Nikoncamera

Hi guys,
after encouraging "the little lady" to take the Porsche for a drive, and to get used to it... I'm now having second thoughts, after hearing the car hit about 5000 rpm in third,at 2 mph, up hill, clutch slipping, varioram kicking in, into the garage.
How many others "let" the wife, or partner, drive their cars... and with what results?
( I just hope the missus cant find this forum.....)
Cheers Lyndon

Traffic53

talk about a slippery subject.

first time my lady took the car, it came back with the lovely smell of clutch. makes you wonder why we give so much effort toward being easy on the equipment.

i figure the husband/wife wear ratio is about 20:1. 1 mile driven by the wife equals the wear 20 normal miles. but hey, what's a clutch cost?

no really; anyone know what a clutch costs?

Mike J

Hmm, I have the opposite problem. My wife is very easy on clutches, its just that she does not rev the engine..she thinks she is driving her Pathfinder. I doubt if the RPM goes beyone 3000, its lug city. I ask her to wind it out and not lug it, but then causes a whole another set of worries!

BobbyB

Hmmm, I have almost the same situation as JKW993. Except I only had to go thru it once, and with the Boxster. My wife can drive the cars anytime she wants to. The good thing, she has only wanted to drive it once.

TCR

On the day that I purchased my car, I tossed my wife the keys and told her to take it for a spin.

Something very frightening must have happened, cause she never asked to drive it again.

I think that I will just leave well enough alone, and never ask what happened!

vjd3

A few years ago (when, um, I was still married) I bought a pristine gran prix white 1988 3.2 Carrera Targa with 17k miles. My wife had recently learned to drive a stick and loves Porsches. The first thing I did with the car was have my mechanic install a hidden kill switch to the fuel pump under the driver's seat. I would park the car in the garage (we were a three car family at the time) and hit the switch every time. Every once in a while I would come home from work in the BMW, and my wife would say something like "Ellen and I wanted to go to Clearwater Beach in the 911, but it wouldn't start this morning," and I would say, "Damn, it's the fuel pump again, I'll have to talk to Joe Vatter about it." She never did figure that one out, and one demo ride with me driving the 930 I got later scared her from even trying to drive that car -- boost is a great deterrent.

Honey ... I'm not sorry ;-)

Vic
95 C2

Greg Bell

I wanted to get personalised plates with my wife's initials because if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be enjoying this wonderful car. It was she who said "Why don't you buy one" after I casually dropped the subject. Luckily at the time we were in a position to be able to afford one, even if it meant saving for a while. I actively discourage her or my children from talking about "Dad's car" - it's our car and we all enjoy it and besides how else do you get to admire the car as it pulls away accompanied by the tantalising aural symphony of RSR's. Aint life sweet.

JasonF

My wife tells me that she is "afraid" of the Porsche! "It must be a guy thing...the clutch is hard to push in, the brake pedal takes too much effort and it doesn't even have a cupholder." She does like to sit next to me and smiles when I punch it coming out of a corner though.

Her car is the exact opposite of the 993: a E320 4matic wagon. The E320 is mushy, overly complicated and handles like my old 1979 Ford Fairmont.

JimB

The woman I'm seeing has an 84 911, a 2000 Boxster and an R1. She doesn't seem to have any trouble with a clutch. Nor do any of the many women I know that Club Race or do DE. As a matter of fact, most instructors will tell you that women make excellent students. They generally listen better and develop better fundamentals than men. You guys better be careful how you stereotype or you might be invited out to the track for a little butt kickin.

ceboyd

hmmmm..... In my case, I learned how to drive stick at age 15...

Interestingly enough, my x-husband wouldn't even allow me to buy anything but the 'tip' 993 (back when I bought it with my own $$ I had saved before we got married).... he wanted to be able to drive it an insisted I get the 'Tip'..... that idiot is gone and I've learned to love the Tip... LOL


Then again, my mom is hopeless when it comes to attempting to teach her how to drive a stick

Jean

I offered to buy my wife a 356 convertible in mint condition she chose a ring instead!..when she is in my car she complains that she cannot see the front hood and she is ashamed of that GT2 wing. (I must agree it is flashy)

ceboyd

DAMN!!! I'd take the car over a ring any day! ...besides, rings cause damage to the steering wheel (which is the biggest reason I refuse to wear any rings in the first place.. LOL)

p_carfan

My Wife sez "Driving the Porsche makes me nervous" . Thank goodness !!!!

nile13

I tought my ex to drive the stick shift (after teaching her to drive in the first place). To this day, many years later, I think she's a better driver than me. So I would not and do not hesitate if she wants to drive one of my cars.

freeman

My wife learned how to drive in an MGB. She has driven all of our Porsches but does not want to do so regularly since I dictate where she must park to avoid door dings. One of my friends calls her a keeper since she encouraged me to buy my first (87) 911. Two years later we stopped at a Porsche dealer in Columbia SC to look at a black-on-black targa on the show room floor. I talked trade-in with the dealer who gave me a great price. I turned to my wife who smiled and said "take it". Surprisingly, the dealer took my car for the targa and trusted me to mail him a check and the title when I returned home. Five years later, much to my wife's dismay, I sold the targa since it was "going to be my last". The 993 was introduced and two weeks after the sale I began getting "Porsche-withdrawal". Wifey jumped in and suggested that I order one but take European delivery since we were going to Germany on business.

So, you can see, my wife is not only an appreciative Porsche fan, but also a KEEPER.