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Old 05-26-2017, 01:02 PM   #41
rumatt
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Originally Posted by John V View Post
sixth is too short.
I agree with that. It's silly.
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Old 05-26-2017, 01:13 PM   #42
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My point about the tall 1-2 gearing is that you can so seldom enjoy the engine singing to redline.
You seldom accelerate to 70-ish mph?

There's definitely less shifting. But you can wind out 1st and 2nd pretty often if you want to.
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Old 05-26-2017, 01:45 PM   #43
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Originally Posted by rumatt View Post
You seldom accelerate to 70-ish mph?

There's definitely less shifting. But you can wind out 1st and 2nd pretty often if you want to.
Well, you can wind out 3rd in a Miata as well. And no, I cannot wind out 2nd in a Boxster in windy country road and then shift to 3rd without being a total a-hole. 3rd in the Miata is basically exactly 2nd in the Boxster.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Boxster. And money and use case are the only reasons why there is a Miata in my garage instead. I'm simply saying the short gears in a Miata are a big reason why it's so enjoyable in low speed roads in spite of its lack of power.

Conversely, the only way to experience the intoxicating 2nd-to-3rd shift at redline (and continuing to apply gas afterwards)* in the 987S was on hwy on-ramps. I can do that on virtually any road in the Miata, as this happens in the 40-50mph range. And no, 1st-to-2nd shifts are not the same.

*BTW, this experience in terms of sound was unmatched by the 997TT, and I still miss it.
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Old 05-26-2017, 02:13 PM   #44
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Originally Posted by FC View Post
Well, you can wind out 3rd in a Miata as well. And no, I cannot wind out 2nd in a Boxster in windy country road and then shift to 3rd without being a total a-hole. 3rd in the Miata is basically exactly 2nd in the Boxster.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Boxster. And money and use case are the only reasons why there is a Miata in my garage instead. I'm simply saying the short gears in a Miata are a big reason why it's so enjoyable in low speed roads in spite of its lack of power.

Conversely, the only way to experience the intoxicating 2nd-to-3rd shift at redline (and continuing to apply gas afterwards)* in the 987S was on hwy on-ramps. I can do that on virtually any road in the Miata, as this happens in the 40-50mph range. And no, 1st-to-2nd shifts are not the same.

*BTW, this experience in terms of sound was unmatched by the 997TT, and I still miss it.
the only speeding ticket i've gotten in past 10 years was in an NC --winding it out from a tollbooth (Weston Tolls) headed into town. I was winding the little car out in 3rd gear and....well. Blue Lights came on and I just laughed.

It's fun.

Less so in stop and go traffic, though.
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Old 05-26-2017, 02:19 PM   #45
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Originally Posted by FC View Post
..
*BTW, this experience in terms of sound was unmatched by the 997TT, and I still miss it.

hmmm.... did you have stock exhaust? Would love to open up mine but the darn cats are part of the exhaust so no legal way to do it.
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Old 05-26-2017, 04:19 PM   #46
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hmmm.... did you have stock exhaust? Would love to open up mine but the darn cats are part of the exhaust so no legal way to do it.
To be clear, I meant even the 997TT didn't sound as good.

And no, I did not touch the Turbo. It was bone stock. It did sound great at start-up and low speeds tough.
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Old 05-26-2017, 10:02 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FC View Post
Well, you can wind out 3rd in a Miata as well. And no, I cannot wind out 2nd in a Boxster in windy country road and then shift to 3rd without being a total a-hole. 3rd in the Miata is basically exactly 2nd in the Boxster.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Boxster. And money and use case are the only reasons why there is a Miata in my garage instead. I'm simply saying the short gears in a Miata are a big reason why it's so enjoyable in low speed roads in spite of its lack of power.

Conversely, the only way to experience the intoxicating 2nd-to-3rd shift at redline (and continuing to apply gas afterwards)* in the 987S was on hwy on-ramps. I can do that on virtually any road in the Miata, as this happens in the 40-50mph range. And no, 1st-to-2nd shifts are not the same.

*BTW, this experience in terms of sound was unmatched by the 997TT, and I still miss it.
Right, gotcha.

The absurd levels of lateral grip are also interesting on the Porsche. Good? Top much for public roads? It's so confusing. #firstworldproblems
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Old 05-27-2017, 10:55 AM   #48
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When I got my first cayman in 06 with then-great PS2's, I thought it was a tetherball, like I was holding on to a pole to pull 1g.. Then you get used to it. I never really run out of grip on dry public roads. Cold or wet is another story. The 911 puts it down better, the boxster/cayman like to play.
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Old 05-28-2017, 09:32 AM   #49
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When I got my first cayman in 06 with then-great PS2's, I thought it was a tetherball, like I was holding on to a pole to pull 1g.. Then you get used to it. I never really run out of grip on dry public roads. Cold or wet is another story. The 911 puts it down better, the boxster/cayman like to play.
The quote i read recently was that the tires on the hi-po GT3-class cars are like riding on bars of soap in the rain. Was it the 991.2 GT3 review? I forget.

That made me laugh. Great visual.
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Old 05-13-2018, 11:53 PM   #50
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Despite the terrible sound quality, this phone call with Mazda Engineer Dave Coleman discussing the MX-5 was pretty neat. I liked the questions, and Dave gives fairly no-nonsense answers rather than PR-approved marketing BS.

And if you aren't familiar with this Savage Geese guy, his reviews are different than the typical journalist. He always puts the car on a lift to examine the suspension and underside, he corner weighs the car, etc. I like them.

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