Anyone want to explain just how hard it is? | Page 2 | FerrariChat

Anyone want to explain just how hard it is?

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by TeenwhoneedsaFerrari, Jan 7, 2004.

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  1. cavallo_nero

    cavallo_nero Formula 3

    Nov 3, 2003
    1,707
    colorado
    Full Name:
    Giovanni Pasquale
    never had a problem grabbing second in my 78 308, even on cold colorado mountain mornings - down to zero degrees - goes in like butta..i found that is awkward to orientate your legs and feet in the wheel well - the pedals are moved to the right off center to clear the front wheels - so you are kinda skewed in the car in relation to your upper body.
     
  2. MarkG

    MarkG Formula Junior

    Nov 3, 2003
    369
    Colorado Springs
    Full Name:
    Mark
    I too live in the Arctic waste-land called Colorado, using Redline NS gear oil - no probs w/2nd gear.

    my '69 911 = like driving a high performance go-cart

    My 308 = like driving a semi-high performance tank...until you get 'up to speed'; then its like driving a very well built, solid sports car!
     
  3. speedball

    speedball Formula Junior

    Mar 29, 2004
    268
    Pasadena Area
    Full Name:
    Scot Anderson
    I've owned a 2000, 996 C4 for several years and recently purchased a 2000 550 Maranello, so maybe I can answer your question a bit better. The Porsche is a great car .... very refined with very fast and smooth shifting transmission, good steering, brakes, etc... all well balanced, tight and very well engineered. I've owned Porsche's for 25 years. The first thing I noticed when I drove my 550 for the first time was the steering .... twice as responsive with half the effort of the 996 yet you still feel very connected to the road .... the 550 will just about "jump" from lane to lane if you want it to. Now... the 550 has power steering and my 996 doesn't so this explains quite a bit of this .... but I love the steering feel ... #2 was the power of my 550 ..... I've never tracked either car ... but do get pretty aggressive in the mountains at times...... and I feel like I've pushed the porsche close to its' limits many times .... but I've ever gotten close to this point in my 550 (even though I've gone the same speed in both cars on the same roads) .... yes, the 550 is still a bit new to me ... but I'm almost cetain I'll never get as close to the limit point in the 550 as with my 996. Last trip up to Mt Wilson (So California) ..... I was going 50 to 80 MPH on some pretty tight curvey roads with 100+ MPH spurts in the 100 open yards before the next curve..... and my 550 never even required braking ... . if you went in a bit fast... just hold on ... it wasn't going anywhere. The 996 requires much more input and effort ... steering, brakes, up/down shifting .... which does make things sporty ..... but I've got to tell you .... powering out of a curve at 60 -70 mph in the 550 then rocketing to over 100 mph before setting up for the next curve ..... makes the 550 just as fun..... there's just no comparison in power between the 550 and 996 (turbo aside). I love both cars... but if I could keep only one...... it would be the 550 ... but there is a major trade off.... MONEY !!!! Porsche's are very reasonably priced for what you get and very well built and the key word with Porsche is "reliablity"..... you'll spend one tenth on a Porsche what it'll cost to keep the 550 current with scheduled maintenance alone ...... much less if something really bad were to break. Two completely different beasts ..... and two different feels..... both are easy drives in town but tons of fun in the mountains ... the 550 can be the bigger beast if you're crazy enough to take it to it's limit ...... 550's have a rated top end of 199 mph and I'm sure it feels sure footed even at this speed unlike every other car I've owned when you get much over 150 mph..... the question being.... how fast do you want to go? How long do you want to live? I've also owned an 850 Csi and an NSX ..... two other cars that have a completely different feel to them as well. The NSX is basically a slot car ..... but I did take my NSX to 155 mph once on the way to Vegas ..... felt like is was about to swap ends or lift off..... very scarry ... but at 140 mph it was solid ..... at 155 mph the rear spoiler was flapping like a piece of paper.... told the dealer about this but he refused to believe me ... told him let's go... I'll show you ...... he declinded ...
     

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