Has your 944 ever "Bitten" you ?

[Diver944]

Never had a real moment on the road, these cars have so much grip that you have to drive like a loon to unsettle them. The wet can be a different story, especially if you're not used to rear wheel drive, but I try to treat the conditions with utmost respect and cross fingers I've never lost control.

I've had a couple of tank slappers on track where the back end stepped out a bit and then I always over corrected getting it back again. The worst ever moment has to be when my brakes totally failed at Snetterton. It only makes you really appreciate how well they are built when you hit something hard []

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUw0NCZqCGc

 

[J4CKO]

Mine hasnt bitten me (yet) but I tend tobe wary of it, have provoked it but only at low ish speed, can now get it nicely sideways, was horrendous in the winter when the roads were salty and cold.

 

[Peter Empson]

On one of my very early track days I somehow had a huge tank slapper joining the Hangar Straight - quite how I've never recalled (I could blame the P6000 tyres, but reality was just a severe lack of talent). At that moment I discovered by accident that letting go of the steering wheel could be a very good way to prevent a spin (but nearly broke my thumb when I went to grab it when it was straight again...).

A few years later and I'd just had the Leda suspension fitted, I was at Bedford Autodrome on the first quick lap of the day. I took the chicane that follows the long straight (which I guess is 90mph ish?) and the back went instantly without warning when I turned right, think I almost managed a 720... It's never a good one when you can't work out how to get back to the track afterwards. I came in, had a coffee, checked the tyre pressure, underwear, and so on and went out again.

At a good 10-20mph slower the same thing happened again on the next lap. I couldn't understand it at all, the car felt stable everywhere else. Got back to the pits to discover someone had turned one rear shock to min and the other to max...

I've had a few other adventures on track, but invariably these cars are very forgiving and predictable, you just have to remember there's a lot of weight moving around so you need to be fairly fast with your corrections. The white car in its current form is a bit hairy when it wants to be, but once there's some heat in the tyres it's pretty docile.

 

[Starch]

With my 944 being a drift car, I have lost count of the number of times I have spun it, mostly due to lack of steering lock as standard.
I have also had a standard care on the road.
I found that the standard car is nasty and snaps in a very unpredictable and not easily controllable way. Although having said that I think you have to really abuse it to get it to bite.
The drift car is different in that it has a solid diff (welded) low profile tires (195/50/15) and a coil over rear.

In short an LSD will make controllability much better than a standard open diff, however I would imagine a high mileage standard item would be next to no better than an open diff.
I did once use a set of standard tires on the rear but I think due to the high pressures the tire would not roll like a standard tire thus allowing more control. Another reason to fit bigger wheels maybe.,
The coil over rear, proper Geo set-up and lowered suspension also improve the feel of the car and is probably the biggest improvement I made (along with the additional steering lock)

The hardest thing to learn when a car starts to slide is dont try and use the steering wheel, let go, grab it again when the car has stabilized. There is not a chance you will keep up with the rate of increase of angle as a slide progresses (unless you have a mega quick steering rack). After that use the throttle dont just dump it the sudden weight transfer will just make things worse.
Its all good saying this and it requires practice but if you can manage it it can give you a few extra seconds to either control it or decide where the best place is to spin to and how to do it.
I know this from having spun my Mk2 escort several times in the past, which was a std 55bhp crossflow, a few extra seconds make the difference.

If you want to see how its done just watch any in car drift video and see how little they touch the steering wheel.

Picture for the proof

 

[nick9one1]

I nearly lost my 944 on the corner below during winter. It wasnt snowy that day but very very cold.

I was travelling about 50mph, slightly slower than I usually take the corner. And I remember the back stepping out almost immediately. It seemed to go on forever, and as I got to the end of the turn it started going the other way, luckily I was faster to react and caught it.

I've marked the length of the slide with the red markers, and it doesnt look too bad until you realise the small dot circled in green is a car.
I guess it was around 175 meters end to end. Probably looked really good to others but was completely unexpected.
I put it down to poor road conditions, bad tyres, and unchecked geometry.

I think the 944 has a jekyl and hide personality, the extra weight at the back helps to prevent a slide by providing more downforce on the rear tyres, but once its broken free the weight hinders you as the pendulum action kicks in.

 

[Melv]

Mine used to do weird things under braking if either front wheel was on a white line. Slowing down for traffic lights once at low speed it went over hard lock to the left....still gong in a straight line....

 

[944 man]

'Tank slapper' is something that happens on a motorbike and it is a bike term. Im not sure who first misused it but its common now and its driving me mad!

Of course now that its been copied and misused on Top Gear, itll never end...

This is a tank slapper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1srcQMa_0

As you can see when the wobble gets really bad and the bike is shaking its head, the handle bars are repeatedly hitting the fuel tank = tank slapper. Ive never understood why people repeat the misuse: surely they wonder what it means?

 

[944 man]

On a similar note, the episode of TG where they test a Skoda Yeti against a Ferrari 308 GTB at a sorry-looking Donnington Park, Jeremy Clarkson makes an even more stupid comment: '...the Skodas really trying to get its knee down...' as it understeered off one of the corners.

Meaningless twaddle in a very similar vein. If anyone repeats that within earshot, then I will repeatedly punch them in the head until I am no longer able to lift my arm.

 

[ukmastiff]

Ive never read so many excuses !
In poor conditions slow down simples.
As for being bitten , no my two turbos both had old tired suspension but they both told you when to slow down and you always knew where you stood.
Track driving is a different matter but i think to many 944 owners forget they aren't on a race track.
I've driven far less trustworthy 80's cars. in case you think i dont confess my own sins, the last time i lost it in a car was in a capri ! , one crash one wrecked car and 4 points but it was in 1982, now they were tail happy. we used to put sand bags in te boot

 

[CarreraRSR]

High sided the '24 over Avon Rise and entered Quarry the wrong way!!

Thankfully I ran out of momentum before the tyre wall

 

[Jonny944CS]

Seeing the drift photo, I like the idea of taking the car to a big wide open space to throw it around without fear of hitting anything. Somewhere with a low grip surface that doesn't trash the tyres would be ideal to learn how the car behaves - should such a situation occur on road or track.

Can anybody recommend any good venues or organised days?

 

[Fat Albert]

I ran out of talent 2 weeks into ownership when I tried to drive around the outside of a Saxo on a roundabout, the Maxxis tyres let go and I ended up doing a 180 and bringing all the traffic to a halt....very embarassing as I did my 3 point turn and made a hasty exit!!

I changed the tyres and then I attended a lecture at the PH 'Caring with Cars' event last year where a Physics teacher and Racing instructor showed how the build up of tension between front and rear wheels can then cause a sudden release and spin, braking later into the corner keeps the weight on the front and gives better turn-in.

Also coming off the pedals with as much care as going on helps with car balance "braking should be like a good turd; firm in the middle and nicely tapered at each end"

 

[944 man]

'High sided' Steve? Agghhh!

You have to be doing that on purpose? []

As Im sure that you know, a 'high side' is another thing that can only happen on a motorcycle. When youre leaned over cornering and the front, rear or both tyres slip, but then grip again, the bike flips up and over and spits you over the high side (as opposed to a low side, where it flops on the floor).

 

[MarkK]

"You drive" at Porsche Experience Silverstone it is 160 quid and classy joes all the way,the low friction surfaces are Fab.

 

[Jonny944CS]

ORIGINAL: MarkK

"You drive" at Porsche Experience Silverstone it is 160 quid and classy joes all the way,the low friction surfaces are Fab.

Group visit?


We could all take it in turns to get our 'knee down' and pull an 'endo'...

 

[JamesO]

ORIGINAL: 944 man

'High sided' Steve? Agghhh!

You have to be doing that on purpose? []

As Im sure that you know, a 'high side' is another thing that can only happen on a motorcycle. When youre leaned over cornering and the front, rear or both tyres slip, but then grip again, the bike flips up and over and spits you over the high side (as opposed to a low side, where it flops on the floor).

I've 'High sided' a downhill bike, does that count? It really hurt.

More on topic mine tried to bite me last weekend on a wet roundabout. Thing is I was keeping a steady throttle and slowly following an overloaded Vauxhall Corsa. It broke away very quickly. I think my Bridgestones are way past their best.

 

[GlennS]

ORIGINAL: CarreraRSR

High sided the '24 over Avon Rise and entered Quarry the wrong way!!

That's so common an occurrence it's almost a Wiltshire tradition. []

 

[Mike_Pollock]

I could find those pics from Curborough if you like Melv? []

But that would be unfair - that was in a Beetle[]

 

[Mike_Pollock]

I was on the back of a 750 K4 and we high sided into a hedge many years ago, got off more lightly than if it had just laid down!. Just rather bruised!

Bike got wedged in the ditch and we couldn't shift it, until a real mini came by with 5 rugby players in (not sure how they fitted in it!) but they made light work of lifting it.

 

[carreraboy]

My Lux best handling Porsche I have ever owned, mind you the other 30 odd were/are all 911[:-]