I don't know. The most harrowing experience of my life was in the snow in my 996TT. I got a bit caught out by a surprise storm in the mountains and was on PS2's that were probably a little less than half worn. I still can't believe I didn't hit anything, and I was literally just crawling around. Just touching the brakes on a hill put it straight in ABS and did virtually nothing. Sure, that was a serious tire problem, but I still thought the AWD would do a bit better than it did. *shrug* The STi on r-comps definitely does better, but you've got more weight on the narrower tire to help dig in. Those big tires on the 911 just float on top and slide around...


--Donnie

 

Not true. Even with the stock Pirelli tires, my GT3 was better in the rain than my 1998 Corvette. With the PS2's, there is no comparison, it's much better.

Try driving a Viper in the rain.

I'd say that depends on where & when you're driving. An empty wet parking lot at 3:AM is very safe for low speed stuff & much can be safely learned. You can get a good feel for a car's handling dynamics at even 20 MPH, with some room for consequence free mistakes.

And the race track wall isn't 20 feet away, waiting to catch your mistake.

Now sliding around in traffic is another matter.

 

When driving in snow with AWD, you also need to have the correct tires. If you don't, then the AWD is pretty much useless. I guarantee you that a GT3 or C2 with winter tires (not all season) will do much better than a turbo or C4 with summer tires (even brand new PS2's). Even if the turbo and C4 had all season tires, I would still bet that the GT3 or C2 will do better with a true winter tire.

In Europe they take the snow much more serious and use dedicated snow tires for the winter. Here in the US it is very common for people to use all season tires and think they are OK. An all season tire is better then a summer tire in the snow, but it is a poor substitue for a true winter tire.

Here is my take on DD of my GT3. Currently my GT3 is my only car other than a 1988 Toyota Tercel. The Tercel I use for the rare snow days here in Albuquerque, and also days after the snow when there is a lot of sand on the roads and highways (to protect my GT3 paint). The other times I might drive the Toyota is for a business meetings (I like to give the impression that I am not that well off, which is pretty much true anyway) and days like today. I will be going to a restaurant/bar to meet with my family and we will be staying until after midnight. I will feel better with the Toyota in the parking lot, and I will also feel better when driving home and dodging drunk drivers (I don't drink at all). I realize the GT3 is a safer car in an accident, but I will also be taking the slower secondary roads and driving at maximum alertness and maximum defensive driving.

So basically the Toyota does not count. It cost me $1,000 and it is dirt cheap to insure; actually my insurance is less because I have the Toyota; the GT3 as my only car woould be a double whammy because I would not get a multi-car discount and they would know that I use the GT3 for any kind of driving; I bet my rate would be 50% higher.

So some people buy a decent second car as a DD because they don't want to put too many miles on the GT3 and try to keep its resale as high as possible. But if I were to buy something like a Jetta with the 2.0 turbo motor, then I would have a pretty fun car for a DD, but it will depreicate quite a bit and is just another car to maintain and insure (in this case my insurance would go up since I already have the Toyota. I Think that the extra mileage that save on the GT3 and put on the Jetta would end up being a wash in the end because of the cost of the Jetta. And if I buy an even more expensive car for a DD such as a 335i, then it is even worse.

So I figure I will use the GT3 every day and have a beater car for emergency driving conditions and end up spending the same, or less, then if I had the GT3 and a decent/fun DD.

Of course this only works in my situation because we don't get much snow or rain, and I don't need a more practical car at this point in my life (I am single).

 

The GT3 is fine in the rain in the street if as with snow one has the right tires. PS2 are great and is the tire that I see at the track on rain days. Being in Seattle if we did not track in the rain we would have nothing to do.

 

Oh, believe me, I know the value of true snow tires. My point was simply that if you're going to DD a car like that in a place with snow, you probably need snow tires. My other bigger point was you can get away better with a car like an STi in snow without snow tires than you can a 911 of any kind. Well, the STi will likely be better if you compare both with snow tires. Cutting through is better than staying on top.

Of course, if your budget for the second car is something more like a Tercel, then hey, great. Go for it. I'm a fan of the "beater" concept. Even an STi is a target for thieves.


--Donnie

 

dude- I 'll admit to being a bit jealous but I'm probably just a younger version of you- I love those classic F-cars. when I was in the minor leagues my old 993S was an all-year car- so when the season rolled around I stuffed everything I owned in soft sided bags (except my surfboard I'd leave at a friends house) and put 30k miles on it in 3 years. I've got a nice stable now and look to improve that here and there towards my target cars (f40 , cgt etc, one of these days) and actually sacrifice everything I can towards investments to make it happen.

if you have something of a manual on how to manage all those cool cars I would love to read it! A big key of course will be finding a spouse who is willing to put up with it and/or participate.

 

roland. congrats on the car. Hope to see you around. There is a PCA day in Bremerton coming up (Jan). Winter skills day. Lots of fun and a perfect way to explore the car.

 

Pics of the 288 GTO please. That's still my #1 favorite car.

 

So you sold your Exige?

 

Hi Brian, last time I went to a PCA event it was a parking lot. I typically do the Kitch days. How much traffic do you expect at Bemerton? I race in Conference, not SCCA, so I've never actually been out to Bemerton. From what I understand it's a converted airfield so probably lots of runoff and not as unforgiving as Pacific. Yes? I'll need to get my PCA membership unless they take BMWCCA.

 

Here are some pics of the car with a 250 GTO at the FCA national event:
ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=165833

 

Took delivery of mine in March - drive it every day (that there isn't freezing precipitation). Have already put over 11k on the odometer - some of my friends think I'm nuts, but the car always puts a smile on my face. I have Hoosiers (on 18" Fikse wheels) for the track, so I put Michelin PS-2's on the car for daily driving. The PS-2's are excellent in the rain. My only beef is not being able to quickly switch camber prior to the track (like I could do with my GC camber plates on my E-46 M-3). I've had to compromise (-2 degrees negative camber) so as not to eat my my street tires too rapidly.

 

I drive mine every day to and from work. But my commute is only 4 miles - just enough to get the oil warmed up. Had it since May and I'm not thinking about selling it yet so that has to be a record for me.

 

Yes I did. I got a good price for it and I can gurantee you that I will buy another one in the future. They are so easy to find both new and used, and they do not hold their value well at all. I can get another 2007 Exige S with under 5K miles and no track time for under $50K right now, and who knows how much this summer or fall. I sold mine for $52K, so an identical replacement can be had at any time (they do not have very many options).

 

- my daily beater is a sleeper black 470chp 2002 Audi Allroad running 20#s of boost
- i have 13,000 miles on the gt3 but when it really snows or I don't want to show up in a gt3 or leave it parked somewhere, you just can't beat a station wagon that can hang with almost anything on the road
- plus it is a six speed with shorter than average gear ratios so it it fun to practice rowing the gears and doing HT downshifts in a wagon