at the wheel when he "punched the gas pedal, and we shwished a bit. But by doing this to impress me, killed the deal! Way to much power! Even I knew that it was way too much a "beast" for me at the time.
Q
Power and lack of sense just don't mix well.
I remember years back when trying to decide on a Dodge Charger R/T. The sales-type was at the wheel when he "punched the gas pedal, and we shwished a bit. But by doing this to impress me, killed the deal! Way to much power! Even I knew that it was way too much a "beast" for me at the time.
Q
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Mike_S
Well-Known Member
It's not power oversteer as much as lift throttle oversteer. It was largely fixed when they moved to water cooled engines. But in general, you NEVER lift on a 911 when in a corner.
Yes, any GT level Porsche should come with a drivers school!! If you do not have the skill, do NOT turn off traction, and stability control. On a GT car it still will not save you, they allow a certain amount of slip before kicking in.
There are a few cars that behave like the 911, E30 BMW's, BMW Z3's, early Honda S2000's, VW Bugs, BRZ/GR86 ....
The rear-engined scenario is: you're too fast into a corner as the car starts to turn, so panic lift and / or slam on brakes either of which cause the car to pitch forward taking weight off of and therefore traction away from the rear wheels. At this point the mass of the engine takes over the direction of travel and wants to go first - into the trees. I believe Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart did this in his new 911 in the '70s on Tunitas Creek Road - broke his hand (or hands) and was unable to drum for a few months. (When crashing, good idea to let go of the steering wheel so your hands don't get broken.)
But that scenario is unlikely in modern Porsches (as compared to early '60s and '70s 911s) because they have traction control, much bigger, stickier tires are heavier and some have all-wheel driver and / or rear wheel steer.
And based on what I read in the linked article, I don't think that's the cause of this accident. The guy was drunk, driving 80-ish MPH (which you could do in many modern cars, really) in a 45 zone on a curvy mountain road with blind corners. Article says he served to avoid a car and hit a guardrail then crashed off the road. I speculate he came around a blind corner and came right upon a slower car (i.e. going half his speed), and panicked served into the on-coming lane and guardrail. In that case, he's lucky in that if another car had been coming the opposite lane a head-on collision might of resulted.
I have an '88 air-cooled 911 that I like to drive on back roads and I always approach blind curves and blind hill crests as if the road is blocked right around the corner - i.e. limit my speed to how far ahead I can see the road. So far no issues and also I've never had the backend-coming-around issue.
My 911 on Tunitas Creek Road in San Mateo County, CA.
Chad Michael
Dissonant Rhino
Some people are just "wired wrong" when it comes to operating machinery with horsepower and performance. Sad deal.
Tons of vids on utoob, of people driving exotic cars, muscle cars, etc. showing off..... losing control, and effing up their beautiful car.
My brother told me a story, of a co-worker who put outrageous amounts of money into a big, bad Ford PowerStroke truck. Modified and upgraded practically everything. One day after work, said guy, wanted to show off and spin his tires as he left work. Lost control, truck totalled. Insurance gave him 'book value' because that's all they have to pay. He lost sickening amounts of money in that moment.
Tons of vids on utoob, of people driving exotic cars, muscle cars, etc. showing off..... losing control, and effing up their beautiful car.
My brother told me a story, of a co-worker who put outrageous amounts of money into a big, bad Ford PowerStroke truck. Modified and upgraded practically everything. One day after work, said guy, wanted to show off and spin his tires as he left work. Lost control, truck totalled. Insurance gave him 'book value' because that's all they have to pay. He lost sickening amounts of money in that moment.
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