The Thrill of RR

The other day, when my husband came home from work, he sat down on the sofa and said thoughtfully, “The 964 (air-cooled 911) really is something special. RR is truly fascinating.” I replied, “How many times are you going to say that? You say it so often it’s starting to make me laugh, lol.” He answered, “Yeah, I know,” and then launched into a passionate explanation about air-cooled Porsches.

With the 964, there’s a huge difference between taking a corner by lifting off the throttle and taking it while pressing the accelerator. The stability changes completely. I think that’s something unique to RR layout, and it really feels like riding a motorcycle. You don’t get that kind of difference with the Boxster.

Indeed… with an air-cooled Porsche, if you just try to take a corner casually, it won’t respond well. You really have to drive in sync with the car’s breathing. My husband continued,

I think the 964 is a car that runs on the throttle. Your driving can be anywhere from 20 points to 100 points depending on how you use the accelerator. With most cars, you don’t have to think so much about the throttle, but with an air-cooled Porsche, you really do. Throttle control is absolutely crucial.

Since he often drives manual cars, he’s apparently always conscious of subtle throttle control, but I usually don’t think about that at all when I drive. For me, it’s just “either press or release the accelerator,” so he often tells me, “You really need to develop more nuanced throttle skills.”

His enthusiasm for talking about air-cooled Porsches didn’t stop there:

When you take a corner in an air-cooled Porsche, you can feel the stiff springs slowly compressing. With the Boxster, when you lean into a corner, it just grips firmly and holds, but with an air-cooled Porsche, you can feel the springs compressing gradually, so you know exactly how far you can push it. But if you go beyond the limit, it’s an RR, so it gets dangerous.

I could really see his point.

While he finds driving the air-cooled 911 on winding roads and country roads exciting, he also said,

The 964 is incredibly fun even when changing lanes on the highway. It changes lanes smoothly and effortlessly like a water strider, and that feels amazing. In the book I gave him, “Why We Love Porsche,” there’s a phrase that says, “A Porsche is the kind of car that’s exactly where you want it to be the moment you want to cut in.” That’s exactly right. It moves differently from the Boxster. That’s why when I’m driving the air-cooled, I feel like changing lanes just for fun, lol.

I was surprised myself when I changed lanes on the highway in the air-cooled 911 and it felt like skating smoothly across the ice. Since it’s a small, older car, I initially thought, “At high speeds, turning the wheel might feel unstable or scary,” so the smoothness really surprised me.

By the way, unrelated to the main topic, my husband kept saying “water strider, water strider,” so I thought, “Is a water strider like a pond skater?” and looked it up online. But then a photo that looked like a cockroach popped up, and I immediately said, “Ew! That’s gross (-_-)” and closed the page without looking further.

I really don’t like insects. (What was I even talking about?)

The Space Inside the 911

The analog nature of the air-cooled Porsche is also part of its charm.

The air-cooled 5-gauge cluster is just amazing. Rather than just “meters,” they’re arranged like instruments, and it’s really fun to monitor the engine’s condition by watching oil level, oil pressure, and oil temperature. You can clearly feel when “the oil warms up and the engine’s behavior changes.” It feels almost alive, and it’s incredibly fun to feel like you’re running it with your own hands. You just can’t get that anywhere else.

This might be a bit off-topic, but I played piano from when I was little until college. Many of my friends played Electone, but I always preferred the analog piano.

The volume, softness, hardness, and nuances of the sound change completely depending on how hard and fast you press the keys. The sound quality changes on humid days versus dry sunny days, and it also depends on the skill of the tuner. I sometimes think that the “analog charm of the piano is quite similar to the appeal of the air-cooled Porsche.” as I listen to my husband talk.

When I asked, “But I wonder if you can still experience that with today’s 911? Even though it’s also RR, is that feeling unique to the air-cooled?” my husband said,

Well… with today’s 911, oil temperature and pressure are pretty stable. The performance has improved, and it’s easier to drive. On regular roads, you hardly ever see oil temperature or pressure fluctuate, so I guess that’s unique to the air-cooled.

I see.

Electrification and Hybridization

Last September, the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) was implemented, and in response, Porsche announced a temporary suspension of new orders in the UK to make vehicle improvements. Also, BMW discontinued the M3 (F80), and it seems that the Golf R’s horsepower dropped by about 10ps, with other manufacturers also affected.
(*Reference articles: Porsche temporarily suspends new orders in the UK due to WLTP compliance, *VW Golf R power reduced from 310 to 300ps for WLTP compliance)

The 911 GT3 Touring my husband ordered is apparently on a ship now, but

Cars released in the EU after September 2018, including Porsche models like the 992, Boxster T, and Panamera GTS, apparently have Gasoline Particulate Filters (GPF) installed in their exhaust systems to meet regulations.
Knowing Porsche, I’m sure they’ll make sure performance and sound aren’t affected, but with such strict emissions regulations, I wonder if cars with roaring engines or “manual GT3s with 500-hp naturally aspirated engines” will be so easy to sell in the future…

my husband said quietly.

As global citizens, it’s very important for us to consider the environment. So it’s inevitable that cars will increasingly become hybrids or electric vehicles. But at the same time, the number of cars that let you truly enjoy driving and feel the joy of controlling them will probably keep shrinking.

In that sense, I want to cherish and take good care of our air-cooled 911 (964 C2) and the NA 981 Boxster GTS (MT) for a long time. (Though I hardly ever drive the Boxster, lol)