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A few things to know before stealing my 914

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Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#151

Post by theluketaylor »

gkoberger wrote: post #42

This is one of my favorite styles of writing. I have absolutely no clue what this person is talking about and have no interest in cars, yet I read every single word. I love when people have such a deep knowledge of something that they can write an essay as unique and thoughtful as this. It reminds me of Kitchen Confidential, Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman!, or any rant about British politics by David Mitchell.

On the flip side, I know a ton about cars and actually own a german sports car of roughly this vintage and this rings incredibly true (and also hilarious). My car can't be locked due to fear of it never opening again, starting the engine requires a delicate balance of the right amount of throttle and prayers the battery has enough charge, and selecting first is a preposterous mixture of a delicate ballet and sledgehammering it home.

The fact this essay works for someone with limited domain knowledge and someone with lots is a testament to the quality of writing.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#152

Post by theluketaylor »

optymizer wrote: post #65
quadrifoliate wrote: post #24

> Depress the clutch as you would in any car, and pull the knob from its secure location out of first gear. Now you will become adrift in the zone known to early Porsche owners as “Neverland” and your quest will be to find second gear. Prepare yourself for a ten-second-or-so adventure. Do not go straight forward with the shift knob, as you will only find Reverse waiting there to mock you with a shriek of high-speed g…

What a blast from the past. I learnt to drive using a VW Golf, and I've always thought this shift pattern is just standard on German cars with manual transmission (at least in the 90s). One thing I don't see mentioned is that you first have to press down onto the knob, then shift forward, in order to shift the transmission into R. Simply pushing the knob forward won't go from N to R.

Reverse lockouts came around in the 80s or so, so his 914 wouldn't have one. On older transmissions you're free to try to ram it into reverse at 100 kph if you really want to try.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#153

Post by distortedsignal »

EastSmith wrote: post #147
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father had one of these just sort of gathering dust in the garage when I was growing up, utterly shocked when I turned 16 and he handed me the keys. I still like to casually drop "oh yeah, I used to have a Porsche back when I was 16." Although I must say it was in immeasurably better shape than this one :D I still dream of finding an old 914 and giving it an electric conversion… I'd have to do something about that…

Is the electric conversion still a thing? I want an eclectic car with no monitors, no software updates, no surveillance (none of the new electric car offers that - they are calling home for updates and god knows why way too often, and they have bigger monitors than my 14" work laptop).

Ford will sell you an electric crate engine for $4k [1]. At that point, I think it's up to you to supply the other parts of the system.

I assume that at this point there are enough wrecks of Model S/X/3/Y that you should be able to pick up electric motors from them at junkyards.

The thing I really worry about with electric swaps is battery. You could have a Note 7 situation on your hands _real easy_ if you're not careful.

[1] https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-9000-MACHE

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#154

Post by skykooler »

EastSmith wrote: post #147
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father had one of these just sort of gathering dust in the garage when I was growing up, utterly shocked when I turned 16 and he handed me the keys. I still like to casually drop "oh yeah, I used to have a Porsche back when I was 16." Although I must say it was in immeasurably better shape than this one :D I still dream of finding an old 914 and giving it an electric conversion… I'd have to do something about that…

Is the electric conversion still a thing? I want an eclectic car with no monitors, no software updates, no surveillance (none of the new electric car offers that - they are calling home for updates and god knows why way too often, and they have bigger monitors than my 14" work laptop).

Yep! There are some good resources at https://evwest.com (not affiliated but have bought parts from there before).

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#156

Post by _whiteCaps_ »

optymizer wrote: post #65
quadrifoliate wrote: post #24

> Depress the clutch as you would in any car, and pull the knob from its secure location out of first gear. Now you will become adrift in the zone known to early Porsche owners as “Neverland” and your quest will be to find second gear. Prepare yourself for a ten-second-or-so adventure. Do not go straight forward with the shift knob, as you will only find Reverse waiting there to mock you with a shriek of high-speed g…

What a blast from the past. I learnt to drive using a VW Golf, and I've always thought this shift pattern is just standard on German cars with manual transmission (at least in the 90s). One thing I don't see mentioned is that you first have to press down onto the knob, then shift forward, in order to shift the transmission into R. Simply pushing the knob forward won't go from N to R.

My Ford Contour SVT (Mondeo in the UK I think?) had a collar under the shift knob that you had to pull upwards to shift into reverse. Had never seen that before, and I felt awfully embarrassed to ask the guy selling me the car how it worked.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#158

Post by theluketaylor »

giarc wrote: post #48
BayAreaEscapee wrote: post #8

For awhile I was into autocross. I remember one guy who would always show up in a Porsche 914 with racing tires, and he would run circles around us amateurs.

It's not always the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog. I knew a guy that was an incredible mountain biker, won all the races he entered etc. He used to show up with crappy bikes probably 10lbs heavier than everyone else... he'd still win. Sometimes you either have it or you don't, and all the equipment in the world won't help you.

In this case a 914 is close to the perfect car for autocross. They are super light, so they change direction like a fly. The mid engine layout means they have excellent balance. Autocross is a low speed event, so the lack of power isn't the penalty it would be on a larger circuit. With modern tires a 914 should do extremely well.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#159

Post by agloeregrets »

legitster wrote: post #155

> Norman Garrett was the Concept Engineer for the original Miata back in his days at Mazda’s Southern California Design Studio. hahaha. This whole time I was thinking "I know the car is lovely, but this is why people love Miatas"

Seriously, same thought. The Miata is this but without anything after the first paragraph. It starts and runs instantly, is fuel injected, brakes well, and the transmission is notably direct feeling. It is the feeling of a good day in the 914 every day (and thus worse, because you do not know the bad days). I guess this guy went though hell to define such a great car.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#160

Post by agloeregrets »

ghostpepper wrote: post #27

This writing is brilliant edit: just got to the author’s blurb at the bottom. He was an engineer on the original Miata, so it’s no surprise that he knows what he’s talking about.

The irony being that the Miata is none of this. Notably reliable and easy to drive.
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