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Familiarity breeds.... ?

YvesD

YvesD

New member
Dear All,

Had a reality check today.

My wife, who is no stranger to fast cars and even faster bikes drove the C2S today for probably the first time in 12 months.

To say she was all at sea afterwards would be an understatement. Found it way too scary and demanding to drive after the regular transport.

So, we who drive 180mph cars everyday get used to them and think the performance is 'normal'. Those who dont are starstruck even at the foothills of the performance envelope.

Note to self: remember the above when you think that 0-60mph in the low 4's isnt fast enough........

Yves
 
i was just looking at used car roadshow and they had a de tomaso and ferrari 328gtb from 86 and they both did 0-60 in 6.5secs....every porsche is faster than that now and a lot of bmw`s!!![:D]
 
That's odd. My other half doesn't see it that way at all.

She a regular passenger in my C2S and recently came with me on a new Turbo test-drive, and she didn't feel even the TT was particularly savage. She was serious scared the first time I started talking about getting a 911. After going out for the first time though she couldn't believe how civil it actually was.

She's also recently driven an OPC loaner Carrera, and other than the worry about damaging a 70k plus car, found it no scarier or harder to drive than my Audi S3 which she uses as her run around.

So perhaps it IS just what you are use to on a regular basis.

I must say that when I went from a Peugeot 106 to an Audi S3 Abt with 250bhp, I felt like I was going "Ëśludicrous speed' (Spaceballs ref!). These days though even my soon-to-be Turbo has additional plans to be made into something that once again takes my breath away.
 
Got me thinking now; what is the rate at which we acclimatize ourselves to wanting more and more power.

Looking at my personal car history over the last 10 years the graph perhaps looks something like the attached.

Hmmm, suppose it would have been faster had I the financial means to climb the power ladder earlier though.

EF3E3ED4061947ACA6E07A0EBDC29536.jpg
 
My dealer (Porsche Wilmslow) has lent me a 2.7 Coxster (Cayman, oops!) for the weekend whilst my 997S is having its RMS replaced (I'll spare everyone the soapbox and rant)!!

Prior to owning Porsches, my last car was a BMW 330Ci (E46) that felt plenty powerful enough when I owned it. IIRC that car had about 230BHP on tap. After 4 years of 911 ownership, the Cayman is the first 'other' car I've driven with sporting pretentions. The Cayman, whilst genuinely lovely to drive, feels so anaemic after the 997S that I really thought it must have about 180BHP or thereabouts. I was absolutely shocked to read the spec and find out it had more HP than my old BMW! My point is that my own expectations of a car's performance have moved on so far that even a faster car than all the others I owned, pre-Porsche, still feels like the engine's gone missing!

So yes, I think we DO become accustomed to performance in a big way and what we think of as 'normal' CAN scare anyone unaccustomed half to death! However, whilst getting a faster car is noticeable and a pleasure, it's nowhere near as obvious as how much is missing when going back to something slower!
 
interesting point-i too had a bmw 330ci sport which i thought well fast,but when i got the 996 i felt a HUGE difference .then when i tested the cayman i felt really underwhelmed by the speed tho everything else was brilliant!so i tested and then bought a cayman s which IMHO is an entirely different car speed wise and feels every bit as fast as the 996 and the 997 c2 and 997s i test drove for prolonged period before i finally ordered the cayman s even tho it is 30-50 hp down on those-i guess the handling makes the difference.....but i cant wait for the cayman turbo[:D][:D][:D]
 
I've never driven a Cayman S but after driving the basic 2.7 for a while I expect it must be a hoot! The Cayman really is a superbly balanced car - I'm even thoroughly enjoying the 2.7 courtesy car now I've 'adjusted' to its more limited performance envelope. Strange, but you don't really notice the performance after a while - you just get immersed in the experience.

It will be interesting to see how I react to the 997S again having got used to the Cayman!
 
ian
it is a hoot no doubt[:D][:D]
but the 997s is also great to drive too-i may yet go back to a tail end engine one day....if i save enough for a TT!!
 
I previously had a 997S and thought it was fantastic. Six months into owership of the 997Turbo and it was at the OPC's for a week and the loan car was a 997S - My God did it feel slow!!!! OK not bad but I certainly missed that excessive of power I'd gotten used to[:)][:)].
Graham
 
ORIGINAL: Alex L

Got me thinking now; what is the rate at which we acclimatize ourselves to wanting more and more power.

Looking at my personal car history over the last 10 years the graph perhaps looks something like the attached.

Hmmm, suppose it would have been faster had I the financial means to climb the power ladder earlier though.

EF3E3ED4061947ACA6E07A0EBDC29536.jpg
Click to expand...

AlexL interesting thoughts

It is clealry what you are used too driving and beocme taken for granted

My car power history oges like
  • 80hp Escort Mk3
  • 110hp Nova GTE
  • 173hp BMW 325i (boxy one - E32?)
  • 200hp Rover Trubo Coupe
  • 200hp Nissan 200SX
  • 193hp BMW 328i Coupe
  • 200hp Nissan 200SX Touring Manual
  • 252hp 986 Boxster S
  • 280hp 987 Boxster S
  • 381hp 997 C2S x51
Most noticable diffrences: Nova was mad and I had to sell before I killed myself you had to drive everywhere flat out (with rear drum breaks....[:eek:]) Step from first BMW to Rover was huge the Rove coupe only weghed about a ton so went **ing fast in a straight line, corners however...[X(]) - the selling point at the time was it went from 30-70 in the same time as a Ferrari 348

Nissand to 328 was a bit let down the Nissan went so much faster.

Nissan to boxster S was big step up and took time to get used too.

Clearly Boxster S - C2S is another hugh performance step and takes getting used too.

Boxster S 987 is faster round the Bedford aerodrome than the Cayman, C2S feels a world faster than the BoxsterS.........

On real roads the limit for the boxster is you couldn't use its cornering potential, too many blind coerners too uncertain what idiot was coming the other way - ended up with a slow in quick out - which obviously suits the C2s more - so for me on normal roads this accentuates the performance diffrence between the two.

 
ORIGINAL: Alex L

Got me thinking now; what is the rate at which we acclimatize ourselves to wanting more and more power.

Looking at my personal car history over the last 10 years the graph perhaps looks something like the attached.

Hmmm, suppose it would have been faster had I the financial means to climb the power ladder earlier though.

EF3E3ED4061947ACA6E07A0EBDC29536.jpg
Click to expand...

Alex,
Graph predicts you need about 625BHP next change, what are you going to get?[:D]
 
ORIGINAL: marke2

ORIGINAL: Alex L

Got me thinking now; what is the rate at which we acclimatize ourselves to wanting more and more power.

Looking at my personal car history over the last 10 years the graph perhaps looks something like the attached.

Hmmm, suppose it would have been faster had I the financial means to climb the power ladder earlier though.

EF3E3ED4061947ACA6E07A0EBDC29536.jpg
Click to expand...

Alex,
Graph predicts you need about 625BHP next change, what are you going to get?[:D]
Click to expand...

Lambo LP640 of course [:D]

Nah, unless I win the lottery, it will be a 998 Turbo trade-in in 5 years time. So the extrapolation will probably plateau [:(]
 
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