fbroen

Will be sharing here some pics and experiences from a recent European Delivery.

First off, a BIG thank you to my better half, who on Xmas eve morning took me to the dealer, explained that all had been arranged, and that my task was only to pick model and options(!).

Cayman R was a close call, but my fascination, since childhood, really, with the 911 took the upper hand. That, plus a recently departed 997.1 was missed dearly...

So order was placed that Xmas morning for a 991, for delivery at Zuffenhausen. We delayed delivery until late April so that the weather would have a chance to warm up a bit.

Thank you to folks here (and on 6) for all the info gathered to help figure out the build, the Euro delivery, and that Nurburgring for a Novice thread .... Some build highlights:

Carrera S
GT Silver/Black
Carrera S Wheels
PASM Sport
PDK
Sport Chrono
PDCC
Adaptive Sport Seats
Sport Design Steering Wheel
Dials in Black
No Sunroof
Roof Racks
Folding Mirrors
Park Assist
Bose
Deletion Model Designation
Premium Package

This is what I had to look at for a few months, but the anticipation was so much fun. (And yeah, that is the "GT Silver" rendering in the builder, ha!)

fbroen

Day one. Stuttgart.

Got in early. Enjoyed the city. Visited the Old Castle/exhibits, the Market Hall. Took a run along a path of sights with a Tourist office brochure in hand. Enjoyed some good beers at the hotel, and then a great dinner at a small restaurant with cafe-style sidewalk outdoor seating. The Hotel Steigenberger (one of the Porsche complimentary ones) was great and good location right across the street from the Hauptbahnhof.

The New Castle and a Mercedes 600 Grosser.


Steigenberger bar:


Schlossplatz:


Random factoids from Wiki:

"The New Palace (German: "das Neue Schloss", which may also be translated as New Castle) is a building which stands on the south edge of Schlossplatz, the central square in Stuttgart, Germany.
From 1746 to 1797 and from 1805 to 1807, it served as a residence of the kings of Württemberg. The palace stands adjacent to the Old Castle.
The castle was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War and was reconstructed between 1958 and 1964. During this time most of the inside of the castle was also restored and the building was used by the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament. Today it is used by the State Ministries of Finance and Education."
***
The Mercedes-Benz 600 is a large luxury automobile offered in several variants worldwide. Production began in 1964 and almost 600 variants were built until 1972. The oil crisis, as well as the introduction of new S-Class models, slowed demand. Modest production continued until 1981. During this time, 2,677 vehicles were made.
The 600 featured many luxury features, including a complex hydraulic 150-bar (2,176 psi) pressure system that powered everything from the windows and seats to the automatically closing doors, sun-roof, and boot lid. Adjustable air suspension gave the car a good ride quality and handling over any road surface.

Apart from the Pope and governments, famous owners of the 600 have included celebrities such as Coco Chanel, Hugh Hefner, Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, George Harrison, Jay Kay, Aristotle Onassis, Jack Nicholson, Simon Spies, Ronnie Wood, Bob Jane, Frank Packer, Elvis Presley, Rowan Atkinson and Jeremy Clarkson."

Mike in CA

You obviously have a great "Better Half"! Seeing your pics are certain to bring back sweet memories for me of my European Delivery experiences. Looking forward to seeing them.

Edit: Got in the middle of your posting. Sorry.....

fbroen

Mike, no worries. I plan to post over a few days. Please do get in the middle...

fbroen

Day two, part one. Delivery.

Up early. Breakfast at hotel (Steigenberger puts he "Continental" back in Continental Breakfast!). Used one of the Porsche-provided vouchers for a taxi ride to the factory. We all know German punctuality, so we took the repeated advice of "Don't be late" quite seriously.

Taxi drops us off at Hauptforte / Main Gate. Anticipation is off the charts.

Since we were early, had a moment to check these out while chilling in the customer lounge:

RS Spyder:



GT1:



Sport Classic -- love me that ducktail:

SoCalRick

Fbroen,
I would love to hear what instructions they gave you with respect to break-in period when you picked up your car.
I'm definitely considering European Deliver (I have already been on the factory tour back in 2010, but would love to do it again), but I'm concerned about how much (and how soon) I will be able to open the vehicle up on the Autobahn.
I'm gravitating towards the school of thought that says you don't need to wait until you have 2k miles on the car in order to exceed 4500 rpm, just follow some basic break-in procedures (for the first ??? miles) and you will be fine. E.g. put a couple of hundred miles on initially to break-in the tires/transmission/suspension, etc., get numerous heat cycles (and allow for proper warm up period), vary the rpms, don't lug engine, don't launch control, etc.

So what, say 500 miles of this type of behavior and then start to open her up???

What did the Porsche folks tell you upon pick-up?

-SCR

fbroen

Rick -- the instructions from our rep were basically to avoid doing the same thing for really long periods of time. But he also said that applies more in case you live in a wide open place, that would allow you to drive hours at the same pace -- but that this would not be an issue in Europe due to geography/population. That was pretty much it.

fbroen

Day two, part one. Delivery. Continued...

We meet with our rep, went over the paperwork, and he took us upstairs to see the car. They had 18 factory deliveries that day, so there was plenty of eye candy.

This was the first time we actually saw a 991 in GT Silver, and we were super excited because we thought it was even better than we had hoped.

Car was perfectly clean, smelled good, and looked great with its -20 stance.

Factory rep went over the car with us inside and out and we then got to fire it up for the first time and drive it out. First sound burst inside echoing hall sounded quite delicious, too.

As an aside, the new (slightly bigger trunk) fit both of our max regulation size carry on roller bags, which was great.

I took no pics from delivery hall, as the car got all the attention, but here is one from the customer parking lot, right outside:

fbroen

Our rep was making fun of the U.S. spec orange side lights. "This is so 80ies" he said. Couldn't agree more. Can't wait to get clear ones on there.

rijowysock

looks great, i keep thinking i should have gotten -20mm and 20's.. hmm

Alstoy

Fbroen-Very nice car! My BMW ED was great and I can only imagine an ED with a Porsche!

fbroen

Thx guys. And thanks to rijowysock's thread below, the seats have the right leather...

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/6774...s-leather.html

fbroen

Day two, part two. Factory tour and Porsche Museum.

Next, factory tour. No pics, since we had to surrender cameras/phones.

Good fun seeing it all. Look out for the little driverless droids delivering stuff throughout the factory.

What struck us the most is how incredibly clean it all is -- like semiconductor fab clean. Unfortunately, paint shop is not on the tour, due to protective clothing requirement. A glass enclosed viewing area would be welcome.

Lunch at the Porsche Canteen. Then onto the Museum. Building architecture and exhibits are very nicely done. I think these pics speak for themselves:

rijowysock

i'm really happy that my thread helped someone besides myself, in my previous 997.2 i was always upset with the "fake leather" and again in my 2011 Cayenne about how cheap and poor quality it felt, first 991 at dealer had the same leather and felt I would have to order "full leather" to get away from that feeling... luckily this nice "loophole" was available... with door pulls/shifter/steering/seats in high quality leather... I really could care less about the dash and doors (unless contrast stitch was easy to order without always missing one or two stitches.

Bruce R

Great thread!