Porsche spin-out

[David Cuadra <cuadra@domain.elided>]

A major storm blew into the Bay Area this AM.  Heavy rain, wind, and 47 
degree F temperatures.  As is usual on most weekends, I headed out to 
the mountains south of San Francisco, to highway 35, a twisty 30-mile 
stretch of two-lane blacktop.  Awesome road.

On Interstate 280 south I merged into the slow lane and quickly came 
upon a beefy late 80s/early 90s red Porsche.  I could tell you little 
else about the car, e.g., whether it was a turbo or not, as my 
familiarity with Porsches is limited to feature stories in European Car 
magazine.

Anyway, the driver of the Porsche was going very slow, maybe 35-40 mph.  
I was directly behind, about 3 or 4-car lengths.  Suddenly, the Porsche 
started to fish-tail violently, then did a complete 360.  I managed to 
avoid a collision by quickly moving the 164 over a couple of lanes.  My 
heart pounding, I looked into the rearview mirror and saw that he/she 
was able to recover and safely pull over to the side.

What exactly happened to this car?  Is a rear-engine/rear-drive layout a 
bad idea in such weather conditions?  Let me add that although it was 
stormy out, we were traveling in a straight line.  The road was 
obviously wet, but not enough to hydroplane.  In other words, the usual 
conditions for a spin-out weren't present.  And if they were, the 
minivans and SUVs zooming by didn't seem to notice (or care).  Are 
Porsches normally so twitchy, unable to compensate for abrupt driver 
inputs?  (It didn't seem like the driver was doing anything out of the 
ordinary.)

Once on highway 35, I proceeded in a spirited fashion, driving only a 
little slower than usual.  I came across a gaggle of sport import cars, 
spoilers & all, who decided to pull over.  Obviously out of their 
element, they either decided to smoke crack in the turn-out or to double 
back.  A few miles later I happened across a 5-series BMW and kept 
him/her in sight until I stopped for coffee at Sky Honda.

A white 911S pulled up only a few minutes behind me.  Now this Porsche 
obviously had no difficulties in the cold, wet twisties. What gives?

Paul cuadra@domain.elided

95 LS 5-speed (a good handler, wet or otherwise)
97 Moto Guzzi Sport (kept home today for obvious reasons)

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