Luis de Prat

As some of you know, I gave my S2 to my father so I seldom drive it anymore. Yesterday I went to the beach in it with my girlfriend and took some twisted roads that I really like to drive in my 951.

Anyway, I noticed when passing cars that the habitual "downshift and floor it" technique that works so well in the 951 came up a bit short in the S2. Haven't driven it in so long, I was subconsciously expecting a surge of boost and barely missed hitting an oncoming car when the acceleration was less than expected!

So, how do you fellows in S2s pass on twisted one-lane roads? Downshift to second and floor it until redline? Accelerate in 3rd and then downshift to 2nd? The 951 will surge forward in 2nd without redlining before the boost hits. I'm reluctant to redline the S2 in 2nd before shifting but maybe that wouldn't be so bad?

Yummybud924

Pass on a one lane twisty road? kind of sounds suicidal if I'm picturing this correctly.

BlueDog944

First off, I am going to assume that you waited until there was a section of road that was marked properly before you initiated the pass. (If not, then prepare to be flamed. Note, if people try to pass me on a road where there is a solid double line, I'm just the type of ******* that will speed up to prevent the car from attempting the move, since I was watching the driver anyway I could see when the attempt was being thought about. And if I've had a bad day, I might just back it down to the speed limit.)

One very common mistake that I see many, many people make when trying to make a pass is trying to start from a following distance of the car in front of them. Then of course you need to downshift and slam the throttle. You can't get enough RPM and speed this way.

Proper way is to back way off the car you are planning on passing (give yourself at least twice the "proper" following distance.) Plan your move far in advance. When you see an opportunity start to open up you can then start rolling on the throttle so that by the time you catch up to the car being passed and ready to step out into the left lane you have already brought your vehicle up to passing speed. You don't want to have to be trying to power it up in the left lane as well as watching the car you are passing, the traffic in front of you and behind you.

GOBOGIE

You guys are too funny - all Luis asked about was a "passing" technique in an S2. I see no mention of reckless driving. Luis has been around long enough to get a better response than accusations.

Anyway, how's it going Luis? New girlfriend? My advice - stick with the 951 ;-)

BlueDog944

no specific mention, except "pass(ing) on twisted one-lane roads." Passing zones on such roads as far as I've seen are extremly rare. Unless his definition of a "twisty" one lane road is different than what I consider a twisty road.

jgporsche

he does live in Spain, Europe is a bit different with their traffic laws.

Makis

Assuming your S2 is in good condition (i.e. it can easily redline in 2nd and 3rd) you should always redline (just before the limiter) when you overtake in very short space. This is where the S2 has got an advantage towards the 951. You have a larger power band on the S2 and you have to use it if you want the best out of it. A well sorted S2 should not be any worse then a 951 when overtaking.

Dasota

Most of the roads you drive on in europe are one lane through the countryside and forests. It's very common to find yourself stuck behind a tractor, or slow semi trucks.. passing on one lane roads, even in the twisties, is something I see every time I go for a drive. You can usually see far enough around a bend to tell whether or not a car is coming. I personally don't pass if I can't see around the bend.

As for what BlueDog said, he hit it on the head of the nail with backing off once you see a break in traffic and then speeding up so that you pass the vehicle in front of you with plenty of speed, rather than accelerating from directly behind the vehicle into the oncoming lane.. Better gas mileage this way anyhow..

xsboost90

i think hanging back then excellerating and passing from a few cars back is the way to go. This way

1. your not riding their butt pissing them off

2.by the time they see you, you have passed them

3.you dont have to redline your car constantly

cobalt

I have to agree. Even if you have a car with more power I always feel sitting back is the smartest approach. You have better visability too. I find the S2 can handle redline no problems. I have always pushed all my Porsches up to redline including a 79 SC that I put over 95k miles on and never had any problems. If you are in the 5k RPM range the S2 has more than enough power to pass most vehicles. Unless modified I did not find the 951's to have much more speed than the S2 once in the rpms.

Campeck

your not traffic control. theres no reason why you should be enforcing speedlimits and passing zones. thats a good way to cause the other person to wreck. just let them go with a smile that maybe over the next hill they will have blue and white lights flashing behind them.

(ok..rereading you said speed up to keep them from attempting. not you speed up when you see em pass you..whatever.)

Luis de Prat

Hey, those are some great suggestions, thanks!

As for visibility by falling back and passing with speed, this is generally not doable in the type of roads I'm talking about. These are pretty tight turns. The visibilty is actually greater the closer you get to the car in front of you. If you hang back at all, you're likely to hit an oncoming car no matter how fast you go when passing.

What I gather from some of the responses is that I might as well redline the S2, since that 16V DOHC is supposed to be there for a reason. Not that I'm being reckless, I just want to be able to overtake in the same situations I normally do in the 951.

Hi Cory, yes new girlfriend and really enjoying the summer. Take care!

cobalt

In all my years of driving twisty roads I never had a situation where you needed to sit that close to get the edge. If it was that close with such poor visibility IMO I would say it is too close to pass. Even on some of the most twisting roads of Switzerland, Germany, Austria etc. I have always sat back and everyone I drive with who drives roads like this that I know of agree. Sitting back is better, a rule of thumb is if you can't see far enough ahead to get a clear shot by sitting several car lengths back it isn't worth passing unless you have a death wish. If you do this often I would count my blessings because one day it won't be in your favor.

The whole point of sitting back especially in a slower car is to get your speed up so when it is time to pass you have the momentum needed. If you try to power yourself from just behind the car in front even with monster hp you will take longer to pass as you are building speed instead of carrying speed.

Even in my 400+ hp turbo i would never sit on a persons rump to pass. Always a better execution if starting several car lengths back. If your brakes are good then you can bail if needed. If you are just pulling out from behind you have no place to go.

Josh B

Hey Luis - glad to hear things are still going well for you I gotto chime in here as I had the opportunity to do a little driving earlier this year in the English country side. I was heroically passed by a 911 on a narrow twisty road I think you all drive a little more spirited over there than most Americans would be used to. I really enjoyed it even though I was stuck in a Ford Escort and just had to watch from the sidelines. The best was watching some of the great vintage cars folks keep over there barreling towards me with the driver practically wrestling the steering wheel to stay in their lane.

FRporscheman

I suck at passing so if the road is really twisty, and I don't feel confident enough using the rare and short passing sections, I just pull over for 5 minutes, let the other guy advance, then I hit the road again. Kind of silly, but safe and within my ability of control. I'm sure you guys are all good at passing though!