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GT3 Touring Road Trip - Texas to Portland (Advice Welcomed)
Hello All,
Not to jinx anything before it happens, but assuming everything goes right tomorrow I'll be a proud new owner of a GT3 Touring. I'll post details and pics of the car as soon as it's finalized tomorrow but in the meantime I'm hoping some folks can chime in with advice on the journey home.
I'll be starting out in Austin TX and need a stopover outside of Phoenix, preferably a decent hotel with great parking . From there I'll head straight to Orange County for another stop and then up highway 1 for a while, then inland through the redwoods in NorCal and up to Oregon. Other than that I'm flying fast and loose. Literally nothing booked, but with hotel vacancies where they are it doesn't concern me. I'm hoping for some suggestions of good highways to take through western Texas and New Mexico, the more scenic the better without slowing me down too much. Any suggestions of places folks have stayed approximately 1/2 way between Austin and Phoenix would be greatly appreciated as well. With all the various Covid shutdown situations from state to state I don't plan many tourist stops, but good food and vistas along the way from anyone that's made the trek would be phenomenal.
I'm drawing inspiration, and some advice from Rob who posted a similar thread picking up a GT3 and heading back to Vegas... What better way to break in a new car than a 2400 mile drive home? Randomly my name is also Rob and this is also my first Porsche, jumping right into the GT world. Hope I can keep this thread going and make it interesting to follow with some good stories and photos. Any of your insights will assist in that attempt!
I'll add the first photos tomorrow once the car is officially mine! Rennlist rocks my friends.
Side note: Don't worry, Portland is not burning to the ground as some news sources may have you believe
Sincerely,
Rob
Edit: It's officially official... Huge shout out to Ray, I'm sure some of you will recognize the car. Incredible to deal with through the process and he has taken excellent care of this car. Heading back down to Austin from the Plano area and then the true road trip starts in the morning after a quick tire change from the Cup 2s to PS4s (a more suitable tire for the road trip and 100% necessary to drive this thing regularly in the PNW)
These pictures will be some of the best since Ray clearly has an eye for capturing these cars. Quite the collection of beauties still to choose from with this one our of the stable. Thanks Ray!
Last edited by TheLeftSchuh; 08-07-2020 at 04:00 PM.
You’re going to have a great time. When I did it it was winter so I stayed south to keep out of freezing temps with the tires. If I were you I would consider going a little more north than I went, hitting Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and maybe Sedona. Unfortunately, in my experience West Texas is as flat as they come so not many good driving road opportunities.
I would focus more on sightseeing than driving roads until you hit CA. I would join California in the LA basin via Angeles Crest if possible.
Not to jinx anything before it happens, but assuming everything goes right tomorrow I'll be a proud new owner of a GT3 Touring. I'll post details and pics of the car as soon as it's finalized tomorrow but in the meantime I'm hoping some folks can chime in with advice on the journey home.
I'll be starting out in Austin TX and need a stopover outside of Phoenix, preferably a decent hotel with great parking . From there I'll head straight to Orange County for another stop and then up highway 1 for a while, then inland through the redwoods in NorCal and up to Oregon. Other than that I'm flying fast and loose. Literally nothing booked, but with hotel vacancies where they are it doesn't concern me. I'm hoping for some suggestions of good highways to take through western Texas and New Mexico, the more scenic the better without slowing me down too much. Any suggestions of places folks have stayed approximately 1/2 way between Austin and Phoenix would be greatly appreciated as well. With all the various Covid shutdown situations from state to state I don't plan many tourist stops, but good food and vistas along the way from anyone that's made the trek would be phenomenal.
I'm drawing inspiration, and some advice from Rob who posted a similar thread picking up a GT3 and heading back to Vegas... What better way to break in a new car than a 2400 mile drive home? Randomly my name is also Rob and this is also my first Porsche, jumping right into the GT world. Hope I can keep this thread going and make it interesting to follow with some good stories and photos. Any of your insights will assist in that attempt!
I'll add the first photos tomorrow once the car is officially mine! Rennlist rocks my friends.
Side note: Don't worry, Portland is not burning to the ground as some news sources may have you believe
Sincerely,
Rob
I am very jealous and have done a VERY similar trip. Here are some details and tips. Enjoy!
She's gorgeous, congrats dude...PLEASE tell me she is fully PPF? If not your paint is going to have lots of road rash damage at minimum when you get her home and more then likely some more substantial chips. If she isn't PPF'd I strongly recommend your first stop in Austin should be a PPF shop for at minimum at temp PPF product to cover the entire front end, including first 8 inches of the roof, mirrors and rear fender humps/bulges. Doing the rear qtr panels behind the wheels would also be a very good idea.
Wow, beautiful touring. I picked up my GT3 in Philly and drove it back to Austin on the OEM Dunlops in the winter time which ended up being just fine. Your drive will definitely be more scenic! Congrats!
She's gorgeous, congrats dude...PLEASE tell me she is fully PPF? If not your paint is going to have lots of road rash damage at minimum when you get her home and more then likely some more substantial chips. If she isn't PPF'd I strongly recommend your first stop in Austin should be a PPF shop for at minimum at temp PPF product to cover the entire front end, including first 8 inches of the roof, mirrors and rear fender humps/bulges. Doing the rear qtr panels behind the wheels would also be a very good idea.
Nah, the chips can add to the character and memories assuming you choose not to let them bother you. But, of course, I understand there are different preferences and philosophies.
Nah, the chips can add to the character and memories assuming you choose not to let them bother you. But, of course, I understand there are different preferences and philosophies.
Agreed on both sides of the isle, this one is covered in head to toe PPF which I find to be really comforting, but I also appreciate the idea that it's a car and should be driven to be fully appreciated. For me personally it's easier to drive regularly if I accept the fact that flaws will naturally occur over time.
I hope that when someone pries this car from my cold dead hands it has over 100k miles and shows some serious enjoyment as well.
My first impression driving from Plano back to Austin is a level of awe around the motor and drivetrain. It's not past break-in miles yet so I haven't revved beyond 6k at this point and it's just hard to believe there is another 3k to go after that. I cannot wait to hear it from 8-9k rpm.
It's been a long day since my alarm went of at 4am, 17.5 hours ago. Going to do some reading up on direction to head west and where to stay in New Mexico. I'll take some more pictures to share tomorrow and try to share a bit about the journey.
I sat in that beauty when she was with Moe in Costa Mesa. Your Touring and mine have had similar mods - full PPF, Musicar Stage 3+ and fully integrated laser jammer and radar detector. I am surprised to see that Ray parted ways with his Touring, but kudos to you for jumping on the opportunity!
08-07-2020, 12:55 AM
GT3 Touring Road Trip - Texas to Portland (Advice Welcomed)
. From there I'll head straight to Orange County for another stop and then up highway 1 for a while, then inland through the redwoods in NorCal and up to Oregon. Other than that I'm flying fast and loose. Literally nothing booked, but with hotel vacancies where they are it doesn't concern me. I'm hoping for some suggestions of good highways to take through western Texas and New Mexico, the more scenic the better without slowing me down too much. Any suggestions of places folks have stayed approximately 1/2 way between Austin and Phoenix would be greatly appreciated as well. With all the various Covid shutdown situations from state to state I don't plan many tourist stops, but good food and vistas along the way from anyone that's made the trek would be phenomenal.
