Babysitting

Started by sifty, November 26, 2013, 08:17:38 PM

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watercooled

Quote from: Neckarsulm on December 14, 2013, 10:51:40 PM
Manuals are damn hard to find these days, especially S4s.

I believe only 15% were manuals ,they have a bad rep for very hard to drive around town and the they break easy,the Merc auto is a great gearbox and very strong,these cars are epic and very underated,enjoy it while you have it.
1974 Porsche 914 with 2.2T 911 6cyl,
Audi a6 allroad 2007 3.0TDI stage 1 reflash ,
89 Corrado 2.0 16v, Stilauto RX 17in wheels,ABF on k/jet ,resto underway maybe up for sale ?,
2002 T4 transporter 2.5 TDI.

sifty

I read that 15% are manual too, but personally I've only seen 3 manuals and a lot of autos. In NZ it must be a much lower percentage of manuals.

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watercooled

Also the first car built with "manual"adaptive suspension,no one had heard of that in those days.
1974 Porsche 914 with 2.2T 911 6cyl,
Audi a6 allroad 2007 3.0TDI stage 1 reflash ,
89 Corrado 2.0 16v, Stilauto RX 17in wheels,ABF on k/jet ,resto underway maybe up for sale ?,
2002 T4 transporter 2.5 TDI.

sifty

Quote from: watercooled on February 04, 2014, 02:34:13 PM
Also the first car built with "manual"adaptive suspension,no one had heard of that in those days.

What is that? Like you can adjust the damping rates or what?

I've been 'daily driving' it for the last week. I must say I'm finally "getting it".
When I first drove it I thought this is an impressive and well built car, but it's dated, heavy and complex.
I think I was actually finding how narrow my view point was...
It's not dated, it's so far ahead of it's time in terms of styling that it a quite normal looking car by today's standards - but it's not modern so it doesn't feel modern to drive.
It's a well built car that had so many advanced features it's not surprising some of them don't work any more. I'm a person who notices a lot of useless detail so I see these things. For example there are 3 ways to open the boot - only 2 of them are working.
It is not nearly as heavy as it looks at 1500kg but all the controls are quite solid and deliberate feeling - ie: You have to physically haul the steering wheel into a corner, the gearbox will NOT chop down effortlessly from 4th to 3rd. You will have to MAKE it do this.
I've driven it in rush hour motorway traffic  a couple of times now. In second gear at low speeds the engine has a sense of urgency that ends up trying to make you bunnyhop down the road. lesson learned - drive in 3rd in traffic. Actually this is a good 'rule of thumb' all the time. Coming from the Mk1 GTI into the 928 it'd be fair to say that my driving style was not well suited to the characteristics of the 5.2L V8. 
Sure the gearbox is basically a total bastard to shift a lot of the time, but most of the problems are actually caused by the idiot on the other end of the gear stick.  The 928 laughs at constant gear changes - like "You don't need to do that, I've got this..."  Here is me going up a slight incline in Mk1 GTI mode and shifting down from 4th to 3rd, the 928 doesn't care a whole lot if you're in 4th or 3rd It'll go up that hill fast whichever gear you're in.
This car gobbles the open road like... I have no elegant analogies - Tony Montana on a line of charlie... It destroys open road and that is where it's at its best that is where you will "Get" the 928.


brian

A grand tourer in other words
Škoda Fabia 1.0 TSI Race Blue

sifty

yep. But after the drive I'd just had I was feeling too emotional to just say "Aw yeah, it's a GT reallly."  ;)

watercooled

Quote from: sifty on December 16, 2013, 10:39:18 AM
It was like driving a sportier, more beautiful and better spec'd 1965 Beetle. I drove it long enough to see the attraction and the potential for fun, but not enough to get good at it. With the lack of power and odd feeling weight balance you really need to manage the inertia well to drive it quickly.
Brakes are good, but you have to work at it. Steering is precise but suspension is a bit wallowy. Engine is no powerhouse.

I loved driving it.  :D Big smiles.

Been in a B model driven full on ,fresh 1720 motor ,kind of not too impressed really and this was a really nice car owner had 65k in it,have had my share off hot bettles and didn't see why the yanks have pumped the value of these cars into never- neverland,saw a seriously rusted out one on ebay recently no motor, no interior, no floorpans ,no glass,and accident damaged and was described as a good restoration candidate for 30k,crazy really.
Still very cool cars.
1974 Porsche 914 with 2.2T 911 6cyl,
Audi a6 allroad 2007 3.0TDI stage 1 reflash ,
89 Corrado 2.0 16v, Stilauto RX 17in wheels,ABF on k/jet ,resto underway maybe up for sale ?,
2002 T4 transporter 2.5 TDI.

Gordo

James Dean? Wonder what just the chassis plate(s) would be worth?
These are my thoughts and opinions - sometimes I'm wrong, but not often ;-)

watercooled

Quote from: sifty on February 08, 2014, 09:42:50 PM
What is that? Like you can adjust the damping rates or what?

I've been 'daily driving' it for the last week. I must say I'm finally "getting it".
When I first drove it I thought this is an impressive and well built car, but it's dated, heavy and complex.
I think I was actually finding how narrow my view point was...
It's not dated, it's so far ahead of it's time in terms of styling that it a quite normal looking car by today's standards - but it's not modern so it doesn't feel modern to drive.
It's a well built car that had so many advanced features it's not surprising some of them don't work any more. I'm a person who notices a lot of useless detail so I see these things. For example there are 3 ways to open the boot - only 2 of them are working.
It is not nearly as heavy as it looks at 1500kg but all the controls are quite solid and deliberate feeling - ie: You have to physically haul the steering wheel into a corner, the gearbox will NOT chop down effortlessly from 4th to 3rd. You will have to MAKE it do this.
I've driven it in rush hour motorway traffic  a couple of times now. In second gear at low speeds the engine has a sense of urgency that ends up trying to make you bunnyhop down the road. lesson learned - drive in 3rd in traffic. Actually this is a good 'rule of thumb' all the time. Coming from the Mk1 GTI into the 928 it'd be fair to say that my driving style was not well suited to the characteristics of the 5.2L V8. 
Sure the gearbox is basically a total bastard to shift a lot of the time, but most of the problems are actually caused by the idiot on the other end of the gear stick.  The 928 laughs at constant gear changes - like "You don't need to do that, I've got this..."  Here is me going up a slight incline in Mk1 GTI mode and shifting down from 4th to 3rd, the 928 doesn't care a whole lot if you're in 4th or 3rd It'll go up that hill fast whichever gear you're in.
This car gobbles the open road like... I have no elegant analogies - Tony Montana on a line of charlie... It destroys open road and that is where it's at its best that is where you will "Get" the 928.

The suspension goes like this,as far as I understand,as you corner harder the suspension compensates for the wheel load  introduces more tyre bite thru camber changes,the bushes in the system are compliant to this movement,I believe the race cars that go to poly bushes have to be modified accordly otherwise they don't hold out as well,they have to set max camber because these changes don't happen with non compliant (harder ) bushes.
They are a supertourer not a sports car according to the motoring writers of the time.
1974 Porsche 914 with 2.2T 911 6cyl,
Audi a6 allroad 2007 3.0TDI stage 1 reflash ,
89 Corrado 2.0 16v, Stilauto RX 17in wheels,ABF on k/jet ,resto underway maybe up for sale ?,
2002 T4 transporter 2.5 TDI.

schattenblau

You guys are over-thinking it.

The 928's "Weissach" rear axle was an early form of passiverear wheel steering.

It did not (directly) change camber but altered the amount of toe in/out to reduce liftoff oversteer.

And it didn't use special bushes but replaced a bush in front of the semi-trailing arm with a short link.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/porsche-928-history2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weissach_Axle