Lovely. Leave the D90's on there, they look great!

 

You have my car's exact twin! D90's rock for winter rims...

 

Great minds think alike...
Or small minds seldom wander.

I really like the D90’s all year long, even better in this pic.

 

I am now ready to rock with temporary plates and insurance, it was a tough few days waiting. I had dreams about Porsche. I took the 911 out for my first real drive tonight.

First impression - How have I lived this long without THIS car? There is little comparison to her. Maybe that favorite pair of jeans that you have worn into perfection. Maybe the lover where every curve is in the right place. Maybe waking up under a warm duvet on a winter morning next to the same lover. Excitement, comfort, familiarity, joy. This is the single place in the universe I am supposed to be.

I played with the radio for about 2 minutes while driving and realized the engine sung a much better tune. No need for radio. I could not help feeling a smug sympathy for the people around me in their utilitarian transport. I am in ecstasy and they are in a cage. I only ever felt that joy on a motorcycle. Looking at all of the other vehicles around me, would I trade for that, no. That car is worth more money, trade? No way. That car is bigger, faster, has cup holders… NO WAY. This 911 is my car because I am so lucky.

I also had the obvious (to everyone on this forum) realization, this is a very small stout car wrapped around the driver. I was glassy eyed gazing at her while buying gas (17.5 gallons, I had some time) and a Prius was next to me. The Prius looked huge. 911 is absolute driver perfection, why is that rarity in automotive design?

Tomorrow is Christmas. We go for our DC inspection. Pass is good. Fail is fine, I get take her apart and fix something. Either way we are hitting the road for a shakedown run.

edit: I almost for got a pic of her having a cool down.

 

Your enthusiasm is contagious. Love it! Keep the updates coming. I'm taking my girl out tomorrow for a spin and local GTG.

 

Congratulations!

As the song says, Black cars look better in the shade

The D90 's really look nice with dark colours IMHO

 

Inspection and shake down day.
DC government is funny, not ha ha funny, just odd. I arrived at the DC inspection station at 10am and there were ~30 cars in front of me, the guy directing cars pulled me out of line. Doh! I was moved to the front of the line. Yeah! Porsche magic! I get out of the car and watch from the building while they inspect. The inspection was fine until emissions. They drive the car onto a dyno and I see it going terribly wrong and bolt into the customer forbidden work area screaming… “STOP!!! That car is all wheel drive. You are going to shred the transmission on a 2wd dyno!!!!”

I have no idea what would actually happen, but ‘shred’ sounded good. An inspector initially ran to stop me and then realized why I was so manic and ran to dyno guy and told him to stop. I was escorted off the floor and the dyno guy tried it anyway because, “If it IS all wheel drive the computer would have told him.” Guess what, it IS all wheel and made a solid attempt to hop off the dyno. They eventually conceded and gave me the idle emissions test. I passed the inspection. WooHoo!!!!

Now the good part, shake down run. I had an intimate discussion with her on a twisty road. All of the compromise of cup holders, heavy low speed steering, less than spacious seating, low ride height, tricky clutch, etc… became apparent. This is German engineering for driving pleasure. 0-50 is quick, but not jaw dropping. 50-100 heavy throttle through a corner with total stability IS more than jaw dropping. The 911 blows my track RX-7 out of the water. The Porsche settles in a comfortable niche at speed. The spoiler pops up, which in turn opens the heavens and the planets align. When it gets faster and twistier, the driving gets easier. Odd car, but I love her.

Aside: I went to the auto parts store to buy cleaning products. As I pulled in, there was a guy in the parking lot bowing down because as he said, ‘That is one fast ***** ****er.’ LOL.

Next up: What personalized plate do I order? I might need clever Rennlist wisdom. The front runners are both available:

 

Put in a letter of complaint asap re the dyno test .

 

Good point.

IMHO the D90s do not yell out, ‘Look at my bling!’, rather this is a nice wheel part of an overall great package without overshadowing. Same for the cup wheels. Understated is my way forward.

 

I am considering that. I am new to the C4 and awd as a whole. What kind of damage could have been incurred?

 

It was bath day so I cleaned my wheels with Purple Power wheel cleaner, I should have read the instructions. The brake dust was cleaned, but the shine hazed badly. Sounds like a good excuse to break out the buffing wheel and polishing compound. The work went quickly because there are not a lot crevices. I am pleased with the results. I just have to do a microfine polish… and the other side. I checked the air filter, I have a K&N, I might go to paper.

 

Your emissions dyno story gives me the *******. Glad they didn't get too far.

Did they actually get the rear wheels up to speed while the front wheels were static? Or was it just that they started to go, and something felt wrong?

It's probably all about heat build up in the front clutch pack. Hopefully if their attempt was only a second or two (hopefully less), it wasn't enough time to build enough heat to cause damage. Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in on this.

Nice job on the wheels!

 

The car only bounced around for a few seconds, so I do not think it could have done much damage. Still it was infuriating to watch as I had told them not to do it.

 

-- damned straight, "infuriating".
(Make MY car hop around, Mr. Inspector -- and watch me go all Gran Torino-Eastwood, on yer a$$.
("Get off my lawn!")