As far as meteorological phenomena are concerned, "bomb cyclones" sound terrifying. Feels like the name of a lousy high school metal band - or ska, I found it to be ska - but it's actually a term for a rapidly escalating storm. was hit by a bomb cyclone.Arrived in Detroit for our annual vacation trip just before the storm Extremely a huge number of travel planBut while my friends and family smashed through the hatches and prepared for impending doom, I was getting anxious.just wanted go for a drive.
Rewind a few weeks to when I asked Porsche if I could borrow a 911 while in Michigan.I knew all sorts of things mega snowstorm It probably happened. You'd think Porsche would say no, but the company's response was the exact opposite.presto, gentian blue 911 carrera This week was mine.
Look, Porsche knows what I know, the 911 is a winter killer car. Just Drive Over It 911 Dakar. I had Base, rear-wheel drive Carrera coupe And it was perfect. Of course, it comes with one important upgrade.
it's all about tires
I scream this until my face turns blue. If you live in a place that gets legal winter weather, you need legal winter tires, all season his tires are crap. Buy a set of winter tires use them for yearsLeave it to Steely to look like a badass. No matter what you drive, winter tires are one of the easiest and most effective upgrades to keep you, your passengers and other drivers safe in the toughest conditions. . You can't argue with me about this. it's a fact.
There are all kinds of snow tires optimized for everything from old sports cars to new SUVs (I had good experience with Bridgestone Blizzak and Michelin X-Ice tires on my personal car). The main advantage is that the rubber compound is better at maintaining grip in colder temperatures and the tread pattern is deeper and specifically designed to expel snow and ice. is ideal for improving traction and braking performance. I'll go get some. just now.
For this 911, Porsche replaced the standard Pirelli P Zero summer tires with a set of Michelin Pilot Alpine snow shoes. If it were me, he would have made the wheels an inch smaller. This is a common change people make when putting winter tires on, especially since this 911 had the optional 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels.
In fact, it's better to be the first to drive through a blizzard in a two-wheel drive vehicle with winter tires. All-wheel drive vehicle for all seasonsMany people know about the advantages of front-wheel drive vehicles in the snow. The weight of the engine provides natural traction for acceleration and steering. These reasons are also why people tend to go crazy for rear wheel drive cars in the same conditions or why a friend of mine in high school had sandbags in his ranger bed for all rear wheel drive fords . On the one hand, your friend's dad, in his 1992 Crown Vic's empty grocery store parking lot, was absolutely allowed to take out that night, his engine front, his rear Don't miss out on the drive layout prowess of the .
This is where the 911 has a big advantage in winter. Its rear-engined design means there's naturally more mass in the drive wheels. In addition, the Carrera's rear tires are wider than the front (305 mm compared to 245 mm) and have a larger contact surface. More weight, more tires, more traction.
The 911's handling and balance also helps
hard to fail Based Porsche 911 CarreraIts 3.0-liter turbocharged flat-six engine puts out 379 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque, and the 8-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission is top notch. This set-up gave me just enough power to make the 911 exciting, but not so much that the car pulled away from me when I pushed the throttle a little too hard in the snow. Never once did I feel that there was a lack of power while driving this 911.
The 911 was a blast in the snow. As we left our snow-filled neighborhood, the rear end wobbled a bit, and it bounced right back up before we got to the next house. I made a left turn at the stop sign and the rear end came round just short of the traction control and a touch of countersteer put everything back on line.
On wide country roads with little traffic (or parked cars) it was easy to drift around corners for these same reasons. Good steering with lots of feedback and a wonderfully balanced chassis , which gave me all the information I needed about the grips available at each corner. I could basically steer with the throttle. It was rad.
To be honest, I didn't want the 911 to malfunction while driving on snow or hills. Snow on country roads was an easy walk for the Carrera, and even rougher conditions like muddy, icy highways were drama-free. My weak California cold intolerance wasn't the problem.
Well, there is one potential problem
The single biggest advantage crossovers, trucks and SUVs have over passenger cars in winter is ground clearance, and one place the 911 suffered. Alternatively, if a bomb cyclone had brought more than 3-4 inches of snow to southeastern Michigan, he would have suffered. I'm not trying to convince you that the Porsche 911 Carrera is an all-purpose winter car. Obviously there are deep snow situations where this doesn't work.
Living with a 911 in winter introduces a few other seasonal quirks. When it gets extremely cold outside, for example when the wind drops below her 0 degrees, the water and snow around the windows can freeze. This happens on all cars, but on the 911's frameless he windows, the glass he needs to be half an inch lower when the door is opened or closed. Window motors aren't always powerful enough to beat ice. This simply means that 911 has to do intensive scraping to make sure the window works correctly.
But you don't have to worry about your electronic door handle succumbing to ice or snow. Even in the coldest of times, the steering wheel pierces through the ice with a loud gunshot like you'd hear when unlocking a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, and it's wonderful and terrifying the first time it happens.
My only other recommendation is to get the optional ($370) rear wiper if you plan to drive the 911 all year round. The back glass gets pretty dirty from road salt and slush. Heated seats are standard now, but you'll also want a $280 heated steering wheel.Oh, the good news: the seats get hot quick.
When my time on the 911 was over, I switched to the next car. ford bronco raptor Rest of my stay in Detroit. Of course, the Raptor was great - worthy of note, but Ford's chunky all-terrain tires don't grip as much in the snow as the 911's specialized winter rubber, and when the track goes off, Porsche's Bronco My feet were firmer than in two-wheel drive mode.
I miss that Carrera. Fitted with the right tires, Porsche's classic sports cars will perform at their best every season.