[Aro51]

Glad to hear your son is safe.



I am 17 years old and I currently own a 968. My father has taught me a lot about respecting cars and I listen to him very well. I have done a Skip Barber racing school and multiple autocross's. I feel by doing the following above makes your reaction time faster and allows you to control the car it was meant to be handled. Since I have been autocrossing for 2 years I am proud to say I know how to control a car than most teenagers my age. I still have alot more room to improve and love the Porsche 968 machine. It feels as just when I hit the ignition switch all worries have gone away and it is just me the car and the road. And every time I get behind the wheel of my car I always say the famous quote "speed is nothing without control."



Alex

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[968Syncro]

Hey Alex,



Thanks very much for your thoughts. I am glad to hear your good reports on the driving training and racing. It is embarrassing that I didn't follow through, but I had planned at least the local PCA drivers ed for my son already a couple of years ago. There were other reasons, but one was our 968 is automatic/TIP. So I didn't think it would be a real experience. In my teen days, I got lots of experience. Bought my first car, Austin Healey Sprite before I even had a license, and our whole gang of guys had British sports cars, and we read and learned and practiced, took 'em apart, and then back together again, etc.



Now my son has been more focused on sports, video games, and other enjoyments, he hasn't become a 'car guy' yet after all the 'car guy' stuff I did with him his whole life. He has been showing increasing interest. I also planned to get him a less valuable, lower performance car of his own, but again I am embarrassed it didn't happen, so he has been sharing parental cars, and that is why this happened. I plan now to get him his own, let me know what you think about a 4Runner (he is very outdoorsy) or maybe a smaller economy car like a Golf.



I am not sure we will continue with the 968 yet, so my fallback is an 944S2 with a stick -- they can be had for a bit less than 968s, so in place of the one 968 we would get the 2 cars, one for him, and one with a stick and still a good sports car that we could then take to drivers ed and maybe beyond. I love the 968, so this step down will not be my preferred move.



Thanks again for your thoughts.



Roland

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[SpeedRacer64]

[quote name='kodomokid' post='47488' date='Feb 13 2008, 10:44 PM']When I was 16, my parents gave me their old 77 Toyota Cressida to drive around. You can tell that I am not that old. One thing that it wasn't was a sports car. I had to slow down quite a bit when turning. I figured that out after my first little accident. I turned a corner and hit my friend's cousin's car. No dent on his car but a small one of mine. After that I learned to be a lot more careful. Never told my dad about it. But the experience on my own was enough to make me wake up.



Glad your son was not hurt. I'm sure that he will be tempted to "improve" his technique, but remind him that he was lucky, sometimes things don't go as smoothly as that. He's lucky to have a very understanding father like you. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />[/quote]



I grew up in the Bahamas on crushed coral roads...my first experience driving was in a 1969 el camino with my Father had the thing fish tailing all around doing donuts...the point he was making and explaining was for me to understand under and over steer...what it feels like as a vehicle slips out from under you. Most people never experience this unless there involved in an accident and then it’s too late. I’m not recommending this is but I am auto cross schools or performance enhancement driving schools...these same principles and more are taught...plus you get to hangout together....remember...Father time knows no mercy! Glad no one was hurt.

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[Aro51]

I live Florida and it is hard to find auto crossers around my age group. I am always auto crossing with men and woman 10 15 20 years older than me. I am car enthusiast and I am learning everyday about how a car drives and how it works mechanically. I really never got into sports so cars was my passions I spend my nights reading forrums and finding out how to fix things on my car and what I can do to it. Then I go into my garage and tinker away. Its hard finding someone around here that shares the same passion as I do. So being young and owning a sports car is not a bad thing. Roland im not directing this to you but , if you have a kid and trust him or her you can let them get a Porsche and participate in club events. I gurantee you that they will become safer drivers. Any way, what part of the U.S.A do you live in?



Alex



Also it is a hobby that my dad and I share that we both enjoy. Going out on Sundays with my dad is a relief from school work etc. Its good quality time just for the two of us.

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[Anchorman]

A remarkably familiar story, I say with some regret. My son must have been about 20, with a few years of safe driving experience, when he convinced me to let him drive my just-about-perfect Fiero GT. He'd driven it before, but always with me in the passenger seat. He knew enough about how the car handled (quite well, in fact) so I didn't really worry. What I didn't know, though, until the phone call was that he then let a friend drive the car. Same story- cut off, swerve, over the shoulder, and totaled. Avoidable if he'd know how to drive better, including having some understanding of the unique handling characteristics of that type of car.



Several years later, my now-ex-daughter-in-law had a similar accident in I-5. She was in the movie business and had worked with Navy Seals that had been in The Rock. One of them told her that if she took his performance driving class, she'd never again have such an accident. (And, as a bonus, he said he'd teach her to kill an assailant with her pinky - and he wasn't kidding.)

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[kwikt]

Where do you live Aro51. I bought my 16 year old son a 92 968 and he just started autoxing last month. I usually run my 72 911 but this year we're both driving his 968. Matter of fact we're going to Gainesville this Sunday to try it again.



Kevin

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[Aro51]

I live in West Palm Beach Florida. I will be going to the Bank Atlantic autocross. What PCA region are you?



Alex

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[kwikt]

We run SCCA in B stock against the RX8's and 350Z's. We also belong to the Florida Crown PCA but they really aren't to active in autox. We'll probably also do a few drivers ed up at Roebling Road.

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[Straight Four]

autox is one of the best ways to curb a over passionate driver.



i learned VERY quickly about understeer and how flooring it in a fwd car in a corner is never the fastest way to go.



our club in college (CLEMSON) taught a class once a year, that involved turning radius and brake zone runs. which really showed students just how well their car can slow down as well as just what happens when your turning and hit the brakes.

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[mustanghusker]

Glad to hear your son is safe, but sorry about the totaling of the car. My father actually owned my 968 before me, and he let me take it out when I was home from college sometimes. I was running around one summer afternoon (20 years old @ the time) and took a turn onto a 4 lane road from a 4 lane road a little too fast. I got a little cocky and got on the gas a little early. The back end got out of line, I over corrected, and next thing you know I have jumped a curb, plowed through a no parking sign, and am resting partially in a cow pasture with barb wire snagged on the convertible top.



Obviously, some damage was done to the car, but it was not totalled. Most of the work was on the right front where I bounced over the curb. Having to call my dad and tell him what happened was one of the worst calls of my life (I know, not so bad in the grand scheme of things). I knew that i let him down, and that was what killed me. I got a tongue lashing from my mom but my dad was pretty quite about. That night we were hanging out together and he just asked, "What happened?" It was probably 2 years before I even asked to drive it again.



Now I drive the car on a daily basis and feel as though we have a little history together. If I treat it well it will treat me well, and if I just listen to it it will let me know the limits.



With hindsight, I suppose that is the downside to letting teenagers drive cars you care about. Again, glad your son is okay. After reading your story though I felt inclined to share mine.

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[968Syncro]

Hi MustangHusker,



Hey, thanks alot for the story. It actually sounds quite similar: taking a corner, running off the road with lighter damage, I think my son was going too fast as well, I wasn't too hard on him either, my wife drilled into him a couple of times! The main difference is he is already asking when he will be off of what I told him was

"Porsche Restriction". As I mentioned in another post I picked up a '84 944 that is our temporary P-Fans car for now, a stick this time, and he isn't so experienced with that yet. We'll see what happens next. I bought my 968 back from the insurance and it is sitting next to the house. Every time I walk by, I think "I can fix it", "this could work". A picture of Tom Hanks (Chuck) in the movie Castaway always comes to mind like when the porta potty walls washed up on the shore and he stares at it forever, he thinks, and thinks, and says "This could work" and then makes a plan, and goes for it.



Thanks for sharing your story, I'll let my son know he isn't alone --- ah, you know... us Dads love our sons anyway.

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[kwikt]

I know exactly how you feel. Just 3 weeks ago my 16 year old son pulled out and sideswiped an Acura in his/my 92 968. His fault, no one hurt and no Full coverage. Bumper,fender,hood,door etc. So for the last 3 weeks I've been searching and buying used parts from all over the country to get her back together. I'm still pi##ed as hell but you really can't take it out on your one and only son cause you know he's alot more important than any car is worth and it can affect your relationship with him forever. So every time I opened the garage and see my smashed 968, my stomach turns but I know it'll be back on the road soon....very soon. BTW forget about buying new body panels.... none in the country and wait 4-5 weeks from Germany according to several dealers. One even tried to tell me the fender is NLA( yeah right too lazy to check) I guess these cars really are Rare. Good Luck! Also thanks to the few that I've purchased the used parts from.



Kevin

72 911T/E

92 968

01 Harley 95ci S&S Fatboy

03 330i

07 F150

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[mustanghusker]

[quote name='968Syncro' post='49115' date='Mar 12 2008, 05:57 PM']I picked up a '84 944 that is our temporary P-Fans car for now, a stick this time, and he isn't so experienced with that yet.[/quote]



Funny enough, that is basically the car I learned to drive on. My dad had an early 1985 944, stick shift, and that was the car I learned to drive a stick on. I think he figured that if I could drive that stick I could drive most sticks. I have since learned he was correct.



That car got totalled when a heavy duty chevy pick up truck ran a stop sign on the 4 lane road out where I grew up. Sadly enough, I was driving the 944 during that incident too. Car was a complete loss but I walked away unharmed, but shaken. I was doing about 50 (the speed limit) when I slammed the brakes, so I am proof that these are safe cars. To this day though my dad still swears that the 944 was his favorite car of all he has ever owned.



Regardless, that is a great pick up as a daily driver Porsche. I still toy with the idea of a getting a 944 coupe for fun, but at this point in my life it is merely a pipe dream. Good luck getting the 968 put back together, and enjoy the 944 until then.

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[SpeedRacer64]

Hey did you get your breaks done?



My cars fixed...now all I have to do is get back to dallas....lol



L

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[mustanghusker]

[quote name='SpeedRacer64' post='49527' date='Mar 20 2008, 05:16 PM']Hey did you get your breaks done?



My cars fixed...now all I have to do is get back to dallas....lol



L[/quote]



I am hopefully going up there tomorrow to pick it up. They told me it should be ready around lunch. I have the day off so that works well. I had to have some power steering lines replaced also because they were leaking, the damage was a little more than hoped, but it was all necessary stuff.



Hope you make it back to Dallas soon...am sure your car is ready to be driven.

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[Lord_Galva]

I am so glad to hear so many fathers are doing the right thing with their teens.

As a former delievery driver I saw some crazy stuff around 3pm. (School gets out)

And even worse stuff at 5pm. (Adult school/work gets out) <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

What I don't understand is that so many adults drive worse than teens. But they have the experiance to avoid the collision that they created in the first place. They give their teens beaters to keep them safe but the adults drive in such a way they create hazards for the unexperianced. Age and time behind the wheel are not equal to proper instruction. Hence a small percent of teens actually drive better than adults.



Personally I don't think giving teens beaters is the best idea. A lot of those beaters can be hazards to them. For example, my first scare came during a heavy rainstorm. I was on the way to college going with traffic at 55mph due to the heavy rain. And I mean east coast rain not the normal California rain which is like angles spitting on you. The person infront of me who was a good 5 car lengths ahead hit their brakes. I did the same but soon realized that I was not stopping at all. I swerved into the next lane over which was empty then over corrected spinning the car and slamming into the guard rail. The car had no ABS, was one wheel drive, and probably had bad tires at the time. But it was suppost to be "safe" because of the airbags.



Airbags wont save you from a spin. Knowledge on what to do in a situation like that, careful attention to the cars health, and not passing on the family "crap" car could save you. I wish my dad taught me that. Instead I learned from video games how to stop a spin and learned how to turn against the spin to prevent it from taking over. So now my dad had to buy me another crap car but this time I had more knowledge on accident prevention.



My 968 was my first car that I bought. And after a week of delievering in it I gave my dad grief about giving me a POS for my first. I plan on buying my youngest brother a 944 for his first car. He looks up to me sooo much and I know after seeing what happened to me he will take driving more seriously. I will teach him everything I have learned then take him to autocrosses where he will learn the limits of his car.



If I have gone off topic and started to ramble I'm sorry. I feel very passionate about this and I know I was unable to type what I'm really trying to say. But I am tired and my leg is killing me.

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[rxter]

Launched my Dad's 74 Impala "Coupe" (doors weighed about 600lbs each) a couple of feet in the air on a negative camber turn when I was a lad. Man that big V-8 roared. Suspension was not quite up to snuff though.



That was dumb kid lession #1, there have been more....



My daughter has been bouncing her 96 Celica off of any number of inanimate objects over the past 3 years. Seems to be getting better, or maybe I just can't see the new dents through the old.



Good luck and keep preaching safety.

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