European Delivery of my 2016 Cayman S
10-13-2016, 07:38 PM
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European Delivery of my 2016 Cayman S
I've wanted a Porsche for decades, but the price always seemed too high relative to other alternatives. Then, last spring, I read that the 2017 Cayman was going to four cylinder turbo, so I pulled the trigger in April, given that the 6 cylinder howl was a "must have" for me.
Ordered a '16 Cayman S in Guards Red (manual, PASM, torque vectoring, dynamic lighting, 18 way seats, PS+, yada yada). Note that all options were for function, none for aesthetics. I've ridden and raced motorcycles since 1970, built an AC Cobra kit car earlier in the decade, and have done enough track days to satisfy my urge. Thus, I didn't get this car for track use, but as a fun toy to play with (hence the decision to go manual in lieu of PDK).
Arrived in Stuttgart on 9/18, visited the museum on that day because most German museums are closed on Mondays. Picked up the car on Monday 9/19 and enjoyed the handover process, factory tour, and lunch in the elegant restaurant overlooking the museum front facade. Then we took an afternoon trip over to the black forest and Baden-Baden, where we wandered the old town and people/architecture watched.
We then drove to one of our favorite European destinations, Austria. Stopped in Innsbruck to wander the old city, visited the much heralded Swarovski Crystal World (total disappointment: 19 euros each for a bunch of "modern art" in crystal. Recommendation: a must miss). We ended up in one of our favorite cities-Salzburg, staying at a hotel we stayed at two decades ago in a prior visit: Die Gersberg Alm (quaint and lovely, with a gorgeous view of the city in the valley). The old city of Salzburg is amazing, especially during Oktoberfest time. We spent hours wandering around, people/architecture watching, looking at stores (wife only!), visiting some palace gardens, and munching street vendor snacks. We also visited the stunning Red Bull Hangar 7 on the grounds of the Salzburg airport. Absolutely amazing (look it up on the net).
It was time to head to Tuscany, via the Gerlos and Brenner Passes. Needless to say, driving the car was a blast. Per Porsches recommendation was keeping the revs to 4200 for the first 2k miles, but that was sufficient to stay ahead of traffic and the steering and handling were amazing. Had to stop for gas in the Italian plain south of Milan, and the difference from Germany/Austria was humorous. Having spent a week in the land which is largely clean, organized, and fully functional, the Italian gas station was cliche. Had to go in the station in present my credit card first (Germany/Austria worked on the honor system but I suspect petty crime in Italy precludes this), and the young Italian guy was fussing over a credit card swiper not working for the prior customer's card- waving his arms, "mama mia....", railing against god....funny). That afternoon's target was the Ferrari museum in Maranello. Reasonable ticket prices and if you're a Ferrari fan, a great place to visit. We were warned by the folks at the entrance desk to watch out for people in the parking lot dressed in Ferrari regalia: they might be scammers and not official Ferrari personnel. When we got out to our car in the parking lot, there was a fist fight altercation going on between a bunch of folks. We assumed it was the victims of some scam trying to get their money back/exact revenge. We beat feet out of there and went to find a local hotel for the evening.
The next day we drove into Bologna to visit the International School where my wife Constance spent a year. It was rush hour and a little scary in that we were surrounded by aggressive driving Italian A-holes in their little **** boxes, pretending they were ******* it out at Monza, and with nothing to lose. Add in hundreds of scooters whizzing by on both sides and it was the most nerve wracking part of the trip. We also visited Florence for half a day, wandering old town and visiting a palace containing a museum and art gallery, before ending up in the outskirts of Lucca to meet up with another couple with whom we were renting a Tuscan villa at a winery for the following week.
The next morning we spent time in the walled city of Lucca, before visiting the leaning tower in Pisa and then driving on to our villa near Castellina in Quanti. We spent a glorious week there in beautiful weather. Hiking, spending time visiting various surrounding towns, taking a cooking class, wine tasting at several wineries, and just generally hanging out. Of course, unstated as of yet, everywhere we went over the two and a half weeks of this vacation we had wonderful dining experiences, sampling local food and drink.
After a week there, it was time to head back to Germany to deliver the car back to Porsche at Leipzig for shipment back to the US. We had a long drive to Wiesbaden, setting up the beautiful drive along the Rhine River up to Koblenz (this is recognized as the core mid-Rhine River highlight). Fantastic views along the river road of vineyards and castles lining the steep borders of the river valley. It was still a beautiful Sunday morning as we headed over to the Nurburgring Nordschleife for a lap. But as we arrived at the track and got a lap ticket amidst organized chaos (big crowds and lots of traffic), the sky turned gray, the temperature dropped, and it started a light drizzle exactly when I got out on the track. Oh well. However, I wasn't intending on setting a lap record anyway so had an enjoyable easy lap around the track. Two guys apparently underestimated the loss of traction with the drizzle and ended up bashing their front ends in against the ARMCO.
Picked my wife up at the end of the lap, and we headed off into the countryside towards Leipzig in ever increasing rain. After a short drive through the local twisties, we stopped at a country restaurant for a nice lunch. The weather cleared up, the sun came out, and it was off to the autobahns for a 300 mile blast. I had just passed my break-in mileage so whenever the circle with 5 diagonal lines (NO SPEED LIMIT!!!) appeared, it was off to the races. it was a joy cruising between 150 -200 km/hr, only having to keep my eye on the rear view mirror to get out of the way of faster moving BMWs, Audis, Porsches and Mercedes (all largely black and predominantly station wagons: their version of crossovers, I think). Drivers were uniformly attentive and showing proper lane discipline. Virtually no left lane bandits during my entire two weeks in Europe.
We arrived in Leipzig in the middle of a festival celebrating a combination of Oktoberfest and German Reunification Day. The crowds parted as we made our way to the hotel, and hundreds of eyeballs were on my bright red car as I parallel parked in front of the hotel. The car really stood out as the majority of cars seen during our trip were somewhat muted in blacks, greys, and the like, with only a smattering of bright reds, blues, and greens.
We spent a day and a half in Leipzig, again wandering the plazas, dining, visiting the zoo, and then returning our car to the Porsche factory there. Another nice museum on the fourth floor, complimentary coffee, soda, and breads, and then it was off to the airport for our trip home.
ED is a really neat experience, and I'd highly recommend to anyone.
PS. If anyone can fix the photo orientation, please do so.
Ordered a '16 Cayman S in Guards Red (manual, PASM, torque vectoring, dynamic lighting, 18 way seats, PS+, yada yada). Note that all options were for function, none for aesthetics. I've ridden and raced motorcycles since 1970, built an AC Cobra kit car earlier in the decade, and have done enough track days to satisfy my urge. Thus, I didn't get this car for track use, but as a fun toy to play with (hence the decision to go manual in lieu of PDK).
Arrived in Stuttgart on 9/18, visited the museum on that day because most German museums are closed on Mondays. Picked up the car on Monday 9/19 and enjoyed the handover process, factory tour, and lunch in the elegant restaurant overlooking the museum front facade. Then we took an afternoon trip over to the black forest and Baden-Baden, where we wandered the old town and people/architecture watched.
We then drove to one of our favorite European destinations, Austria. Stopped in Innsbruck to wander the old city, visited the much heralded Swarovski Crystal World (total disappointment: 19 euros each for a bunch of "modern art" in crystal. Recommendation: a must miss). We ended up in one of our favorite cities-Salzburg, staying at a hotel we stayed at two decades ago in a prior visit: Die Gersberg Alm (quaint and lovely, with a gorgeous view of the city in the valley). The old city of Salzburg is amazing, especially during Oktoberfest time. We spent hours wandering around, people/architecture watching, looking at stores (wife only!), visiting some palace gardens, and munching street vendor snacks. We also visited the stunning Red Bull Hangar 7 on the grounds of the Salzburg airport. Absolutely amazing (look it up on the net).
It was time to head to Tuscany, via the Gerlos and Brenner Passes. Needless to say, driving the car was a blast. Per Porsches recommendation was keeping the revs to 4200 for the first 2k miles, but that was sufficient to stay ahead of traffic and the steering and handling were amazing. Had to stop for gas in the Italian plain south of Milan, and the difference from Germany/Austria was humorous. Having spent a week in the land which is largely clean, organized, and fully functional, the Italian gas station was cliche. Had to go in the station in present my credit card first (Germany/Austria worked on the honor system but I suspect petty crime in Italy precludes this), and the young Italian guy was fussing over a credit card swiper not working for the prior customer's card- waving his arms, "mama mia....", railing against god....funny). That afternoon's target was the Ferrari museum in Maranello. Reasonable ticket prices and if you're a Ferrari fan, a great place to visit. We were warned by the folks at the entrance desk to watch out for people in the parking lot dressed in Ferrari regalia: they might be scammers and not official Ferrari personnel. When we got out to our car in the parking lot, there was a fist fight altercation going on between a bunch of folks. We assumed it was the victims of some scam trying to get their money back/exact revenge. We beat feet out of there and went to find a local hotel for the evening.
The next day we drove into Bologna to visit the International School where my wife Constance spent a year. It was rush hour and a little scary in that we were surrounded by aggressive driving Italian A-holes in their little **** boxes, pretending they were ******* it out at Monza, and with nothing to lose. Add in hundreds of scooters whizzing by on both sides and it was the most nerve wracking part of the trip. We also visited Florence for half a day, wandering old town and visiting a palace containing a museum and art gallery, before ending up in the outskirts of Lucca to meet up with another couple with whom we were renting a Tuscan villa at a winery for the following week.
The next morning we spent time in the walled city of Lucca, before visiting the leaning tower in Pisa and then driving on to our villa near Castellina in Quanti. We spent a glorious week there in beautiful weather. Hiking, spending time visiting various surrounding towns, taking a cooking class, wine tasting at several wineries, and just generally hanging out. Of course, unstated as of yet, everywhere we went over the two and a half weeks of this vacation we had wonderful dining experiences, sampling local food and drink.
After a week there, it was time to head back to Germany to deliver the car back to Porsche at Leipzig for shipment back to the US. We had a long drive to Wiesbaden, setting up the beautiful drive along the Rhine River up to Koblenz (this is recognized as the core mid-Rhine River highlight). Fantastic views along the river road of vineyards and castles lining the steep borders of the river valley. It was still a beautiful Sunday morning as we headed over to the Nurburgring Nordschleife for a lap. But as we arrived at the track and got a lap ticket amidst organized chaos (big crowds and lots of traffic), the sky turned gray, the temperature dropped, and it started a light drizzle exactly when I got out on the track. Oh well. However, I wasn't intending on setting a lap record anyway so had an enjoyable easy lap around the track. Two guys apparently underestimated the loss of traction with the drizzle and ended up bashing their front ends in against the ARMCO.
Picked my wife up at the end of the lap, and we headed off into the countryside towards Leipzig in ever increasing rain. After a short drive through the local twisties, we stopped at a country restaurant for a nice lunch. The weather cleared up, the sun came out, and it was off to the autobahns for a 300 mile blast. I had just passed my break-in mileage so whenever the circle with 5 diagonal lines (NO SPEED LIMIT!!!) appeared, it was off to the races. it was a joy cruising between 150 -200 km/hr, only having to keep my eye on the rear view mirror to get out of the way of faster moving BMWs, Audis, Porsches and Mercedes (all largely black and predominantly station wagons: their version of crossovers, I think). Drivers were uniformly attentive and showing proper lane discipline. Virtually no left lane bandits during my entire two weeks in Europe.
We arrived in Leipzig in the middle of a festival celebrating a combination of Oktoberfest and German Reunification Day. The crowds parted as we made our way to the hotel, and hundreds of eyeballs were on my bright red car as I parallel parked in front of the hotel. The car really stood out as the majority of cars seen during our trip were somewhat muted in blacks, greys, and the like, with only a smattering of bright reds, blues, and greens.
We spent a day and a half in Leipzig, again wandering the plazas, dining, visiting the zoo, and then returning our car to the Porsche factory there. Another nice museum on the fourth floor, complimentary coffee, soda, and breads, and then it was off to the airport for our trip home.
ED is a really neat experience, and I'd highly recommend to anyone.
PS. If anyone can fix the photo orientation, please do so.
10-14-2016, 07:32 AM
#5
Congrats - great write up!
10-26-2016, 10:13 PM
#7
Great post. Great car choice as well...guards red manual Cayman...I have the same, but several years older!
The Euro delivery is an awesome program...thinking of doing it with a Macan in a couple years.
Thanks for sharing
The Euro delivery is an awesome program...thinking of doing it with a Macan in a couple years.
Thanks for sharing
