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The result wasn't really a surprise. It would have been somewhat different with longer straights though.
It is news that a 30 year old car is still competitive on the track, especially one made for Grand Touring, not racing. Personally, I bought mind for style and character - there are lots of modern cars that will out-perform it (at least when staying road-legal), and could cost a lot less to maintain. I have boring cars to drive in weather, and the 928 for smiles per hour.
If you happen t have old stacks of car magazines around, take a look at any early 1980's Road & Track Road Test Summary page...and then look at the same page from 2016. Quite an eye opener to see how fast the average car has become.
It was a fair point to illustrate how far these little sport utes have come, although as everyone has said, probably the slowest Porsche (other than the 944 or 968 automatic) to bring to the test. The MB automatic is not at all fast. My 2006 Cayenne S would spank my 1985 928S in a stop light race, mostly because you can preselect 1st gear and it will bang off the 1-2 shift at redline.
Would have been fun to see a 1987 3.2 Carrera take the same challenge...but then again, a 2800 lb sports car spanking a mini 'ute is not much of a challenge.
If you happen t have old stacks of car magazines around, take a look at any early 1980's Road & Track Road Test Summary page...and then look at the same page from 2016. Quite an eye opener to see how fast the average car has become.
It was a fair point to illustrate how far these little sport utes have come, although as everyone has said, probably the slowest Porsche (other than the 944 or 968 automatic) to bring to the test. The MB automatic is not at all fast. My 2006 Cayenne S would spank my 1985 928S in a stop light race, mostly because you can preselect 1st gear and it will bang off the 1-2 shift at redline.
Would have been fun to see a 1987 3.2 Carrera take the same challenge...but then again, a 2800 lb sports car spanking a mini 'ute is not much of a challenge.
In the 1990s, I had dinner with my Dad, taking my 1989 GTA I had, which at the time, could be a fair comparison to the 928 of the same. As we drove to dinner, I remember his comments about how the car was quite loud (compared to the 928) and not as smooth, but immediately recognized the car "felt" faster/quicker then its european counterpart.
Which car would have been fast around the track? Who knows. They were both fast, but in different ways. They were also both comfortable, in their own manners, as well. But fast forward to today, and they are both slow and antiquated by today's modern machines.
I had my comeuppance last year at the track. This mostly stock looking econobox was on my butt through the turns, but that wasn't a huge surprise. With the right driver, the little cars do well in the twisties. It was when he was pushing me in the straights. WTF?
I was humbled and wanted to find out what this grocery-getter really was.
Turns out it was a mildly tweaked Mazda 3 MPS. Very unassuming, but the guy told me it dynoed at just under 300hp. In that little chassis..that explains a lot.
And it was his daily driver.
Looked kinda like this:
That said, as he did say that's 30 years of advancements. My wife's VW 2012 CC 2.0 is just as quick as my '89. The DSG makes a difference as does the direct injection. Add stiffer springs and change the fuel mappings in the VW and it would beat my '89 by more than a few seconds. Top end I do not know as I haven't researched her gear ratio to hp/torque and what the limit might be.
The video shows what modern cars can do and not so much what an older car with modern technology "could be" capable of.
Michael your S-4 should be slightly quicker than the CC and faster....you might want to dyno your car to see if it still is running as it should.
Jim,
I have no doubt that my '89 could stretch her legs and outrun the CC. 0 to speed limits I have the CC by a couple of cars but that is relative seconds.
Throw her car on a track with better springs/suspension than stock and mappings and the CC would catch me.
The video is about a track and 2 cars. Neither made it above 120-130mph. The 928 is a GT and not a Lotus.
The comparison was between a modern car (sports) and a 30 year old (sports) car.
12-07-2016, 11:43 AM
