cobalt

I recently picked up a '14 Cayenne GTS. I preferred it to the '14 turbo for my needs and is a great ride. I would guess it is faster than my 04 TT but that might be the sport exhaust that gives the impression.

I have the 04 turbo we have owned since new and after being offered $10k for a trade in for a car in perfect condition with 80k miles I have decided to keep it.

Now the reason for the question. My son turns 17 next July and gets his license. He has been driving the CTT with me in the passenger seat and is a very responsible and excellent driver. Wish more people had his driving skills on the road. He mastered driving a clutch in an afternoon.

My thoughts were since the CTT is a known quantity and he loves it I would like to gift him the car for his B-day but handing over a 450 HP brick to a new driver concerns me. He still has a lot to learn and I won't be there to supervise.

I believe the CTT is a low boost high compression engine unlike the early turbo 911's which had ridiculously low compression and high boost. Does anyone know how compression of the turbo compares to the S? Could the boost be turned down or completely off and have a vehicle that is still safe and useable? Anyone do this or consider doing this?

cobalt

On second thought I think I answered my question. More than likely making a stop for the accelerator pedal might be a better approach. This way it doesn't mess with the car as much as it limits the amount of WOT.

XR4Tim

FWIW, compression is 11.5:1 on the S and 9.5:1 on the Turbo.

cobalt

Good to know thanks

I thought it might have been higher. They still like the 9.5:1 for turbo's.

As I figured it would be better to find a way to control WOT than mess with the boost. I will have to give it some serious thought, safety being first and foremost.

mrbug

My 06 CS has a speed limit you can set in the information screens on the dash. I don't know if yours has that option. Since you did not ask, from my personal experience and IMHO I think it is too much vehicle for a 16 yr old.

Matt O.

Likely too much for a young 16 year old boy. You know your son better than anyone, however very high odds that could end badly. Here's what my dad did, on my 1987 924S when I was 17-- might give you food for thought:

We picked my 924 (a fourth the power of the CTT) for $2,500. I was only permitted to drive it when either he or my mom was in the passenger seat. Break this rule and the Porsche was sold. After about a year of that, around my 18th birthday and coinciding with a full academic scholarship, and coinciding with peace in his mind that he wasn't going to enable his kid to kill himself or others, he gave me the keys.

All this, and I was a good student and never got in any trouble or drove recklessly. And I had been driving since 15, the family car and small truck. Might try a similar approach.

The 924's power is laughable compared to the CTT, but the concept of me driving a Porsche at such a young age (regardless that it was a dirt cheap POS we fixed up) was what could lead to wrapping it around a tree.

Your son sounds like a good kid, and you seem like a loving pop. Do him right and set him up for success, even though that may not be the easiest or the most "fun" approach. You have an opportunity to teach AND give your kid a great gift. You could also consider having him earn it thru payments until you give him keys.

Sorry if thats more that you wanted.

Looking back, I have fond memories of eagerly awaiting my mom or dad's return from work, in order to drive them simply to the grocery store or go get gas.

Good luck. If you choose to sell, I wanna be on record offering you $10,001!!

JAGMAN1

You can get a tune done with multiple settings. You could program a defined amount of boost and a speed limiter set at something reasonable.

Having multiple settings allows you to change the tune on a moments notice back to normal.

TomF

You sound like really good dad and I applaud you for wanting him to join the Porsche fold. I would agree with the sentiments above about a CTT (even detuned) is too much car for a teenager. My dad had a similar agreement with me as did Matt O's. I also had to do ALL the work on my car myself and pay for everything except insurance. This was on a '72 Toyota pickup! I moved on to buy my first of many 911s when I was 20...

The CTT is a fantastic car in the right hands, but even an normally-aspirated S has a tremendous amount of power. I would get him a reasonably fun starter car and let him know that the CTT is his after he proves himself for a year or two...

Just my .02. Best of luck with your decision. Your son is a lucky guy for having a dad that wants him to own a Porsche!

Cheers,
Tom

user 83838290

Get manual boost controllers or just unplug the WGs and the car's gonna push 0.4 bar. That's about 300ish hp I presume. No harm done, no CEL, no nothing. It takes about 30 minutes to do and if you unplug the lines completely, he won'rt be putting it back alone at all.

gnat

De-tunning is one thing and I think is reasonable as you can get used to how it performs and adjust to it.

An artificial speed or throttle limit are things I've never agreed with. In this case, a speed limit only limits the max speed and not how fast it will get there which is really the problem with such a beast. A throttle limit is the opposite in that it doesn't limit the top speed, just how fast you can get there. While you obviously don't want your kid running a CTT (or any car) at WOT all the time, there are those times where not being able to use the full throttle range could leave them in a dicey or dangerous position.

Either get him through some HPDE and AutoX classes to really learn how to control it and then let him go, or get him something big enough to keep him safe but not powerful enough to get him in too much trouble.

Actually I'd recommend the advanced driver courses regardless of what you put him him. Fantastic way to safely learn your limits and the limits of the car.

kon5t

Hey this reminds me of this thread form a few years back http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...ts-m-mode.html

Originally it reads like a bit of a joke/light banter, until it goes quiet for a few weeks, and then this: http://www.ocala.com/article/2008012.../BREAKING_NEWS

The moral of the story is clear, if you let your teenage son drive your supercar, you are asking for trouble, but then you already know that, or you would not have started this thread. So I implore you, have some common sense, get him a used car with a couple of hundred horses to learn in (like a v6 mustang), he can drive the porker when he can afford it.

touareg

They have ODBII logs you can attach, or lock of so inclined I suppose, to the ODBII port, that will record, speed, acceleration, etc.

If you trust your child enough, not to do anything crazy, this may act as a nanny.

As a kid myself, my dad let me drive his Mercedes SL, and I was always paranoid about wrecking that thing I never dared drive it hard.

Maybe let him use it once in a while, but not "give" it to him?

genebopp

I wouldnt let the kid drive it. I did so many stupid fast things when I was a kid in a fast car and just got lucky. I had an Audi that the owners manual said not to exceed 142 for extended periods of time. I had to find out why..... It was a turbo and cruising above 140 required 1.1 bar. The turbo got so hot it was glowing red and smelled like melting metal after only about 60 miles.....I live in Florida. Then there was the time grandpa grandpa lent me his Porsche..... I think your asking for trouble.

mikey_audiogeek

Rev limiter set to 3500 rpm?
It'd be just like driving a diesel...

wrinkledpants

Worst idea. You're nuts if you think your son and his friends won't find a way to remove the nanny gadget you put on there. All the kids on college with fast cars drove them hard and recklessly. I mean, you're in college. Dudes egging you on, hot chicks getting impressed with your fast car, the occasional time when you'll drive semi-drunk - it's going to happen. Every one of those guys drove nice and legal when their folks were around. i was definitely one of them, though I paid for all my cars myself. His ability to actually control the car has nothing to do with his ability to make good decision with peer pressure involved.

If he gets into trouble with it - that's on your, sir. Nobody is going to think that it's his fault that his dad gave hime a twin turbo Porsche. It's going to come back to you and your parenting choices. I'm sure your son is a great kid, and I have no doubt you think the world of him, but young adults have one job in life - test boundaries. It's what they do and it's part of their development.

Again - just to re-iterate this as I think it's really important - if he crashed it, kills himself, passengers, or another family, smashes into another car and severely hurts the other occupants - that's going to be on you. Don't be naive and think that just because he learned to drive a stick quickly, and he drives really well when you're in the car, that he's going to make the right decisions when he's behind the wheel. I sure as hell didn't, but I was lucky enough to drive civics and accords in college. I have no doubt something bad would have happened had I owned something like a CTT.

If you're dead set on buying him a nice car, get him an A4 or something. Nothing good is going to come from giving him a 450 HP sledgehammer when he's 17 years old.