Edward

I love this board. Where elso can one get such a diverse group of enthusiasts together that can banter with the best while still sharing technical tidbits found only through experience! I have learned so much from you contributors here that I couldn't even begin to say how much!
(ok, so that's my disclaimer...the following is not a slam on anyone...just honest curiosity )

So here's my question: how do so many who own such a brilliant piece of machinery resist driving it everyday? Post after post, I see people refer to other cars as their daily rides. Sure, we all need other vehicles that suit our various needs, but if one must "drive" to work and back, what better car to be in? It can't possibly be just me since I've seen many others here express their irrational tendencies toward driving their 993. I, for one, get withdrawals over the weekend since that's the only time the car sits undriven.

So am I off base here? Do more drive it daily than I perceive? Or do those who do not drive the P daily have some stronger moral fortitude that I lack that keeps me reaching for my keys? Just a thought...

Edward

Mike J

I drive it every day. During 9 months of the year its my only car. I drive the kids places, pickup stuff, shop, go to work, go out all with the Porsche. Even haul stuff from Home Depot. My wife prefers her Pathfinder but we always take the car (unless we go to Ikea..I refuse to strap that dresser on the top of the Targa!).

I do not understand the garage queen approach at all...Porsche designed the cars to be driven and lets all do our share!

Richard C2S

My car is certainly not a garage queen. It is almost always immaculate and looks incredible, is well taken care of, but has done seven or eight drivers' ed events, is driven in the rain and is used to go places as long as I know I will be able to park it myself.

I don't drive it to work because I couldn't bear to leave it in a center city parking garage or allow some garage attendant to move it. I also don't think that Porsches were meant to be driven in stop and go rush hour traffic. I also need the capacity of a much larger trunk (or boot) often enough to make the use of a daily driver more practical.

That's just my two cents.

Richard (not C4S)

ScottMellor

I drive every day, 30 miles each way. Once upon a time, I had an NSX garage queen. (It's for sale by the way.) One day as I was driving to work in my 1973 450Sl with 250,000 miles on it getting beat up and stopping for gas every 20 minutes, I had an epiphany.
WHO WAS I SAVING THE NSX FOR. I started driving it daily and covering it religiously and I have been happier ever since. I got the 993TT three weeks ago and have driven it every day. On Friday, when I swap out baby duties with Karen, SHE drives it and I drive the kiddie wagon. (Audi S-4, no real hardship there either.)
Oh my, what happens if I put too many miles on it and the resale goes down. I bought JDSU as an investment. Oh no wait, bad example....
All you daily drivers can smile all the way home and get your moneys worth in sheer enjoyment.

bbeckmann

I used to drive my car to work everyday, but the commute is incredibly crappy. It also gave me jitters to be surrounded by cell phone happy drivers that barely kept one eye on the road. So I bought a Ford Focus, which I figured was recyclable, and don't really care what happens to it.

Jim Michaels

I may be an exception, but I've never had any desire to drive my P-car to work, an in-town 2 mile drive with a top speed of about 40 mph. Oh, and my daily driver is an M3, but almost anything would be ok to go 2 miles.

The previous owner of my P-car had a plate that read 4WKENDS. I still pretty much feel that way about it. I also don't want to subject my P-car to a daily risk of collision and grime, wear and tear associated with commuting. I feel better knowing it's covered in the garage. My guess is that quite a few others feel the same way.

ScottMellor

I must add if my commute was towards LA instead of the other way or really short in town, I would be singing another tune.

Greg Fishman

The JDSU comment cracks me up. That was one of the stocks I sold to buy my race car. As well as Global Crossing. Who said cars were a bad investment. I drive mine every day 12 months a year, deep snow or ice is the only reason I won't drive her.
I am out of the office a fair bit and it is fun to drive my car to appointments that may be 40 or 50 miles away in a more rural area. Some of my co-workers told me the car was too flashy etc. but I have found that it is a great ice breaker and everyone (almost) has a Porsche story and they love to tell them. Drive your car daily, with pride!

Greg

Don Magee

I, too, started off thinking I'd use the Porsche only on weekends, or as a treat on some glorious day. What a dumbass! I soon realized that i relished the thought of driving to the office and back home. Plus, I became an errand running sonofagun. Now, although I still have a minor twing of guilt for putting on miles, I just drive it like I stole it.

Edward

You see that...Diversity. You gotta love it!

Ok, so I see the point in not trudging in snow. The only snow I see is the stuff I drive UP to to ski in.

2-mile commute...yes, point well taken. I think just starting the car then parking it cold would really louse up the mechanicals.

I'm glad to see at least these previous posts drive them as (I think) they were designed to be driven: i.e. fast and often.

Which brings up another question of mine....(ok, after this one, I'll stop):
Why do I see some exclaim, either in posts or in "for sale" verbage, that the car is "never tracked" as if putting it on the track would hurt it? Part of the reason I bought a 993 was, by and large, because of the durability (or relative durability, anyway) of an "exotic." If I'm gonna spend that much of my hard-earned dough on a sports car, I'm darn well gonna use it like one, which really can't be done effectively/safely on public roads. Heck, my '77 Alfa Spider took all that track "abuse" and didn't even hiccup. And I had a blast, to boot. This is no indictment to those of you who don't track...it's just that perhaps you're missing the time of your life by NOT "bonding" with your car on the track. Again, just IMHO.

Edward

Curtis - '97 Targa

I drive mine every day...30 miles each way of mostly two lane country road. Drop the kids off at school then it is let 'er rip. I actually look forward to the drive time as "bookends" to the day.

cmoss

It's my drug. I save it up and savor it over the weekends. Though I did drive it to work today... couldn't resist!
Cheers,
Chris
'80 SC
'96 993

dwe8922

I have done both. For a while, the 911 was my only car, so I drove it everywhere. Now that I have a spare car, I seem to have more fun driving the car less. I got used to it, and it became less special. When I was selling corvettes in highschool, I drove them everywhere, and they became, ordinary. Here I was 18 years old, and complaining that the cars rattled, were hard to get in and out of, etc!

Now I drive the 993 whenever I want to (be it errands, work, or just to drive). Now when I strap myself into the car and fire it up, its as if I just boarded the space shuttle! Lobster is my absolute favorite food; but if I ate it everyday, I would eventually get tired of it....... <img src="graemlins/icon107.gif" border="0" alt="[icon107]" />

Allen

My car is pretty much a week-end / sunny days car for several reasons. First and foremost is that being stuck in commute stop-n-go traffic in a 6-speed 911 just raises my blood pressure and is anything but fun. Also, as someone else mentioned, when I look around me and see all the cell phone talking, biscuit eating, shaving, hair-fixing, newspaper reading, etc. that people do in their cars while driving...again it becomes anything but fun. When I get in my car, I go out the BACK entrance to the neighborhood, and head for the country twisty roads and hardly even see another car. Sometimes it's a peaceful cruise amoung through the hills and other times it's a blast through the twisty roads...usually a little bit of both. But before, during, and after the drive I feel fantastic! When I have tried to do the commute thing...it just pisses me off...so I don't do it. Like I tell my wife...traffic in a 911 is simply "an exercise in frustration".

Finally, a lot of people seem to have a hard time with those of us who do not drive our cars everyday. Let me say loudly...I feel no shame at all for keeping my car safe out of the sun, rain, and crazy-*** traffic. I drive a '95 BMW 525i as a daily driver and my 911 whenever I feel like it...life is good! <img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" />

Phil

I drive mine every day......35 miles each way!!!on the way home is best.....after a bad day.......35 miles of sheer 993 awd pleasure!!!!! <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" /> <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" /> <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />