911 vs M3 - for an everyday car

Acura builds a good car - we love our MDX. While the NSX might have had an edge on a '94 Carrera with its 272 HP engine, Acura hasn't done much with it since while Porsche has continued to improve the Carrera.

The NSX is .1 second slower to 60, equal through the quarter mile, equal on the skidpad and 1.8 MPH slower through the slalom than a 2002 Carrera per Road & Track.

Both cars stop the same from 60 MPH; the Carrera stops 11 feet shorter from 80 MPH. R&T got 1.6 MPG better mileage with the Porsche, and the Porsche's MSRP was $21,000 less than the NSX. Oh, and the Porsche's top speed was 2 MPH higher, in the event you ever stay in the gas long enough to see 177 MPH.

Reply to
Jim Keenan
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I think the difference is actually larger than that. R&T produced a 4.6 second

0-60 time with a 2004 Carrera 4S, the lighter weight 2WD Carrera should be able to pull it off in 4.4 or so, and I think the NSX sits in around 5.0. Steve Grauman
Reply to
Steve Grauman

The R&T "Road Test Summary" indicated 4.9 seconds 0-60 for the Carrera and 5.0 seconds for the NSX, so I used these and all the other figures from the summary for a common source.

You're absolutely correct that the Carrera Coupe is quicker than these figures indicate. Porsche claims a 0-62 MPH time of 5.0 seconds for the Carrera, which translates to about a 4.8 0-60. Car and Driver got a 300 HP Carrera to 60 in 4.8 seconds and estmated the 320 HP version (2002 and later cars) would do 4.6. I've been mixing in some 100 octane unleaded to raise my car's tank octane to 93-94 (Porsche designed the car for 93 octane) and the 4.6 seconds is about right from my experience.

Reply to
Jim Keenan

btw where in the us r u?? i have a 99 m3 conv...approx 50kmiles that does not get used in winter driving conditions cuz the sport tires do not have the necessary grip for ice/snow. They are wonderful in rain but.... also i believe mine was the last year of a full sized spare...til i had a blow out on a highway and had to wait two days for a replacement tire i never thought it an seentail item either...

Reply to
RM

I find it interesting to see how their numbers fluctuate between tests. At one point they were listing a *faster* time for the Carrera Cabrio then they were for the lighter weight Coupe'. And as I've said, they listed a 4.6 second time for the 996 C4S, despite Porsche's listed time of 5.2 or so. In reality, the

911 wouldn't have a problem shruging off an NSX if they went head to head. The Boxster S (which can be had under $60k) isn't much slower either, C&D posted a 5.3 second run with one.

Have you tried a full tank of 100 Octane? I'm interested to hear if a full tank of "race juice" actually makes the car any quicker. Steve Grauman

Reply to
Steve Grauman

I suppose weather could be a factor and perhaps they didn't use the same driver.....

No I haven't - the service writer at the dealer didn't recommend it and my understanding is that once you reach the optimal octane level going higher doesn't do anything. I have noticed (subjectively) the car seems a little stronger in the high RPM range (max HP is at 6800 RPM) which would make sense since the higher octane allows the car to make its rated HP versus less with the 91 octane that's the highest widely available stuff here in CA.

Reply to
Jim Keenan

Me? San Diego County, California.

Reply to
Jim Keenan

I've found 100 Octane at 2 shell stations. What part of Cali. are you in? Steve Grauman

Reply to
Steve Grauman

San Diego - I get Sunoco at a Cosby Oil facility and it's the only site in our county that I'm aware of.

Reply to
Jim Keenan

Hmmm...funny, Jim. In 1965 I bought a '65 Mustang GT that was a "speed yellow", black interior with tinted windows. It had terrible suspension, abominable brakes, steering wheel in your chest, but I loved it--until I drove my first Porsche a year later, a '62 356 Normal. That was in Los Angeles, South Bay area.

I had a ticket every 3 months with that Mustang, your term "ticket me yellow" certainly applied.

I've had 3 Porsches, last was an '88 911, and have never had a ticket with any of them. ;-) I can say that with safety now, I sold the '88 last year and now have a Subaru Outback.

Your call on that color sure fit the bill for that yellow Mustang.

Don

Reply to
Don.

The yellow cars just jump out at you on the road. I'll find myself driving along and invariably my eyes get drawn to a yellow car if there's one out there. I figure it might be the same with the police; if your car's color attracts attention anyway and then you happen to bend the law, it would seem your chances of a close encounter of the ticketing kind are increased.

When we were at the dealer ordering our car they had a 996 Turbo that the buyer had refused to accept. The car was speed yellow with black interior, yellow seat belts and the console was painted to match the car's exterior. It was gorgeous, and with that exterior you could see it a mile away with your eyes closed. The buyer had ordered it with deviating stitching on the seats (he wanted yellow stitching) and got black instead.

Our 911 is slate gray, which approaches charcoal. We got it because we liked the color and didn't see very many other Porsches in it. Our impression is that the car seems to blend in with the dark roadways and seems to be harder to see on dark days, so we worry about other drivers seeing us and run with lights on a lot. Unintentionally we seem to have picked a stealthy color although we drive relatively sedately. If the CHP had been around when we opened her up for a minute on a deserted stretch of Highway 190 out of Olancha, the color would have had a good chance at being "arrest me gray".

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Reply to
Jim Keenan

Damn, I wish we could still get Sunoco up here in L.A.! Steve Grauman

Reply to
Steve Grauman

You can. Check out Cosby Oil - they're in Santa Fe Springs (corporate) and they have some outlets in the L.A. area. I got a "race gas only" access (credit) card from them and can pump 7/24 from their facility in SD. They used to carry Unocal 100 but recently switched to Sunoco (I think Unocal quit making the stuff).

Reply to
Jim Keenan

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