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Hello my name is John Gaydos, and this past weekend I became a Porsche owner!
It has been a long road for me, and it is about time I gave some insight on my automotive passion and how I came to be here. Thank you in advance for taking the time to learn a bit about me and my "If you're not living on the edge, you're not living at all" way of life Or you can just skip to the bottom for the Porsche specifics haha.
I started off my automotive passion early with help of my father. He had an 87' RX7 Turbo and near every night as a kid (I was a bit of a demon child) he would have to take me out and drive me around to put me to sleep. Late in 97' with a second sibling on the way he had to sell that car to have back seats, and picked up a 98' Z28. He taught me to drive in that car when I was 16...which entailed several days of smoking the tires, burning the clutch, and stalling the car with him screaming in the passenger seat (poor car...poor dad lol).
Over the years we bonded heavily over that car. He sent me to Street Survival in the Z28 once I received my driving permit, and I returned a second time for good measure. I cannot say good enough things about that experience and consider it NECESSARY for all teenagers to learn proper car control and defensive driving techniques. I also met an instructor named Klaus, who after working with me at Street Survival pushed my father (to rejoin) and I to join the Philly Region AutoX program. I was hooked my first event, and 6-7 years later while heavily modifying/racing that Z28 (eventually bought it from my father), I became Philly Region's Chief Instructor for a time. Outside of the foundation stone that is my father, I will always owe Street Survival (thank you Klaus!) and AutoX for developing my passion for Motorsports.
About 5 years ago during my time in AutoX my father took me out to a team building experience with his work through karting at NJMP. After I turned lap times a few seconds faster than everyone else on the track that day, we invested in a 125cc Stock Honda Shifter Kart and joined the North East Shifter Kart Series/TheFSeries/WKA and I started racing competitively in sprint/road course up and down the East coast (some Grand Prix style street races later on as well). After a season of very steep learning curves (don't EVER start karting in a Shifter Kart) the hard work paid off and I was asked to join the DRT Racing team. With the support my team, in the NESKS in 2013 I finished top 10, in 2014 I finished 3rd, and last year I came in a close 2nd with an overall Stock Honda driver ranking (ekartingnews) in the US of 38/221. 2015 was a great year Karting has been crucial in developing and fine tuning my driving skills, especially with others on the track at the same time. No matter how much fun I have had in a car on/off the track...IMHO nothing will ever provide that same adrenaline rush and physical/mental challenge of racing wheel to wheel with a field of 20+ Shifter Karts, at 100+mph (120+ bump drafting at Daytona) with your *** scraping the ground to the point of having to fiberglass the seat a few times a year haha
Throughout this time with AutoX and Shifter Karts I worked at a privately owned mechanic shop as a tech during the weekends/summer while attending Penn State for Business Management. I graduated with a BS degree and became service manager at that shop for a year. Early last year I was chatting with a fellow I AutoX with who happens to be a fabricator at Fabspeed. A week later I found myself walking into one of the most unbelievable shops I had ever seen. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, and Porsches Porsches Porsches everywhere...and guys hard at work researching, developing, fabricating, and testing products not 50 feet away from the front office. I was stunned, and I knew I couldn't settle for anything less than to work at this company. Then in late March of 2015 I started at Fabspeed as a retail performance specialist.
Through countless hours studying and researching, in a few short months I learned the ins and outs of the extensive product line for the various makes and models we support through, while getting seat time in our various shop cars, development cars, and with clients kind enough to let me go for spin with them. During this time I felt myself gravitating heavily toward the Porsches, and focused in on that pull. I took over Planet 9 and Rennlist for Fabspeed and quickly fell in love with the Porsche community, and it took no time at all for that itch to start. On top of that, being on here every day...excited/enthusiastic to work with members to fine tune their driving experience...and i'm not a true member of the community as a Porsche owner? That started to wear on me, and to be honest i'm sure it has come off odd to some fellow members that I work with. Then the GT4 showed up...and boy did I fall head over heals for that car haha
After diving headfirst into our development process for the GT4/Spyder I realized I had to have a Cayman, and I started putting in a lot more seat time in our 2011 Boxster Spyder shop car on the weekends for Cars and Coffee. Knowing I couldn't afford the price tag of a GT4 and loving the steering feel of the 987.2 generation, I started doing some research and found the P car for me...a 2012 Cayman R. After weeks of searching and one lost opportunity, this past weekend I flew down to Alabama and picked up my CR from Porsche of Huntsville. Huge shout out to my man Al Smith and the rest of the staff there. What an incredible group guys, the experience could not have been better
The car is a 6-Speed, and has standard sport bucket seats, has AC and radio, and had 13,901 miles when I pulled out of the lot. Despite knowing it has seen track use (apparent from the lug nut conversion, tow hook/strap, and just knowing haha) it was Very well taken care of, clean as a whistle, and otherwise unmodified. I planned an incredible drive back to PA...12-13hrs through the mountain highways, hitting the Tail of the Dragon, stopping at scenic overlooks for awesome photgraphy, etc etc. When I left I stopped by the US Space and Rocket Center for a few hours (incredible, put it on your to-do list) and started home at 4:30pm on Saturday. Within 30 minutes it started to rain, and I proceeded to experience every form and velocity of rain my entire drive home for the sketchiest, most stressful driving of my life. Even with abandoning the original route, it took a whopping 19hrs (2hr nap in WV) to drive through it and of course the storm just so happened to be moving with me towards PA the entire time. Note to self...check the damn weather! Regardless, the CR took it like a champ and even with constant hydroplane it inspired confidence. On top of that, shockingly I got out of the car and really felt no worse for wear. Well done Porsche!
Plans from here with the car? I will be 100% be attending several HPDE events throughout the season, and am making up that schedule now. Modifications are going to be kept relatively modest as the Z28 is the dedicated track rat. For performance I want to piece together an all inclusive power package that is the equivalent of the GT450 package we offer for the GT4. I plan on documenting and posting the results I see/feel from each product addition starting with our Race Headers, then adding our Valvetronic Exhaust, IPD Plenum/82mm Throttle Body, Air Intake System, and a Custom Protune to tie it all together. This will then be our track-oriented Performance Package offered on our website for the 987.2 generation. For handling I'll stick with the stock suspension for now save for adjustable front control arms and a performance alignment, and down the line likely some upgraded rotors/pads, and a set of Forgeline GA1Rs with some stickier tires. So excited and looking forward to unleashing the potential! I can feel it's there just waiting to be tapped into
That all being said I want to express my gratitude to this entire community, especially those who I have been working with directly. You have all been so welcoming and supportive, and I would never have reached this moment without you. I am beyond thrilled to finally join as a fellow owner, and will continue to dedicate myself to furthering the automotive passion for this community in any way I can. You guys are the best!
Great write-up and pics, and congratulations John on finding a great car for yourself! I'll stop by the shop to meet you. We can drool over each others cars!
John congratulations on the new R. What an incredible first Porsche! I look forward to seeing some of the changes you make to the car as you tune it for the track.
05-04-2016, 09:13 AM
Guess Who Bought His First Porsche?!
Karting has been crucial in developing and fine tuning my driving skills, especially with others on the track at the same time. No matter how much fun I have had in a car on/off the track...IMHO nothing will ever provide that same adrenaline rush and physical/mental challenge of racing wheel to wheel with a field of 20+ Shifter Karts, at 100+mph (120+ bump drafting at Daytona) with your *** scraping the ground to the point of having to fiberglass the seat a few times a year haha 
Regardless, the CR took it like a champ and even with constant hydroplane it inspired confidence. On top of that, shockingly I got out of the car and really felt no worse for wear. Well done Porsche!
