Skip to main content

Watch how capricious a classic Porsche 911 can get when it's driven too hard

The Porsche 911 has historically been one of the more challenging sports cars to master on the road and especially on the track. Most of the car’s weight is situated right over the rear axle, so the coupe is more prone to over-steering than its mid- or front-engined rivals. Some amateur video footage shot in the Alps shows how capricious Porsche’s rear-engined machine can be when it’s driven a little bit too hard.

The first part of the video shows a second-generation Volkswagen GTI in full race regalia. It’s a pretty cool machine, but ignore it, as that’s not what we’re here to see. The bright red Porsche shows its nose about 16 seconds into the film. The driver brakes for the bend and hits the apex; so far, so good. Not a split second later he’s drifting sideways across the course, which looks like a public road that’s been closed specifically for the event. A cacophony of flat-six engine roars and tire squeals soon follows.

Porsche 911 almost crashes during hill climb

The 911 surprisingly doesn’t spin out. The driver manages to regain control of the car through a series of quick, thoughtful, and surgically precise steering inputs. By the time the back end stops dancing around, the car’s nose is pointed towards a ditch that a few unsuspecting trees call home. It’s uh-oh moment number two for the man behind the wheel, but he manages to save his car once again. The Porsche finished the stage without damage, unless it crashed farther up the road after the camera stopped rolling. We’re not sure we can say the same about the driver’s underwear. Given the current price of Porsche parts, though, we’d rather buy new trousers than a new fender.

Recommended Videos

Modern electronic driving aids such as a traction control system would have likely prevented the driver from spinning out in the first place, but the spirit of a classic Porsche (and the pure experience you get when you’re sitting behind the wheel) would be completely diluted by technology. That’s why driving a vintage 911 hard takes an immense amount of practice. The line between being in control and being out of control is a fine one, and there’s often no going back once it’s been crossed.

We admire the driver’s razor-sharp reflexes, but luck certainly played a part in keeping his pride and joy in one piece.

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
MacOS Monterey is coming October 25 — here’s how you can get it when ready
The M1-powered Macbook Air, open on a table.

Following the end of the Apple Unleashed event, Apple announced a release date for MacOS Monterey. The new operating system is set to launch on October 25, as the follow-up to 2020's MacOS Big Sur release, and brings several big enhancements centered around productivity.

Coming as a free update for most Macs, the big feature for most people in this release is Universal Control, which lets you use a single mouse and keyboard to control multiple MacOS and iPad devices. The new feature is separate from Sidecar, which lets iPad users leverage the tablet as a second display for your Mac.

Read more
The OnePlus Watch Harry Potter Edition is here but you can’t get it in the U.S.
OnePlus Watch Harry Potter Limited Edition in box

The OnePlus Watch Harry Potter Limited Edition is out, giving fans of the series a nice wearable memento for their wrist. It features new Harry Potter-themed watch faces and a new band and buckle. The new wearable supports 110 workout modes and comes with a heart rate sensor, stress monitor, and blood oxygen saturation level (SpO2) sensor. It is priced at 16,999 rupees in India, which translates to $225.

The OnePlus Watch Harry Potter Limited Edition will be available via OnePlus.in, the OnePlus Store app, the Red Cable Club app, and offline OnePlus Experience Stores. It will go on sale starting October 21. If you are in India and are willing to purchase the new OnePlus product, you can take advantage of an extra discount of 1,000 rupees using ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank cards and EMI transactions.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX launch its first all-civilian mission
The all-civilian crew heading to space in September 2021.

Inspiration4 | Launch

SpaceX is a short time away from launching its first all-civilian crew for a three-day ride in low Earth orbit.

Read more