The Wall Street Journal reports that two studies, corroborating some  “conventional wisdom”, offer statistical evidence that BMW drivers, especially of blue cars, are … jerks. Read more here.

Funny, the guys at Top Gear have been saying this for years, too.

Well, I just happen to know of some jerks that drive Porsches, too.  And even Priuses.  And let me add that BMW-driving friend Herman is a down-to-earth, unpretentious, generous, warm and all-around good guy!

Going slightly off-topic here: Digging back for some far-distant memories, I recall the era when I got my first Porsche, when approaching Porsche drivers dipped their headlights at each other, and often stopped for a friendly note-comparison session.  It wasn’t long before that all changed.  When my landlord hit it big in the TV industry — this was when I lived in Los Angeles, specifically Venice Beach — he ran out and bought a new 911.  When I attempted to discuss the subject with him, not only did it become obvious that he really knew next to nothing about the car, but he was dismissive and condescending.  I was driving an old Alfa at the time, and he treated my statement of having once owned a 911 as though it wasn’t even credible.  Anyway … let’s live in the present.  Just drive defensively.

Nice video here on what’s inside the 944 engine.  By Van Svenson who is probably well-known to the 944 community for his many videos, including club racing events and his own sweet 944 spec racer.

Recently came across a most useful online tool for comparing wheel and tire sizing.  The tool also calculates speedometer effect, and comments on clearances, etc. Comes from http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp.  

Here is a screen grab comparing the stock early 944 15-inch wheel/tire with a more modern 17-inch candidate (both assume the same 23.3mm offset, if such a wheel actually exists):

As a follow-on to my previous post about 3D printing, my old photography partner who also has lots of experience building fiberglass race car bodies, sends along a link of interest.  

http://www.replicadb4.com/ is a site that documents the process of creating a 3D-printed jig or template for a body design that will ultimately become expressed as a fiberglass replica of a 1961 Aston-Martin DB4.  Holy crap!  

CAD rendering of custom tubular control arm for 944 – by Aaron of fabworkZ.com

If guns can now be fabricated with 3D printers, why not parts for your 944? 

A while back I ran across an intriquing project in which a 3D printer was used to fashion an adaptor to fit an inexpensive Camaro (!) windshield washer motor to replace the much more costly but inoperative Porsche part. You can see pix and read about it here:

• http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:29641
• http://piratefish.blogspot.com/2012/09/3d-printing-for-porsche-parts.html

Further exploration turned up quite a few 3D CAD models and renderings for 944 parts and paraphernalia, like these from GrabCAD.com and MakerBot Thingiverse:

• http://grabcad.com/library/software/solidworks?per_page=20&query=944+porsche
• http://grabcad.com/library/software/rendering?per_page=20&query=porsche+944
• http://www.thingiverse.com/search/basic?q=porsche

A lot of 944 components would seem to have potential for 3D-printed replacements. This is an area I must keep my eye on …

Here’s a good introduction to 3D printing basics in the meantime.

In the heyday of the 944, the contenders were mainly the lower-priced Japanese competitors in the form of the Mitsubishi Starion, the Nissan 300ZX and the Mazda RX7. I never drove a Starion, truly disliked the feel of the Nissan and found only the Mazda somewhat appealing. I believe my sister had an RX7 for awhile, come to think of it. All of the Japanese cars, to my eye, suffered from the pagoda-styling that had characterized Japanese auto products for many years, and was only beginning to subside. Anyway, here is a circa 1986 Motor Week shootout between the 944 Turbo and its Japanese competitors.

Stumbled — I should say — tumbl’d upon a crazy and wonderful Tumblr site yesterday that features station wagons.  And I also came upon a Porsche variant there that recalls a recent post or two.