Porsche 911 Sportscar Gets Stuck In Large Pothole (Video)
The monsoons have intensified in many parts of India. Heavy rainfall often damage our road infrastructure. We see potholes, waterlogged patches and broken roads forming in many areas. It is common to find vehicles getting affected by these. In an unusual turn of events, a Porsche 911 Carrera recently ended up getting stuck in a waterlogged pothole in Kerala. A video of this has now surfaced online.
This incident reportedly happened in Kerala’s Malappuram. In the video, we see a 911 Carrera finished in Orange. It has, however, been fitted with a GT3 rear wing! The car has its hazard lamps turned on. The rear (left) wheel has fallen into a waterfilled pothole.
As the driver tries to throttle out of the situation, we see the tyre spin violently, splashing water. This makes us believe that the car could be sitting on its platform. After a couple of failed attempts, the driver gives up on the idea of ‘throttling out of the pothole’. Even towards the end of the video, we see the 911 stuck in the pothole.
In another clip, we can see another rescue attempt on the car. In it a man can be seen pressing the rear of the car further down, so that the wheels are pressed against the ground, bringing more traction. It, however, doesn’t fructify and the sports car remains stuck. The only way to salvage it is by towing it out.
The pothole here seems to be quite deep. Since it was filled with water, the Porsche driver may not have been able to judge its actual depth. This likely led to the car getting stuck in it.
Potholes are nightmares for almost all sports car owners. Due to their performance genes, most of these have low ground clearance. Keeping the center of gravity low is critical for perfecting dynamics, high-speed stability and fine-tuning dynamics.
Remember how fast they go around corners? Well, a lot of engineering goes into making that happen! Having a low ground clearance also helps in reducing air resistance, further improving the actual acceleration and performance. A low ground clearance is desirable on tracks and on smooth mirror-like roads. On average Indian roads, however, it will be a pain for the owner.
Porsches have been exceptions on this front. The 911 is an iconic sports car. It has been around for 50+ years. The current generation (992) is known for its performance and dynamics. More importantly, it is known for its practicality! This is the sports car that you can daily drive! The base-spec Carrera has a suspension setup that wouldn’t go hard on you, and has a decent ground clearance- around 110mm. Potholes as big as the one in this video can, however, render these helpless.
Porsche has both RWD (Rear Wheel Drive) and AWD (All Wheel Drive) versions of the 911 on sale here. The latter has ‘4’ in the name- for example, the 911 Carrera 4 GTS. The car in this video, seems to be the RWD model- a regular Carrera. If it were an AWD model instead, may be the story would have been different. As you can see, the drive wheel ended up getting stuck in this case.
To drive safely through tricky potholed Indian roads, sports car owners must master the art of ‘ driving slow’. One must understand the tyres, suspension setup, throttle response, damping character and a slew of other factors of the vehicle to drive it safely through bad patches and potholed roads.