2000 miles to drive in 3 days ... which car?
 

Will be driving from Boston to Austin in late May (we are moving there). It's about 28 hours, according to the GPS. Driving one car down, shipping the other with Intercity. Not planning to go nuts, probably do it in a leisurely three days. (I am not a kid anymore.) Wife goes by plane, with the chihuahua.

The choices:

1997 Carrera 2 cabriolet, 80k miles, 6-speed, 18" MY02s, Bilstein HDs and M030 springs. Arrest-me red over cashmere.

2006 Mercedes CLK 500 cabriolet, 23k miles, automatic. Stealth silver over gray.

Leaning, of course, to the Porsche, even knowing the Mercedes is more comfortable, better air, more reliable (in theory), etc. etc. etc.

Which would you ship and which would you drive?

I wouldn't want all that road rash on my car. Go beat up the clk.

Drive the 993,

2,000 miles in a CLK may cause you to fall asleep at the wheel.

We have a CLK. The seats in the 993 are far better on your back, but the noise level is lower in the CLK. Hard choice.

CLK. Put the 2K miles on the newer car.

Have you done that many miles at a stretch in a 911?

I would take the CLK, and arrive cramp-free.

If you have the advanced seats (or whatever they're called) with AC and heat, then there's no question.

On the other hand, you can't make a bad choice here, can you? :)

My 993 is meant for driving. I'd drive the 993 for sure.

I did a 2500 mile round trip last summer to the Monterey Historic Races. Frankly, on a 600+ mile day, the 911 noise can be tiring. I took about 20 CDs (all rock except Beethoven's 9th Symphony). I had to crank the sound up to where it was a bit annoying - with all the noise.

But the seats were quite comfortable and I did not experience either back or feet/leg fatigue.
If you use the 911, remember to pack about 2 quarts of oil - plus a funnel and clean up tissues

I drove cross country in my MBZ a little over a year ago...

Check out the details here :https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...?highlight=c43

I'd take the Benz... great long distance cruisers...

I've driven a lot of miles in a lot of 911s; the longest trip was Wichita KS to Tampa FL and back in an 87 930. Talk about loud, a 4-speed and anemic AC. But I got up to some impressive speeds in Arkansas, I'll tell you what.

My 993 had the top end done 20k miles ago, and uses no oil. I'm really not concerned at all with road chips, and so forth, the car is meant to be driven as far as I'm concerned.

That's exactly my concern with the CLK, it's fairly dull to drive. I drove it from Boston to Philly to Maryland to Sarasota last year, with my wife along for the ride, and it was a chore, except for the portion of the Blue Ridge Highway I went out of the way to drive. (You're right, Terry, those seats are not that comfortable, for some reason.) For some reason, driving a Porsche for a long distance seems more like an adventure. Famous last words ... LOL

My wife wants me to drive the CLK. I'm leaning the other way.

All highway.....Benz. Some highway, scenic non highways....993.

If you have to drive alone, drive the Porsche.

This mornings temp was 47. Summer is on its way. Supposed to be 90 in Dallas this week. Boston to Austin...I'd take the CLK. Welcome to Texas!

Let me see---you own a sports car, wide open road, and a 2000 mile trip---thats a tough one.

Truly, only you can decide this one for reasons only you could know.

If it was me, I'd Intercity my Porsche and drive me really comfortable BMW 7 series. Reason? XM RADIO!!!! I only have XM in the BMW. That's a deal killer for me on really long trips. Regular radio blows after having XM.

Enjoy the trip. It will be a memory you'll have your entire life.