Having never really driven a 914 in the wet, I have no experience to say if a 914 is this loose or not. Anyone have any real world experience in this matter?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyxB00hgwV4

yes they swap ends very fast .but i think he has a lock n diff in the car...which makes it step out even easier IMO.If i had half a brian i would post some AX runs i did in the rain with Kumho 710`s on the car ...GoPro vids ....Ill try again

I didn't think it looked loose. In one scene the car understeered through a chicane.

With 250hp on tap its pretty easy to get the rear to come around anytime you want.

In the video the driver talks about the car having poor handling in the wet. I know that mid engine cars will transition very quickly; however, I thought that the handling in the rain would be comparable to a normal rear wheel driver car or even better due to the weight distribution.

I drive my car in the rain, certainly more stable than an old beetle.
However, for driving on ice the rear engine weight bias certainly helps.
Go do some donuts in a field in a 914, they spin like a top, very controllable.

I know of at least one member who went off the road in a /6 conversion in wet weather.

914s handle great in the rain, with the right setup and a good driver!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuNJ5nEqxHU



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77oRaG_PoSg

I know of one member that flat spun in the middle of the road after passing thru water in a 4 cyl ... all I he did was step on the gas.

WOW! Nice driving. Great stuff

They did mention very quickly in the beginning that it was a rally car. Perhaps the difference in chassis set up is the cause?

yep, very prone to hydro planning! Always slow down in the rain.

Fixed it for you SLITS. Don't worry, it will be our secret.

I enjoy racing in the rain, you have to concentrate 10x as much as in the dry.
When the back goes out it goes quick so you must respond.
I try to stay up a gear with low RPMs to minimize the car's power/torque.

As you can see in my video other cars handle even worst.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca1Qudywa8o

The videos are great!

Chris it looks like you have the same fogging problem as I do, what are you using on the windshield?

I'm willing to bet that car is still on full or a relatively full stiff set up. If he disconnected the rear sway and loosened the front the car would handle much better.
Fun to watch though.

I don't drive mine in the rain but it is set up with a precise corner-balance and it wants to turn. If you don't pay strict attention you are one lane over with some pissed off cars around you!

The real keys are proper setup (already mentioned) and proper driving skills (also already mentioned). I learned to drive 914's in the snow and used mine as a daily driver for many years. We no longer drive the track car in the rain (no lights and no wipers), but we did so from 25 years ago until about 10 years ago (when the wipers got removed). It really teaches smoothness. The same handling characteristics are there but at a much reduced speed.

Try it and you will learn to be a better driver.

I have logged many miles in the rain and major snowstorms. I felt if you knew your cars limits it was very easy to control. But just like any car you push it beyond your tires limits you can easily have a tiger on your hands

dishsoap on the inside, IIRC

........It was like that.....switched ends fasssssst!!, scary.(I just sat,there)

914's are OLD...
they out perform almost all OLD cars in the handling department
I find the "wives tale" about them being hard to handle at the limit to be laughable....

with modern tires (anything over 4.5 inches wide), they are much easier to handle than most cars of their time. MUCH easier and MUCH more polite than any early 911.

That being said, any modern car can handle as well and better in the rain... Yes I said that... a chevy Aveo probably out handles a vintage car in snow or rain, maybe in the dry.
heck even a 500hp brand new corvette probably does better in the snow than a 914.

The 914 is not hard to control
it is not dangerous in slippery conditions.
and it is still old.

I have spun enough times to know

With respect to the video, that looks a lot more like driver error than anything. He's throwing the car into the corner and using far more throttle than necessary on exit. Note, thats a slick track, but no falling rain. Watch Chris' video for a better example of how, even in driving rain, proper car control ultimately starts with being smooth. Even in crash avoidance, Chris was in much more control and at a higher rate of speed. Thats just my admittedly novice take on things. I have however been in the rain a few times now and just the other day stepped the back end out a little on an on-ramp, mostly because its finally running much better. I wasn't prepared for the extra HP but with a little modulation, it was quite easy to hold steady. I think 914s aren't a great car for the masses to drive in tricky conditions, but by no means do I think they are dangerous or unpredictable. It all comes down the driver!

With all do respect sir ..in that first clip ya got your ass handed to ya ....it appears you had no grip...kinda twitchy?

I totally agree. That is the great things about Porsches: they go where you point 'em. Even when that means over to the right when you look down on the floor for a second. Whoops. Light cars with wide tires are slightly prone to hydroplaning too. Fine on an autocross course where you can go off track. Otherwise prudence isn't such a bad idea. You don't have three tons of metal and 46 airbags like a modern car.

it was a demonstration...

Yep, I know. But the OP asked about whether they were that "twitchy." So I guess what I meant was the twitchiness came from how it was being driven?

I would just like to add a little help.

Tires make a HUGE difference.........compound, tread, wear, ect..

Harder compounds for trying to get 60 gazillion miles out of them are not friendly!!!





BTW, I usually buy the gazillion mile tires.......

correct ...that car has lots of power as well so it dont take but a tap of the throttle and its on its way...?what engine red lines at 7400 RPM Like 250HP RS motor.. so to anwser the ? are they twitchy yes IMO are they controllable yes if you slow down and drive to the conditions ...most people just cant catch it when it starts to go around because it happens so fast (myself included) you almost have to counter steer before you start to slide ....Ill bet ya that old man has had that car a very long time and knows it better then anyone and how to drive it ..which is apparent to me

With the Center of Gravity tight in the Middle, 914s will pivot easily. With above 200hp, more so.

His Hand Position was Horrible!

I had this Video saved on CD, but it was in German - I hope they fixed the Rust in the 4-5 Years since I first saw it - I wonder what the metal-plate is hiding

I let a few miatas go by on the first lap because they were fighting with each other and I didn't want to be involved in a collision. Oh, and I let the car get a little off line - braking for turn three - once.
After that I passed every one of them and finished first overall.

..RIGHT ON After your second (sorta off) i turned off the video figured you were done ....nope

Off topic comments about Georg's car: without knowing the VIN, it's hard to believe it's an original 914/6, unless it's a '72. It appears to me to be a conversion. It has the 4 cyl. steering column, late gauges, a '74 US rear bumper. It does have early window cranks, interior door release handles, and silver windshield washer nozzles.

Not important, but just personally felt some visual tension viewing the details of the car. My inner Garvey was showing.

On topic: I found the contributed videos and the discussion by members on the handling characteristics of the 914 in wet weather and the need for continual driver training very helpful.

Thanks,

OT:
Chris is super smooth in the rain. small hand movements, handled the throttle like a volume control

are those the same miatas that spun later in teh video? (the ones you let by in teh begining)

i have only done 2 events in teh rain. i learned more in one wet AX than teh previous 10 AX in dry.

Hey Wayne,
There was a discussion here awhile back about the car and the some issues you noticed. I'm awful at finding past threads (don't know how you guys do it). But I assumed that some original /6 owners probably swap those wear-and-tear items out, much like the original engine, so they can put the miles on parts that are more readily available and not so $. Perhaps he did the same?

The car does not look "twitchy" at all. It looks nicely balanced.

Any car with less than 10lbs per horsepower can easily break the tires loose on wet pavement.

Mid engine cars will rotate more quickly due to the low polar moment of inertia ... great for AutoX ... can be tricky on wet pavement! BTDT

yes.
I had to drive off the pavement on the first lap to avoid the first spinning Miata.
Thats why one more car was able to pass me before the lap was finished.
I took my time re-passing them and eventually caught and passed the race leader a couple laps before the finish.

if any one is qualified to comment on this subject i think the guy who lives where it rains all the time, AND where he track days his car in the rain more than some of you yahoos even drive your cars!

Ed drives his car, on track tires, to the track, on the street and highway, in the seattle area..... where it RAINS, year round! and his car is a beast! i have btdt, thank you Ed for letting me drive the beast!

now for a weak 4 cyl car, i drove mine in the rain quite a bit and the guys around here know that i don't drive like i'm hauling miss daisy, i have never felt like the car was "twitchy", i have pushed to get understeer and have let it get some oversteer. i guess if you don't know your car and how it will react with the inputs from the driver then you shouldn't even worry about driving quickly and just stick to driving miss daisy!

now this is twitchy
http://www.snotr.com/video/8477/this_is_ho...rive_in_the_wet

Thanks, George. Of course that makes perfect sense.

I used to enjoy the slick-track at ASCOT Park (karting). Learning to control the throttle definitely helped me to drive better on wet surfaces.

I learned by delivering pizzas during tornados, ice storms, and everything else in a 1974 beetle.