Tips to drive the 911

[Gyorgy]

Hi,

bought the Targa; it is being shipped to me. I have read 911s handle differently than other cars. Previously I have been driving a mercedes coupe with rear wheel drive and 100 less hp. I am considering taking it to a track but in the interim, what should I pay attention to other than keeping it "real"?

Your advice is apprecited. BTW it does not have the Porsche Stability Management option.

[DaveFL1976]

Hi,

bought the Targa; it is being shipped to me. I have read 911s handle differently than other cars. Previously I have been driving a mercedes coupe with rear wheel drive and 100 less hp. I am considering taking it to a track but in the interim, what should I pay attention to other than keeping it "real"?

Your advice is apprecited. BTW it does not have the Porsche Stability Management option.

The NA 996, even without Traction Control, is a very stable car, and isn't tricky to drive like the older 911s you hear about with loose rear ends. Breaking traction is pretty tough to do on these, but it is possible, especially if the roads are wet. Typically there's so much traction that you'd have to be doing something pretty stupid in everyday traffic to get into trouble.

The biggest problems in traffic is trying to restrain yourself from having too much fun! The brakes can be a problem in traffic, too, but only because you'll almost always be able to stop much quicker than the car behind you.

I recommend playing around on a wide open, desolate parking lot in the middle of nowhere to get to know your car. And join your local Porsche Club of America chapter and sign up for some autocrosses. They're a blast and are a great learning experience to find out how your car reacts in a safe environment.

Edited March 2, 2011 by DaveFL1976

[nghiaho58]

Congratulations!

It is like a newly wed...you will get to know her secrets if you drive her more often and of course hard like someones here said "drive it like you steal it"

[Gyorgy]

Thank you for your input. I have a 60 mile round trip commute, all windy back roads : )

[ryanaboud]

It's still a rear engine car: try to avoid slamming on the brakes in the middle of a curve or the rear of the car will want to trade places with the front. You may have to in order to avoid a collision at one point in time or another, but try to learn and expect how the car will react. When oversteering, braking may also cause more spin. It drives completely different than a front engine car despite that the 996 handles way better and is more stable than it's predecessors. Have fun, but be careful. Don't push too hard too fast.

[msaif]

Hi,

bought the Targa; it is being shipped to me. I have read 911s handle differently than other cars. Previously I have been driving a mercedes coupe with rear wheel drive and 100 less hp. I am considering taking it to a track but in the interim, what should I pay attention to other than keeping it "real"?

Your advice is apprecited. BTW it does not have the Porsche Stability Management option.

I highly recommend you attend a Porsche Driving school. No doubt you would have conducted research on the 911 prior to purchase. I paid GBP275 for a 1.5 hour session in the UK and it covered: seating position, steering wheel grip, handling characteristics, understeer, oversteer, ice, rain, skids etc.. all this was covered in 90 mins in a car similar to mine (they have all the models available so you can specify the same spec as your car). I now enjoy and more, importantly, understand what I have so I get the most out of it. No doubt this is what you need (goto the Porsche UK website and it's all on there).

[Richard Hamilton]

Nobody has said it yet - "Slow in, fast out".