A new reason (to me) to never own a Porsche

[Michael Dye]

What, you forget to read a road map? Yet another of the entitlement generation that haven't taught themselves to survive life's shortfalls. You know, I've been fortunate enough to own Porsches, Ferraris, Mercedes Benz, and cars/trucks from every current US manufacturer as well as some not so current. Let it be said that until you've had the pleasure to own and work on a German car, you don't know what a "real" drivers car is. Oh, by the way, my current toy, which I've owned since new, is a '68 GT350 convertible. Love that car.

[Bruce Wrenn]

The Kia has a "drive by wire" gas pedal. Most cars now use this system, instead of a cable between gas peddle and throttle . Wife's 2006 Suzuki (drive by wire), when battery is replaced requires that mass air flow sensor be cleaned. Some VW products, if battery is disconnected for more than a few minutes, require a $200+ trip to dealer (tow truck not included) for brains to be reprogramed.

[Keith Westfall]

Why wouldn't she turn off the key? Am I missing something?

[Mike Cutler]

Some VW products, if battery is disconnected for more than a few minutes, require a $200+ trip to dealer (tow truck not included) for brains to be reprogramed.

This seemed to be a consistent feature for many european cars for a few years. BMW terms it "Registering the Battery".
There are aftermarket interface devices and programs that can access the system coding and do this for you, to keep you out of the dealership. Some are run off an App loaded on a smartphone and require only the correct OBDII port interface adapter cable, and you could do it anywhere.
If you own a newer model import, you really should have access to the coding anyway. There are times that you may need to "register" a newly installed component so that he car will see it and use it.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Try '83 944 in the Ozark twisties on a sunny fall day. And acceleration was NOT it's forte. ...Sharp chisel? Meh. (Ya generally gotta go 'clothing optional' to have this much fun.)

Like more recent vintages? Just test drove the new Jag XE R-sport. Suspension is to die for and it's squat-and-grunt-factor is considerable - with a 340hp supercharged V6. AND IT'S A SEDAN! We'll have to see how Tata's cash infusion will impact Jag's legendary lack of reliability.

[John K Jordan]

... The Corvette being the closest thing to a sports car I ever owned, ...

I still kick myself severely when I think of the co-worker in the early '70s who offered me his white late 60s-something Corvette for $1500. I couldn't possibly afford $1500 back then. It had an oil leak and he was ready to dump it. Spotless inside, he never drove it without spreading newspapers on the floor for his feet.

JKJ

[Erik Loza]

My dream car is a Honda S2000 (though I might say Acura NSX if I had ever had the chance to drive an NSX, but I haven't yet). S2000 the closest thing to a real race car I have ever driven and unlike any of the German vehicles, you can actually work on it yourself. If we had a three-car garage, I would already own an S2000.

Our 2014 Mini Cooper-S is tons of fun but in my opinion, has too many bells and whistles. Also, I expectt it to break down some day and be expensive (like, dealership-only type repair) when it does. When that day comes, I will think to myself, "I told you so", to my wife. Of course, I'll never say that to her!

Erik

[Bruce Volden]

Germany, 1973.
A Dr. friend of mine in Baumholder ask if I wanted to take a ride in his new Porsche. Well heck YEAH!!
Hit the autobahn and 160 mph! NEVER been so scared in my life!!!! Never doing that again.

Bruce

[Rod Sheridan]

I have a 2013 BMW bike, it has CANBUS to control everything.

Everything is run by onboard computers, it's an incredible vehicle except mine has a problem the dealer can't find.

Every few months the computer turns something on and drains the battery to 3 volts.

The initial suspect was that I was using a non BMW GPS on the bike, connected to the switched accessory socket.

That theory was discarded when the bike did it again when the GPS was with me in Calgary and the bike was home in Toronto.

My wife has the same bike, no issues, talking to other owners it's a problem for some, not for others.........Rod.

[Chris Padilla]

I drove a 993 or maybe 996 several years ago once for a few minutes a few miles. Having never driven such a sports car, I found it incredibly stiff and uncomfortable and noisy but incredibly responsive. Since then I've found comfort and sport in 5-series BMWs but now that those are topping 70-80k, I'm liking the 3-series and currently leasing a 2014 335i. Plans are to do an ED (European Delivery) of a 2017 335i next summer but we'll see if that pans out.

[Kev Williams]

About fly-by-wire cars and whatnot (my 26,000# diesel pusher motorhome is fly-by-wire, which really bugs me!)...

It's bad enough that humans are generally in charge of controlling cars, but add in the fact that a computer is in secondary control, and it's a given something bad can happen.

And isn't it funny that these days, nearly every piece of machinery is REQUIRED to have a big red or yellow EMERGENCY STOP button....

Except the multi-ton rolling mobile projectiles we all drive every day....

[Steve Peterson]

Why wouldn't she turn off the key? Am I missing something?

The steering wheel would lock up and she might end up drifting into a pole or oncoming traffic before she could stop.

Steve

[Kevin Nathanson]

Suffice it to say that a mechanical throttle can have failure modes with the same results as the aforementioned drive-by-wire kind. A personal story; we can pick off the sports car rant and throttle rant in one sell fwoop:

2:45am - driving from downtown SF back to home in Palo Alto, with my girlfriend dosing in the passenger seat. The car: 1995 BMW M3. Stage III Dinan supercharged. 354 HP. 0-60 = 4.7. Dinan modified ECU to disable the BMW top speed limiter of 155 from the factory. Instead, this car will go to redline in fifth gear = 179mph. You know, for those times when you're really in a hurry...

Traffic is light; I'll just kick on the cruise control at 72mph or so and enjoy driving on a Bay Area highway at double digit speeds—Bay Area readers understand the novelty there.

Cruise control engages. In the same way that a bunker-buster bomb goes 'pop'. Cruise control has decided that the actual speed needs a '1' inserted in front of the value that I selected. Did I mention that the car had 354hp?

Data point: All those folks who say that the brakes can stop the car at full throttle? Not so much.

Now, I do not panic; I can handle this. I am actually a real race car driver, with four competition licenses etc., and I have a fairly large amount of knowledge when it comes to the electro-mechanical componentry of an automobile. I have gone this fast in a car before. Granted, it wasn't on an open public highway, and all the cars I was in had six-point harnesses and roll cages and on-board fire extinguishers and KILL SWITCHES. (I'm sorry, was I shouting there?)

OK. brakes are not working, although the smell of brake asbestos combined with clutch asbestos creates an interesting bouquet.

Aren't the brakes supposed to immediately kill the cruise control? I choose to ponder that matter a little later.

Foot in on the clutch. I do NOT recommend testing a rev limiter this way. Especially the modified Dinan limiter that goes up to 7500 RPM. Nevertheless, that works, although the ensuing cacophony DOES wake up my passenger in a not-so-gentle manner. Suffice it to say she is not happy.

After telling her that I'm 'a little busy here; please scream later', we go to step 2: Shut off the engine.

This is the point at which one wants to understand with GREAT certainty the correct key position to kill the ignition, but not lock the steering column or kill the headlights. I actually ponder that for a non-second, and determine that one click toward me should do the trick.

And indeed it does. Except for the steering part. Now, technically, the column did NOT lock. However at about a buck-forty-five (last time I looked) when one decides to forego the use of the power steering pump, the effect in the cockpit is almost indistinguishable from a mechanical lock.

While 101 is pretty straight, it is not RUNWAY straight, hence steering is one of the controls that comes in handy, especially if you are dealing with lane-integrity challenges, which you tend to encounter, even late at night, when you are going approximately 2.3 times the speed limit. Suffice it to say that closing rates offer some driving challenges.

So, we embark on the dance of ignition back on in Neutral; engine INSTANTLY revs to 7500rpm, steer, shut it off, brake until you need to steer again, turn it back on, RPM to 7500, rinse, repeat... Until finally we can coast to a stop on the left shoulder.

OK... That was fun.

Of course, the CHP who pulled up behind me 1 minute later did not share my definition of 'fun'. At least he DID understand how cars work, and when I turned the car on and it, once again, with my foot completely off the gas, attained 7500 RPM instantly, he understood that my story was probably true.

He was about to call a tow truck, when I decided to look under the hood and see if there was anything that could be done. Not surprisingly, the throttle body was indeed jammed wide open. Throwing caution to the wind—hey, it wasn't like I was going to break it worse or something—I gave a mighty yank on the throttle cable, and it broke free and snapped shut.

And that's why sports cars are better.

K

[Malcolm McLeod]

Priceless story, well told!!

... with my girlfriend dosing in the passenger seat. ...INSTANTLY revs to 7500rpm...

Two quick questions: 1. Is she still your girlfriend? 2. What's redline on your pulse?

[Kevin Nathanson]

Priceless story, well told!!



Two quick questions: 1. Is she still your girlfriend? 2. What's redline on your pulse?

1. No. No she is not. I am now married, and the woman I am married to would have found it exhilarating to be going that fast and would not have screamed. She drives a Miata.

2. Not as high as it used to be. Each one of these types of 'events' seems to take a cumulative effect. This one ranks right below three parachute malfunctions and right above backing a formula Mazda up the dirt embankment outside of turn 1 at Sears Point/Sonoma at ~110mph. (See previous note regarding roll cage, harness, et al.)

K