Handling

944 Handling

The 944 has an interesting Engine/Transmission layout. The water-cooled motor of course, is located in the front while the transmission is in the rear just in front of the rear axle driving the wheels. What this means is the handling of the vehicle is so balanced, Car and Driver Magazine awarded it the best handling car in America in 1985. I can attest to this because I have personally taken 30 MPH exit ramps at 60 MPH (without letting up on the throttle) and the road adhesion is phenomenal. Helping the handling of the car are the seven spoke 16 inch Turbo S rims fitted with BF Goodrich 245 45 R16 tires in the rear, as shown in the above photo, and 225 50 R 16 tires in front. The owners manual specifies that On a controlled test track, the car is capable of achieving .9 G in a turn. Actually, Road & Track Magazine documented the 944 effortlessly pull a 1.11 G turn at 60.9 mph at Willow Springs Raceway utilizing a Valentine Technologies G-Analyzer. The cars top speed as disclosed by Road and Track is 131 mph. My personal best was 121 mph. I would have kept going, but there was some road congestion developing.

911 Carrera 2 handling

This car commands the utmost attention of the driver when
exloiting its abilities. First of all, the car is small. With the engine located behind you, generating 250 HP at 6800 RPM, the driver is propelled forward 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. ( second gear) If you can imagine this, imagine at full throttle your heart sinking towards the back of you ribs to the leather seat that keeps you from flying through the rear glass during acceleration. My personal best speed in this car was only 100mph in fourth gear. (This was in between traffic lights on my way to work.) The engine wasn't even wound out and there was enough surplus power to take this vehicle much faster. One feature significant to this particular model is the rear spoiler that automatically deploys (shown above) when the car reaches speeds over 50mph to keep the rear end planted to the ground during high speed. Notice the new 17 inch Cup Rims.

This is the exposed extremely expensive rear clip of a 964 identical to mine. This clip contains the transmission, semi trailing arm rear suspension including shocks, rim and tires as well as the engine. This photo captures the entire character of the 1989-1994 Porsche 964 series. Note the tube on the left which leads to the shifter linkage and the cross section of the gearbox showing the gears and differential. The box on the top is the airfilter, and of course at the rear is the engine itself.

For 1991, Porsche developed a new suspension system far more advanced than the previous models. This included the Weissach type rear axle found on the 928 cars which automatically corrected toe-in angle at the rear wheels during hard cornering. Even though these suspension improvements were made, one had to remember NOT to take their foot off the throttle while in a hard turn, because the driver will experience an interesting sensation of losing control of the rear end. (I do not care much for this feeling) This is the famous OVERSTEER every Porsche Cognoscenti warns new drivers to the 911 series. I am still experimenting with the handling capabilities of my Carrera 2 every day. My daily drive to the office is not a commute, but a daily practice session. One morning , on an entrance ramp bearing rightward towards a main highway I kept the gearshift lever in third gear, rapidly accelerated towards 6000 rpm and purposely let off the gas as an experiment. Boy, I'll tell you,I could hear the rear tires squeeling behind me and felt the cars rear move towards my left ear! Well, I was not going to let this car get out from behind me, and merely recovered the steering wheel while giving her more throttle. I got out of it, but I could have done it better. Oh well, ther'es always tomorrow