cobalt

I went on the Bear mountain fun run listed on the 993 forum this past weekend and had a blast.

My C2 is set up very nicely and I know it runs strong. What surprised me was there was a while where I was following a red Lamborghini Countach and a very nice 996 C4S with a a gorgeous BMW 850CSI behind me. We were moving along at a good clip and won't say how fast we were going but enough to get into trouble to say the least. There was a good stretch on both very twisty and long straights where the Lambo and C4S started to go at it with me behind and they were obviously pushing their cars to their limits yet in each case my little old C2 kept gaining ground while the BMW was far behind. My C2 appeared to handle far better and I am sure eventually the legs of both would have changed the conditions but in second and third WOT I was clearly closing the gap at a much greater rate than I would have expected. I also found that some of the modified 993TT's were not pulling from me as fast as I would have expected. As their back ends squatted down and began to pull away I would follow and found the gap was surprisingly less than expected maybe 5 car lengths max.

I know my turbo is far faster than my C2 although not as responsive. The light weight flywheel and easy shifting and rev matching really helped but I never expected the car to be as fast as it is. The car has little low end torque but seems to have lots of upper end torque assuming this being the 964 cams that most turbo guys recommend upgrading my turbo to.

Until now I had no barometer to gage how quick this car is and if all 964's are like this but I must admit I was more than impressed by its ability to not only keep up but to catch up with these higher HP cars. It was nice having open roads to test it out with other cars leading the way and no other traffic to concern ourselves with. Boy these cars are truly under rated and far more capable than credited.

PorscheZen

Hey Cobalt,
I had a similar experience at Lime Rock my first time last year. On the straight, the other cars couldn't leave me in the dust, and the 993's couldn't catch me... Left me a bit baffled and happy all about the same time.

braol

Same experience with 996's (and others) on the highway. I find that all the extra horsepower in the newer, normally aspirated P-cars tends to be balanced by extra weight. It's obvious that Porsche has a target performance level with the 911's that has remained constant between the different models over the years.
(A friend of mine is an engineer with Chevy and he asked me just what's so great about my '91 964 compared with the new Corvette. I told him that it's magic.)

ilko

I kept up with a 993TT yesterday at Bear Mountain just fine. I didn't even cross the double-yellow line, while the 993TT driver did on a numerous occasions. Some of it is us being great drivers (shameless pat on the back ha-ha), but also our cars have better gearing than the US 993. And that helps a lot!

cobalt

Well all I can say is these 14 + year old cars are so underrated. Nothing beats the power of the turbo but for a nice Sunday romp these N/A cars are a blast. I will say that the suspension proved to be better than I thought with the car maneuvering through those tight turns with precision and ease. I was exhausted when I got home but could have done that all day long.

aeroman

Just think of how much faster you would have closed the gaps if you had a black 964.

Wachuko

+1 I have left a few 996 drivers with a confused expression as well when they can't keep up with that old red 964 cab...

crg53

Chodaboy.

Just of curiousity, what kind of Chip do you have in that car.

ilko

I do

Geoffrey

...must be the driver...

74carreraturbo

Im thinking driver too

Mine doesnt seem that fast.. It has the light flywheel also but to me the car has no torque and never really gets going until 4KRPM.... When i had my car on the track it was identical in straightline speed to an E36M3 and even a supercharged SS chevy Cobalt hung with me on the straights



wonder whats up with mine

colo964

I used to keep up with Ducatis on Mulholland. Must be the drivers. Notwithstanding - a 964 with sticky tires is a blast to drive.

N51

Takes a boatload of hp(hp/wgt) to show a significant difference between cars. Could have easily been a scenario with a econobox fading not-so-rapidly in your rearview mirror. That's probably driving many toward the extreme hp engines.
They don't want to just win; they want to win and humiliate. :-)

Noah

garrett376

and/or maybe the 3 passengers they were carrying?

RS 197

When I was at the Ring in Germany, The guy who rented us the BMW sold his soul to the Ring. He seemed to have plenty of $$. He was retired and rents out Ring Racer BMW's to clowns like us. After he scared the **** out of us on the Ring, we had a soda. He has logged over 1000 laps in many different cars. I was very surprized to learn his choice was the 964 RS. He is as fast as almost anyone. He told us that he gets more driver enjoyment out the the 964 RS than any other car he has ever driven. On top of that they are Mega Quick. I heard the same story from many others in Germany. RS expert Thomas Schmitz makes the same choice for a track car. He has bumped his to 4.0 liters. Not a GT3 in sight that can keep up with him.

The 964 will go down in history as the most enjoyable 911 to enjoy.