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Thanks to Rector Porsche for helping me get my Club Coupe.
Despite my tire mishap on Saturday, I had a great weekend with my new car. Friday late afternoon and evening, as well as Saturday morning were devoted to buffing out the clear coat and getting a coat of Zymol Glassur wax on. The good news is that 2000 and 3000 Menzerna took car of pretty much anything that happened either in transit or during the first 1k miles in Europe.
The drive on Saturday on familiar roads was really instructive. And today I drove the 993 for its regular exercise (and heat cycle for the seals) then took the GTS with its impaired tire on an errand.
So, what did I learn:
Everyone looks at the GTS. Everyone. I'm not going to blend in when I drive this car no matter how I behave.
If I'm not careful, I'm going to behave like a hooligan (much more often). Seriously. This car is really capable and fun. It's easy to drive at 8/10ths and when you are driving this car at 8/10ths you should NOT be on public roads.
There are so many things that remind of the experience of driving my 997 that it's a really familiar with experience. But it's more capable in pretty much every way. Yes, it feels a little bigger, but it's not a bad experience. I loved my Targa and I love the GTS more.
With 19 years between them this isn't surprising, but the 993 and the GTS only feel loosely related. The 997 and the 993 felt more related to each other. This is neither good nor bad, it just is. I really like the experience of driving the 993 but there's nothing about the experience that makes me want to drive it like a hooligan.
AAA Premium is really nice to have when something goes wrong. My first experience was overwhelmingly good.
The 991 is a really nice car. It's going to be asked to perform all serious sports car duties for the foreseeable future and I'm very excited at the prospect. I love this car's balance and state of evolution. I don't think it's overly insulated and love the interior and body lines. This car is a total looker.
I should probably leave PSE off when I'm puttering through the neighborhood to fetch groceries for dinner. But it sounds, oh, oh, oh so good. Maybe I'll just apologize.
These cars are really nice. Evolution, engineering / design genius, and manufacturing continuous improvement eventually do wonderful things. I'm very, very happy with my new car.
Some pics from the weekend:
And yes, in case you're wondering, I have clear LED side markers ordered and on their way. The pumpkin look was good for Halloween but will be remedied by the end of the week.
Last edited by mathfuzzy; Nov 2, 2015 at 07:13 PM.
Reason: fixed IOS spelling issues
Your observations are mine as well JD! Was your car damaged during shipping? I have had such a great time driving this past weekend. I love the sound of this engine with the sport exhaust on sport plus. It is so cool to see the 2 generations side by side.We better get our good drives in as I heard El Nino is supposed to start in 2 weeks!
Jim
Your observations are mine as well JD! Was your car damaged during shipping? I have had such a great time driving this past weekend. I love the sound of this engine with the sport exhaust on sport plus. It is so cool to see the 2 generations side by side.We better get our good drives in as I heard El Nino is supposed to start in 2 weeks!
Jim
These cars are completely amazing, eh Jim? Glad to hear you're enjoying yours too.
There wasn't much real damage done during shipping - just a few things in the paint that buffed right out. I was glad to do it all myself and see the state that the car was in after a basic wash.
Btw, are you keeping your M4 or did it get sacrificed in the mix? And how was your experience with Santa Barbara Porsche? My favorite salesman of all time - Jon Schafer - sold me my 435 M-Sport six speed that I'm keeping as my DD. If they were good, I might be wanting to talk about a Macan for Mrs. Mathfuzzy.
I do have my M4 for daily driving, but now I am wondering if I should sell it and keep my 997. How crazy does that sound? I love the Pcars and am lucky to have a very short commute to work. I bought the M4 with the thought that my wife could drive the DCT in auto mode in a pinch. My transaction was really great @ SB Auto Group. I also bought my 997 from them. Took your advice and told the finance mgr in advance I was not interested in the 'extras' and I was out of there in about 10 minutes. Walt my sales guy who has been there about 20 yrs was telling me how great the Macan was, and how he was thinking about buying one. He is a total car guy and the last I saw of him that day was showing the Macan features to what looked like hot looking SB local!
J
I do have my M4 for daily driving, but now I am wondering if I should sell it and keep my 997. How crazy does that sound? I love the Pcars and am lucky to have a very short commute to work. I bought the M4 with the thought that my wife could drive the DCT in auto mode in a pinch. My transaction was really great @ SB Auto Group. I also bought my 997 from them. Took your advice and told the finance mgr in advance I was not interested in the 'extras' and I was out of there in about 10 minutes. Walt my sales guy who has been there about 20 yrs was telling me how great the Macan was, and how he was thinking about buying one. He is a total car guy and the last I saw of him that day was showing the Macan features to what looked like hot looking SB local!
J
Thanks Jim - good to know that the experience on the Porsche side of the dealership was good. Also good info about the Macan.
Tough decision about the M4 vs. 997. I really like my 435 for commuting and road trip duties. I think they did a great job with space use / packaging / ride / handling / power. In my case, it'd be an easy decision because there's a big performance and packaging difference between the GTS and the 435. I bet you'd find that the 991 and the 997 are somewhat redundant.
I still envy you being able to drive your 993 frequently. All I can do is go to my dealership and visit my SA who owns my 95 993. He parks it there and does not use it as a DD. He says he wants to keep it under 100K miles. It is not loved as much as it was during my 18 years of ownership. He does not garage it, wash it weekly or polish it monthly. In other words, he is not as sick as me. I keep upping my buy-back offer but he will not sell it back to me. Keep me in mind if you ever wish to part with your gorgeous 96 993. I hope OBD II treats you well. OBD I treated me perfectly.
I had the gearbox let go on my 78SC up there one time, back in the day before cell phones. Tough place to find a phone and do a flatbed tow.
Agree about the blue - it's a 10. And it seemed like a minor miracle that we had a flat bed in like 20 minutes (from Felton) after calling AAA. If you're ever down that way and need a flatbed, call Ladd's and ask for Sarah. She was remarkably good.
Originally Posted by freeman
JD-
I still envy you being able to drive your 993 frequently. All I can do is go to my dealership and visit my SA who owns my 95 993. He parks it there and does not use it as a DD. He says he wants to keep it under 100K miles. It is not loved as much as it was during my 18 years of ownership. He does not garage it, wash it weekly or polish it monthly. In other words, he is not as sick as me. I keep upping my buy-back offer but he will not sell it back to me. Keep me in mind if you ever wish to part with your gorgeous 96 993. I hope OBD II treats you well. OBD I treated me perfectly.
Sounds like we should organize a hostile take-back, Mark. The trouble is, he'd know where to send the police! Maybe you could arrange partial custody in exchange for proper care and feeding.
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What I leaned this weekend
