3 ms·

Very much the same, here. One thing people may not realize is that 90mph in a 1980's Porsche feels a lot different than, say, 90mph in any car built today. A fe

by tricky 5y ago

Very much the same, here. One thing people may not realize is that 90mph in a 1980's Porsche feels a lot different than, say, 90mph in any car built today. A few months ago I got one of my old porsches back on the road. Feeling confident it was finally running ok, I punched it when a light turned green. The noise, vibration, smell and feeling from that vintage V8 was unreal. I felt like I was flying but I look over and a mom in a minivan, driving normally, was right alongside me. Modern cars are safe, clean, and amazing.

gonzo 5y ago
So a 928 is the minivan of Porsches? Got it.
- tricky 5y ago
  I got to drive a '77 911S once and it was pretty much the same except with more rattles and the noise was coming from the back. Fun car, but still no match for a 2022 Kia.
  - ubermonkey 5y ago
    I think people don't appreciate this, but back then 165hp -- the rating on a '77 911S -- was nothing to sneeze at. Even into the 80s, sports cars had horsepower figures that are today pretty quotidian; the first gen Nissan 300zx had only about 170hp in the normally-aspirated version. A 2022 Kia Optima -- ie, a fairly bland sedan -- his more horsepower than that. By the 90s the numbers were getting higher. The Porsche I had the longest was a base model 1995 911 (so a 993; last version of the air-cooled cars). It had something like 270hp, which was reasonably serious for the era. The current base-model 911 is something like 380hp if I'm not mistaken. My car was loud, rattly, and smelled like oil much of the time. The interior "domestication" that eventually came to the car was still a generation away, so my car was more like a VW Bug inside than a modern luxury sports car. Driving it was a MUCH more visceral experience than driving a newer car, though. I stopped driving it regularly and ended up selling it when I realized what it was worth (damn near what I paid for it), but it was a great car. The new owner put some money into it and is having some success at autocross. I get visitation rights. :)
    - olyjohn 5y ago
      It's amazing how powerful engines have become in the last 20 years. Driving my Lotus Elise... I'd regularly get my ass handed to me by a V6 Camry or Odyssey. It's not even just engines anymore. A Camry will probably not just be faster in a straight line due to power, but it's probably also going to smoke a good number of vintage sports cars around a track. All that tech really has trickled down into regular cars.
    - ryandrake 5y ago
      It's amazing how refined, shock-absorbed, and quiet modern cars are, compared to the '70s and '80s zoom-zooms. You take a 4 year old BMW up to, say, 120-140 miles per hour, and yea you're going fast, but it's a very muted fast. You can't really even tell unless you're looking at the speedometer. When I took my old '86 944 Turbo up to that speed, the visceral vibration and sound feedback, barebones interior, and visible lack of airbags, made it impossible to forget the reality that you were taking your life into your own hands. Not something to do on public roads.
      - tricky 5y ago
        Here's the thing about taking a 944 up to 120mph... the sound changes. Everything under 110 seems normal, but you get to a point and the aero changes and you know you're in an envelope some German engineers conjured up 35 years ago. That's when I lift. freaks me out.
- ubermonkey 5y ago
  A very, very expensive to own minivan. They're lovely, and it's the only V8 I ever really wanted (that sound!), but it was a fairly brief moment for Porsche and not terribly many were made vs. the other two engine platforms of the era: the 911, obviously, and the series of front-engine 4-cylinder cars (924/944/968).

by tricky 5y ago

gonzo 5y ago

So a 928 is the minivan of Porsches? Got it.

tricky 5y ago
I got to drive a '77 911S once and it was pretty much the same except with more rattles and the noise was coming from the back. Fun car, but still no match for a 2022 Kia.
- ubermonkey 5y ago
  I think people don't appreciate this, but back then 165hp -- the rating on a '77 911S -- was nothing to sneeze at. Even into the 80s, sports cars had horsepower figures that are today pretty quotidian; the first gen Nissan 300zx had only about 170hp in the normally-aspirated version. A 2022 Kia Optima -- ie, a fairly bland sedan -- his more horsepower than that. By the 90s the numbers were getting higher. The Porsche I had the longest was a base model 1995 911 (so a 993; last version of the air-cooled cars). It had something like 270hp, which was reasonably serious for the era. The current base-model 911 is something like 380hp if I'm not mistaken. My car was loud, rattly, and smelled like oil much of the time. The interior "domestication" that eventually came to the car was still a generation away, so my car was more like a VW Bug inside than a modern luxury sports car. Driving it was a MUCH more visceral experience than driving a newer car, though. I stopped driving it regularly and ended up selling it when I realized what it was worth (damn near what I paid for it), but it was a great car. The new owner put some money into it and is having some success at autocross. I get visitation rights. :)
  - olyjohn 5y ago
    It's amazing how powerful engines have become in the last 20 years. Driving my Lotus Elise... I'd regularly get my ass handed to me by a V6 Camry or Odyssey. It's not even just engines anymore. A Camry will probably not just be faster in a straight line due to power, but it's probably also going to smoke a good number of vintage sports cars around a track. All that tech really has trickled down into regular cars.
  - ryandrake 5y ago
    It's amazing how refined, shock-absorbed, and quiet modern cars are, compared to the '70s and '80s zoom-zooms. You take a 4 year old BMW up to, say, 120-140 miles per hour, and yea you're going fast, but it's a very muted fast. You can't really even tell unless you're looking at the speedometer. When I took my old '86 944 Turbo up to that speed, the visceral vibration and sound feedback, barebones interior, and visible lack of airbags, made it impossible to forget the reality that you were taking your life into your own hands. Not something to do on public roads.
    - tricky 5y ago
      Here's the thing about taking a 944 up to 120mph... the sound changes. Everything under 110 seems normal, but you get to a point and the aero changes and you know you're in an envelope some German engineers conjured up 35 years ago. That's when I lift. freaks me out.
ubermonkey 5y ago
A very, very expensive to own minivan. They're lovely, and it's the only V8 I ever really wanted (that sound!), but it was a fairly brief moment for Porsche and not terribly many were made vs. the other two engine platforms of the era: the 911, obviously, and the series of front-engine 4-cylinder cars (924/944/968).