What "spirited driving" is possible in a 996 Turbo

When Bjorn Borg was at his peak, Ilie Nastase famously said of him "We're playing tennis, he's playing something else." I recently took delivery of a 996 turbo, and taking it out for a spin I'm reminded of this old adage. Compared with my previous experiences, this is not simply driving a faster car, this is a different world altogether. A quick overtake can have you approaching 140mph within seconds. Clearly this would not be lawful on the public highway. Where on the UK highway can one enjoy some spirited driving, and what kinds of driving activities - what kinds of roads - do users find enjoyable in this incredible machine, without putting oneself in excessive danger - be it mortal or legal?

You can do the odd blast coming out of a 30 to 60 limit, or doing overtakes on national speed limit roards, but need to be careful if overtaking a few cars. I work in data logging, I remember years ago doing a spirited drive in my turbo then looking at the data afterwards and seeing that the longest time I was on full throttle was 0.9s. The feeling of pulling away from somebody at 70mph on a motorway faster than they can pull away from a standing start doesn't grow old. MC

Re: What "spirited driving" is possible in a 996 T If you are overtaking someone and getting to 140mph in a few secs then your car is probably heavily modified ?

I sold my 996 tubby in about 2008. It was a fast car then and it's a fast car now. But my m135i hatchback isn't far off in real world terms. So it's all relative. :floor: I'd suggest a track day if you want to stretch it's legs but beware it's a relatively heavy thing and what goes fast needs stopping fast too. Ie. It's underbraked for that sort of thing as std. Glad your enjoying it. I still fondly remember my one.

It does depend to some extent upon what area of the country you live and how well you know your local roads. People's definition of 'spirited driving' can vary too. I venture out early most Sunday mornings and have what I call a spirited drive but as most of it is on twisty B Roads and fairly narrow A roads it doesn't involve three figure speeds. 911 turbos are wonderful for effortlessly covering distance quicker than almost anything else on the road but a lot of it is possible due to the low down torque out of corners and then the catapult slingshot on straights. Keeping the car 'on boost' takes a lot of care and is rarely possible in anything other than small doses. That frustration is why so many people prefer smaller engines cars that can be used at a higher % of their maximum. Personally I think you'd be hard pushed to drive anywhere for any length of time in 'attack mode' and if you're hitting 140 with other cars around you're probably in danger of losing your licence (or worse) sooner rather than later. If your buzz is achieved by accelerating quickly to high speeds and/or achieving anything like the cars top speed potential a V-Max type event is the only way in this country. Even track days on most tracks can be frustrating as most don't have long enough straights to stretch their legs and scrubbing off turbo speeds requires heavy braking.

Just sold mine after 6 years, was considering a 997 Turbo (or a 991) to replace it, but gave it a lot of thought and just wouldn't use the available power, barely could in the 996. There's some fantastic roads around me, early morning runs can be epic. As mentioned above, you'll need a big track to stretch it's legs, had mine to Spa a couple of times, with a quick run over the border to really open it up. My bottle went at 176, car was still pulling. Epic cars.

Re: What "spirited driving" is possible in a 996 T It depends what speed the car you're overtaking was going. :lol:

Wet country roads were where I found the Turbo in its element.

I definitely enjoy something more twisty rather than too open. Where I can work the chassis and go up and down the gears. Fast flowing A-roads feel like home in a naturally aspirated 911 l, but the turbo's natural pace is too fast for sane driving. The turbo suits twisty stuff where a NA 911 (and most other cars) would struggle to get past traffic in the spaces available. The turbo unfolds a new dimension expanding those small sight lines between bends into gigantic spaces where overtakes of one or several cars are possible. I've many times nipped out to pass one car and found I've suddenly gained so much ground that it's more practical to take 3-4 in a lump. Welcome to the fold of those who'll never need to sit in a line of cars following a tractor for 30 minutes again. Just be careful to watch your mirrors for bikes not expecting a car to overtake in the space and make allowances for cars at the front of the queue not looking in their mirrors as you gulp lumps of cars together. I love driving in Wales and the odd track day helps get it out of the system too.

I wouldn't want anything more than my N/A 3.4 for UK roads. To have fun, I tend to use quiet A and B roads in second or third gear, hovering around or slightly over the limit. The same goes with motorcycles. I had an early Yamaha R1 in the late 90's, which was way too much for the road. You were breaking the national speed limit red lining it in first gear. I still have a 750cc bike now, but far prefer hooning about on my 250cc 2 strokes, as you can rag them without being in permanent ban/prison time speeds. My Cayenne Turbo WLS project is no slouch either and being quiet and comfortable, you really have to keep an eye on the speed. It's always nice to have, but after a while, you want to be able to use it.

I bought a N/A 3.4 for the same reasons listed above. I once hooned a 458 Italia for 3 days solid and the speed and pace was unreal. But at the end of those 3 days I was thankful to say goodbye to the car because I would have lost my licence / hurt myself / hurt someone else in due course. Some people would say 'don't drive it so fast" to which I would reply 'that is somewhat impossible in a Ferrari V8 that screams to 9k rpm." In my 3.4, I only go fast on technical B roads and only to the speeds where I feel confident I could brake within everything I can see. So roads with long sight lines, wide sweepers and low hedges are preferable. Also, I do not go fast over roads I am not familiar with and where there are blind bends. In terms of overtaking on B roads, I don't do that anymore, I simply park up by the side of the road and wait until the road is clear. I don't speed anymore on the motorway, around town, or in traffic. With performance cars the hardest thing is to be mature with such an immature toy.

I think a turbo using 2nd & 3rd gear on twisting B roads is just as much fun (if not more) than a na car. It really is amazing the size of the gap you can create on the motorway in just a few seconds of foot to the floor type 4th/5th gear driving in a tuned Turbo :grin:

:yeah: or just 'third' in a Tiptronic. :thumb:

Mine's a Tip and the versatility of 3rd is the thing that amazed me most. It's like a Swiss Army Knife and the absence of gear changes means it can just stay on boost.

Totally agree - the temptation is enormous. :x Risk accumulates so I'm hoping planning responsibly will help.