Porsche Oversteer?

Factual.......but you have to be sooooo faaar past the point of your own driving ability for it to happen on dry pavement.

On wet roads or snow it can be made to occur at 5-10 mph.

I once lost it in a 1979 930 Turbo in a tight sweeping corner....doing about 70 mph, foot on the gas, but not floored, suspension really loaded up, must have hit some dust or fine sand on the track and suddenly went sideways about 45 degrees heading down the straight as I came out of the corner before I caught it......so I put my foot in it, literally floored it and went for full opposite lock on the steering wheel.....I must have driven 100' with the tires smoking and the car going in a straight line, but at a 45 degree angle, before I steered out of it.

I changed my pants after that.....but because I remembered reading about what to do if it happened, I saved my azz by not losing my cool. Still vividly remember it to this day, some 20 years ago....scared me ****less.

This problem more or less went away with the 993's new rear suspension.

 

From about the SC forward (excepting the 930's) that problem became less and less. By the time you get the Weissach axle 993's (like on the 928's since '77...and since designed in '71) things calmed down to a mere fraction of what they used to be from an oversteer perspective. In dry conditions you should be NO WHERE near these limits! That said, I have a few favorite corners that could/can get a bit hairy and with an early 911 might even be a handful. That said I may drive a little harder than most, seeing as I have a Porsche that I actually race and have more than 10,000 track miles under my belt...

I always tell people who REALLY want to learn to drive to get an early 911 with skinny little tires and learn to whip the guys in the later model 911 (with WAY MORE HP) and THEN they will KNOW how to drive. When they then move up to say a 993 they are scorchingly fast!

 

Dead on! Had a few 911's in the past, a 2.7 Carrera and a 2.7 RSR popped out to 3.0 and twin plugged. It takes time to learn to drive these bad boys and get used to the over-steer and feel it in your seat. I remember the first week I got the Carrera and was cooking on the edge of a 180 degree on-ramp, everything was just fine until I hit water from one of the sprinklers that was spraying the apex..........and around in circles we went, amazingly the car stayed in the radius of the turn......skated on that one. We used to call the 936 Turbo Dr. killers when they first came out because Dr.'s were the only ones who could afford the things and were usually unexperienced drivers to boot. The first time they got in over their head (scared) they lifted off the throttle and combined with early turbo lag and they sometimes went over the edge, literally. Oversteer in an early 911 can be an expensive thrill ride to say the least. Thank goodness for PCA and POC and driver training and track time to hone your skills. Anyone owning one of these early 911's should definitely join one of the clubs and learn to drive it to it's limits and yours. Once you learn to feel the oversteer and control it you can use it to your advantage on the track. It takes awhile to not panic and tell your brain to floor it and feed the steering in increments. Nothing but mileage and first hand driving experience can prepare you for this. Oversteer is nothing to take lightly in a early 911......it's stick, stick, stick ............goodbye!
Here's a pic of my 2.7 Carrera around 1976 at the track.
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the throttle is your friend in a 911 / 930...learn to throttle steer. if you lift mid corner or use the nasty brake, you may find yourself going backward...at a very high rate of speed!!!!

that said, i have owned drive and race 911 sries cars since i was 16 yrs old. i have spun a few, i have crashed a few...i have also mastered a few. let me tell oyu, NO car i have even driven ever makes you feel like you do when you GET IT RIGHT in a 911...NOTHING.

a true drivers car!!!!! i hope i will always have ferraris in the garage to enjoy and look at. but i will always have a 930 in the garage to drive!!!!

pcb

 

One other aspect of Porsche 911 handling that is not often mentioned is UNDERSTEER. Early cars had a habit of steering you right straight ahead under heavy braking no matter where you put the wheel...

The power oversteer was in a way more controllable than this - so once again a reason to put down a reasonable amount of power and steer yourself via the throttle.