John Murray

I find it hard to imagine not being able to feel the onset of a spin...

Turboflyer

The road surface did cange from asphalt to concrete. Seventy MPH is the last observed speed , could have been 100. Everything seems smooth and stable right up to the rear breaking and comming around. Did i let off in the turn. I dont think so but if i did it wasnt much. Years of ridding motorclcle have taught me that one.

Turboflyer

John the onset is what I felt in my Miata and I could adjust for that. This was a sudden break.

autobahnNY

I know what feeling you had turboflyer.It feels weird.Youre pushing the car as you normally would,but it just snaps from you.The two times it happen to me,my tires were very low.Mid engine cars are known to break without warning when at the limit.The handling capabilities are so high,so when it goes it does it very quickly.Good tires are essential on the Boxster.

yarin

AutoX much?

I autoxed a boxster S last season, fun car... but I believe PSM kicked in a bunch of times and kept me straight. But anyway, anyone who pushes their cars on the street should try AutoX at least once to learn the limits in a controlled environment. I still don't understand what happened to you, but at least you are ok. IMO tires have little to do with this. If tires were an issue you would have experienced a loss of traction/grip numerous times. Unless of course this was your first time pushing the car. Oh well, good luck.

autobahnNY

Yarin,i would think a PSM equipped Boxster would behave totally different then one without.

Control It

One of the characteristics of such a well balanced car is exactly what you experienced. IT is called 'snap throttle oversteer'. The pivot point is dead center and when it 'goes' it goes quickly and regaining control is difficult.

With better tires the same thing would have happened at a higher speed and you would have been in probably even more trouble.

I lent someone who I thought who knew how to drive, take my Boxster S for a test drive when I first got it. We were going around a downhill curve with a speed limit of 20...he was doing 50 to 60 and started tapping the throttle to 'kick out' the rear, like a rear engine car when....we started going into a spin...it was the scariest situation I have ever been in, almost went off the road...

That was the last time I ever let anyone drive my car without a stern warning...

I find the Boxster very sensitive when pushed, in terms of changes to steering, braking or throttle..The car handles amazingly well, but at limits when you lose it, it is very different that any other car I have driven.

autobahnNY

Controlit,I agree totally.Like i said before,if you have bad tires that point of no return is lowered.This car is has amazing handling.Sometimes when i hear people say the Boxster is easy to drive fast are mistaken.It takes some time and skill to perfect this car-well if your really drivng it like you should

Control It

autobahn,

Nice comments. I have not heard anyone else say it and I feel it all the time. You can get into serious trouble at speed if you do not know the limits of the car..I have never taken a car on the track and until I do, I am very aware that I really do not know the limits of this car...

This is true of all cars but that 'snap throttle oversteer' is something special...

related story...I took my 72 911 out for a drive the night I bought it, with a friend...there is this curvy little road by a reservoir I take to work every day that has a decreasing radius turn. I went into it too hot and lifted off the throttle...around came the rear and I did a perfect 180, ended up in my lane, facing the wrong direction...

My friend yelled, "WOW, that was fun, where did you learn to drive like that??" <he meant it as a compliment> I told him I learned it on the track..

I drove home like an old lady, shaking inside..

I couldnt sleep that night as I played the skid over and over in my mind.. I was so mad at myself for risking our lives not to mention the car.

I had some books on performance driving and was at least comforted that I did the right thing once I lost control...that was, "In a spin, both feet in"

I looked at my tires and realized they were probably 10 to 15 years old and who knows what the inflation was!!

Was it my tires or my lifting off that caused the spin?? No matter how good the tires would have been if I were going fast enough and lifted...around and around she goes...

That was a cheap lesson, I never forgot.. I have to get to the track this year, the 'street' is not the place for playing...

John Murray

TurboFlyer, I hear what you are saying. I guess my butt is super sensitive to the happenings of my car.

On the other hand, my engine is in the back, so the mid engine thing may feel different, but in the 200 or so Boxsters I have driven, I havnt felt it. Of course most of these are brand new w/ new tires as well.

Good Luck

Alan Herod

I have instructed in a number of Boxsters on the track, some with PSM and some without. While it is true the onset is different then the 911, it has always been detectable.

Since I believe the worn tires will behave predictably, I believe the pavement change coupled with light fluid spill, like anti-freeze on the concrete. I think that anti-freeze will soak into the asphalt quicker and excarbate the situation when you hit the concrete, but you won't see it on either surface. Certainly this fluid may be present in many unexpected locations. Recently located some myself exiting turn 11 at Mid Ohio with predictable results.

jason952

low polar moment of inertia is granted by the mid-engine design. It means the car will rotate faster in a spin, and turn-in quicker, the caveat is less directional stability.

Jason

box3.4L

do you think that the nut that was loose behind the wheel had anything to do with the spin

Olav A.

controlit,

I had the same experience in my 70 914/6. I was going around a decreasing radius turn in the rain real slow (luckily) and the rear end just started to float out, hydroplaned real bad. I opposite locked, nothing just spun into the side of the road that was dirt. Had to clean out my exhaust pipe because dirt got rammed up there, dented bumper otherwise not much damage. Scared me a lot.

I changed my tires because they were old and hard but, I'm still kind of nervous to push my once invincible car to much.

I just don't want to risk my car I guess, I love it too much and put to much into it, work and parts.

Luke

".....no warning"

no fair! you guys have a 'warning' light for slip angles?

you spun a mid engined car, .... three times consequetively?

let me guess.... tiptronic?