I have read a lot of posts by people who drive their 911's in a spirited manner and use the term "toss" with regard to the car's handling. "You can toss the car in turns." "These old 911's are very agile and tossable." What exactly is meant by this term? I think I know but just want to clarify for my own edification.

 

I am not sure myself but I would imagine it would mean to "toss" into corners at high speed or make high speed manoevers without fear of the car losing control. it may even involve some recoverable oversteer. Who knows .. I have worked too hard on mine to risk anything dumber than a speeding ticket..

 

When I hear this term, I think of a car that feels balanced and nimble... eager to change direction quickly. I haven't driven many really old 911s, but I imagine that the added weight and wider tires on my '84 Carrera Cab makes it feel like more work in the twisties compared to a light, skinny-tired early car, but the ultimate handling limits are certainly higher.

 

I would use that word to describe the feeling when handling the car like you can...."tossing" it into corners like you can...rear engine and rear wheel drive, you can dive into turns, and use moderate braking to distribute the weight and balance the car through the corner...completely a rear wheel / rear engine exclusive feeling.

 

I take it to mean the ability to throw the rear end around -- controlled oversteer in a corner that you induce either by late braking or a strategic throttle lift (or sometimes throttle application, in different circumstances). It's a way to rotate the car more efficiently than you can with the steering wheel when you're going hot into a corner. Autocross would be where you'd see it the most clearly, I'd guess.

 

I've always used the term in context to a car's nimbleness and ability to respond to driver's input. Thus, a 911 is "tossable" in my mind because it feels agile and responsive in one's hands when one initiates turn in, and also responds readily to throttle-induced oversteer to aid in rotating the car toward track-out. A car that is not "tossable" to me is one that does what IT wants to and is sluggish to respond to driver input (or ignores the driver almost entirely ) when put into a turn.

Edward

 

Agreed. A Taurus is not tossable. A BMW is.

Ian

 

My Taurus is very tossable ... I keep wanting to Toss it into the garbage...

 

"Tossing" a car into a corner usually means an abrupt steering input which gets the back end loose (skidding). The throttle and opposite lock (counter-steering) is then used to guide the car in the desired direction. Rally drivers almost always "toss" their cars into corners on loose surfaces.

Tossable cars have to have predictable handling and fast reflexes i.e. respond promptly and predictably to driver inputs.

Best,

 

Mostly overused jargon. tossable = I love my car.
Tho' the ford taurus may just be tossible in the context outlined above...

 

You just have to know how to track a FWD car. It can be done effectively.

 

Hey Fred is that SHO ?

 

Yep, the blue one was my 95 Auto, Chip, 80mm MAF, Borla, welded unibody connectors, 29mm rear swaybar, Tokicos & Eibachs, aluminum subframe bushings, 12" brakes all around. My wife liked it for auto-x, didn't like it so much at Lime Rock when she spun it coming down onto the front straight. That's at Summit Point a few years ago, BTW.

The Mocha was my 91 stick, lowered to 9.0:1 CR block, forged JE slugs, stage 2 cams, ported heads w/ oversized valves, Vortech V1 S-Trim, custom headers w/ true duals, Quaife differential, 4-pot Wilwood 12.2 x .810 billet superlites, custom coilovers (600/400 #-in) w/ Koni struts, aluminum bushings & alum. / heimed control arms, welded connectors, roll bar & all. That's the one that made 419hp to the wheels.

Don't get me wrong, I'd RATHER have a decked out mid-90's M3 for a track *****, but just cuz it's wrong wheel drive doesn't mean it's not "tossable". Sometimes it's "too" tossable...

 

Talk about a sleeper....

 

I'll find out how tossable my Cooper is (not counting the autocross trophies I've won) on track in mid-November at Roebling in Savannah. Will be my first time in a FWD on track (have driven Alfa Milano, E46 M3, 996 C4S at track events).

As fun as it would be, I'm reticent to take my SC to the track for all the crap other cars will throw up at it, for a 23 year old car its cosmetic condition is incredible. HOWEVER, it would be pure joy to open it up on VIR's back straight now that it has SSIs and an M&K..... sure SOUNDS like a race car :-)