fpena944

This weekend I had the husband of my wife's co-worker come over to have me help him work on his Gen II Supra that he just restored.

We took his car out on a test drive on some local farm roads and his car was very light and you can obviously tell was an early 1980s car. Fun car but different animal than mine of course.

We then went on the same route and I let him drive my car. He was impressed by the power but then tells me, "No offense but the steering on this car is pretty heavy. It feels almost like my 4x4 with an off-road suspension!"

Wow I never thought that but I guess that's the same complaint the air-cooled guys had when the 996 came out.

Oh well its all perspective I guess but I thought that was an interesting comment!

ivangene

whenever anyone compares their POS to my Porsche (or any other p-car) I always just agree and say, yea, these cars all pretty much suck, and leave it at that. Some people just have no clue as to why a system works the way it does...

as to the steering it is heavy on purpose. Think of grandpa's 82 buick with the steering so light you can spin the wheel with your pinky.... not exactly what you want at 176 mph - ZERO feedback!

as to the aircooled guys, we (haha -- WE) pretty much hate all the water pumpers

actually I drove a 996 the other day and almost pushed the clutch pedal thru the fireway... WAY lighter then my 86' I had a hard time adjusting to it.... surprisingly hard time

Rgwirtz

OK, just so i've got it straight. The guy with the Supra is judging your Porsche? Seriously? When I was in high school I had an '83 celica which was light and fun. One of my best driving days ever was doing donuts in a parking lot after a big snowfall. But in my wildest dreams I would never think to even compare it to a 911. Glad I have a 996 turbo now. At 135mph that guy is wishing his steering was as good!

fpena944

Don't get me wrong he was smiling from ear to ear while driving my car and he even mentioned he can cross that off his bucket list. But his comment was interesting because I never thought of the steering in my car as being anything but perfectly suited for the vehicle.

His car was a fun little beast but no comparison of course. The one thing I didn't like though was the shifter. It had REALLY long throws compared to the 996 and it was hard to tell when a gear was engaged.

Nonetheless it was fun to spend some time with a true car nut who loves all vehicles

ivangene

long throws....? dont get an eary car

AndyK

When I had my 996 and my 944 right before I sold it, I remember thinking how much lighter the 996 steering was compared to the 944's!

It's all relative.

theporscheguy

My '83 944 w/o power steering felt a little heavy but gave great feedback. Light and 150plus are not a good combination. Getting together with fellow car guys

deckman

I don't care what is going through my mind, I would never make a comment like that to another person about his car, friend or otherwise. Some people just can't get along in this world. I find it amusing that offensive comments always start with "no offense but"

tooloud10

Seems like an awfully minor thing to be offended about. It's just a steering rack, folks--I'd probably have just cracked a joke to the guy about Porsche designing the steering feel based on someone with a lot more forearm strength than him. Then we'd have had a good chuckle and it would be forgotten as we spent the rest of the day beating on the Porsche and Supra.

ivangene

hey no offense but this is a dumb comment

911mike99

Sounds like he might be jealous of your Porsche. We all know it dont drive like a 4x4

DreamCarrera

+1

I still have my Grandfather’s ‘67 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. The car is 20 feet long, has a 429, and weighs about 2-3 tons yet you can easily steer the car with your pinky. The steering has absolutely zero feedback and it floats around a scary amount even at normal highway speeds. It takes a lot of getting used to every time I drive it.

I think the steering feedback and effort required on the 996 is excellent. It doesn’t have quite the precision and feedback of the earlier 911s but it is great for a modern day sports car.

I’d love to hear your friends comments if he drove my buddy’s ‘91 Testarossa w/o power steering. At slow speeds he would swear he was driving an 18-wheeler.

I second the comment that he has Porsche envy. Either that or he hasn’t driven many modern high performance sports cars.

ArneeA

I wonder what your friend would say if he drove my 83 944 without power steering?

deckman

Apparently you fall into the category of not being able to get along...

redridge

No.... But, those stock suspension sure looks like a 4x4. No offense...