my preference and the current state of Porker worship below.
In reply to rustyvw :
Rally cars aren't jacked up on huge tires, though. That isn't fast. "Fast" is the primary goal of a rally car.
The junk pictured by the OP looks like it has about as much suspension travel as your typical hardparker.
Oh no!! Someone is enjoying their car in a way I don't approve of! Everyone grab your pitchforks and let's redicule them!
Trends come and go. If you don't like it just ignore it until it goes away. No reason to be an elitist jerkwad.
In reply to Pattyo :
Who's being an elitist jerkwad? I merely pointed out that these things are not "rally", they're strictly an aesthetic thing with no performance value.
I don't particularly understand WHY someone would take a well-performing vehicle and destroy its handling, but then again I also don't understand stance, massively lifted 4x4s, rat rods, or demolition derby. All of those make people happy. I'm sure they don't understand me, either, so it's okay.
In reply to RealMiniNoMore :
And if you notice, it doesn't have comically large tires (well, tyres) and the suspension's position is in the range where its geometry functions for best handling. Compare the hub height relative to the rockers/doors to those 911s posted above and you'll see that the 959 is actually a lot lower... really, fairly close to stockish contemporary 911s. Porsche being Porsche, I'm sure they thoroughly detailed the roll center heights and instant centers at both ends at the ride height that they engineered into the car.
I hope that the trend of safari builds finds it's way to other makes/models. I have seen some cool volvos done. The paco motorsports kit makes a miata safari.
I think that E46 BMWs are ripe for this treatment.
Knurled. said:In reply to RealMiniNoMore :
And if you notice, it doesn't have comically large tires (well, tyres) and the suspension's position is in the range where its geometry functions for best handling. Compare the hub height relative to the rockers/doors to those 911s posted above and you'll see that the 959 is actually a lot lower... really, fairly close to stockish contemporary 911s. Porsche being Porsche, I'm sure they thoroughly detailed the roll center heights and instant centers at both ends at the ride height that they engineered into the car.
Okay, now what?
Maybe my screen is lying to me, but it sure looks like all but one of them has the same height or lower than the 959 at the hubs to the bottom of the door...
Not my bag aesthetically or performance-wise, but they do seem to be all the rage these days. Matt Farrah just poured a bunch of money into one.
Tom_Spangler said:Not my bag aesthetically or performance-wise, but they do seem to be all the rage these days. Matt Farrah just poured a bunch of money into one.
Pretty good indicator that they're lame?
I like them when they are driven as intended. Jeff Zwart piloted one of the two in the video below, he probably has more access to Porsche race engineers than anyone else in the US:
Matt Farah says that a rally 911 can be a great around-town car.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a24785117/porsche-911-safari-matt-farah/
A Safari 911 Is What You Buy When Your Raptor Is Too Big
No, seriously.
Nov 7, 2018
YouTubeThe Smoking Tire
Off-road trucks like the Ford F-150 Raptor might be designed for sandy deserts and rocky trails, but they can be great in cities, too. Urban roads are often bumpy, potholed, and poorly maintained, and the soft, long-travel suspension of an off-roader can help smooth that stuff out. But the Raptor and other full-size trucks are often too big for urban parking situations. What you need is something compact, but with good clearance and a smooth ride. Something like an off-road Porsche 911.
Okay, so, a lifted 911 isn't the obvious solution to this problem, but it works. The Smoking Tire host and R&T contributor Matt Farah had a first-gen Raptor in Los Angeles and loved the way it ironed out any road imperfections. But have you ever tried to parallel park a Raptor? It's not impossible, but you'll circle the block a dozen times before you find a space large enough.
Farah wanted something with off-road suspension, but in a more reasonably sized package. So, he had sports-car racer Leh Keen build him a 911 that looks ready to tackle the Paris-Dakar. For the task at hand, it's perfect.
By modern standards, an air-cooled 911 is quite compact, which makes it perfect for any city. This 911's off-road suspension and BF Goodrich tires—the same A/T KOs used on the Raptor—mean you can tackle speed bumps at full throttle. And when Farah takes a shortcut on a dirt path, it really starts to make sense.
And btw I blew both airbags because milling an intersection and not putting tar on the cut edge is now a thing.
I remember from SCC that travel was a bugaboo of the 200 but all that wheel arch space just looking to be filled. Obviously this stuff is easier for Porsche given the enthusiast community. What can we come up with? Or do I need to go up to that Irish American rally school in the NE?
In reply to nutherjrfan :
Good luck. I was able to lift my Escort a little over an inch with aftermarket springs. That and good snowtires made it a really good winter car.
Slippery said:I like them when they are driven as intended.
This. If you are the owner of the car you can do whatever the hell you want to with it. But there are a lot of guys like myself who will withhold our respect until it's actually seen the dirt in a serious way. It's no different than all the stockbrokers and other monied professionals who I see driving their Porsches as if they had Buick on the nameplates.
back to the Farah reference which is where I first discovered this phenomenon. I'm pretty sure he mentioned D.C. and it's awful roads. After blowing the airbags on a milled edge I drove to Ohio and back then hit a berkeleying pot hole at 50-60ish on one of the highways real close to the city in heavy traffic at night so hard it blew a cloud of crud up through the vents which messed with my contacts for a hot second or more. I'm getting to feel a 'Safari' build might be the only way to survive nowadays.
Leaving the style aside. How in Gods name do I even begin to think about beefing up my little E36 M3 box? It'll never take any tight corners at any speed. I don't eff with decreasing radius on ramps although I do occasionally dart in traffic if that would be an issue with a more 'rally' style suspension.
I'm actually buying into Farahs argument about it being more attuned to our local govts penchant for digging potholes rather than filling them.
ok I added that last point. I don't actually believe the local municipality digs potholes. maybe.
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