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I wanted to document some of my experiences resulting from my recent vacation trip from north of Detroit through the Southwest and back; a journey of about 5300 miles, maybe some of this will be of use to you.
I have a lot of miles in a lot of different vehicles and I must say this 991 is a true GT cruiser, after several 10 hours days in the car, both my wife and I were surprised at how comfortable and free of cramps and pains we felt – and I am no small guy (6’2” 220lbs) and old.
Up to this point I had only accumulated 3000 miles on my 2015 TT, all local miles. Knowing I at some point was going to put highway miles on, I had the dealer install Xpel wrap on the front and mirrors. Concerned about accumulation of bugs, I made bug shields for the front 3 radiators using black fiberglass door and window screen cut to size and attached with hook and loop (Velcro) tabs in each corner. The screen was practically invisible and did a great job –see bug pictures. Will not prevent damage from stones but after the trip I just pulled out the screen and threw it away. No degradation in cooling performance (which I monitored on my cell phone – see OBDII). I was concerned about windshield nicks but chose to forgo wrap as did not seem to be cost justified.
Since my wife joined me on this trip of 2 weeks, staying in a different hotel every night (difficult to get your laundry turned around) we effectively had to pack clothes for the entire trip. We planned events from hiking (Grand Canyon) to business dress (dinner Las Vegas) so we had a lot to pack in a small container. Seriously considered a Porsche XL Trolley for the frunk but then found this bag http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/m...uctid=10126283 which is a very tight fit / expands and collapses and filled the compartment nicely with room left for our hiking boots on top along with my car wash (foldable bucket and sponges) and dry kit (microfiber towels). This bag completely dedicated to spouse stuff. I packed my clothes in two medium sized duffel bags and two lightweight garment bags that I placed on the folded down read seats. Going in and out of hotels this made it easy as I only needed to pull half my stuff to the room and gave me a place to put cloths as they got dirty (move form the clean to the dirty bag). Additionally, we were each able to fit a backpack behind the front seats / below the folded down seat that held small junk,electronics, iPad, laptop. We also had a small soft cooler between the front seats – we occupied about every square inch of room.
OBDII to Bluetooth– I like to monitor more them I get from standard gages, and I like to know the real water temperature. Use these on all my vehicles. I have used the cheap products but they seem temperamental with connecting. Stepped up to ScanTool LX https://www.scantool.net/ and had zero issues. It also has a built in protection so that if you accidentially leave it connected for a long period of time it will not discharge the battery. I use Torque Pro to create and monitor the soft gauges I want to see. Used a Flat cable extension and tie wrapped that to the steering column, I never bumped it with my knee
. Attached pic you can see OBDII (green) near center of the screen – and my cell phone mount – thanks to Rennlist members.
Our Path – Des Moins, IA; Ft Morgan, CO; Moab, UT (Arches & Needles NP); Bluff, UT (Monument Valley); Capitol Reef, UT; Bryce Canyon; Zion Canyon; North Rim Grand Canyon; Las Vegas, NV; Scottsdale, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; Oka City, OK; St Louis, MO.
Tip – Waze beats Navi with Sirius traffic in most cases – and is pretty good at giving a heads up to road hazards.
Concern: Some of the roads I took were deserted. Would be an hour before I saw another car. Add to this that I had no cell service while driving in remote areas – sometimes for an hour – I was worried about getting a flat tire. Could have been some time before someone came by and gave me a lift to call Porsche roadside. I did see a couple of cars with flats – luckily they had spares.
Most scenic road of the trip: Utah Route 12 from Torrey to Brice! Although everything off the interstate is fantastic!
Worst road: UT 261 – Gravel road – very windy - no guard rail – sheer drop off – Speed Limit 5MPH for 3 Miles - one lane in some places, you might want to detour around. Ended up with some paint chips on rear wheel well inner fender lips.
Parking – I did very well at all hotels except in Albuquerque – had to have a discussion with manager who moved a car so I felt safe. Las Vegas – I recommend the Mandarin Oriental – they let me park under the valet supervision, large spots, high end cars, Lambo, Ferrari, BMW while I was there, all my fears were unnecessary.
OBDII and Cell Mount
Gravel Road Utah
Gravel Road
Bugs – clean now but took some work to get all those dead bodies out– Also picked up tumbleweed crossing panhandle of Texas!
Bug Catcher
Bug Catcher 2
Bugs on front fascia
Here is how it looked at the halfway point (Tucson) – was really dirty / dust covered but had to see on Silver (which is why I buy that color)
+1 on Mandarin Oriental in LV! best hotel by far in Vegas. Lobby Lounge bar best view of strip..Resturants the best. valet the best!!!
Location also the Best.
Ronole - The morning I was on Rt12 there was very little traffic - a few German's on their Harleys, and I saw no enforcement from Torrey To Escalante.
BTW I forgot to mention my fuel economy averaged 28-29 MPG per day even at the 80 MPG (legal) speeds across Colorado on I70 - was more than I was expecting.
Also - the indicated speed on the IP is about 2 MPH fast at 75MPH - as confirmed by the actual data from the OBDII and the GPS data and and also the Speed Boards on the side of the road - I felt safe adding that in to whatever speed I wanted to hedge. I assume a Porsche correction for tire size or something.
09-27-2015, 05:10 PM
SW Trip - LONG
