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YOUR RESEARCHScariest moment in your 996
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cold weather
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Reported cause · Original poster
I assume it was due to the cold weather on summer rubber.
Leading evidence: 'cold weather' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'cold weather' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check moment and one in humility' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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I got home and checked the rear tires, which were, as advertised, down to the wear bars at ~10K miles.
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He told me the front bumper on the Benz was buggered up pretty badly (it was, but it has an aftermarket body kit installed by the PO that is of dubious quality).
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
I completely failed to notice that the gasket from the previous filter stayed stuck to the LN adapter; when I installed the new filter, I made a gasket sammich.
Install filter, i unwittingly also made a gasket sammich rated
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I failed to notice that the old filter came off without the gasket, and when I installed the new filter, I unwittingly also made a gasket sammich rated for about 5 seconds of engine operation before blasting approx.
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He told me the front bumper on the Benz was buggered up pretty badly (it was, but it has an aftermarket body kit installed by the PO that is of dubious quality).
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I completely failed to notice that the gasket from the previous filter stayed stuck to the LN adapter; when I installed the new filter, I made a gasket sammich.
Install filter, i unwittingly also made a gasket sammich rated
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I failed to notice that the old filter came off without the gasket, and when I installed the new filter, I unwittingly also made a gasket sammich rated for about 5 seconds of engine operation before blasting approx.
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Suspected cause
After deciding a cat bypass would be a great idea, I'm putting down 595 when the idiot lights come on advising me to "drive to the nearest service facility." Turned out to be an O2 sensor thing, which the tech swore would never happen.
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Suspected cause
One of my weirdest scary moments wasn't in the 996 - it was in my '88 Fiero when I was 19 or 20 (yes, a Fiero - it was the only mid-engine car I could even remotely afford).
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Since the recent roll-over thread, I thought it would be interesting to document other members biggest 'pucker' moment, for those willing to admit they are human that is.
I'll go first. The second day of ownership in my C4 Cab, it was a colder October morning, roughly 40 degrees. First in line on a left hand turn lane entering the freeway. As I haven't had a manual transmission in about 10+ years, I'm not as 'fluent' in proper clutch engagement for spirited runs. I run first gear up short, grab second and mash the gas pedal as this on ramp is a nice 1/4 mile sweeper. At the higher end of second gear, the rear end comes out on me. I assume it was due to the cold weather on summer rubber. I do the unthinkable, I instinctively lifted off the gas and the car snaps 180 degrees rolling backwards at 40+ MPH and 6 inches from the inner guard rail. No license plates on it yet.. Fortunate yes.. As I compose myself and watch the other cars pass me as they enter the freeway without issue, I'll never forget the Honda Odyssey driver who was pointing and laughing at me.. a real gut check moment and one in humility. I've never made that mistake again, and there have been times where I've found myself having to use the long skinny pedal in situations where every ounce of my body is telling me to hit the brakes. These cars are something else, even with PSM.
I have two scary moments:
1. Just like you I had only been driving the car a short period of time and it had been raining. I got off the highway on an off-ramp that I usually take pretty aggressively. At one point the car starts to rotate on me and I also lifted slightly. Thankfully the PSM kicked in and saved me but my heart skipped a couple of beats there.
2. On the track on the final lap of the first day for a weekend event. The car hesitates and every single light on the dashboard comes up. I'd only had it a few months at that time so I'm thinking my engine blew but it was still running. Had it flatbedded to the dealer and found it was only an alternator gone bad.
Both of those events took my breath away but since then things have improved!
My scariest moment was when I spotted the oil seeping out from under the garage door after my wife had driven our 2002 C4 Cab.
As my heart dropped along with the shade of color on my face, I KNEW what it was.....the dreaded IMS bearing failure.
I've never autocrossed, but I have hit the track on more than one occasion (just never in this car at the time). The reality was my pure inexperience of driving a rear engined car (as when this happened I maybe had logged 25 miles on it). Completely different dynamics than that of a front engine, rear drive configuration. Either way, I'm man enough to admit my lack of skill and experience nearly cost me my midlife crisis vehicle.. and that would have been a sad day.
Two oil changes ago, a few seconds after startup after adding fresh oil, I heard a wet "pop" and my oil pressure dropped by half. I shut the engine off instantly, jumped out, and dropped to the ground to see a pool of oil 4 feet across and growing fast.
I failed to notice that the old filter came off without the gasket, and when I installed the new filter, I unwittingly also made a gasket sammich rated for about 5 seconds of engine operation before blasting approx. 4 quarts of oil all over the bottom of the engine and garage floor.
My 1st scary moment came after purchasing the car driving home almost 1000 mi. with no problems, deciding a few days later to top off my coolant, and two day later, after driving about 20 min. the coolant light comes on...
It turns out, when I replaced the cap (blue xxx xxx xxx 04) I put it on crooked so it didn't seal
Fortunately, the only "close call" I've had was an old lady pulling out right in front of me (I would think less than 100 ft.) at about 50mph - the brakes are REALLY good on these things and it was a simple matter to slow down - I do believe she probably soiled herself though (I could see her face as she was looking right at me...and she still pulled out!)
When my 18 year old told me he backed the 996 out of the garage into the front bumper of the S430 because, get this, "I didn't see the Mercedes". You know how hard it is to see an S-Class Benz parked 5 feet away from you.
He told me the front bumper on the Benz was buggered up pretty badly (it was, but it has an aftermarket body kit installed by the PO that is of dubious quality). Not a scratch on the 996. Thank God for bumperettes. Porsche 1, Mercedes 0.
My scariest moment in my 996 C4S occurred when driving at night, on Interstate 70 in Denver. I was driving home from the airport, cruising at about 70 mph. As I cruised along, I came across a deer standing in the middle lane, not moving. I see deer and elk in the road on a regular basis up in the mountains where I live, but seeing one down in Denver was a surprise. Fortunately, the deer never moved and I was able to take evasive action and get past with no issue. My biggest fear was that the deer would scramble and try to get out of the way and I would hit it at highway speed. That one got my heart racing!
I have a 99 C2... My one and only "WTF happened then" moment was when I lost control of the rear end when it decided it wanted to go "**** end first" on me on a slow right hand on ramp at about 45mph in fourth gear. A dusting of new dry pebbly type snow was on the road and the rear lost traction which I could not recover from as the back end came around VERY SLOWLY to my left. I remember saying to my wife as I tried to drive out of it and still only half way there, "WTF is happening here?" as though she should know lol. I had new tires on the car for about a month at that time. All season Potenza Bridgestone. I figured out that once that back end looses traction, on a quarter inch of fresh snow and the camber on the road is high, the car simply slides off the road as it goes **** end first. Maybe I was giving it a bit too much gas before it lost traction. No braking only gently acceleration in an attempt to drive out of the drift to no avail. My C2 is lethal in snow. Since then, the car stays in the garage if I see or fear snow in the air. The engine is so powerful we have to be as light as a fairy on that gas pedal. Plus the fact that the rear end tow is so set that the inside of the tires wears before the rest of the tire. That tells me that the car gets the traction firstly (if the road is dry) on the inside of the tires and then plants itself firmly down onto the dry road as it corners. When it looses traction the weight is only on the inside of the rear driving tires and never gets the full force of the full width of the tire surface. Therefore it goes fully into an **** end position. The two bangs as it hit the guards rails sickened me. Fortunately it bounced off the rail and finished facing the correct direction only causing slight damage which was repaired successfully. My advice to 996 owners... Go very gingerly on that gas pedal unless the roads are completely dry.
Snap-oversteer :
To all the expert 996/911 drivers - how do you deal with that ? Most theories assume you are a solitary car on a wide, closed track and have a reaction time of an F16 ace pilot.
And to those who have a realistic apprehension about uncontrollable over-steer, why not drive a Cayman/Boxster- 46/54 vs 39/61?+lighter ,shorter,longer w/b., lower polar moment of inertia.And around $30k cheaper new.
I think the"excuse/ answer" is that the mid engined cars can also exhibit snap over-steer. But at much higher limits.The lower position on the image scale may have more credence?
Just found this which may be of interest?It is old & the dimensions of the Cayman are recently improved vs GT3
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...11-gt3-feature
I think you all - including myself - love your car so much that you only remember 1 or 2 scary moments. Just check the forum and you'll see 1200+ pages of threads and a lot of "scary moments".
I drove through snow and rain on my car and never had an issue. The only "oh sh*t" I had was when I was driving to Tucson on I-10, driving like in the video. At one point at about 120MPH I was cutting across a few lanes of traffic between cars and I hit a huge patch of sand in the middle of the road. I don't know how so much sand ended up in one spot, but when I hit it, the rear end let go. PCM saved my butt big time.
Bmw M5 and Audi Rs4 In Russian Highway - YouTube
Nothing terribly exciting here. I was on a "spirited" drive with some local PCA friends on a fine Saturday. We were running back road twisties with elevation changes at a very brisk pace.
The road turned right topping a hill and came over into a downhill that descended quickly into a tight left-hander with a decreasing radius. I let off the throttle very briefly coming into the left-hander and the rear end stepped out a bit. I immediately knew what was happening and I gently fed it some more throttle and drove it on around.
It was only scary upon reflection. Had I not intellectually known what to do and been able to keep my cool and not overcompensate, it could have been ugly. Very ugly.
I think that my sport bike experience on similar roads really helped. They are quite similar to the 911. If you aren't sure you'll make the turn, feed it some throttle, lean in, pray the tires hold, and ride it out. Anything else will kill you!
The 996 is not nearly as likely to suffer "snap oversteer" as older 911's. In fact, all of the 996's at the performance driving school I did after moving from a 986 to a 996 - primarily because I wanted to get a better handle on the 996's more tricky dynamics - proved VERY difficult to upset, even on a skid pad. The times when I've gotten the rear of the 996 loose suggest that the car is quick to come around, but not to the degree that you'd imagine after reading the interwebs.
I junked the front wheel drive components of my car because it was almost completely unflappable. With RWD only, and with PSM off, you can make the car more exciting, but it's not exactly like walking up on a rattlesnake or something.
As MHarrison mentions, you can really find yourself in a pickle if the back end gets light. There was a track video a year or so ago of a 911 coming completely unglued on a high-speed
straight
solely because the car got light. I imagine that if you had the right road conditions and you unloaded the rear tires, you could find yourself in a jam in a hurry...
If you drive long enough, you'll find conditions perfect for putting the back of your car ahead of the front - but IMO the 996 is not nearly the "widowmaker" that the older, narrow-tired 911's are. My Corvette is much more terrifying to drive in the rain than my 996...
+1 1973 with me in my 1968 911 in Tampa. I insanely agreed to allow my brother and his new bride to swap their rental car for my 911 for their trip to Key West. The night before at around dusk I got scared and decided to show my brother how NOT to drive the car. Hit the back roads, paved but in orange groves, and proceeded to demonstrate how to keep the revs up and should you feel the back end begin to step out apply throttle and power through. Never lug the engine, like in fourth gear, as I go into fourth, never lift off the throttle, and never ever follow your instincts to hit the brakes. And as I say it I do exactly that.
Back end goes left, I lift and steer into it, think I have it but then she kicks right and I was cranking the wheel lock to lock and it just got uglier. Finally threw it in neutral and put both feet flat on the floor and my hands in the air and waited to broadside an orange tree. Miraculously, as soon as I stopped all inputs she straightened out, and slid to a stop broadside with the left front fender with-in two inches of a tree.
I acted as if this was by plan, and said "see, this is what you don't want to do". I got out of the car and walked around it, everything unscathed. Opened the passengers door and told my brother he could drive us back. All I got from him was "uh, that's okay, I get it". Leaving in the morning he says to his wife " we are going to take are time, drive the speed limit, and just enjoy the ride".
My 996? Never even close to such an experience, not because I am skilled but I believe it's more because of the save your butt PSM.
PSM definitely helps. So does the MASSIVE increase in contract patch and the suspension wizardry Porsche has done in the ensuing decades to make the 911 less likely to kill its best customers.
In much younger and much dumber days when it was still new (i was maybe 27) I was doing a ridiculous triple digit speed in the left lane of a 6 lane divided highway.
Even though there was no one in front of him in the middle lane a guy decides to change lanes lanes maybe 3 car lengths in front of me while doing close to the actual speed limit.
PSM, the AWD system, and an exceptionally wide paved shoulder saved my *** big time that day. With the speed differential and distance I didn't even notice the brakes doing anything until I was already passed him. I just jerked the wheel left and then right and that amazing car did the rest.
Thankfully I've grown up a lot sense then.
I was driving to work in Battle Creek from Kalamazoo about a month ago on I-94 the morning after we'd gotten a few inches of snow. Temps were around 10 degrees F and there was on and off snow showers.
About halfway into the trip I could see the brake lights ahead and hit my brakes... Absolutely nothing. Just a never-ending slide. Between the PSM and the Blizzaks I was able to keep straight and get stopped 5 feet before a semi trailer. Once I was stopped I could hear trucks skidding and crunching up behind me so I split the middle of the two trailers stopped in front of me and moved up to a pocket in the pile-up. I walked through the accident before they evacuated us and out of the 193 cars involved I only saw two (including mine) within the pileup that wasn't touched.
Three hundred feet behind me a 53' trailer full of fireworks caught on fire and we were forced to evacuate. I locked the 996 and spend the next hour and forty five minutes out in the cold before busses arrived to move us out of the area. Thankfully I had brought all of my cold weather gear along with me just in case.
Video of the Westbound lane (I was already stopped on the eastbound lane):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9fI5M6_XVk
Pic of my 996 in the accident (you may need to scroll through the images):
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/...ction_pol.html
Everything happened on Friday and by Monday I had the car back without a scratch. It was a little black from the fireworks soot but a wash solved that.
Really brought home how important it is to have your vehicle prepped for the conditions (proper tires etc.), have yourself prepared (winter gear & reserve fuel), and keeping calm when things do go south.
I'm also really considering picking up a winter beater...
Wow...I hope you played Power-Ball after that! Incredible luck
I don't even know what to say besides I'm happy to see you and the car came away physically undamaged! I'm sure you lost some sleep though...Did you know anyone else that was in the accident?
Driving home north I-94 from Chicago to Milwaukee, just bought car. Wasn't thinking, but the dealer only put new tires on the rear while fronts were dry rotted. I couldn't resist getting into it and switched lanes rapidly at 85mph only to experience a feeling I've never felt in a car before. It was like severe understeer, but the immense lateral force I experienced gave me an adrenaline rush like no other! 6 months later with new tires, I'm still a little intimidated.
Hopefully my 964 and 993 educated me enough to stay out of trouble with the 996. One scary moment in the 964 RS America on my way to a driving event. Amazing rain for Southern California an El Nino kind of deluge. 5:45 am...almost no one on the freeway but me. Cruising at 110 and suddenly all feeling of the road disappeared. I didn't move the steering wheel, it took less than a second to realize I was hydroplaning...off the road and riding on a cushion of water. I very gently eased off the throttle and suddenly the car dropped through the water and regained contact with the road. I kept it at 80 for the rest of the ride. When I got to the track the rain was so intense the event was canceled. The track is a great place to play with the limits. Holding a constant circle and steering with only the throttle on a wet skid pad is a wonderful experience.
Serious **** moments. Ok . I don't speak much on this forum, but I got something.
Exactly 2 weeks after getting my 996 (after dreaming about it for years) I crashed the front end into a wall on a freeway "s" on-ramp.
I was a f-ing idiot. I'm in no way proud of what happened. No other cars were on the on-ramp (not that it excuses me) , but (I like to think) I wasn't use'd to the RR layout and due to a combination of inexpirance, cold tires , over-correction, and lifting off the throttle on the last curve of the "S" this happened.
All got repaired with OEM and it was a hard painful lesson learned. I want to get some DE. Trying to save some cash up for it.
When you play around with your toys(and DD) they make get scratched
It's no garage queen. I enjoy every damn mile of it. Drive her like it's my last day (not in a bad way of course)
Better than new (not re-sell wise of course) haha
(Photo taken by jHernandez)
Scary moments have happened to me as passenger teaching driving skills.
We have done AX schools most every February as a mark to the beginning of the season. So new drivers wanting to go quickly before they were ready was always exciting.
One hand on the shifter one on the wheel looking no further that the hood emblem ahead.
Had near misses with deer and those are scary. 4am in the 928 rolling through Texas two does on the right with toes on the white line, slid over in the lane as the head light shined on a big Buck smack dab in the center of the left lane. and in a P-car you are looking up at them.
Hi, I'm new. My screen name is engineerboy100 and I am actually an engineer but not a know it all...I have a 2003 Turbo X50. My scariest moment was about a year ago when I first got the car. I was on a back road on a long sweeping curve, nice dry sunny day, and I decided to see what she could do up to red line thru the first 4 gears. Half way thru 4th I realize I'm approaching a red light! I hit the brakes thinking I'll never be able to stop in time; that sucker gripped, the front end dipped a bit but I'll be goddamned if that car didn't stop before the light. I was like holy ****!!! this car is amazing, my face was so full of blood it felt like my nose would touch the windshield but that's when I realized; I was driving a Porsche!
I lost my job a few years ago and was kind of down after looking for a job for months with no prospects. It was July and my wife said I should take a break from the job search and take a ride to Atlantic City, about a three hour drive.
It was mid-week and mid-day so there was very little traffic on the Garden State Parkway. I was cruising along at about 80 mph when my radar alarm came on. I slowed down a bit and pulled into the right lane behind a semi. Once the alarm cleared, I hit the gas and moved left only to see a lawn chair in the middle of the left lane. By this time the truck was on my right so I couldn't go back. There was little or no shoulder and right off the highway was woods.
I should have just plowed through the chair (a resin-type plastic chair) but my instincts had me try an evasive maneuver to the left. I clipped the chair with the right side of my bumper. It seemed like everything was in slow motion.
As I yanked the wheel to the left and headed toward the trees I told myself not to overreact in the other direction or I would be in real trouble. I turned back to the right and headed toward the truck which was in the right lane. Again I told myself not to overreact and and I managed to get straight without further damage. The whole thing probably took 1 or 2 seconds but in my mind it played out very slowly.
A few things combined to save my butt.
1. PSM probably kicked in and saved my bacon.
2. The road was recently paved and had good grip.
3. Experience in several Autocross events.
One of my weirdest scary moments wasn't in the 996 - it was in my '88 Fiero when I was 19 or 20 (yes, a Fiero - it was the only mid-engine car I could even remotely afford). I was driving home late one night and I see movement in my peripheral vision. As I turn my head, I see a greyhound closing on me at full sprint, obviously determined to get across the street ahead of me. We both realized that he was not going to make it. I was in the process of opening my mouth to form the "fuuuu" sound when he, without faltering or hesitating, launched himself up and over the hood.
It was cool and terrifying at the same time. Cool, because I hadn't ever seen a greyhound running at full clip in person, let alone one just 5 or 6 feet away flying across my hood. Terrifying, because I fully expected it to come through the windshield and into my face.
That slow motion thing is real. Just last week I had a close call in the C4S while stopped at a stop sign. Luckily I have a habit of stopping about 10ft back from the stop signs to account for drivers who habitually cut the corner. I was creeping toward the intersection when suddenly there was a car careening into my lane. I firmly believed I was going to lose the front end of the C4S, I had just picked up the C2 from the body shop one week before.
My perception of time was so slowed down that I told my wife I could count the woman's teeth as she smiled and waved at me. My wife said, impossible because it would happen so fast, I swear it was slow motion to my brain. It was so close that I sat motionless at that stop sign for at least a full two minutes as I couldn't believe the car escaped the hit.
One of the more scary moments I've had occurred last year, ironically as I was entering the PCA swap meet in Hershey. If you haven't been there, the entrance to the parking lot is 4 lanes, with one left lane going to the back of the park, and the three right lanes turning right to enter the parking lot for the swap meet.
Traffic was light as most people had arrived. I was in the center lane of the three which enter the parking lot when I saw a Nissan Altima coming up from behind me in the right most lane. He was moving at a good clip and started to pass me on the right. No big deal. But as his rear bumper reached my front fender, he must have realized he was in the lane to enter the parking lot when he wanted to continue straight behind the park.
Without warning, he turned hard left across my lane, apparently attempting to cross three lanes. I slammed on my brakes and yanked the wheel hard left. I thought we had hit. Somehow during this, I found time to hit my horn. Here's the icing on the cake. The driver of the Nissan now proceeds to flip me off. I pulled over and thankfully no damage. Nice.
Welcome -first post Mr. Engineer.
Now for some analysis. Why did the car perform so well ? Weight transfer/mass location. The f/r weight distribution only tells a part of the story. With unusually large % of weight behind the rear axle line, ,the car didn't suffer the usual huge weight transfer to & overload the front tires. Similarly ,straight line brutal acceleration.Great hook up.
The problem comes with driver/road conditions that provoke lift-off/snap oversteer. I suggest it is not that these the snap oversteer circumstances are a dangerously low threshold - it is that compared to most other very high grip levels(that you experienced) on a 996 - they are a BIG surprise. And when it starts, that 'dumbell' thing really bites !It demands respect and astute awareness beyond what regular drivers give.Me included.My skills+ consistent concentration just are not good enough-unfortunately.
You might enjoy the tech article I linked in an earlier post(15) in this thread.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...11-gt3-feature
I almost wrecked my 996 TT in my second week of ownership. I was on a curving uphill road with a 35 mph limit. Road and tires were cold. I thought I'd be cool and have some fun so I took the turn fast. I think my speed when I lost control was probably 45-50. I oversteered back and forth about two times and missed the guard rail by about 6-10 inches and a car to my left by about 2 feet.
I managed to pull out of it without a scratch, but it was a terrifying reality check. At the next light I kept my eyes straight ahead and carefully avoided looking at any other drivers. I was humiliated because I'm sure the other cars that had been behind me saw my near-miss and thought I was an idiot (which I was).
For the upteenth time in my life, I was saved from self-destruction by sheer luck.
1. A few weeks back we had a nice morning of ice storms all along I-95... this was the day I was to drive from nyc to philly. The morning had something like 75+ accidents all along I-95 between the two cities. We stayed put (me, wife and two dogs). Later in the day it was all rain... the butthole pucker going 70mph on summers at 40deg in the rain was intense.... and this was 15 mins after the car got a new ecu tune thrown on it that I wasnt familiar with. #smrtdecisions :/
2. almost every time i slack off and want to drive it like im driving a cushy 5 series.... this thing demands attention at all time...
Even a little rutting in the road surface and it wants to kill me... sheesh..
Revo stg1 (for 93 oct.)
On my C2 it gives a little oomph (makes me miss turbo motors), but gives it better throttle response and feels much more drive-able. It's just a small improvement but I've been very happy with it for the improved response to throttle input alone.
I'm running the EVOMS stage 2 tune, and I am happy with it as well. I wish I would have had a chance to try each mod independently so I could gauge what impact each component provided to the equation. With the cost of a good tune, you are almost married to it these days and it's cost prohibitive to tune your ECU after each new component is added. So I just had it all done at the same time. If you were closer, I'd love a ride in a Revo tuned car.
First post.
04 Carrera without PSM, I entered a sharp right for an onramp to I-15 at my usual speed for this turn and the rear end stepped out smartly. I caught it going left and again when it snapped right and thankfully regained stability. It was night, no witnesses, no damage except to my ego. I got home and checked the rear tires, which were, as advertised, down to the wear bars at ~10K miles. I am compelled to admit that the car had warned me on several occasions leading up to this by stepping out just a bit here and there. I thought it was fun and yes I was aware even then that the rear tires were getting down to the end of their useful life. New rear tires and lesson learned.
I did pucker mightily when I caught air in my 996 @ about 130. (Disclaimer: I only drive like a complete moron in the desert where the only person to kill is me.) In this case, I crested a rise that would probably be unnoticeable at 80 or 90. At 130, when your stomach tells you you're in free-fall at the same moment the tach goes from 5,000 to redline for maybe half a second, the body does some curious things. As Brian Johnson so succinctly stated on Top Gear, "It can tighten your bottom a bit. ... It makes your **** go like a rabbit's nose."
I owned a '72 911T with the dreaded Sportomatic transmission.
Returning to Boston one snowy late afternoon my driver's rear tire managed to just slip off the edge of the interstate pavement. I was probably doing 45 mph (keeping up with the other traffic). The road was not completely snow covered - but getting there. That car had IIRC, a 195/70 R15 tire both front and back. They were all season radials - nothing high performance.
With the driver's rear wheel off the pavement, I knew enough to not just "yank" the wheel to the right. So I gently nudged the car fully back onto the pavement. Once the left rear re-gained traction, the rear of the car let loose - swerving the back end to the right. For what seemed like 10 minutes - but was probably 20 seconds, the car "pendelumed" back and forth - with me gently sawing the wheel to keep the car from spinning. I regained control - without a major event.
But boy did I need an underwear change afterwards.
To refine this statement even further - leather or not, finding a buttplug within or adjacent to one's own mudnozzle is an indication that things are going poorly.
Ok, it was not in a 996, but I had a leave-the-road-cresting-a-rise moment like 5CHN3LL above, only it was in a 944.
I was only at about 85-90 MPH, but on a county road with a speed limit of 45.
I had taken this rise at 75 or so before and the car would probably just leave the road surface at that speed, but not really get air.
This time there was a strong side wind from the right, and when I left the road surface the wind pushed me left while I was in the air. I landed almost entirely in the left (oncoming) lane.
Fortunately no oncoming traffic. What a rush. Didn't do that again....
I-75/I-85 merges into one, onto a temporary merge four lane northbound east of Atlanta. As I am rolling 100+ merging from I-75 onto I-85, I am the new inside lanes. Well, the Georgia Trooper in his Charger is about the same speed on I-85 and we meet side to side simutaniously.... "As my heart drops, and temporary loss of breathing rhythm;" I look directly at him as he is about three feet from my passenger mirror. Trooper gives me a thumbs up and I quickly find 70.... whew.....
I owned my Targa for several weeks.
During road trip with wife and 2 yo daughter I wanted to pass a car on wet road, with trafic coming in front.
I pushed hard the 2nd gear while changing lane... Suddenly (and so quickly !) I lost the rear (water + road painting + 320hp...).
Thanks to the PSM the car got back in lane very quickly and I even finished to pass before being in danger.
Now I almost never push the throttle in 2nd gear when road is wet : great humility lesson !
Some great stories here. I learned early on to underestimate my driving skills and slowly raise the bar on every car I drive as every car has its unique driving quirks and takes some seat time to fully understand.
I worked as a valet and a porter to get myself through college, so I drove every single car imaginable. As a porter I had full access to the remote lot of 200+ new Honda cars and every used trade-in. I was 19 and I did not use moderation when experimenting with everything.
I have used and abused everything that was traded-in, and every new performance honda with a manual. After 8 months on the job, every parking lot corner and straight line was covered in skid marks and burn-out marks. Sadly, I was not discreet about hiding my driving prowess and when sales personal started referring to me as "fast and furious xxx" I knew I have gone too far. Taking customer and sales person to the lot in the 4 door SI while e-brake sliding around the multi story garage was impressive, but not very smart.
But did I learn a lot about car control and about different behaviors of every vehicle platform to grace the world until 2007.
Scariest moment? Taking possession of the car and driving off the dealer lot. I had no idea what I was doing and had to stop to calm down. It's been a blast ever since. Mark time about 6 years later, went up an on ramp to the interstate, told wife to hang on, I was going to blast up this on ramp, second, third, fourth...still blasting, finally hit fifth and looked down at the speedo...doing 127 mph! Just took seconds to achieve that and I rapidly backed off. Now before I get blasted, the on ramp is one giant sweeper with a clear view backwards and there was nothing else on the road. Even my wife was smiling. She said she felt safe in the car. What an amazing car these things are.
Scariest moment......started car after an oil change. Car ran for 10 seconds and then I heard a loud clanking noise. Thought it was engine exploding, so I turned off the car and looked underneath for the massive oil puddle. I forgot to remove the oil filter wrench and it had fallen off after I started the car. Man, they make a lot of noise when they hit the ground!
Perhaps this is the beginning of a radical change ? It would solve the oversteer issue? But what would be the difference between a mid-engined "911" & a Boxster - just 2 cylinders?
http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/porsch...mig-1782735536
Just rebuilt my engine recently, and whilst attempting to get the car through its MOT here in the uk the mechanic failed me on a small water leak underneath!! I went back to the garage and removed the middle under tray to get to the pipes and tighten the pipe clips a little to stop the leak, then decided to go for a test before going back to the MOT station.
I got on an open road close to my garage and started opening her up a little ( just to get the coolant temp up honest!!) next thing bang clatter clatter from the rear, no the ims??engine has blown ?? oh well that's that then!!
Pulled over and could hardly bring myself to go and look under the rear of the car, pool of oil???bits of metal everywhere???
No just the rear under tray come loose , the wind got under it because the middle one was still off, and it was rattling up and down phew!!
When my engine shut off on the interstate last month.....
Turned out my throttle body had stopped working. Replaced the throttle body and car runs good as new
My second scariest moment was cruising down the front straight at Roebling Road Raceway at about 140 into the braking zone and my pedal went to the floor.
My first was after my first weekend at the track with the car, I cut open the oil filter during post track weekend oil change and found metal savings in the filter.
Wasn't in the 996. Coming back from a trip to the Philly Zoo with my niece and my wife. Slept 3 hours the night before. Driving my wife's C Class on the NJ turnpike with cruise control set. Quiet music because everyone (wife and 3 year old niece) were sleeping. And somehow I joined them. Woke up Because the collision prevention warning started going off like crazy because I was about to rear-end a 18 wheeler.
Haven't used cruise control since.
A few weeks ago a semi decided he needed the left lane while I was overtaking him on a two lane interstate section that featured a cement wall in lieu of a shoulder. Brembos and not waiting to react properly saved my life. There was nobody in the truck's way (open road both lanes except for the two of us), he simply darted into the left lane as I reached his rear wheels. Between ABS fighting my inputs and the lack of a shoulder it was all I could do to 1) not ditch into the wall and 2) slow down enough to let the semi 'merge'.
No PASM or other acronyms here (just ABS), the front end was twitching under the braking pressure. I was sawing at the wheel to keep it away from the wall. It seems these cars were not designed for mid-turn 90-60 braking tests
Here is my scariest moment in my 996. Chasing godzilla, coming around a blind corner and someone backing out onto the track, right on my line. In my head I saw my smashed up silver beauty. Very narrowly missed him thanks to the quick steering on the 996. That'll teach me to glance at every flag station on every lap!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHR6...ature=youtu.be
964. Chicago, after freezing rain followed by light snow. Performance tires.
On ramp, requiring some acceleration to merge. So, I gave it the spurs.
Three hundred and sixty degree circular tour of the on ramp, miraculously missing the guardrails, coming to rest pointed more or less straight in the lane.
With a very large truck bearing down on my rear end, horn blaring.
My first stop, after letting the office know i'd be late was the tire center for all weather tires.
And my next decision was that my next Porsche would be a C4.
Which still wasn't worth a **** in bad Chicago snow, but did prevent the opportunity for any snap end-reversals.
Dumb*ss. Like I didn't know after 40 years that snow is slippery. Stupid, stupid. And lucky, lucky.
Still miss that car. Still don't miss that snow.
Rented an M6 from BMW Welt. Was raining, on a 70kph zone in central Munich, slight bend, decided to give it a bit of gas as I was doing 60kph. Traction control on, everything else on Sport+ mode. The rear decided to step to the left somehow. Either my quick reaction (not!) or most likely German (electronic) engineering saved the day and my 1000 Euro deposit.
I posted this when it originally happened, but...
My first oil change after installing the LN adapter. All buttoned up and refilled, first start to circulate some oil. The car started perfectly; after a second or two, there was a loud POP! and my oil pressure dropped 2 bars.
Shut it down instantly, dropped down to see what was up - and I see oil all over the place. Dripping off the motor, sprayed all over the garage floor. I am thinking the worst possible thoughts...Oh damn, Oh damn. But...I see no metal, no new holes, just oil (1+ quart recovered with the shop vac, that poor bastard).
I completely failed to notice that the gasket from the previous filter stayed stuck to the LN adapter; when I installed the new filter, I made a gasket sammich. As soon as oil pressure built, the sammich blew out and sprayed oil at 5 bars of pressure all over the underside of the car.
No harm to the car; at least a year of my life gone due to the cardiac stress, and an entire day spent cleaning oil off the underside of the car and the concrete floor.
I've had - so far - 2, both in the GT3.
1. I'm booming along I95, doing about 75-ish and I'm about 100 feet from the new high occupancy lanes. Suddenly I see a white Volvo SUV careening across three lanes of traffic in a desperate attemept to squeeze into the HOV lane. Her angle is all wrong and my brain tells me she's not gonna make it as the Volvo starts bouncing sideways. I can see the driver's face in pure panic mode, cranking hard on the wheel while a teenage girl sits in the passenger seat, oblivious to her own impending doom, as she no doubt tweets her friends "Imsoobored.."
Meanwhile I have both feet in, praying that the bigazz Brembos can absorb my momentum and that thet Hankooks stay on the rims. By the sheer grace of Baby Jesus, the Volvo bounces into a forward-facing position and makes the turn into the HOV lane, clearing the first of the plastic pylons with inches to spare. Big Brakes Save Lives.
2. After deciding a cat bypass would be a great idea, I'm putting down 595 when the idiot lights come on advising me to "drive to the nearest service facility." Turned out to be an O2 sensor thing, which the tech swore would never happen. Bypass went bye-bye soon afterwards.
I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-Shirt because it says "I want to be formal, but I'm here to party."
Also, I like to think of Jesus like with giant eagle wings singing lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd with an angel band and I'm in the front row and I'm hammered drunk.
