JGriff

Just curious... how many folks use their 914 as a daily driver, on major highways... along with tractor trailers and SUVs?

I ask because my wife feels that my 914 is a death trap... especially if I were to use it to commute to work... on the highway, with lots of tractor trailers and SUVs.

I haven't taken it out on the highway yet (I'm still trying to find the time to adjust the carbs and sort out other little things), so I can't say from personal experience what it is like. This is my first 914 (and my first Porsche), and I can say it might take a bit getting used to... this car is low!! When I stand next to it, the roof is at my waist!! Those Ford Expedition bumpers are just about at the roofline!! :-)

The one "positive" that could come out of my wife's concern is that she said that she would feel better if I had a 911 instead... since it is bigger and safer. Yeehaw!! :-)

Thoughts/comments/feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. Here is a quick site about my car:
http://jgriff.freeservers.com/Porsche914.htm

As time permits, I'll be updating it.

Jim

Irishdriver

I don't really get the problem here?
Are you more concerned about your safety because the car is low?

I think the 914 is a cool raod car and i don't think it's much more of a risk than a golf (Rabbit) or any other car that's less than one ton.

If you get hit by a two ton Ford explorer loosing its Firestones or a big rig concentrating on his CB call you're not as protected as you would be in your new "Mercedes" NEON as there is 30 years of structural engineering between the cars.

If it's just you're worried about not being seen my advice is respray it Blood Orange then nobody will missyou !!

Xerxez

I have a Sunflower Yellow 73 914 2.0L and I always thought that this would be a very easy color to see and that nobody would miss it from any distance. Well, just my luck I get rear-ended by a teenager on his brand-new Nissan Exterra. I don't think it will help if you paint the car any bright color. However, I do find the car very road worthy especially for freeway driving.
here's a pic of my car. http://www.dentalarts.com/xmc/914/album1.html

Hope the link works.
Xerxez

Roland Kunz

Hello

One of my friends had in 1990 a bad accident with his near perfect 914/4.

He hit a Bus with calculatet 50 mph and he hit it with 30 % off the driverside.

The result was he had a broken lower leg and several traumata. The accident analysis showed up he would have more injuries siting in in a average other car off that wightclass.

His injuries might have been not es hard if he had the spare tire in the trunk. He had a selfmade mdf board to mount his telefone and steroequipment and also a smale safe to transport his valuable things mountet in there ( using thespare tire bolt to clamp it down ) and the spare normaly in the rear or at home. That mdf was my misstake. It was just clamped in so we hadn´t to drill in the good body and that board was damn hard on the accident pushing trough to the frontaxle traverse and shoerting the usable crumble zone so the car was hit to hard in the rocker/door section leading to colapse the floorarea/wheelweel and pushing the axle inside the pedal area.

I still feel somehow guilty on his shorter left foot but he is happy with that.

One short sidenote is that the Porsche 911 914 and the VW 412 wher the leaders in frontend saftey for several years.

If you don´t have a front engine you have enough room to crumble the car leading to a lower total peak and prolonged crashtime.

But physical laws will give the borders.

The low on a sportscar is that you can underrun farmer or other comercial vihecles not using the full crumblezone.

Also the lower seat position has a lower horizont and so you have not the same view like a typical SUV driver.

Several months ago Opel anounced the new Astra and give out crash datas remenbering to the numbers a VW 411 had 33 years ago. The only benefit from the Opel where the seat restrain and the airbag. Well GM bought SAAB to make some progress there.

The best life protection is back off if and keep your brakes and seatbelts in best shape.

Grüsse

George Helser

JGriff,

I drove a ‘71 914 1.7 about 100,000 miles over 11 years. For the first 4 years it was my daily driver. I drove once around the US which was about 8000 miles. I was never in an accident and drove it on the track a few times without a scratch even though I spun it
more than once.

I felt safer in the 914 in most ways than in a full size car because I was so highly
maneuverable. The only safety weakness was in my car’s low power when I wanted to
pass or to get away from someone tailgating.

In addition to high maneuverability, here are the other safety strengths I see in the 914:
- High strength to weight ratio
- Large crumple zones in the front & back
- Very safe location of the fuel tank
- Fade free brakes
- Not affected by high crosswinds that would blow other vehicles off course on the
highway
- Unlike a SUV, a flat tire will not cause a 914 to roll over!

Regards,
George
In sunny Arizona

Chris Campbell

I've been driving my 73 2.0 almost daily for 2 years now.

I have had one accident, where a guy in a Jaguar convertible pulled out in front of me from a stop sign (into 35mph oncoming traffic.) Needless to say, this scared the crap out of me, and it really was stuck in my mind for several months afterwards. Fortunately the damage to my 'teener was "only" a few grand and the tub was not bent, and the insurance picked up a good portion of the tab. (I ended up doing a full repaint as well, so the car is sweet now.)

Now, as of 2 weeks ago, I have a newborn baby to worry about. I know some guys actually put a car seat in their 914's, as well as in 911's, but at least for the first year of life when you're supposed to use a rear-facing seat in the back seat of the car, that ain't gonna fly. My wife has outright vetoed the baby to ride in the p-cars until he's at least 2 or so.

Anyways, the other day I got a huge suprise in that my company is offering to get me a car. Business is picking up and I'll be driving more and more -- my 3 mile commute will be more like 60-100 miles to customer sites some days. So, I'm shopping for a baby-seat friendly, not-too-boring mid size 4 door. The 914 will stay at home for weekends and track use.

To make a short story long, for my 3 mile commute to the office, the 914 was fine...when you're talking about 50+ miles on congested LA freeways full of SUV's and semi's...sketchy...

Chris Campbell

Jim - I won't tell your wife this, but a 911 (at least the early ones) are not really bigger than a 914. In fact, the 914 has a longer wheelbase and slightly wider track! Remember, the 911 has that tiny rear seat, which makes the cabin seem bigger, but it ain't got the rear trunk! My 911 also only weighs less than 200lbs more than my 914. A lot of this is the heavy seats and additional upholstery, carpet & sound deadening.

Believe it or not, I find the 914 somewhat more comfortable on choppy roads. And my 911 has a softer sprung suspension than my 914. It is the wheelbase, and the better weight-balance of the 914 (mid engined, lower center of gravity).

Tell your wife you need one of each to do a fair evaluation!

JGriff

Thanks to everyone for their feedback... I greatly appreciate it. :0

I took the car out on the highway the other day... and it didn't seem all that bad (there wasn't much traffic on this particular highway... and it was midday on a Wedn.). I've been comparing it size-wise to other small cars... i.e. Fiero, Miata etc., and am realizing that it is not all that much different (if at all) than those cars.

In fact, the car was real nice to drive out on the open road. As I drive it more and more, the fun factor is tipping the scales a bit...

What may be adding to my concerns is that I believe that my car was lowered by one of the previous owners for autocrossing. It sits real, real low. I may decide to put some OEM or HD street (Eibachs, I believe) springs in the back, and raise the front to it's proper level. That might make me feel a bit more comfortable for daily driving... as well as give me more ground clearance (i.e. speed bumps could be a problem with this car the way it is set up now).

Anyway, Chris C., thanks for the comments about relative size etc. with the 911. I've heard that from some other folks as well. In fact, I kinda' started mentioning such to my wife... just to ease her mind a bit about the 914.

Also, thanks for the sentiment about safety relative to family/children. I too have given more thought to it recently, since my first child... Collin Joseph Griffin... just turned one year last month. So... for his sake, my safety is of the utmost importance.

For the time being, I'll continue to drive my 1992 Audi 100S with 187k miles on it as my daily, highway cruiser (30 miles to work each way), and keep the 914 as a weekend and possible track car. I have some other matters that are taking priority over it right now anyway, so I probably won't be making a decision too soon about what to do with it (i.e. keep it or sell it and buy a 911).

Again, thanks for the responses.

Jim

JGriff

Chris C... how shortsighted of me... I forgot in my post to say CONGRATULATIONS!!

Becoming a Dad is a wonderful experience. I'm sure you'll love it. It's been a fantastic first year for us.

Best wishes and again, Congrats!!

Jim

P.S. My recommendation - if you are going to buy a four-door sedan... get the Avant version instead. We made the mistake (well, we bought the car one month before we knew my wife was pregnant, so it was more a matter of bad timing than a mistake) of buying a 2000 Subaru 2.5 RS, and later realized that it didn't have enough room to tote along all the necessary "stuff" that must travel with a child.

Needless to say, we kept it for only a short while, trading it in for a 2001 Subaru Forester S. (I wanted an Audi A6 quattro Avant... two or three years old... but my wife wanted the SUV type of vehicle instead. Since she was primarily driving it, it was her choice ultimately.)