Thaddeus

...so I'm in a meeting with the CIO of my company, who bought a used Boxster a month or so ago. At the end of the meeting I ask him how he's liking the Porsche... (we've discussed my 951 and his car a couple of times)... he says, Well it's got this Tiptronic transmission and I'm not happy with the acceleration... take it for a drive and tell me if you think it needs to go into the shop."

I'm like, whatwazzat?... and he says, "You have a half an hour? Take it out and tell me if there's anything wrong with it!"

I say, "I'll treat it like a baby." and he says, "No, I want you to push the damn thing, I really want to know if there's something wrong with the pickup. Take it out there and see if the acceleration is what it should be. I'm most concerned about off the line and when I'm doing 40 or so and try to accelerate to pass."

So my Director and I (I wanted a witness/chaperon) go on out there and I drive the car. I was careful with it, of course, but...



I have to say: the Boxster is a nice nice car. I wouldn't get Tiptronic though. It defaults to 2d when you're starting out, you have to mash the accelerator or use the thumb controls to make it start in 1st gear (at which point it takes off great!) but the acceleration at 40 and up isn't great. The revs go right up but the kick doesn't seem to come the way it should. I bet a manual would be much nicer.

But tell me guys: how cool is that? I'm not an executive or anything... just a glorified techie who likes Porsches...

cheers

Thaddeus <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" /> <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

M Danger

tell him he bought a housewifes car, and take him for a ride! <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />

Peckster

Good move taking your boss with you.

I'd have to say I've had worse days than that.

Travis - sflraver

I agree , Give him a spin in the 951. Show him what its all about.

sweanders

Reminds me of a friend of mine who was responsible for some veichles during his time in the army. One day he got a phone call from a guy who was doing some of the transports, the call went like this:

Friend: Hello!
Driver: Hi, bad news about the lorry I´m using - I had a small incident and crashed.
Friend: Thats not good, whats broken?
Driver: The left rear view mirror.
Friend: How did it happend?
Driver: The lorry fell on it.

I hope I´ll never need to use that comment, but it sure is a good one...

/Anders

Thaddeus

Such coolness deserves a bump.

Bump!

Turby

Yes, take him for a spin in the 951......gaurnteed we will have a new 951 owner in the crew!!!!!!

WillyC4S

If you take your CIO for a ride in your 951, he's going to be totally impressed with the 951's acceleration and then leave feeling pretty bad. You might give the guy a mid-life-crisis problem

Considering that the Boxster is rated at between ~200 HP for the early models to about ~220 HP for the newer ones (which is about what the 951 is rated at), he might compare those numbers and further magnify his lack-of-power phobia.

Just for grins, give him the ride ...

*****

jim968

So take the poor guy for a ride... ease off from a stop in low, wait 'til the revs are up a bit, then _nail_ it and go WOT thru the first three gears.

If he asks to be allowed to drive yor car, explain that the 951 is too serious a car for an amateur to drive safely.

The next day, leave some copies of ads from Excellence on his desk... the ones for the Boxster supercharger kits (evil grin).... then over time, feed him more ads on brake and suspension upgrades, aero kits, etc.

It should be fun to see how much you can get him to spend on making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Jim, Everyone who believes in telekinesis, raise my right hand!

Mark Parker

I don't know, but starting off in second don't sound right. Maybe a trip to the dealer wouldn't be a bad idea.

Matt O.

The 99 Boxster tip I drove, I don't recall starting out in 2nd gear. Granted, it won't let you downshift into 1st while still moving, but once you're stopped, a click of the thumb is all you need to get it to first.

-matt

BTW,
That's AWESOME!

eclou

My wife has a 996 tip that does the same thing - will start from 2nd unless you really jam on it. Maybe Porsche's attempt to avoid gas guzzler tax like the Chevy 1st-4th skip shift.

Eugene

Thaddeus

According to the Boxster boys, that's the way it's supposed to work. Ish.

Mike S.

Thaddeus,

You have their trust and respect...time to ask for a raise! Seriously though, you must be one very nice and honest guy to get this "privilege." Congrats...very cool.

Last year, I stopped over at a friends house and ended up taking him out for a short ride. He was so amazed at the acceleration of the 951, he was very keen on having me take his new BMW328i out for a pedal to the metal test. He wanted me to tell him what I thought of it's acceleration because he (now) sensed it was less than adequate.
I never did get around to do this for him. Kind of ok though...I mean do you really want your friend to think his brand new Bimmer is less than adequate.

Hey...fill us in on what all that German means on the bottom of your post...inquiring minds want to know.

Mike

Thaddeus

"After driving a Porsche, every other car is sh*t."

Or something like that...