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Thought I'd update you all. We drove down to Houston Friday to pick up the car. I'm still passionately dizzy. Seems like this was what I felt like a few days after I lost my virginity 35 years ago. Is this a permanent afterglow? Man, I hope so!
First of all, a quick shout-out to Porsche West Houston, and specifically Will (SA) and Greg (Sales Manager). Both are down-to-earth car guys to the core. This unassuming little dealership provided a great buying experience from start to finish. We'd gotten used to the caviar crowd at our regular dealer in Dallas (Park Place), but we are not, nor will we ever be, entirely comfortable in that social arena. So West Houston was perfect. We'd buy from them again in a heartbeat. If anybody wants full names and contact info, PM me. These guys were that good. And Park Place would not even consider touching their pricing. Wine and cheese costs money, you know.
As to the car: It's spectacular. Awesome. Spect-awesome. We made the dead-dull drive back up Interstate 45 to our neck of the woods in fairly heavy traffic about two-thirds of the way. We were both surprised what a decent highway cruiser the 992 is. Tire noise was muted (yeah, I know, check back in 10,000 miles); SPASM in Normal mode didn't beat us up; PSE enabled was rorty and fun but did not drone at any cruising speed, from 40 mph in traffic to a few blips over 100 as things opened up. We drove straight back in about three hours, and felt fine physically when we got out of the car. That says a lot, because I've got L5-S1 back issues that come and go. Mentally, however, we were both exhausted. I took our 15-year-old daughter for a spin, and then my 75-year-old mother-in-law, who thought the car was a total hoot. Even tossed the keys to her. She'd never driven anything more exciting or fast than her current Honda Odyssey. She took to the car like a pro. Then we came back, and I collapsed for two hours.
I think that's part of the genius of the 911 -- how you can hop in and just drive it. No special training required. No gull-wing doors and foot-wide doorsills to wrestle with. No fiddly, peaky engines or stiff clutches to enlighten all those around you what a newbie you are as you stall the car six times out of the driveway. You just slither in, adjust your mirrors, start the car, and go. I can feel how Porsche engineers have spent the last 50 years rounding off the edges to make the standard-issue 992, whether base or S, an everyday supercar. German mechanical engineering -- specifically, Porsche mechanical engineering -- may well be the best in the business. Whether it's that base $50K loaner Macan we drove for a week or a 991.2 Turbo S we took for a spin, somehow Porsche engineers find a way to make the cars special, a class unto their own. The 992 is no different. (I'm gonna stand mute about Porsche software engineers, for obvious reasons. Hey, they're just getting started, really.)
I spent Saturday morning washing and detailing the car, getting to know the ins and outs of it. (Fun OCD Fact #1: The open box-shaped compartment behind The Orb on the lower front bumper collects all kinds of crap, including a chewing gum wrapper in my case. Hopefully one day I'll reach down there to clean it out and come out with a C-note.) One of the first things my wife and I noticed as it sat in the bay next to her Cayenne is just how small and low the car is. It's tiny. Or her Cayenne is huge. Probably some of each. But as you'll see in photos below, it's sort of comical.
The second thing I noticed as I worked on that car was how aggressive it looks from the side. Really reptilian and low, with SPASM probably adding to the effect, combined with the Sport Design side skirts that were optioned on the car. It just looks the business. And that curvy *** as you look out the side mirrors... Not sure if the widebody 992 will appeal to fellows who prefer their women straight up and down. For me, a dude who's a fan of the birthing hips -- oh my.
Saturday afternoon turned out to be nice here, so we decided to make a little Porsche parade and take the cars out for some photos. For us, having these two cars is an event -- I've mentioned before we both grew up poor (her) and dirt-poor (me), so the idea that we've got two new P-cars in our garage, with the oldest and slowest of the two being a 2019 Cayenne TT, is borderline unimaginable. And hilarious. So yes, photos. See below. (We drove through a couple of neighborhoods in our rural and decidedly non- exotic-car-heavy area, nose to tail, two freshly detailed, understated Porsches rolling down your street in tandem, nothing to see here, grab your pruning shears and get back to work. So many people looked up and rubber-necked, I thought we were gonna get sued for whiplash. My wife especially enjoyed that.)
Before we put the cars away, I took the 992 a few miles down the road to fill the tank, which was near empty. I pulled in and was pumping gas when a beat-up contractor van parked at the pump adjacent to me. A young Hispanic boy, maybe 10 or 11, stuck his head out the passenger window and stared at the Porsche. I waved at him. He got out, and very hesitantly said, in semi-broken English, "I like... your car!" He grinned a mile wide, which made me do the same thing. The Cayenne rarely if ever gets a response like that. It's an outrageously fast AWD minivan, for crying out loud. Note: Do NOT tell my wife I said that.
Ladies and gents, I'll post driving and other impressions later as things settle in. As I type this, the car is sitting in the garage, sort of glowing unto itself just as I am, while the rain comes down. I'll give it a few hundred more miles before I start typing again. But I want to thank all of you for advice, opinions, help and insights you've provided, either directly or indirectly, that resulted in us buying this car at this time in our lives. We couldn't be happier with our choice. We are blessed beyond belief.
Thanks for the follow up, you will really enjoy the 992! Nice to have two in the stable. You will love the 992, I have had mine 992 about 2 months now and it is a great DD and fun as well!
However your Porsche SUV is now slouch and not that much slower to 60 or the 1/4 mile (only .3 slower and .8 on the quarter mile) - for that much bigger of a car, that is a rocket...
Thanks for your impressions thus far, great write up, it gave me a smile after reading how overtly thrilled you are with your choice. It’s a beautiful car, I’m very happy for you and your wife!
You have a turn of phrase when describing your experiences that always makes me feel like I'm right there enjoying it with you. Stoked for you and your wife--enjoy it in good health!
Congratulations and enjoy!
You'll find the GT Silver color changes quite markedly depending on the light. It can really turn a rich deep dark grey under certain conditions.
The painted side skirts are excellent and certainly an over-looked and rare option
The same goes for the painted side mirrors.
I didnt catch if this is a manual or PDK car. But if PDK you'll notice a rather distinct difference to your Cayenne!
Tip: I enjoy washing my own cars, and had been using Beadmaker only, until one day I put a coat of an old friend - Z2 Pro - on my 992. Very pleased with the results. I’ve since put on another coat, and even done one on my Panamera. If you want your GT Silver to take on an even warmer hue, almost like Platinum Silver, go for Z2 Pro.
Patriot, you're right -- the Z2 Pro lends a different, more exotic, darker tint to GT Silver. Love it! Thanks for the advice.
And Theodor and markchristenson, thank you for your compliments. Theodor, it's a regular ol' PDK car. We drove a 7MT Carrera S (posted in a separate thread) and were not so impressed. I'm not being critical of 7MT buyers; the car just wasn't for us, despite the fact that we're long-time stick-shift owners.
The German auto industry is probably one of the best, but you should not lose sight of the Japanese one, you can watch theHonda clarity review, this is a modern car that is not inferior in comfort to other supercars, on this site there is a full review of the car, its complete set, a detailed description of all features and functionality of a car.
05-25-2020, 02:42 PM
First impressions / thanks
