Re: 944t

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Wed, 15 Mar 1995 PDQSHIP@aol.com wrote:

> Eliot, you should drive that 944t...  Never saw that bowling green torque
> from either my stock 86 or my 87 till Ned...   I tend to agree with Barton
> that the value is low, and the tweeks available not only exceed that of the
> audi's, but challenge the best of the prepared 911's...  We have a couple of
> them that run in the IT races in the midwest and they get horsepower and
> torque figgrs that are in the 350 range easily and handily beat the 911's lap
> times to boot...

i certainly do not doubt that the 944T is capable of killer performance, but
i would like to be able to put it *ALL* down on a wet day, which happens
often around here.  as far as track stuff is concerned, i prefer to drive
purpose built track cars or karts rather than use my transportation
appliance.  i don't have time or money these days anyway. 

>  The M5 and M3 (new one I assume) are OK, but your comment
> about the wet is inconsistent with these two nose heavy (M5) and happy tail
> (M3) cars, a balanced 50/50 limited slip 944t with the proper tires will
> circle your G60...  

the M3 and M5 are both 50/50.

>Kind of surprised me on this one, eliot... 

well, for 2wd i am not interested in tire smoking power.. i was talking 
about fluency and tossability in the curves.  the g60 is wonderfully
taut and agile both on tight curves as well as sweepers.  it is small
too.  also, i put driving enjoyment ahead of competition winning ability.

> Right now your G60 has the edge on
> the vr6, 

no it does not.. i have to go to a stage 2.. but with only 2wd, i'm not
too excited about it.  the vr6 is much better, but cost $10K more.
for a toy/weekend fun car, i wasn't going to spend that much.. besides
the g60 is cheap to run and service and completely painless to own.

>but me thinks that the vw tuning boys have a better beginning with
> the vr...  The G60 was a stopgap for the 6, not saying the 6 they put out is
> that far ahead, but  I haven't seen much past the 200 mark with the G60, an
> easily attained goal for the vr...

the VR6 is more difficult to soup up because it is normally aspirated. but
with 2.8 liters you are definitely at an advantage given enough $$$.  don't
get me wrong.. the g60's strength is not in the engine.. it is in the
chassis, which is very special after you've driven lots of cars. 


eliot