What are higher powered 914s like?, I've never had the chance to drive one. Options

[anthony]

Like every 914 owner I've been thinking I want more power. You know, I'd like to at least be able to smoke a Mini Cooper S or a Honda Civic Si without breaking a sweat.

I've been collecting parts to build a 2056 2L engine. I keep wondering if it's worth it.

Or, will I still want more hp in the end?

What kind of horsepower does it take to make a 914 into a 0-60 8 second car (Civic Si), a 7 second car (Mini S), or a 6 second car (S2000)???

TIA

[krk]

Man, I can believe that. I'm curious to hear your thoughs on the comparison between your current ride (which I think we've all been enjoying hearing about, btw), and the open car. Fer instance, did it still feel "914-like" at all? Or is it so much a race car that it could have been "any excellent quallity race car"? (I'm not putting this very well, but hopefully you get the idea  :D )

I haven't driven that car or anything similar myself (yet) but there is little similarity between it and mine. It is a factory 914-6 tub, not a tube-frame car like Brad's silver one, but the engine, suspension, brakes, trans, fuel system, oil system, ignition, electricals, and body are extremely non-stock and in some cases fairly exotic.

My car on the other hand is basically a warmed-over clone of an original 914-6, more or less. I've actually only driven my car twice since the six conversion began, so I don't have much impression of that either, yet.

A lot of this is driver skill/experience, but the two cars when driven by their owners are about 11 seconds apart in lap times at our local short road course. That's an eternity in race track terms. At an average speed of (only) 60mph, the gap between the two cars would be 962.5 feet PER LAP, if I did my math right.

Chris,

So actually I find it even more interesting! That is, someone could tell me that at some point, the cars get pretty similar -- is it front engine, mid-engine or a taildragger, and so forth, and I could easily believe it might be hard to see much similarity between Brad's tube frame and some version of a /6. I didn't realize that the car you were in was a 914 tub (as opposed to a tube frame) and it still seems to be so different. The componentry can actually change the personality!

Folks, that's a really great argument to spend more money on our cars! Meuller's bearings all around! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mueba.gif)

kim.