DaveK

Coming home from work yesterday, I got stuck in traffic coming off the M3 (why would you decide your horsebox should break down on a roundabout eh?).

Once I got through it, there was a nice clear spot as I got onto some dual carriageway and I floored it to clear the cobwebs.

However - in the inside lane, a few car lengths ahead of me was a silver BMW estate. He had the same idea (or he decided to race me - not sure which) - and he also floored it.

I backed off once I got to 90-ish since I wasn't in a race - although he carried on and I suspect hit about 110. However - what surprised me is that I was accelerating flat out (from about 20-30mph) and our cars seemed to be identically matched. I didn't really expect that from a family estate car!

Do they do M series BMWs or do I seriously need an engine rebuild?

McJohn

It's called the march of progress.
Your engine is no doubt just fine, and to make matters worse it was probably a deisel.

McJohn

jeffnudd

LOL, Thats right, i had a VW Golf 130 bhp and that was very very quick for a diesel, most diesels are very fast and most older petrol cars will have a job to keep up.

Andy Roe

My bro has got a Golf GT TDI. It's very quick - it has more torque than a 2.7 Boxster!!!

warmfuzzies

If he had a chipped 330D then 240bhp and monster torque I'm suprised you kept up, these things simply fly......
I tried the same once with an XJRS....didn't know the supercharged version had nearly 400 horses.......it took to about 130 or so before I could leave him.....(foreign roads obviously)..

kevin

McJohn

My own thoughts on this issue from last year ...

http://www.arthurlea.com/Stories/911/





PS ... Dave, we are way overdue a new avatar!

stuart1997

That is an excellent story McJohn and should be made a sticky at the top of the forum.
I have long since stopped trying to prove my car against todays boy racer toys;
i remember a dull looking faceless nissan blitzing me on an open section of the A5 (found out later it was a skyline ,which can be tuned to ridiculous levels at pocket money prices)
My daily driver is a 2004 vauxhall vectra turbodiesel which i found used similar variable geometry turbo as the new 911 turbo and to be honest i can cover the same journey at equivalent speeds in it and get 50mpg average to boot.
My 964 is a weekend plaything and sad i know does make me feel a bit special.
Driving the 964 is a bit of an event for me but if i came to the time where it was my sole means of transport,i think i would get fed up with it.

tonytaylor

By accelerating flat out from 20mph to 90mph do you mean you were on full throttle going up through the box using 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears to the limiter and backing off at the shift to 4th?

Using a higher gear roll on acceleration against a turbo diesel is always going to cause embarrassment to any petrol car as the diesel has so much torque and they are real world fast.

Journey times are really hardly affected by a cars on paper performance; On a 20 mile journey back from work to home involving mainly motorway, my then girl freind would often beat me home in a 1,6 Primera. The sequencing of lights and junctions having a greater effect than the cars performance.

As has been said these cars are 15 yrs old and tecnology has moved on but I for one prefer the simple analogue responses the drive the 964 offers

Johnny G Pipe

They make M tourings in LHD..

There is an uphill stretch after the Tay Bridge, where those frustrated by the bridge traffic can finally open up. If I see someone who is clearly going to try and leave me (usually a diesel BMW), I make sure I am in 2nd at 4.5k rpm just in case..trouble is you then have to cope with the foul fumes these things put out.

I was at the ring last year with a DMS chipped new shape 535d, which just disappeared into the distance at the gantry - 3 up! LOL fast..

Fascinating fihures from this Months EVO, too: 50-70 times in 3rd:

Evo IX: 2.3 seconds
997T: 2 seconds
CGT: 2 seconds

DaveK

Yes - I mean I was using the red line as the gear change point.

I did know already that 964s are not really particularly fast compared to modern cars - I have friends with celica, Audi TT, turbo Fiat coupe, Civic Type R etc, and it's obvious there isn't much between my car and them.

But - I had thought that the 964 wasn't particularly fast compared to modern sports cars / hot hatches. I didn't realise it was struggling against modern deisel estates!

McJohn's post was an interesting read. My focus does many things the 964 isn't so good at - but it's no fun whatsoever. The 964 may not be very fast - but it is fun.

Speed used to be a big issue to me, but isn't so much these days. The BMW was a surprise though. I guess in 10 years time, the equivalent of todays 1.4 golf will be leaving me behind!

Oh - and in answer to McJohn's comment - the g/f said we'll have to try and get some photos this weekend. She suggested wearing a nurses uniform - but we'll see.

tonytaylor

Er well all I can say is oh dear, lol

Maybe you should get the car on a dyno and see what it's making. Put mine on a dyno a couple of weeks back as I suspected either power was down or other cars on track are getting faster only to find I've 20hp gone walkabouts

DaveK

Actually - I wouldn't be surprised if it is a little down on power. I've always felt I got left behind slightly when accelerating with other 964s (although that could just be 'cos I have increased bodyweight......).

zicoramone

Is this some kind of trick to get back to that 355 issue?

i think you definitely need a 993 TT...

dougn

well you have to be carefull anaylising "spontaneous" races. it's all about gearing and torque curves.

the bottom line (as I see it) is you can get these cars to about 2900 lbs pretty easily. a normal one with a re-map, cat and secondary removal will put out 245 hp at the wheels on a dynojet or about 280 at the crank. just as importantly, the torque is nice and broad

the gap between 1'st and 2nd is terrible and 2nd to 3rd is not great and really hurts the acceleration at the gear change. if you had the right transmission ratios the car would be on par with the plethora of 300 hp 3200+ lb cars on the road today

TR6

McJohn, your article strikes a resonant chord with me regarding my 1976 Triumph TR6. The only difference is that the TR6 was never considered a "supercar". But, in the mid 70's era United States with emissions-choked Corvettes and such that could barely get out of their own way, it had nothing to be ashamed of. Now, the TR6 is a tottering old man that bumps its way down the road and does its best to stay out of the way of younger V8 SUVs and Hondas that blast past it.

But, fire it up, listen to the exhaust rumble, the clattering valves, and breathe in that mixed aroma of vintage interior and unburned hydrocarbons from the inefficient twin carburetors, and it is like putting on an old favorite tweed jacket whose fibers are embedded with years of your grandad's favorite cigar aroma! And when you accelerate at full throttle down the road reaching 0 to 60 in a neck-snapping 10.5 seconds, it FEELS like a sports car. Just don't try to do it alongside a Honda Civic or you will be humiliated!