More 911 Jibes

[Ron Horowitz <RonHorowitz@domain.elided>]

Hello, Everyone,

A BMW mechanic friend of mine has a saying about Porsche 911's: "As long as
there are short, balding, middle-aged men, there will always be a market
for the Porsche 911."

I've never been able to warm over to "the Beetle on steroids," but here's
my .02 on this tired, old thread.

All things being equal, the 911 "formula" adds up to a car with a higher
power to weight ratio, and superior grip under acceleration and braking. A
911 will get to the next corner faster, can go in deeper, double apex,
etc., and probably have a lower lap time than a comparable front-engine,
rear-drive car such as a GTV6.

The 911 "formula" is also a recipe for aerodynamic instability (center of
mass aft of center of lateral pressure) instability under braking, and with
the semi-trailing arm suspension, adverse toe and camber changes with
suspension travel. Or, as my BMW-racing friend says "If a guy in a 911 is
blocking, all you have to do is wait for him to set up for a corner, give
him a little love pat, and he'll go spinning off into the weeds."

OK, so 911's are fast around a race track. To me, they're still expensive,
noisey, foul-handling, rear-engined, semi-trailing arm pigs that aren't
much fun to drive, aren't much to look at, and are a real bitch to work on.
(Good thing they're reliable!) If you want a rear engine car, an early
Karmann Ghia is better looking, a Fiat 600 or 850 derived hot-rod is loads
cheaper and way more fun to drive.

So there, nya.

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