Hurricane

LOVE all these photos. Looks like a fantastic trip!

USMC10

deichenb - looks like we just missed each other. I picked up my car from Zuffenhausen on May 14th, did a factory tour and lunch there, then did a second ED experience in Leipzig on 16th. Went to Prague, then Eagles Nest, then Salzburg before heading back to Sindelfingen for the drop off.

Actually my GTS build had a production delay so Porsche provided me with a brand new Turbo S for my ED. I didn't complain. Loved driving the Turbo S on the autobahn...same route as you apparently! One thing I noticed driving at high speeds was the tire pressure warning sensor. Did you have Porsche adjust your tire pressure from comfort to normal before taking delivery of the car? In the Turbo S whenever I exceeded 270 Kph (about 170 mph) the dash board lit up with several messages and indicating SLOW DOWN - LOW TIRE PRESURE. COMFORT TIRE SETTING. I asked a tech at Leipzig about this and they said the tires require increased tire pressure and the setting needs to change from comfort to normal in the dash menu before exceeding those speeds. Did you go through that process?

deichenb

Hi USMC10 - I saw your posts that your car was delayed, likely due to deviated stitching. I was afraid my car would have the same fate! With the Pepita, the piping, and essentially everything deviated I was nervous I would be delayed as well. I would have been pleased with the Turbo S substitution, but I am glad that my car was ready. It made V300 just a few days before my scheduled factory hand-over. With your Turbo S substitution, you certainly picked a great Autobahn route for all that power!

I actually kept a close eye on my tire pressures through the TPMS at the high speeds, since a tire failure would be one of the few potentially avoidable disasters at Autobahn speeds. The tires were even and consistent Front and Rear at all speeds, with high-speed warm pressures of 35-37 PSI up front and 41-42 at the rear. I do not have a Comfort vs Normal tire setting in my car that I am aware of. That setting may be specific for EU-market cars or for the Turbo/Turbo S.

I am glad you had a fantastic time as well, with a fantastic car. Enjoy your GTS once you receive it, and thank you for your service in the US armed forces.

USMC10

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear the delivery of your GTS wasn't delayed...they must have addressed the problem with deviated stitching by the time your car went through the production line. As you might recall from the factory tour, Porsche only keeps 0.8 days worth of supply for 911 production, which is basically just-in-time supply chain management. What I learned while there was deviated stitching for the cockpit (entire dashboard) is made on site, however deviated stitching for seats is done by a vendor somewhere in Germany, then the completed seats are shipped to the Porsche factory prior to the car going through the production line. I was not able to get clarity on the schedule impact due to a car being pulled from production as a result of supply delay, until it is able put inserted back in line? So for example, my car was pulled from production...the seats may have only been delayed 1 or 2 days, but it took 3 weeks for Porsche to add my car back into the production schedule. I'm guessing it has to do with placing the at the end of the line...again it all has to do with supply chain management. That's probably what happened in my case.

Regarding the tires, the tire pressure on my Turbo S was exactly the same as what you stated (both front and rear). I kept the tire monitoring page displayed whenever I was doing high-speed driving on the autobahn; as you stated that's an easy way to avoid any potential disasters. Interesting to hear you say there isn't a comfort tire setting in the GTS. That's news to me. Next time you're in your car go to the tire PSI page and click into that page...there is a sub-menu where you can change from summer to winter tires. There should also be a setting to change comfort tire pressure to normal. I think all it is is a speed warning indicator, so whenever your tire pressure is set to 35 front / 42 rear (which is comfort setting) you're notified not to exceed a specific unsafe speed. Normal tire setting simply involves increasing tire pressure to 45 front / 50 rear cold (don't quote these exact numbers), which helps the tires dissipate heat when driving at excessing speeds. Driving with the lower tire pressure (i.e. comfort setting) at high speeds for extended periods, like when on the autobahn, builds too much heat in the tires and could result in a blow-out. At least this is how it was explained to me by the Porsche tech.

Lastly, I did notice that driving at excessing speeds, basically anything above 250 KPH there was some tire movement which I'm guessing would have went away with the higher tire pressure setting. I never did make the change and just lived with the comfort setting warning.

None of this really matters in the US, right? What road, or track for that matter, supports a VMAX run? I can't think of any, unless you're out west on I-8 where you get 40 mile straightaways between cities. It might be safe, but certainly not legal. Oh, I miss the autobahn!!

Andial

Nice that you didn't have to share w/ other F passengers in the Mercedes-Benz Viano. Delta in Atlanta also has Porsche transfers.

lockie

Great Thread ,
Thanks for sharing.
I pick up mine on the 12th. of June and have booked a full track day with RSRNurbug on the Nurburgring on the 13th...
I have reserved a coach for the 1st hr to make it more enjoyable and safe.
Any tips. Was the front plate stuck on for you?
Counting the days.

USMC10

Congrats on your purchase and look forward to hearing about your experience on the Nurburgring.

No issues with the front license plate at all. They used what appeared to be substantial double sided tape at the factory before I took delivery (it didn't even come up in conversation). Not a single issue after 2 weeks driving and 180+ MPH on the autobahn.

deichenb

Congratulations! I hope you have a fantastic delivery experience and trip. Enjoy the 'Ring. I thought about altering my schedule to drive there, but I had decided on more of a tour than a pure driving trip, and it was opposite my final itinerary. I was pretty excited about my pristine new car, so I was never even considering driving "my" car on the Norschleife. There are a number of companies that will rent you cars for the 'Ring, including the one you are working with (https://www.rsrnurburg.com/car-rentals). My tip would be to consider exposing their rental 911 GT3 to the berms, crazy 'Ring drivers, and potential contact with the sidewall. However, it's your car, and it is your choice! I am sure it will be a memorable part of the trip, either way. It is certainly worth counting down the days to ED.

As USMC10 stated, they use a tape with Velcro to attach the front plate on US-delivery cars. I have not seen my car with the tape removed, but I was told it will not damage the front bumper.

USMC10 - Nice shot of the Turbo S they loaned you! The fellow in the background, who handled your orientation, looks like the same fellow who did my Hand Over. Nice American guy originally from the Bronx, I think. He's been at Porsche over 30 years, after time in the US Armed Forces.

USMC10

He might be American...I forgot to ask where he was from. He had a stiff German accent. Definitely a great guy, and an awesome sense of humor.

Note the Turbo S Exclusive Series in the background. I saw that and immediately ran over to it. What an amazing car. I asked the guy doing my orientation if he knew who bought it. He said, "not sure, but I can tell you it will sit in a garage somewhere". Apparently, all the Exclusive Series are garage queens and never get driven. So sad...

Andial

Not all Exclusive Series are garage queens and never get driven. Whoopsy drives his and 991GT3RS is getting one too.

chuck911

Its a close call, between the seats, the roads, and the scenery, but probably my favorite part of this whole superb story is at no point was I subjected to any of the usual baby-it BS. Far from it, you actually drove the you know what out of your brand new GTS. Warms my heart, maybe even a little bit more than the way Porsche took care of one of our finest with that Turbo S. Just fantastic. Well done.

Porscheholic

USMC10 - since you had the awesome experience of driving both cars, what differences did you notice between Turbo S and GTS?

Curious because I'm planning a purchase, and won't have to ability to drive both at Autobahn speeds.

Thanks,

Andy

USMC10

Andy, great question. My experience driving the GTS in Germany was limited to the track at Leipzig. I did not have the opportunity to drive the GTS on the autobahn. Also, it was raining the day I was on the track so I had limited traction...which turned out to be a good thing as it lowered the vehicle's performance envelope providing me an opportunity to see how traction control and PSM worked at speed while in a controlled setting.

That said, the most noticeable difference was observed in the RWD (GTS) vs 4WD (Turbo S). The Turbo S is so planted that no matter how hard I jammed the accelerator I could never break traction. The RWD GTS was equally as fun, perhaps even more fun and even more engaging, as throttle input mattered when it came to stability and traction.
​​​​​​ Too much throttle coming out of corners and the rear end likes to come out. That ultimately made it a more rewarding experience for me.

I'm terms of power and acceleration, the Turbo S simply pulls and pulls at any speed. That car simply never runs out of torque. Period. Cruising at 120MPH and floor it on a long straight and the acceleration feels not much different than punching it from 60. It's mind boggling how fast it accelerates regardless what speed you're at. The Turbo S also had resounding stability in the corners - I was doing 140+ MPH on the autobahn around some tight turns and felt completely at ease. No wobbles, no steering jitter, no heart drops...just pure confidence

The acceleration of the GTS was just as exhilarating, although truth in lending I only had the front straight at Leipzig to really get on it. The cornering was equally as stable as the Turbo S. Hard to say one is better than the other in the cornering/stability department.

Regarding braking, the Turbo S had carbon ceramics and the GTS had steel brakes. I noticed only the slightest brake fade after a dozen hot laps...which may have been more due to the fact that the car was a track rat and may have had worn pads...so I don't even hold much confidence in my own sensed brake fade. My personal car was ordered with steel brakes and I'm honestly content with them given the steel brakes on the track car still performed magnificently.
​​​​​​
​​​The one option I was hoping to get a better feel for was PDCC. I did not check the PDCC box on my build, yet both the Turbo S loaner and GTS track car had the option. There wasn't sufficient lateral g force on the autobahn to really exercise PDCC on the Turbo S, however I did several laps with PDCC on and several with PDCC off while on the track. Honestly, I could barely tell the difference in body roll. I know there will be a lot of haters out there with me saying this...no rotten tomatos please. I spoke at length about PDCC with the instructor while on the track and we both concluded that the GTS with SPASM (20mm lower suspension) already compensates with the lower center of gravity and stiffer spring rates, meaning PDCC is more likely to be noticed on a Carrera S or other model with softer suspension/ no SPASM.

So to wrap it up...am I still glad about buying a GTS? Abso-freakin'-lutly! Do I have any buyers remorse after driving a Turbo S on the autobahn? None what so ever! That is because there really isn't any place in the US to stretch the legs of a Turbo S, and in all reality a GTS is sufficiently powerful and equally as fun. So save the $50k and use it for track time and tires for the GTS!!

Cheers,
Mike

Bucaro

I did the same when I took delivery of my 991.1 GTS at Zuffenhausen on Oct 2015, but my engine blew up on the autobahn the day before last of my trip. The engine needed to be replaced in Germany before shipping to the US... I think it was just bad luck, I was told by the delivery guy to let the oil warm up and then drive normally, which I did...

Porscheholic

Thanks very much for the detailed comparison Mike - that was absolutely helpful!

Andy