Porsche
Would you be surprised to learn Porsche made the world’s first full hybrid car? Would you be surprised to learn this was more than 120 years ago?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG-NnmcIfLE Recreated for the 2011 Geneva Auto Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz99c0K29es |
sokogear- I have been out of PCA a long time now but was region president and attended all kinds of events for years, everything from social dinners and concours to autocross, driver ed and tech sessions. One of the things that hit me, no matter what type of event it was roughly 20% were first-timers. They just heard about PCA and this was their first event. Another roughly 20% were long-timers like yourself. These people all know each other and have their certain events they like and have been doing for decades. The roughly 60% in the middle, might be their second event, might be around a few years, or longer, they have made a few friends and come when they can. That 20% of first-timers, I don’t know what it is today but it was very consistent for years at all events. When you are talking 100 cars at autocross, to think 20 are new, probably another 20 on top of that are recent, that is significant. There is a lesson here for audiophiles. When those first time people show up at PCA they invariably find no one cares what car they drive. No one cares if they are into track or autocross, tours or dinners or concours. In all my years across PCA I never once heard anyone say it was a waste to tweak or modify. You can drive your gleaming factory original concours perfect 356 to the track and you and your car will get just as much attention and respect as the guy who just set track record in his highly modified paint chipped and bug splattered track car. Maybe more. We get these why is high end audio dying topics from time to time. Maybe if we were more like PCA then we would be growing like Porsche? |
Every 911 is an exceptional automobile. Every once in a while however Porsche hits an absolute home run. Their first one was the 911SC. While all the subsequent 911 variants are faster, none had that perfect balance of actual measured performance with perceived performance feel. The 993 is a much faster car. It is also heavier and as a result has to be driven a whole lot faster and yet still not give you the feeling you get driving a good SC. The next one to nail it was the 997. The best of the 997 coming towards the end, the 997.2 GTS and C4S. The 997 was I think the first 911 to use PASM. The first one I drove had PASM and it was incredible! I will never forget accelerating around a curve. Normally the faster you go the more you need to steer to maintain the same line due to tire squirm and suspension changes. With PASM it was exhilirating to feel the car accelerate as if on rails with virtually no additional steering input! Marvelous! The 997 was also when Porsche finally got awd down. Before this their awd always gave the feeling of something mechanical going on. Not that it didn’t work incredibly well. The Turbo I drove was impressive. It was just the feeling of clutches and stuff working that was a bit off-putting. The 997.2 C4S however was darn near perfect! I drove one back to back with a 997 GTS and was surprised to find the C4S had just as good steering feel and car balance as the GTS! Frankly, in terms of balance and handling, the ability to push hard and not feel like pushing hard, the 997.2 C4S was quite a bit better than the GTS! Your Targa is basically a C4S. Heavier, not as much body stiffness, but a far cry from the "flexible flyer" of air-cooled Targa days. It was a lot of work to find, there are never a lot of Targas around. So give yourself a big pat on the back for finding yours. Not only is it a great car, but now going nowhere but up in value. As I’m sure you already know! |
We had a picnic on the beach in Carmel with Ron and Nina on each of our
two trips, near the Frank Lloyd Wright home that has a ship’s like prow.
Was really tranquil, serene. So glad we had those moments with them. Now I really am jealous! Carmel is one of the most beautiful cities. The tall trees, Monterey Cypress I think they're called, tower over the homes with their high canopy shading everything below. This filters the light and heat creating a scene of almost surreal beauty. The beaches are brighter but equally as beautiful. We had lunch at The Boar's Head Inn and this was back when Clint owned it but alas no Eastwood, I would give anything to meet that guy. Or even catch a glimpse. Still, what a place! |
Glad to hear your friends are gems. I hope you never experience the suffocating cauldron of elitism that is Pebble. We went there for the Historics the year Porsche was the featured marque. The wife thought the track would be a chore but she was sure the Concours would be fun so the deal was Laguna Seca Saturday, Pebble Sunday. Saturday at the track was a blast. An experience to remember. We both had a great time. The best. Sunday at Pebble from the time we got there was like being in a fish bowl. Every single set of eyes searching around, every single brain focused on rating social status, financial status, like their life depended on it. My wife thought it would be such fun to hang out with the high class crowd. She never dreamed the high class crowd would be so incredibly judgmental. We went in and ordered breakfast. Through the window we could see the most beautiful sight on Earth. Pebble truly does look like heaven on Earth. Beauty almost beyond words. With all the most beautiful cars in the world arrayed out on that impeccable beyond perfect lawn. As we ate we kept looking around at that gorgeous view, and the people coming and going. The people coming and going all inspecting everyone while studiously avoiding appearing to be studying anyone. My wife looks at me and says, "Could we go back to the track?" You bet! The whole way there she has this crestfallen look, could talk about little else but the people at Pebble. When we get to the track, step out of the Porsche into Laguna Seca, it was as if a great weight had been lifted. The air never so sweet. The people, angels. Truly this is heaven on Earth. |
I had a friend in high school who inherited 30k from an uncle around 1979. He bought a ‘71 911E, and then a ‘67 911S. The latter was a truly amazing car. Mechanical fuel injection with lots of torque. Now worth about 250K. Have you ever seen a 67 S worth that kind of money? I have. At the time I was PCA president of PNWR. Paul Risinger lived nearby. Seen his 67 911S many times. The car is so freaking perfect you cannot believe! Paul did a Tech Session one time where he talked about how he does it. Most guys will devote a day or a long weekend to detailing the whole car. Paul picks one small part of the car like say the left front fender and spends a week or so perfecting just that one area. But Paul’s 67 911S is no garage queen. Bought new, it has been to Death Valley, and from there all the way to the arctic circle! Paul tells the story of driving one day and getting tired. Really tired. Was having so much fun driving, couldn’t figure out why he was so tired. Wife too. Until they realized the sun never sets, they had been driving all through the "night"! Your comment about the 67 S made me curious. As many places as this car has been, as much fame and glory as the Risinger’s achieved, it had to be on-line. Sure enough. $250k is low. Try $385k! https://www.early911sregistry.org/forums/showthread.php?103101-FS-RS-1967-Porsche-911S-Pristine-Conc... The car is one thing, but Paul and Shirley are another. Nicest most genuine people I ever met. Beautiful home in a beautiful neighborhood, made unbelievably harmonious thanks to their rallying their neighbors into landscaping with all Washington native plants. Imagine a neighborhood transformed into a National Park. They held concours in their back yard, gleaming Porsche cars on perfect green grass. Then we sit and enjoy the food and drink and conversation while gazing at all these beautiful, beautiful Porsches. Thank you so much dcevan for bringing these memories back again. Thanks a million. |
sofaman-
Besides, the best Porsche ever is not even mentioned here: the 908. ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsf8S3qgwX8 |
whart- I never liked turbo cars for their binary quality (Jeckell/Hyde) but I gather the 930 was a handful. Yeah that is something we all heard plenty of, but I actually got to experience it first hand! As a PCA Driving Instructor I once had a student who had one of these. It was a long time ago and so don’t hold me to the details but it was something like below about 4k RPM it felt like maybe 80hp, if that. Then suddenly, and I mean suddenly like a switch being flipped it had about 240, something like that. It wasn’t the power so much as the delivery. Like a freaking on/off switch! This means there is no such thing as driving a little faster. You are either slogging or balls out, no in-between! How anyone ever learned to drive one of these I will never know! It was quite frankly beyond me. I simply was not comfortable driving another guys car as fast as you had to go to keep that thing in the band. Another instructor more familiar with them took the guy out and when they came back the brakes, you could see the heat waves, and the owner looked to be on the knife edge between giddy and terrified! My first ever ride in a Porsche was a brand new 75 Turbo Carrera. It had a huge obvious surge but not on/off like this one. So I kind of want to believe it was this one particular car. But even so, to get the most out of one you really, really had to know what you’re doing! |
The point is Porsches are not and never have been about horsepower or acceleration but rather the driving experience. There is no substitute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM2eMhY53N4 |
Why am I not surprised a guy who knows nothing about audio also managed to own several Porsches and even tour the factory and yet not know the Mezger engine was used in GT3 up until the 991. Since this video is a 997 that means the GTS has the normal engine with power kit while the 997GT3 has the Mezger. https://www.total911.com/technology-explained-mezger-engine/ This engine uses a true dry sump design from motorsport making it much more reliable for track use, hence the GT3. Read it and weep fellas, read it and weep. The thread is now open for apologies. Don't be shy. |
Sorry my bad, X51. Other than that everything else is spot on. Point being it is just another option, a power kit, that can be ordered on any Carrera S. In sharp contrast to the GT3 which uses a completely different engine. I do not for one second expect those who don't know Porsche to get one word of this. Can't get DBA, MTM, etc how ya gonna get GTS, GT3? You are not. You will always think it is hp and other numbers equally as irrelevant as wpc. As it has been so shall it ever be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOE9mNe5c7M |
This is the introduction to his video comparing his 2012 GTS to his 2010 GT3. What does that have to do with Prima Luna? Nothing. It will be interesting to see what he says. The GTS is not a true GT car, not in the Porsche sense. It is really just a Carrera S tarted up with some nice options, notably the X50 engine package. The GT3 by contrast is a genuine GT car, with different suspension, different engine. Not the same suspension with different shocks and springs, a different suspension. Not the same engine with different intake, a completely different engine. It may look like the same car with different spoilers, but it is not. Porsche GT cars are something special. It says a lot about Kevin Deal that he has one. |
