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    Driving in bad weather

    A neighbor is considering a Boxster S (on days when the sun shines), and a Cayman S when it doesn't. Knowing I have a 997 he wanted to know which was the better car to be driving in poor weather conditions: Boxster S, Cayman S or 997/S.

    Since I've never driven a Boxster or Cayman in bad weather I have no clue which would be better.

    Anyone have experience of both/all 3 in bad weather and can offer a pov?

    MTIA

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    Tell them to go fo a 997S4.

    A question of faith

    My neighbor has a current 350Z Cab. Likes rwd for the handling and benefits on occassional track days but "knows" that Porsches can be tricky at the limit hence the q.

    Needless to say I have preached the benefits of winter tires, but as you know I left the awd "faith" a few years ago and am currently a "born again rwd evangelical", so it's hard for me in my heart of hearts, to truly suggest your recommendation, but naturally I will offer it up as an alternative!

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    He should probably consider a 997 Targa 4 or Targa 4S..

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    A friend of mine has been driving Boxsters ( he had 3) all year long. That means also in rain, snow, ski resorts. He has always commented how wonderfull his Boxster was on snow and when others did get stuck, he did not ( with winter tyres of course)
    Last week on the highway he crashed his Boxster under heavy rain. Not driving too fast he did aquaplanning.... He must of been driving just too fast or did not react properly when the car slide.
    Now he ordered a C4S.
    Conclusion: The Boxster can be driven in bad conditions. For extra safety AWD will be better of course

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    How much tread depth did he have left?
    The wider the tyre, the more succeptible you are to aquaplaning, so wouldn't 997s would be even worse?

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    Sat in my friend's 996C4S the other day when it was raining heavily. His car hydroplanned a lot and fish-tailed constantly. He couldn't stay off shoulder going on/off ramp. The rear tire size of 996C4S is like 295, definitely too wide for the condition. So I am not sure 997C4 will be much better. In fact I don't think 4wd reduce hydroplanning.

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    More weight on the back will help .
    AWD will not reduce aquaplanning but will help when the car will loose contact with the road.
    I am always impressed how my car handles well very wet roads with 305 tyres on the back !
    Of course worn out tyres will be very bad!

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    I drove a Box for the last 7 years, and traded for a C2 this year. So far, no noticable difference in the rain. The Box was terrible in snow, but I put that down to the tires rather than the car itself. Regarding the C2 in the snow, I remember when the BEST car you could buy for the snow in this part of the US was a Beetle (ok, I'm dating myself) ... RWD, but the engine over the rear wheels. So I expect the C2 to behave similarly - if it has the correct tires.

    My wife had a 96 BMW 740 for seven years and, with winter tires, never got stuck or had any serious problems when she was caught in the snow. And while she always told me her friends hated their Merc's in the snow, but I'm sure it was a combination of the wrong tires and the wrong drivers.

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    I would drive my 996 C2 in the snow, and drove a colleague's 986 a couple of times. With proper snow tires and common sense, there is nothing to fear.

    The 997 has more weight on the back (read: better traction) so it should drive better than the 987. The 4WD is an added benefit.

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    Gnil -- thanks for sharing. can you elaborate on what type of tires you have and how often you've had to change them or expect them to last with strong adhesion and how severe the rain -- i might be using mine in Oregon (it rains a lot there) for extended periods of time and would love to know and how you or anyone else came to the 9974s instead of simply the s. thank you!

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    Quote:
    mateoche said:
    Gnil -- thanks for sharing. can you elaborate on what type of tires you have and how often you've had to change them or expect them to last with strong adhesion and how severe the rain -- i might be using mine in Oregon (it rains a lot there) for extended periods of time and would love to know and how you or anyone else came to the 9974s instead of simply the s. thank you!



    For the winter I have Nokian winter tyres on 18'' rims.
    Last winter I did 5000 km with them and the back tyres are quite worn ( maybe 2000 more km ) I did do lots of fast accelerations from stand still on dry roads. Not good idea with winter tyres, as the rubber will wear so much faster as it is much softer then on summer tyres.
    But winter tyres are a must on snow, or cold roads ( bellow 7 degres celcius) On wet roads they will also be better as they have more profile and evecuate watter better too.


    If you want them to last awoid hard acceleration on dry roads....
    I have driven in snow often and there was no problem if ground clearance is fine.

    I went for the C4S and not the C2S because I wanted the car to be the safest all year long ( specially in heavy rain and snow in the cold month) and not have to leave it in the garage.
    It was a hard decesion... I went for the safety and have no more regrets, but next time I might go for the fun..

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    Quote:
    Gnil said:
    Quote:
    mateoche said:
    Gnil -- thanks for sharing. can you elaborate on what type of tires you have and how often you've had to change them or expect them to last with strong adhesion and how severe the rain -- i might be using mine in Oregon (it rains a lot there) for extended periods of time and would love to know and how you or anyone else came to the 9974s instead of simply the s. thank you!



    For the winter I have Nokian winter tyres on 18'' rims.
    Last winter I did 5000 km with them and the back tyres are quite worn ( maybe 2000 more km ) I did do lots of fast accelerations from stand still on dry roads. Not good idea with winter tyres, as the rubber will wear so much faster as it is much softer then on summer tyres.
    But winter tyres are a must on snow, or cold roads ( bellow 7 degres celcius) On wet roads they will also be better as they have more profile and evecuate watter better too.


    If you want them to last awoid hard acceleration on dry roads....
    I have driven in snow often and there was no problem if ground clearance is fine.

    I went for the C4S and not the C2S because I wanted the car to be the safest all year long ( specially in heavy rain and snow in the cold month) and not have to leave it in the garage.
    It was a hard decesion... I went for the safety and have no more regrets, but next time I might go for the fun..



    thanks Gnil. have you had any close calls -- any loss or hydroplaning -- what were the circumstances -- hard rain, ice?

    does one sacrifice much fun with the 4s over the S? i get the sense that it's not that much different -- the front is lighter, etc. on the s. thanks.

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    I had a Boxter S, and now have a C2S...both are fine in all weather conditions. Don't forget our German friends drive these cars flat out in bad weather. I have driven my 997 at 140 in the rain, no problems at all.

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    Keep in mind that the depth of the water and your tire perssures affect your hydroplaning speed. Even with 4WD you are going to have to slow down to avoid a problem.

    For snow any of the Porsches will perform magically,--with snow tires installed. (Don't select the mud/snow varients,--go all the way to snow tires.)

    Porsches, all of them, do incredibly well in the snow as the critical weight is over the primary drive wheels (even for a Boxster/Cayman). The real issue that we have to face are the OTHER guys out there in the pickups and LTDs. They can't control where they will wind up and you don't want to be their aimming point. I've lived in all climates, from severe snow to severe ice. A good amount of driving skills training can go a long way toward improving your skills with these cars. After a snowfall, head out to a nearby (closed) shopping mall and its massive parking lot. Put out a few cones (if you have them) and then learn about steering in that stuff.

    Dan

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    Over the 22,000Km of driving my 997s I have done maybe 3000km of driving in the rain. For the most part the car has been excellent in the rain. However on at least three occasions the front of the car started to hydroplane. I was lucky in each of those occasions with nothing more than a high heart rate. All three of those times were in the fall and spring, with temperatures in the 8->12C range.

    My opinon, with summer tires (PS2) in the fall and spring, the car can be dangerous in heavy rain when there is water pooling on the road. I have learnt to leave the car at home in the rain.

    Your experience may differ...

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    As I have said it is tires that make the car in the snow. Tires are like tools, you have to pick the best tool for the job. If you drive a SUV with high performance summer tires in the winter, say good bye to the SUV as it will smash in to something. It does not matter if it is a SUV, because if it can not gripe the road, then you can not over come the laws of physics. High performance cars tend to be equiped with summer, high performance tires and thus the car will handle poorly in the snow. Front wheel drive cars do very well with all season tires because of weight ratios and the all season tires they use are good in most coditions, but they suck as performance tires and vechiles in sports situations on dry pavement. So the answer is all Porsches do very well in the snow with corect tires. I have driven a Boxster S in the snow as well as my 997 C4S and they do very good. My C4S uses 19 inch rims a snow tires for a great ride in the crappy weather. I had a Cayeen S with summer tires when they first came out and it was a death trap without proper tires in the winter. A Caymen is the same as a Boxster S on the ground in my book (it's just $$ hype). For the price of a Boxster S and A Caymen you can get a 977 Turbo and a set of winter tires and rims...summer and winter mean machine.

    Re: Driving in bad weather

    If you think that only contact your car has with the road is about the size of two play cards on each wheel ( realy not much!!!) , you can realise the importance of having the proper tyres.
    I am often amazed that one will think he is ok with summer tyres in snow...
    The difference with winter tyres is HUDGE, and , as mentioned , the tyres will make most of the difference, not the car!

     
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