too much torque of too little grip?
too much torque of too little grip?
Author
Discussion

softinthehead

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

266 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
cant help noticing an inordinate number of straight line wheelspins of late, under spirited but not max acceleration, in 2nd or 3rd usually, and on slightly frosty or wet roads. OK so a 968 has reasonable BHP but not the torque its rear engined brethren. My pirelli P zeros are 12months old and seem to have reasonable tread on them, having covered 7K miles. so is it that
1) my car is a simmering, brooding monster of untapped raging torque? or
2) it's just cos its slippy at the mo? or
3) my tyres need renewing? or
4) pirellis are just not very good with moisture?

softinthehead

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

266 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
any special reason why you have differing front and rears?

johnfm

13,751 posts

277 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
Bear in mind that summer/normal tyre compounds are not designed to work that well at 3 degrees C. Though its not snowy or icy, standard tyres will not perform all that well at these temps. I expect a good winter tyre would be much better.

interloper

2,747 posts

282 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
The roads are pretty slippy a the mo, with a nice combination of salt and mud washed off the banks from all the recent rain. Even my patheticaly underpowered 944 has had a few wheel spin moments.

Other points worth checking are your tread depth, the outside of the tyres may look ok but how is the depth in the middle and the inner edge?

Rear geometry has a part to play and is worth checking, all Porsche carss have fully adjustable suspension, so over time alignment can go out.

pentoman

4,835 posts

290 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
What size are the tyres?

My car is similar and even perhaps a little lighter, from a similar era, similar engine but with 500cc less and 202bhp instead of 240(ish?) and I never have traction problems, especially not in 2nd or 3rd gears in a straight line.

This is on standard 205/55 15" tyres which are made by somebody you never heard of....

softinthehead

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

266 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
bog standard pirelli Pzero asymmetricos on 17" alloys.

I remember being told once that the Ac Cobra had so much torque that it could wheelspin at any speed in any gear just by over zealous right foot use. I thought that was very cool. the reality however is something of a pain in the rear

nervous

24,050 posts

257 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
softinthehead said:
cant help noticing an inordinate number of straight line wheelspins of late, under spirited but not max acceleration, in 2nd or 3rd usually, and on slightly frosty or wet roads. OK so a 968 has reasonable BHP but not the torque its rear engined brethren. My pirelli P zeros are 12months old and seem to have reasonable tread on them, having covered 7K miles. so is it that
1) my car is a simmering, brooding monster of untapped raging torque? or
2) it's just cos its slippy at the mo? or
3) my tyres need renewing? or
4) pirellis are just not very good with moisture?


echo...echo..echo... echo..echo...


go careful mate

softinthehead

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

266 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
[quote]

echo...echo..echo... echo..echo...


go careful mate [/quote]

i hear you!

i always go careful round corners in case i meet a 911 with its ar*e in a hedge or even worse a TVR exhaust just lying there, but if you cant go quick in a straight line then whats the point?

>> Edited by softinthehead on Wednesday 7th December 16:41

nervous

24,050 posts

257 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
softinthehead said:
[quote]

echo...echo..echo... echo..echo...


go careful mate


i hear you!

i always go careful round corners in case i meet a 911 with its ar*e in a hedge or even worse a TVR exhaust just lying there, but if you cant go quick in a straight line then whats the point?

>> Edited by softinthehead on Wednesday 7th December 16:41[/quote]

porsche4life

1,164 posts

252 months

Wednesday 7th December 2005
quotequote all
Apart from slime on the road, leaving your house with the tyres at 0 degrees means you have very little grip cos the rubber has turned to hard plastic. A winter compound uses more real rubber ( i think the tyre guy told me) so at 0 degrees they feel like a fully warmed up summer tyre. If you have not had the chance to hire a car in a ski resort, you would be amazed at the grip they give on cold roads, snow etc... Beggers belief compared to the UK version which is use summer tyres... crash and block the road for everyone else.

phelix

4,667 posts

276 months

Monday 19th December 2005
quotequote all
Hiya,

No worries; happy to try to help. The man you need to speak to is nel on pistonheads; try sending him a message using www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=0&memberId=31729&f=48&t=228894

Good luck!

Felix

A3Targa

98 posts

249 months

Monday 19th December 2005
quotequote all
So is fitting winter boots worth it in the months when temps are averaging below 10 degrees C? And if so, does Porsche recommend a particular brand?

Rufus

5,530 posts

265 months

Tuesday 20th December 2005
quotequote all
It'll be a combination of wet roads and cold tyres... I managed to spin my wheels in the drive!!

simonharrod911

6,792 posts

259 months

Tuesday 20th December 2005
quotequote all
I'm tip-toeing around everywhere at the moment, very little grip to be had out there. Mud seems to upset the 997 more than anything.

For what it's worth I tried Henry's suggestion of driving everywhere in a gear higher than felt natural. As expected grip levels are much higher, it's just boring.

>> Edited by simonharrod911 on Tuesday 20th December 13:33

vandereydt

149 posts

284 months

Tuesday 20th December 2005
quotequote all
""For what it's worth I tried Henry's suggestion of driving everywhere in a gear higher than felt natural. As expected grip levels are much higher, it's just boring. ""

Boring yes,but it keeps the panelbeaters and the gravediggers out of work