Euro Delivery, Some Pics and Random Thoughts
05-01-2012, 12:10 AM
#16
Thoroughly enjoying your Euro delivery report, fbroen! I've taken factory delivery of two BMWs, but this will be my first Porsche so your stories have me stoked. Counting the days until 20 June....
Spyder
Spyder
05-01-2012, 11:25 AM
#18
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Day two, part three. First drive, Autobahn.
After the museum, we wandered back through the factory grounds to the Customer Parking Lot. Shift was just turning over so it was busy. Brick building in this (terrible) pic is the old Reutter Karosserie building, purchased by Porsche in the early 1960ies. It is now a, working, historic preservation building.
Leaving the factory. 8 kilometers on the odometer.
And 5 minutes later, we're on the Autobahn, in and out of the rain.
First impressions on the open road in a non-test drive setting -- It is my better half's first time in a 991, and she is pleasantly surprised how relatively quiet and comfortable the ride is compared to our 997. I am liking the high speed stability -- easier to test there than on U.S. roads...
PDK in "Normal" (read gas sipping) mode is not optimal for break-in, is my take, as the revs really are quite low. So we drove most of our trip in "Manual," to control (and vary) the RPMs, or "Sport" for the same reasons. Plus, what's not to like driving with the paddles. Coming from an MT, I am sure some of the paddle shift novelty will wear off, but since car is a DD, it will be dern nice at times, too, when sitting in traffic. And those rev matched downshifts on the Nurburgring...but I am getting ahead of myself. Still looking forward to unfettered Sport Plus once break-in over.
We tried Bluetooth streaming music from iPhone and looked at each other -- "That sounds pretty terrible." Gulp. I have of course seen all the threads on the Base, Bose and Burmester stereo and my heart sinks. I knew the Bose wasn't going to be the Burmester I had in my tester, but come on. Well, we switch over to the wired iPhone jack in the glove box and ... that is sooo much better sounding. Way better than our 997.1 Bose. Huge relief. (Will revisit the streaming option to see if we somehow had it set up wrong, or if that is just how compressed the audio gets in streaming?)
We stop at one of those fancy German gas station rest stops and the car smells like it's been driven. Nothing alarming, just new and warmer than it has been. Heading south, traffic thins out and we can afford to do some up and down speeds through a bunch of gears, you know for break-in purposes....
Man the lightning quickness of those shifts.
Also get to listen to the "Sound Symposer." Ultimately, I think it should be on in Sport Plus mode only. I think Sport mode is great for any street driving and that will be my normal mode, so not sure I need to have the extra sound in the cabin at all times. I wonder if it can be reprogrammed to be off in Sport?
Another Autobahn stop, and walking back to the car, it is parked next to a bunch of "regular" cars, and it looks fantastic. It was probably the first time it really sank it -- man, that is our car, and on this trip. What a privilege.
After the museum, we wandered back through the factory grounds to the Customer Parking Lot. Shift was just turning over so it was busy. Brick building in this (terrible) pic is the old Reutter Karosserie building, purchased by Porsche in the early 1960ies. It is now a, working, historic preservation building.
Leaving the factory. 8 kilometers on the odometer.
And 5 minutes later, we're on the Autobahn, in and out of the rain.
First impressions on the open road in a non-test drive setting -- It is my better half's first time in a 991, and she is pleasantly surprised how relatively quiet and comfortable the ride is compared to our 997. I am liking the high speed stability -- easier to test there than on U.S. roads...
PDK in "Normal" (read gas sipping) mode is not optimal for break-in, is my take, as the revs really are quite low. So we drove most of our trip in "Manual," to control (and vary) the RPMs, or "Sport" for the same reasons. Plus, what's not to like driving with the paddles. Coming from an MT, I am sure some of the paddle shift novelty will wear off, but since car is a DD, it will be dern nice at times, too, when sitting in traffic. And those rev matched downshifts on the Nurburgring...but I am getting ahead of myself. Still looking forward to unfettered Sport Plus once break-in over.
We tried Bluetooth streaming music from iPhone and looked at each other -- "That sounds pretty terrible." Gulp. I have of course seen all the threads on the Base, Bose and Burmester stereo and my heart sinks. I knew the Bose wasn't going to be the Burmester I had in my tester, but come on. Well, we switch over to the wired iPhone jack in the glove box and ... that is sooo much better sounding. Way better than our 997.1 Bose. Huge relief. (Will revisit the streaming option to see if we somehow had it set up wrong, or if that is just how compressed the audio gets in streaming?)
We stop at one of those fancy German gas station rest stops and the car smells like it's been driven. Nothing alarming, just new and warmer than it has been. Heading south, traffic thins out and we can afford to do some up and down speeds through a bunch of gears, you know for break-in purposes....
Man the lightning quickness of those shifts. Also get to listen to the "Sound Symposer." Ultimately, I think it should be on in Sport Plus mode only. I think Sport mode is great for any street driving and that will be my normal mode, so not sure I need to have the extra sound in the cabin at all times. I wonder if it can be reprogrammed to be off in Sport?
Another Autobahn stop, and walking back to the car, it is parked next to a bunch of "regular" cars, and it looks fantastic. It was probably the first time it really sank it -- man, that is our car, and on this trip. What a privilege.
Last edited by fbroen; 05-01-2012 at 05:57 PM.
05-01-2012, 12:35 PM
#21
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Day two, part four. Castles and mountain pass switchbacks.
So we get to Neuschwanstein Castle -- only to find that it under renovation and almost entirely covered in scaffolding, lol.
Oh well, we still stopped for a bite to eat, and saw Hohenschwangau Castle.
Then had some fun trying to recreate Edgy01's Panorama Euro Delivery article shot (albeit under renovation, and in the rain, ha!)
As night fell, we drove some great mountain roads over the Fern Pass in Austria. Got to test some great cornering and immagined hill climb conditions.
Happy to say that the steering feels very precise, and crisp. Can't say that I dwelled much on a lamenting over lack of hydraulic steering. It may not be the 997 steering, and may have lost some feel, but on the flipside, it is very stable and, although I already used the word, precise is what comes to mind.
Speaking of hydraulics, PDCC corners pretty flat. Although was not pushing the new tires, as temps got close to freezing and we very nearly reached an altitude of ground snow cover, but was happy not to with the summer tires.
First petrol stop . I think it was Euro 1.89 / Liter.
All in all first day drive from Zuffenhausen/Stuttgart to Innsbruck, Austria 341 km / 212 miles.
So we get to Neuschwanstein Castle -- only to find that it under renovation and almost entirely covered in scaffolding, lol.
Oh well, we still stopped for a bite to eat, and saw Hohenschwangau Castle.
Then had some fun trying to recreate Edgy01's Panorama Euro Delivery article shot (albeit under renovation, and in the rain, ha!)
As night fell, we drove some great mountain roads over the Fern Pass in Austria. Got to test some great cornering and immagined hill climb conditions.
Happy to say that the steering feels very precise, and crisp. Can't say that I dwelled much on a lamenting over lack of hydraulic steering. It may not be the 997 steering, and may have lost some feel, but on the flipside, it is very stable and, although I already used the word, precise is what comes to mind.
Speaking of hydraulics, PDCC corners pretty flat. Although was not pushing the new tires, as temps got close to freezing and we very nearly reached an altitude of ground snow cover, but was happy not to with the summer tires.
First petrol stop . I think it was Euro 1.89 / Liter.
All in all first day drive from Zuffenhausen/Stuttgart to Innsbruck, Austria 341 km / 212 miles.
05-01-2012, 07:59 PM
#23
Rennlist Member
Great story and car. Thank you.
I want to do this now.
I want to do this now.
05-02-2012, 12:15 AM
#25
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Thx all for comments. Super excited about the car. This thread writeup is good therapy while the car is in transit.
TSpyder -- good choice on Euro Delivery -- can you tell we thought it was great? What are you picking up?
Typecase. Yes, bumper is drilled. U.S. plate holder under the temp tag, so holes are at least right, but holes there are. I inquired about it more than once, but as of now, no way around it.
TSpyder -- good choice on Euro Delivery -- can you tell we thought it was great? What are you picking up?
Typecase. Yes, bumper is drilled. U.S. plate holder under the temp tag, so holes are at least right, but holes there are. I inquired about it more than once, but as of now, no way around it.
05-02-2012, 01:46 AM
#26
Wow! Awsome thread fbroen!
Thanks for sharing the experience and congratulations on the new car. And what a way to enjoy the break in period! Thats one thing i'de surely love to add to my bucket list as well. It also doesn't look like you missed anything out on the options either. Verrry nice! Btw how does the sports pasm chassis ride vs the regular pasm? Are you are gonna take it the nurburgring too?
Thanks for sharing the experience and congratulations on the new car. And what a way to enjoy the break in period! Thats one thing i'de surely love to add to my bucket list as well. It also doesn't look like you missed anything out on the options either. Verrry nice! Btw how does the sports pasm chassis ride vs the regular pasm? Are you are gonna take it the nurburgring too?
05-02-2012, 10:22 AM
#29
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
I knew I wanted the -20 for spirited driving, occasional track time, and the front lip and extra spoiler extension. But also that I wouldn't mind a decently compliant car for going to work. So I took a leap of faith that the PDCC in non-pushed mode with relaxed roll bars would make up for the harder/shorter springs.
My impression is that this combo works very well and if I were to do it over I would again go for the -20 w/ PDCC. As an aside -- the shorter front overhang helps a lot compared to the 997 scrape. Even with the little extra "splitter" lip, I have yet to scrape the nose.
Nurburgring? Coming up.
05-02-2012, 10:52 AM
#30
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Day three. Part one, Austria.
Rains gone, blue sky. We check out Innsbruck. Very pretty -- would like to return some day for some skiing/snowboarding.
The Olympic ski jump.
We head for the Brenner Pass and Italy. Lots of uphill, but car doesen't seem to mind. We continue to drive in Manual or Sport for break-in, to keep the revs above the otherwise quickly arriving 7th gear.
Again up into close to snow cover, but dry surface this time. Once over the peak, we thoroughly tried the "sailing" function in the downhills. Yeah engine is really decoupled allright. We got some good laughs, as we coast past other cars, despite not having been in gear for a long time.
Thought this sound barrier / solar panel setup was pretty clever.
Rains gone, blue sky. We check out Innsbruck. Very pretty -- would like to return some day for some skiing/snowboarding.
The Olympic ski jump.
We head for the Brenner Pass and Italy. Lots of uphill, but car doesen't seem to mind. We continue to drive in Manual or Sport for break-in, to keep the revs above the otherwise quickly arriving 7th gear.
Again up into close to snow cover, but dry surface this time. Once over the peak, we thoroughly tried the "sailing" function in the downhills. Yeah engine is really decoupled allright. We got some good laughs, as we coast past other cars, despite not having been in gear for a long time.
Thought this sound barrier / solar panel setup was pretty clever.
Last edited by fbroen; 05-02-2012 at 12:02 PM.