Road Trip Musings
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...00c23bc4a.jpeg
Completed a three day, 1200 mile solo road trip in my C2S from MN to FL today. A few random thoughts:
What a car! Ran great, as expected, oil temp. 198, oil pressure 31, voltage 14.5 consistently. Used sport mode the entire time.
Ran Waze and V-1, man does this country employ a lot of state troopers.
Discovered that with apple car play you can run Waze and Apple maps simultaneously. Not a good idea!
PZeros can be really loud on some pavement. Resorted to ear plugs on a couple stretches of bad concrete.
Only saw four other Carreras. One turbo cab receiving a performance award from the Tennessee state troopers, another gentleman in TN that had his left turn signal on for at least 20 miles, and two in Florida.
Wisconsin has the worst crap pavement, ever.
Who in hell designed the freeway system in Atlanta? And where is it taught that a five foot following distance at 85 mph is a good idea? Would hate to drive in that cauldron every day.
Only one small complaint about the car - the arm connected to the left paddle shifter always seemed to reflect back into my eyes - easily fixed with a piece of black tape.
Anyway, good bonding time between man and machine :thumbup:

Road trips are so good for the soul, I just spent two days and 737 miles wandering around to take the back roads of Pennsylvania hill country - so refreshing.

This is made me laugh - i’ve never heard a traffic ticket referred to as a performance award, and the classic turn signal on for miles always makes me laugh.

“ One turbo cab receiving a performance award from the Tennessee state troopers, another gentleman in TN that had his left turn signal on for at least 20 miles “

Nice report. I agree about noise on some pavement surfaces, lack of 911s (and other Porsche sports cars) on the open road, and poor quality of American driving skills. But for me, the 991 more than makes up for these.

Has anyone done one back from Houston to central Florida? It's looking to be 1,000 mi of flat and straight to bring one home *sigh*.
Hoping to hear some quick pit stop suggestions beyond New Orleans, especially to eat. At least the OP got to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains!

I feel for you - I did this in 2017, BRUTAL (though it was Dallas to Sarasota, so roughly 1200 miles). In hindsight I would ship the car (after going to inspect in person, of course). Alternatively, take someone with you that can split the drive or spend the night somewhere in between. It took me approximately 18-19 hours? I went straight through but did stop for food to go occasionally & for a power nap or two. I would not drive through Louisiana at night as it’s so dark and flat that it can be especially difficult to do while you might be tired. I was REALLY tempted to buy a plane ticket right around Mississippi and contact a shipping company. Didn’t stop in New Orleans but I’m sure that would have helped. I was a walking zombie when I got home, took me a day or so to get ‘right’. Good luck!

I haven't done it in a 911, but here's how I get there (Houston -> Tampa):

Day 1: Houston -> Pensacola (Lunch in New Orleans)
Get a good rest the night before and leave Houston at 6am to avoid the traffic - Lunch in the big easy breaks things up, but is a bit less direct.
I like to stay in the Hyatt in Pensacola as it's comfortable and there's good food about.
All in this is about 12-14 hours ride time - you'll be cooked when you get to the hotel.

Day 2: Pensacola -> Tampa
This day is much easier, Plan to leave about 9am - so wake up and get a solid breakfast and get on the road
There's not much good I've found to recommend for lunch, so just pick something when you get hungry
You should be into Tampa about 5pm.

Going the other way I try to stop in New Orleans for the night (depending on Traffic).

Not much to recommend in terms of good driving roads - because this is usually a family haul.

Thanks for the feedback! Hope to leave Houston after a Corkscrew lunch and sleep as far east of NO as manageable. The shipping option is ~$1.5k + the worse part: waiting. I've done Boston to FL down I-95 so I'm setting a similar expectation - with less traffic (I hope).

I did LA to Tampa...worst part of the trip was on I-10 between New Orleans to Pensacola. The roads were the worst I’ve ever experienced. Best part of the trip was the section of I-10 in New Mexico and Arizona.

I did Fort Lauderdale to Houston when I bought my 991. My dad & I drove it straight back. It's not bad, but it is kind of boring. It's a good way to get to know your new car! Company helps too.

New Orleans is only about 6 hours from Houston. Destin/Pensacola area is 9ish. There are long stretches of I-10 where can basically drive as fast as you're willing to; Waze was very good at giving me a heads up on our burn back.

Drop a line when you're going to be in town, happy to drop by for some Corkscrew anytime!

28mpg with a 70mph ave speed is pretty solid!

I recently did Los Angeles to Gainesville, FL. I use to do Austin to G'ville a couple times a year when I was in college and driving home for holidays. Austin to G'ville typically took me 16 hours door to door. My record was 15 hours, but I wouldn't recommend going that fast.... From Houston to Mobile is about 6.5-7 hours depending on where you start in Houston. Pensacola would be about 8 hours. Pensacola to Gainesville about 5 hours. There's a new Buc-ee's between Mobile and Pensacola if you need a place to gas up, use a super clean bathroom, and get a ton of food. Detouring to New Orleans would probably add an hour or so to the trip in drive time. I always remembered a lot of state troopers in Louisiana from my college days, but I didn't run into any on this last trip. Lots of highway patrol in Florida however.

Bucc-ee's was a great recommendation! Even being from Wawa country I was impressed. Article on Bucc-ee's for others who are unfamiliar.

Tires were over-inflated until I realized it so the first leg in TX was jaw-rattling. Adding insult was the loose highway gravel and having to dodge tire treads from trucks. My car had PPF installed or I would have been miserable. I was nervous enough hearing the pings from the rocks underneath.

Corkscrew was closed the day I was there so I had Rudy's instead. So good. Overnighted in Biloxi. The only "fun" parts of the entire drive were a tunnel to hear the exhaust in Mobile and a mildly twisty/hilly stretch near Sneads, FL.

Driving tips:
I should have had the dealer re-check the tire pressure before driving off.
I didn't optimize for mpg, cruising no higher than 5th gear to aid in break-in of engine as advised here at RL.
I stayed away from auto-rev-match to avoid trouble with any downshifts due to lack of familiarity.

Glad you liked Buc-ee's! Heck, their bathrooms are probably cleaner than in my own home. Rudy's always hit's the spot too!