silverbullet

I've been wondering lately if maybe I'm driving my car too hard. I take it out about 3 or 4 days a week. During each drive I usually end up going WOT at least once or twice. Never in first gear though, only mid-second on up. I guess after going for days without boost I just have to get my fix!

So sometimes when I hit a rock, hear a creak or something odd, or feel a weird sensation in the car, I wonder if my driving is taking a toll on the car and breaking stuff. You know, kinda imagining things. But then there are people who track their daily driven 951 all the time, and with no problems. Surely that has to be far more stressing then the occasional WOT and redline.

I just get worried that I am being too hard on the old car. What are your thoughts? What would you consider too much for a long term keeper?

ehall

Drive it like you stole it. It's a Porsche. It was built for the harsh realities of sportscar racing.

Ryan in SD

Everyone has their view of "hard driving". I personally take it easy as much as I can with the tranny and clutch. I usually dont like WOT in 1st gear either but I still do it sometimes. I just dont like to thrash the gears and be spastic with it. I like to be smooth yet quick if ya know what I mean. You dont need to slam it in gear everywhere you go and romp on the throttle with hard non-rev matching downshifts to have fun. I would only worry about the car if you were harsh with it. Red lining, heel-toe, and theshold braking wont kill your car unless your clumsy. I guess thats more of my opinion than anything else. But basically, dont drive like the ricer boys

aeronautica86

you're being paranoid, drive it like it was meant to be driven

hally

~15 laps at redline every couple of months + a leisurely country drive to and from the track. cruize to work once a week to keep the cobwebs out.

UK952

Drive gently until well up to temp. Use all the revs in all the gears, though launch gently in 1st. Hit the rev limiter occasionally (especially if I haven't driven it for a while). Drive gently over last 5 miles home, (longer when the weathers hot). Use good synthetic oil. Nearly always over 3k rpm on boost ready for the next gap.
Full throttle or full brakes when on track (only 2 or 3 days a year )
170k miles (80k by me) currently around 300rwhp (dyno dynamics)
Tony

ilikemy944

I am very bad to my car.
I drive a GTI most of the time, so I get to take out all of my aggressive driving in the 951.
So.
It has 190k on it. I do all the stupid stuff you aren't supposed to. Everywhere I go, I go at WOT.
I don't speed much, but I always get to the limit at full throttle. Second gear burnouts. I've cooked the brakes a few times at the Tail of the Dragon. I get it sideways on throttle a lot. Never near any other cars.
I killed a cv joint - made noises but didn't leave me stranded.
I love this car

Rob 3

Combine Ryan in SD and UK952, and you should get the full benefit of the performance envelope, more than enough speed to lose your license, and you shouldn't be beating the car up. The more you read the more you'll realize the cars are built well and can run hard for a loooong time, if done properly. Commonn sense should tell you to make sure oil and water are up to temp and let things cool off a bit before shut-off. Hamfisted and thoughtless abuse will destroy any machine, regardless of its design.

ehall

I'll add something. My car is my daily driver. If i go a couple of days without getting it up to temp, it leaks. If i get it up to temp everyday, it doesn't, and runs like a champ. These cars MUST be driven. They are like SR-71's. They can leak like a sieve on the deck, but once you heat them up at altitude, there the best in the world.

hosrom_951

I drive my car like a Toyota Corolla

I cover 120-180 kilometers (74-111 miles) daily in/out of traffic, highway, heat, cold, high and low speed.

As long as the car is well maintained, everything should be flawless (with occasional hic-ups)

SD Porsche Fan

My car is basically a weekend driver. After a good warm up it sees redline at WOT in 2nd gear and above once or twice each time I drive it. Highway crusing ~80mph (75mph speed limits here).

I've been doing more and more wrenching on the car myself and have really realized how well they are put together. I would go so far as to state that if you drive it too conservatively that is more "abusive" than wringing it out a couple of times.

Also if you think about it, if there is a weak spot you are more likely to notice a new rattle or grinding noise if you open her up from time to time. Otherwise a weak link might just sit there getting weaker and weaker silently until one day...

porshhhh951

I drive the hell out the car. There is never a time I get behind the wheel I dont see WOT in atleast a couple gears.

Been running 20psi now for 2.5yrs in texas humidty and smeltering heat and never had one problem wtih the car. It takes everything I give it and askes for more.

These cars are ment to be driven hard and dare I say the people who baby theirs everywhere and never get above 3k rpms actually have more problems down the road.

The car is ment to be driven hard. Its a porsche

Gator_86_951

Very. I am guilty of not allowing it to warm up enough sometimes. Especially lately.

Porsche-O-Phile

I daily drive mine and occasionally give it bursts of full boost and WOT. Once in a great while I'll go full-on boost in 1st just so the part of me that used to own a 5.0L Mustang can smile. Mostly though I'm pretty docile to it. I figure daily driving a car in ****ty stop-go L.A. traffic is abuse enough so I take it easy - not to mention gas is hella expensive and I don't like sucking it down any more than I need to have a little fun and go from point A to point B.

Ski

I drive it fun mode...is that hard - well sometimes. I love these cars in the rev range of 3500 to 5500, especially when that SFR exhaust note is sounding off. I have a spot around here by the lake, long dike road that I take mine at least a couple times a month, no traffic, and stretch the legs up to about 140-145 before you have to hit the brakes hard and downshift, then take the corkscrew up the mountain, then corkscrew down the mountaini. Then I take the scenic route back into town - Heber Springs.