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Yesterday I had to go to NYC and back from New Hampshire for a short meeting. Seeing as flying was out of the cards for such a short trip, I figured why not have some fun and drive my new GT4, all while getting to break her in with more than 500 miles of driving in one day. Thought I would share my experience and thoughts:
Well.... 524 miles later I could not be happier I made the decision to drive her! My drive really had it all: fast highway cruising, spirited clear stretches to run on the Merritt Parkway, gorgeous views on the Henry Hudson Parkway, and of course severe thunder/lighting resulting in torrential downpours/flash flooding in midtown NYC. The car handled it all like a champ and didn't skip a beat. And I certainly had some white knuckle moments like dodging potholes in the city with windshield wipers on full speed surrounded by heavy traffic while my left leg is cramping from the clutch, or avoiding hydroplaning on the Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2 tires due to heavy water on the Cross County and Hutchinson River Parkways.
A note on Consumption: I started out averaging 24mpg for the first 2.5 hours of highway driving. Keep in mind I made a point to to vary the RPMs and downshift (sometimes to 4th) when passing slower moving traffic, all to avoid lugging the motor even though the car has ample torque in 6th gear (especially cruising at speeds over 80mph). By the time I returned home I averaged 22mpg, a figure I felt was very impressive considering this included over an hour of city driving and then hustling hard to get home once the weather and traffic subsided. Very pleased with the range, although an extended range fuel tank would be nice!
But the best part of my drive was when I turned 600 miles. I called a few buddies, both of which are current Porsche GT3 owners and we all agreed it was time to let her run. So I said enough with this break in crap, lets have some fun. Proceeded to slow down, drop her into 3rd gear and up to 8K RPM I went with the 4 liter NA singing a glorious song right behind my ears. What a moment. For those still breaking their cars in below 5K RPM, I should say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear just how much sound (albeit mostly induction noise) came from the car high up in the rev range. Plenty loud enough in the cabin for me...
To conclude - the GT4 is the just about the most perfect all around motoring experience I can think of, which came as absolutely no surprise to me. My only complaints from the trip were my sore lower back from the LWBS after 8 hours of driving, and that stupid cylinder deactivation which makes a terribly annoying buzzing if not turned off. What a great drive and experience in the car.
Looking forward to her next big test: the racetrack Entering Mid Town In the Garage Heavy Rain Darien, CT on Merritt Pkwy - Northbound My trip data Back home... Wheels are no longer silver.
I see you got the GT4 fever as well katzndogs it's hard one to break. I will just about do any errand that someone has at this point. No place to far, I pay the gas got 2789kms on the dial after my joy rides today and I still cannot get enough.
Yesterday I had to go to NYC and back from New Hampshire for a short meeting. Seeing as flying was out of the cards for such a short trip, I figured why not have some fun and drive my new GT4, all while getting to break her in with more than 500 miles of driving in one day. Thought I would share my experience and thoughts:
Well.... 524 miles later I could not be happier I made the decision to drive her! My drive really had it all: fast highway cruising, spirited clear stretches to run on the Merritt Parkway, gorgeous views on the Henry Hudson Parkway, and of course severe thunder/lighting resulting in torrential downpours/flash flooding in midtown NYC. The car handled it all like a champ and didn't skip a beat. And I certainly had some white knuckle moments like dodging potholes in the city with windshield wipers on full speed surrounded by heavy traffic while my left leg is cramping from the clutch, or avoiding hydroplaning on the Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2 tires due to heavy water on the Cross County and Hutchinson River Parkways.
A note on Consumption: I started out averaging 24mpg for the first 2.5 hours of highway driving. Keep in mind I made a point to to vary the RPMs and downshift (sometimes to 4th) when passing slower moving traffic, all to avoid lugging the motor even though the car has ample torque in 6th gear (especially cruising at speeds over 80mph). By the time I returned home I averaged 22mpg, a figure I felt was very impressive considering this included over an hour of city driving and then hustling hard to get home once the weather and traffic subsided. Very pleased with the range, although an extended range fuel tank would be nice!
But the best part of my drive was when I turned 600 miles. I called a few buddies, both of which are current Porsche GT3 owners and we all agreed it was time to let her run. So I said enough with this break in crap, lets have some fun. Proceeded to slow down, drop her into 3rd gear and up to 8K RPM I went with the 4 liter NA singing a glorious song right behind my ears. What a moment. For those still breaking their cars in below 5K RPM, I should say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear just how much sound (albeit mostly induction noise) came from the car high up in the rev range. Plenty loud enough in the cabin for me...
To conclude - the GT4 is the just about the most perfect all around motoring experience I can think of, which came as absolutely no surprise to me. My only complaints from the trip were my sore lower back from the LWBS after 8 hours of driving, and that stupid cylinder deactivation which makes a terribly annoying buzzing if not turned off. What a great drive and experience in the car.
Looking forward to her next big test: the racetrack Entering Mid Town In the Garage Heavy Rain Darien, CT on Merritt Pkwy - Northbound My trip data Back home... Wheels are no longer silver.
Congrats. I just hit 500 km over 3 1 hour drives. Haven’t taken it above 5 yet but getting impatient. I think one or two more 1 hour drives and I’m ready to let the horses run . Initial review is just amazing. It reminds me of my Ferrari in the sense as you pull it back into the garage you just want to turn around and go back out.
Congrats. I just hit 500 km over 3 1 hour drives. Haven’t taken it above 5 yet but getting impatient. I think one or two more 1 hour drives and I’m ready to let the horses run . Initial review is just amazing. It reminds me of my Ferrari in the sense as you pull it back into the garage you just want to turn around and go back out.
BTW ISPYA718 it's not everyone's thinking but I come from the school that you should increase RPM every 1000kms during break in. If you are a student of this school at 1000kms you should hear what above 5K sounds like or wait but its hard not to press down you know what I mean after 500kmsSounds like you are having fun enjoy!
Katzndogs. Beautiful GT4 and great story. I give you kudos for driving your GT4 into Manhattan. With LWBS and an MT, I could never hand my keys to a parking attendant. Hopefully you didn’t watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off before taking your trip in lol.
The Merritt is a great drive, definitely one of the nicest parkways for these cars. I pretty much concur with your break-in philosophy. How were the Dunlops in the wet? I have the new cup 2s on my Spyder but haven’t been in any wet weather yet.
Congrats. I just hit 500 km over 3 1 hour drives. Haven’t taken it above 5 yet but getting impatient. I think one or two more 1 hour drives and I’m ready to let the horses run . Initial review is just amazing. It reminds me of my Ferrari in the sense as you pull it back into the garage you just want to turn around and go back out.
Katzndogs. Beautiful GT4 and great story. I give you kudos for driving your GT4 into Manhattan. With LWBS and an MT, I could never hand my keys to a parking attendant. Hopefully you didn’t watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off before taking your trip in lol.
The Merritt is a great drive, definitely one of the nicest parkways for these cars. I pretty much concur with your break-in philosophy. How were the Dunlops in the wet? I have the new cup 2s on my Spyder but haven’t been in any wet weather yet.
Fortunately the attendant let me park it myself and he turned out to be a great guy. He was taking pictures of the car for his son and appreciated both the distance I drove to get there and the car I was in. The garage is usually filled with Maybachs, Bentleys and such so a GR GT4 with a manual transmission was certainly a nice change of pace for these guys.
Originally Posted by Juggy
How’d the buckets feel on the road trip?
To be honest, after about an hour of driving they started to bother me. But this was to be expected when I ordered the seats as I have struggled with back pain for a while now. That being said, I did not expect to be driving such long distances in one day when I specced the car. I could bear the pain for 8 hours but if this was a daily driver it would be a different story. I will say that when traffic allowed me to push a bit and have some fun in the car (i.e. focus on the road, shifting, sounds, etc) the seats did not bother me one bit. It was only when I had long stretches of highway without much action that my mind would wonder back to the seating position and back pain. A quick stop for fuel and a stretch helped with the discomfort.
Originally Posted by Jamie140
Great trip. You are very lucky you got that semi protected parking. I would have been concerned about door dings.
The attendant gave me a great parking spot and I knew I was in a safe place. I was the only car in the garage that he let take the keys with them. Really a perfect parking garage experience as far as NYC goes.
I second that. You mentioned lower back pain after the trip because of LWBS. Do you regret getting them? And thanks for the great review!
God bless,
TT
Glad you enjoyed the write up. Absolutely no regrets with the seats. I bought the car to drive spiritedly on good roads and fast on the race track and the LWBS are a huge factor in both of those things. It is super rare that I will drive the car such a distance in a short period of time so if/when it does happen again, I can bear the pain for the time being.
BTW ISPYA718 it's not everyone's thinking but I come from the school that you should increase RPM every 1000kms during break in. If you are a student of this school at 1000kms you should hear what above 5K sounds like or wait but its hard not to press down you know what I mean after 500kmsSounds like you are having fun enjoy!
You're more patient than I am. I've reached 1200kms on Sunday and decided I've had enough. Went to 8K on a few stretches in 2nd gear.... Wow
Fortunately the attendant let me park it myself and he turned out to be a great guy. He was taking pictures of the car for his son and appreciated both the distance I drove to get there and the car I was in. The garage is usually filled with Maybachs, Bentleys and such so a GR GT4 with a manual transmission was certainly a nice change of pace for these guys.
Lovely write-up and drive!
Would you mind sharing the name / location of the garage? Always on the lookout for recs in Manhattan, since it's such a crapshoot...
07-07-2020, 02:09 PM
A Memorable Break In - 524 Miles to NYC and Back
. I think one or two more 1 hour drives and I’m ready to let the horses run 
. Initial review is just amazing. It reminds me of my Ferrari in the sense as you pull it back into the garage you just want to turn around and go back out. 
Sounds like you are having fun enjoy!
