meek

"At the end of the day, the two cars are so similar up until the last 2% of performance level, arguing about the differences is pointless unless you are a phenomenal driver."

Absolutely! Problem is, men being men, we do like to talk stats and poke fun at our friends. Mine's faster/bigger/better looking/hand built...yadda, yadda than yours... .

gmiz

I have read this thread with a lot of interest. I have been looking in So cal for either a G50/3.2 911 or a 964 Coupe for some time but no luck yet.

My question is, is a C4 less prone to the back end slingshot I have experienced in the C2 - usually due to easing up on the accelerator while going into a corner?

That would be one item that might steer me towards the C4 vs C2 in my opinion.

Any thoughts?

PS Still looking in the San Diego area for my 1st 911!

dfinnegan

Yes, the C4 will tend to understeer when pushed in a corner where the C2 will tend to oversteer.

That said, both can be tuned, but the C4 will never oversteer to the degree that the C2 will.

One of my favorite quotes: "Oversteer is when the passenger is scared; understeer is when the driver is scared."

race911

What have you been driving in C2's (or any 911's for that matter), and what's your skill/experience level? 30 years in with them, and my use of drop throttle cornering techniques in a 911 of any generation are more accidental than anything. Certainly it can be made to work, but what an edge to skirt; and no way, no how will anyone purposely drive a 911 like that on the street.

Nine11

Yeah, you've got to be going pretty hard to be getting throttle lift oversteer. Maybe in the wet/snow?

race911

I'm not following that at all. If you could dial in that oh-so-slight bit of push, one that you could rely on in low, medium, and high speed corners, 99.9% of any of us mortals driving would be set. (Exception for any vintage car running bias plys.) And when moving to purpose built cars, nowhere do I want a car with aero oversteering.

dfinnegan

I agree. I just liked the quote. It reminds me of driving a VW beetle in the snow.

I suppose it was inappropriate.

this is similar to "which is faster, c2 or c4?" It's only about the limits, all academic, and well beyond my ability and knowledge. Mea culpa.

gmiz

As I note in my message, I am still searching for my first 911. I have driven many in my search, and have noticed this feeling that the back end is going to come around, and have read other experience with this in this and other forums. In fact, I have read several accounts of others spinning their new 911 out in corners, usually in wet conditions.

My question was whether a C4 was less prone to this. Clearly I am not at the driving level of you, nor is my plan to race the car. I have attended several performance driving schools but none in the 911. I love the look and feel of the car, and am trying to determine which model might suit my purpose best.

Porscheholic

I would say, certainly in wet/slippery conditions, the C4 will have an edge over a C2.

garrett376

As discussed on here many a time, a C4 has an advantage over a C2 under throttle where two wheels may have trouble putting down the power versus 3 or 4 (be it a slippery road, or the car's tires having reached their maximum lateral traction and the throttle is applied). Otherwise a C4 might have a little better weight distribution with more weight up front thanks to the differentials and drive shafts, but that's negligible due to different weights attained with different levels of gas (C2 with full gas tank has better weight than C4 with empty tank). In general in a 911 with most of the power to the rear wheels with a lot of torque in a slow corner can understeer when the gas is poured on - the front tires can only grip so much since they're unweighted, regardless of whether they are also powered or not. The understeer seems more noticeable in a C4 because the center differential will lock in this situation which can drag a front wheel, causing the car to understeer. If you're oversteering or understeering over speeds of 45mph on the street, I hope you're not near me doing that! But if you're on a race track, it's managed by trail braking & entering corners faster, and hammering the throttle - a C4 is nice because you essentially cannot throttle oversteer, whereas you may be able to with a C2. So it's not really that big of an issue for fair weather street-goers - the 964 with decent tires has a considerable amount of grip that if you're noticing the differences between a C2 and C4 at speed, hopefully it's on a race track.

GMIZ - I have a C4 widebody in San Diego for sale...

gmiz

PM Sent. Thanks

loxner

I've been reading through this whole thread and have found it very helpful. I am looking to upgrade from the 944 into a 'real Porsche' sometime soon. My 911 of choice is a 964C4, since I have really begun to appreciate the benefits of AWD cars after some snow we've had recently, but was somewhat worried about reliability/maintenance/track handling...this thread has made me feel a lot better about those areas. I also didn't know that the 964 has a better AWD system than 993/996 for winter driving as mentioned above. Thanks for all the information guys.

One question I had though...I know the C4's have a switch on the console that locks the diffs, but I saw in a photo it has 3 positions it can be set to. I assume one is locked, another is unlocked, but what does the third position do?

Dave White

Center is normal position, computer controlling the lock %. Turning to the right locks the diffs until you go above 23 mph or something like that, unless you turn it to the left to unlock the diffs before that happens, the switch always returns to center, it never stays to the left or right.

tokoro

Hi is it complicated to open de front distributor on front of the transmission? I have problems when I turn the wheels completely to one side when parking, I disconnect the front shaft and it works perfectly but not how it suppose to.
Thanks