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Nervous driving my first Porsche, what's the cure?

Terence

Member
Joined
13 Nov 2008
Messages
5
Hi guys, I have been reading this forum since earlier in the year and picked up a great deal of info and advise which helped me in buying my first Porsche which I took delivery of, Sept 1 this year. A 911s with PDK gear box, Turbo wheels, GT metalic silver with carrera leather interior. A lovely looking car.

Anyway the problem is I am having problems in overcoming my fear of the car and I am finding that I drive nervously. There are some superb roads for driving through where I live, very quiet twisty country roads and reasonably quiet A roads.

What's the secret, how do I get to feel more comfortable driving the Porsche?

I am a careful driver, no accidents for the past 12 years but I have never been a nervous driver and am not afraid of travelling at speed. I also have a BMW 320d and I find that I tear around the roads in it with no problems.

Grateful for any advise.
 
Hi Terence, welcome to 911uk! I think many of us have had this syndrome, me included. I believe it's the fact that you are driving something so precious to you culminating from the endeavours of such hard work that you possibly cannot bear to see anything harm your new pride and joy. :) The only way to overcome this is to go out and drive the thing more vigorously than the last time and gradually get used to it. That's what I did and I almost don't think about harming mine in anyway now; I've had mine for 20 months and the novelty still hasn't worn off. Enjoy!

~ Maxie :thumbs:
 
Maxie's dead right.

You can drive it trying to avoid stone chips, but it's inevitable...just enjoy it and keep taking the "brave" pills GRADUALLY". :)

Congrats. ;) Not many of us 997 folk on here. :)
 
Hi Terence, congrats on getting your self a superb car, and welcome to 911uk.

I had a few moments to start with but thats with the 993, your 997 is sublime when it comes to handling, safety and grip. What is your fear based on; is it too fast, is it fear of loss of grip, wet roads, damage by others?

As a new car did you get an experience day when you bought the car e.g. day at Millbrook or Silverstone Experience Centre? That is a great way to explore and build confidence.
 
:welcome:

I know exactly how you feel too.

In my yoof I had Loti (or should that be Lotuses?) and Alfas + did some autocross and formula ford, but then got married and spent many a year driving rubbish company cars. So when I bought an M3 five years ago I was surprised to be really nervous.

This lasted about 2 months and I put it down to the fact that it was probably the most expensive and most powerful car I had driven on the public road.

I didn't get the same feeling when I got my 911 and having recently participated in a "gentle" group drive over Beachy Head with the Chavley crew, I don't think nerves will ever be on the agenda again :)

Go for it Terence and start to enjoy

Clive
 
Hi Terence

I felt exactly the same when I picked up my first ever 911 in Feb this year, in the rain too!!! I crawled along the M25 convinced I was going to spin off in a ball of fire :oops:

The cure?, well to borrow a well used phrase "Education education education"! Get some training, ideally 1 to 1 for a whole day, there a quite a few companies who do it, I used CAT. Did mine in March a few weeks after I got the car.

I had been driving since 1981 but I learned so much in that one day, it really shows you how good the 911 (mines a 993!) is especially in the wet (think I'm obsessed about driving in the rain now!) The payback is immediate you gain in confidence and it makes you want to really use your car, doesnt have to mean fast driving on public roads just general confidence.

The pic below shows how training helps! Last month at the Nurburgring. Fantastic!
 

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Thanks for the replies, great to know it isn't just me. I still have my invite to Millbrook but it is a long way from where I am, just north of Liverpool. I have searched the net to find alternatives up here but came up blank.

I have read and heard so much about the 911 being unforgiving, "widow maker" is a term I have heard applied to it but I believe that the newer 911's are not like this. I will take the advice here to take it step by step and push a little harder each day.

One thing I have learned though since taking delivery of this car is that I am madly in love with it. I was tempted by the BMW M6 and the Audi R8 before I chose the 911, thank god I listened to my heart, I will be a 911 man for life now, totally addicted to it.

Now if I could just stop the damn radio coming on everytime I turn on the ignition :?
 
Get to Millbrook. It is awesome, worth the journey!

Half a day at Millbrook will teach you just how strong and stable your car is!!

I am going on an airfield day in a couple of weeks. One on one with an instructor. 4 cars per day. £200.00. It's not a track day so won't be close to another car. Plenty of run off and will be exploring the car to its limits.
 
Terence, that's a fantastic handling car you have there.
I borrowed a first gen 997 S for the day a little while back. It was absolutely tipping it down the entire time I drove it. Took it up to the Cotswolds onto the twisty A roads and it handled like an absolute dream. I'm no nut case driver, but was spirited enough to see that it takes a lot more effort than I'm willing to put in to get out of shape in one of these.
Enjoy :thumbs:
 
Jay T said:
Terence, that's a fantastic handling car you have there.
I borrowed a first gen 997 S for the day a little while back. It was absolutely tipping it down the entire time I drove it. Took it up to the Cotswolds onto the twisty A roads and it handled like an absolute dream. I'm no nut case driver, but was spirited enough to see that it takes a lot more effort than I'm willing to put in to get out of shape in one of these.
Enjoy :thumbs:

:yeah:

Totally agree, the capabilitiess of either generation 997 are way beyond the average driver and unless you are a total nutter or totally incompetent, you'll run out of bottle long before the car lets go.

If you want some driver training Terence, check out http://www.bespokedrivertraining.co.uk/
Mark Kendrick who runs Bespoke Driver Training is one of the instructors on the Porsche driving courses and I did a couple of days with him in my M3. He is based in Malvern which is still quite a schlepp for you, probably about 150 miles, but there are some reasonable hotels there for an overnight stay and Mark can give you a great days driving, both on road and track.

Clive
 
Terence - 997's are great cars and really, really forgiving. They are a completely different beast to earlier 911's and there is nothing to fear from them so long as you are sensible.
They take a while to get used to because they move around a lot when you are pressing on and it can be a little unnerving at first.
If you want to learn about how safe your car is and get used to its feel can I suggest you do a trackday at Elvington. It's near York and there is miles of space so there is very little chance of damaging your car even if it does go all wrong!
 
I've had my car a month now, 997 C2S, and when safe to do so tried on a dry road to flick the back end out by flooring it around tight corners. I just haven't been anywhere near losing it which just shows the amount of grip it has. When going fast, say 60 and coming up to a bend (you can see round :hand: ), at first I found myself slowing or chickening out and cutting the corner even knowing that I could have stayed in the middle of the lane at the same speed. I'm getting more brave as I learn the nuances of how the car reacts and the steering feels especially when the wife isn't with me. I could do and will at some point have a track tuition day as only then when you know there isn't a kerb or another car coming the other way if things go wrong, :eek: , can you really learn how much the car is better than you. My brother learned this on a motorbike. You always pull out before the machine loses grip etc.

Having said all this "you canny change the laws of physics captain" so I'm sure the time to be aware is when there is too much confidence.

Pete
 
Terence !

:welcome:

Like the others mention, I bought mine in April and when I first got in it I was the same.

It's so easy to drive now that I might even let the Mrs drive it :eek: :eek:

out of the drive :D

enjoy it and some instruction or Novice trackday is a must :thumb:
 
Thanks,

Actually after reading the advice on here I have really settled into it now and I am a lot more comfortable.

One thing I have done is to only drive it in manual mode using the paddles. This has given me far more feel for the car and is infinitely more fun than driving in Auto.

I will now definitely look to have a track day, hopefully before Christmas.

Cheers,
 
T

Let us know how your day goes and how much fun it was. Post some pics if you can.

Pete
 

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