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Originally Posted by funster
I have psm and I think its great. I can turn it off when I want to go without it(like at the track) and I don't believe it adds any weight to the car as the computer is allready there. My wife drives the car sometimes too and isn't used to that kind of power so I made sure to get psm for that reason alone. As far as I can tell it hasn't taken away any of my driving skills. I do wish that there was a switch to disable the abs for the track, but I'm glad to have abs on the car in general. I don't think all of this technology weighs even a fraction of what the air conditioning or the stereo does. I still get a thrill from driving my car every chance I get. I'm glad that the average joe can get a thrill too!
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Hi,
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the average Joe gets his thrills, we all should. But, as you state, you are compromising, if only for the sake of your wife.
As for ABS, most people are confused about what this actually does. It will not stop the car in a shorter distance or avoid an accident. In the 20 or so odd years that ABS has been available, or even in the past 10 when it was widely available, there has been no reduction of insurance statistics in rear-end collisions.
What ABS does is allow the Driver to keep control of the car so the
Driver (not the car) can maneuver around the trouble. The problem is that Drivers are not taught how to do this in Driver Ed or License Testing and so when the eventual accident situation comes along, most just grab the wheel, stand on the brakes, and hold on, frozen like a deer in the headlights. A car without ABS and with a skilled Driver behind the wheel, will consistently stop in a shorter distance than with ABS.
IIRC, the Porsche PSM is not fully defeatable, even with the OFF switch. At some point, the computer will still kick-in. My personal thought is that this can create a false sense of security in the average Driver and cause them to push the car deeper into the Danger Zone than they would otherwise have. In general, it can cause more agressive driving which again, in general, is less safe.
I don't know your history or your skill set, so I don't know if you have anything to compare it too. Many young drivers don't. They have no experience driving without these aids and so may not know how much more thrilling non-assisted spirited driving can be.
But, if I were a father, as soon as my kid got old enough to drive, I'd make autocrossing a requirement for them to maximize their skills. I believe that this teaches skills and respect for a car and how to operate it, and if possible, in a car without the electronic aids so prevalent on today's cars. I believe I'd be doing them an immense favor, and possibly saving them pain and expense...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99