breakdown

For those that have driven both cars, does AWD make a Porsche less fun to drive?

I'm shopping for my Pcar right now. Originally, I was set on AWD because of where I live but I'm starting to rethink that. RWD cars are much easier to come across on the used market and I think they may be more fun.

All I've ever owned (besides motorcycles) are 4x4 trucks that are incredibly light on the rear end and I very rarely use 4WD. What I'm getting at is, even in a truck, AWD isn't really necessary. I'd imagine that in a Porsche, it's even less necessary.

Is a RWD car more fun to toss around on a day to day basis? I'll admit to enjoy sliding the rear end around quite a bit when the conditions call for it.

10 GT3

All depends on the driver. A less skilled driver that prefers a safer can that understeers, can't go wrong with AWD. Those more skilled who drive a car more with their feet than their hands will be highly disappointed. For example: every generation of 911, Walter Rohrl goes 6-7 seconds slower around in the nurburgring in the C4 version versus the C2 version. Hence why none of Porsche's best models, GTx cars, will ever be AWD.

ivangene

yea but the C4's have big wide a$$ that screams WAAAA HOOOOO!! when you look at it

I drove a C4S this morning and was not at all disapointed....I have had 2 C2's (still I would not buy a C4 for many reasons)

Zookie

I cant belive you are Worng... C4 is Narrow Body... C4S is Wide Body

Pac996

I'd think in the application of power quickly in the 4 AWD car is more controllable. Seeing some fancy upgrades and stories of 1000hp cars I'd think AWD is the only way to keep the car scooting along in the direction desired with that high of a power. If the turbo concerned is around 600hp I'd think its debateable on being AWD or not to deal with foul ups running amuck.

Macster

Both my Boxster and my 996 Turbo (awd) are a blast to drive. AFIAK I've never triggered the awd save once or twice shortly after I got the car and only for a brief time when I think the traction control light flashed when I gave the car alot of throttle in a lower gear. The Turbo just gets up and moves.

Have had the Turbo in some marginal traction conditions (mainly wet roads in varying amounts of rain fall --drizzly to heavy downpour) but in these conditions I am really careful to avoid over applying the throttle.

My preference is to be able to control the car without having to rely upon any electronic wizardry. I laugh a bit when a guy in a pick up truck or some other vehicle has to spin the tires big time in the wet when pulling away from a stop.

As if it means something (other than the driver's a doofus).

Oh no track time.

In short I can't tell the Turbo's awd by the way it drives, handles or feels. It feels of course different in some repects from the Boxster but it still feels great on the road, from driving around town to freeway driving and even the occasional jaunt over my favorite mountain roads nearby (Yeehaaaa!).

I can warn you that tossing around a Porsche is going to see you go through tires like Oprah goes through Twinkies.

Drive examples of both 2wd and awd cars and see what you like.

My preference would be to have the power of the Turbo in 2wd. Why? Cause car simpler and a bit lighter, (though the extra weight up front might help grip at the front), has more trunk space and has a simpler gas tank. Since I use my Turbo for GT driving (several thousand mile long road trips whenever I can manage to get the time off) a larger front trunk and a larger and simpler gas tank which the OBC doesn't have to futz around to arrive at the remaining fuel after half tank
is my reason.

It has nothing to do with the feel of or the handling of the car.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Bob Rouleau

It depends on the generation of AWD Porsche. The ones from 2009 on do not understeer. That's a big change from previous iterations. The C4S is heavier and you can feel the added weight in the steering but handling is as "neutral" as the C2. In the wet or snow, AWD is a plus obviously.

Best,

Sneaky Pete

Having a C4 and previously (2) RWD (1967 and 1986 911's) I have to say they equally are great rides in their own rite. That said my C4 with PSM has saved my butt a few times. I live in a climate that has a 2-3 month winter and the C4 is great in the snow! The only thing that would make me switch would be if a GT3 fell in my lap. With my current driving skills I prefer the C4.

Regardless of AWD or RWD when you feel the back end coming out.......you will do the same regardless....put ur foot in it.

ivangene

Sorry I wrote C4's when I meant C4S - blackberry typing and fat fingers

Malakas

I've driven both and own the 4S. I dont think the steering is much heavier on the 4S, but it does seem a little less "telepathic" compared to a C2.

On the track it demands pretty "direct" steering input then it is an absolute hoot! I spent this weekend sliding it around the track and fell in love with again (like every track day). The mechanical grip of the awd is awesome.

That being said - at the track I am firmly convinced that to progress as a driver you need a 2wd car. The awd just hides too many little errors. In the 4S you can be down-right obscene with how much gas you can give the car... and it "lets you" get away with it.

as a DD. I would choose it every time. summed up in one word. widebody.

garrett376

Where are you tossing it? On a track? On the street?

These questions come up with every generation since the 964 - you just need to drive it to see what you can feel and see if you have a preference. Some people can't even feel when a tire is flat, much less the subtlety of the lightly driven front wheels of a 996 C4 or C4S, or additional weight, or a different steering feel between the models, much less the different feel between a car with a full tank, or half tank of gas.

That said, I like the steering feel of the C4S over the C2 - feels way more steady on the highway and just less "light" than a C2 even around town. But that's me!

RallyJon

Everything else held equal, AWD is always faster/better/etc. over a greater breadth of road conditions.

Problem is, they never hold everything else equal.

Still, for a road car that's driven in the real world, there's really no comparison. Walter Rohrl can say what he likes now that he's on Porsche's payroll, but he would never pick 2WD over AWD back when he had to get down a real road as fast as possible to earn his paycheck.

And believe me, there's no problem tossing an AWD Porsche around if you want to. It's barely AWD anyway.

Macster

It just occurred to me that perhaps you think the Porsche AWD system is full time?

It is not. The 996 system uses a fluid coupling in a transfer housing filled with discs, kind of like a multi-plate wet clutch. Every other disc is driven by the driveshaft from the transmission to this transfer housing. The other set of discs is connected to the shaft that transmits torque to the front diff.

If the speed of the discs driven by the driveshaft from the transmission increase to much as would be the case if the rear tires were spinning on snow ice or even on dry pavement this difference in speed of rotation heats up this fluid and as it heats up it gets very thick. Thick enough to transmit torque from the spinning discs to the nearly stationary discs.

Up to 30% of the engine's torque can be transmitted through this clutch disc pack.

As the front wheels begin to rotate and the car begins to move the rotational speed of the two different clutch discs becomes the same and the fluid cools down below its critcal temperature and becomes more fluid and no more torque is transmitted to the front diff and axles and wheels/tires.

The fluid reacts quite rapidly. IIRC in just a tenth of a second or less. It is a nice and relatively trouble free system. The only better system (according to some experts) is the system used in the 997 which does away with the special fluid and instead uses a drivetrain controller working thorugh an electromechanical/hydraulic system to force the clutch discs to be applied to one another. The reaction time is quicker and perhaps even less abrupt than the 996 system. It is supposedly lighter too.

Thus only in very marginal traction situations would the awd even come into play and then it remains active for just a short time, unless of course traction is so poor than the rear tires continue to spin and the car remaind stationary or nearly so.

But once the car begins moving the contribution by the front wheels/tires drops rapidly diminishing to zero in just a short time, probably just a short time after the front and rear wheel speeds are equal again.

Sincerely,

Macster.

springgeyser

I drive both the C2 and C4 for AX (no T/C or PSM respectively). They both handle a bit different, but equally fast on the course. My C4 has no understeer with its current setup, one would not even know its AWD.

If you did a search, even the newer GT3 understeer in its stock configuration and comes with the latest electronic aids. I will state I am a bit jealous of the C2 drivers having more available trunk space.

Drive both model and pick the one that suits your need the best.

LVDell

Fun is a subjective term.

Both are fun to drive. Just in different ways.