rotokim

Three friends of mine (Jeff, Charles and Randy) and I were invited to attend a special showing of Porsches at Rockingham Speedway this morning, and it was an amazing experience.

Special thanks to John Alvi at Leith for making this possible for us.

The photos (see link below) can't do justice to the event. We drove several of the newest Porsches, including a couple equipped with the new PDK system - incredible! It blew me away - and I'm a hardcore manual transmission guy!

The instructors from Porsche Driving School in Birmingham, AL were outstanding. Cass Whitehead, Rich Hall and Eric Foss showed us how it's done - especially during the hot laps. My hot laps were in a Carrera S with manual transmission (Rich Hall) and a Cayenne GTS (Eric Foss). Absolutely unbelievable.

They fed us, gave us new Porsches to drive around the track, drove us around Rockingham at high speed, fed us again, and then thanked us - all on a perfect fall day. I must have been dreaming.

Enjoy the photos.
Bob


http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...localeid=en_US

AngM018

Some great shots Bob! Thanks again for coming to the event. It was a pleasure having all of you guys! I will be sure to post a link as soon as our photo's are uploaded. The second group also video taped a hot lap from the carrera, so I hope to get my hands on that as well. Let me know if you need anything

John Alvi
Leith Porsche
John.Alvi@leithimports.com

desidon

Bob....looks like it was a lot of fun!!!

rotokim

Hey there, Manil. It was a blast! I'm new to the sensation of driving and riding in a Porsche at pretty high speed - not competitive speed, but pretty damn fast. Randy Hayward showed me what a Porsche can do, as did the instructors from the Porsche Driving School.

I'm more psyched for VIR in 2 weeks as a result of this past weekend.

Bob

Jeff996

A HUGE thank you to John Alvi, and all the great people at Leith Porsche. The entire event was simply way too much fun.

Everyone needs to test drive a car with PDK. I had zero interest in a "sports car" without a clutch pedal before driving the PDK transmission. I was shocked - it is that good.

Thanks again John for everything. It was truly an Epic Day.

Jeff

iii911ooo

Well, let me make it three thumbs up for the event from the Cary/Apex Coffee & Bagels crew. Thanks to John Alvi and rest of the folks at Leith for hosting us. I was very impressed with the performance of the new PDK transmission. Before this, I would have never considered getting a non-manual transmission in a Porsche. But after driving the PDK, I would seriously consider ordering one on my next Porsche. Oh, and the 385 HP from the Carrera S wasn't too bad either.

Randy

PMD 993

Looks like you guys had a good time, I know I would have. Also from what I heard, Porsche would like most of the cars that they sell in the U.S. to be equipped with the PDK in 5 years time. Time will tell....

EDIT: http://www.garage419.com/episode/419_20081106

AngM018

Correct! They are thinking the PDK will be on 80% of their cars. I found that very surprising, but then again, look at the Ferrari's and Lambo's.

PMD 993

I was thinking the same thing. All of the new Ferraris I've seen have been equipped with the F1 tranny. The only thing that bothers me are the up/down shift buttons on the steering wheel. I have driven a few Corvettes with a similar setup and was not fond of it. I think a single paddle on each side detached from the wheel like most other sport/exotic cars would have been a better choice. Then again I guess I should reserve judgement until I actually try one.

AngM018

I was thinking the same thing, until I drove a few miles with the shifters. They really are ergonomic, and not bad at all, once you get the hang of them. I have already heard rumours of aftermarket solutions that will add paddles.

Let me know if you would like to try the new PDK. We have a demo car that we don't mind putting miles on. Just give me a buzz.

John Alvi
Leith Porsche
919-749-0216

rotokim

Based on my experience last weekend, I urge you to take John up on his offer - I'm no expert on paddle shifters, but I was really surprised by its smooth shifts and responsiveness.

rmurph

Sounds like an offer one can not refuse. Wife may be looking at the Cayenne to replace her Boxster in the future. I have to give John a call. Bob, has the smile disappeared yet from last Sunday's drive at the Rock? Well, we will add to it next week at VIR. You will be hooked if you are not already!!
See ya Saturday morning.

rotokim

No loss of smile yet! In fact, while I was in Greenville, SC this week, I passed a Porsche dealer and had to look at the new PDK cars there. But, don't worry John A. If I or anyone I know is shopping for a new Porsche, my loyalty is with Leith. You and your team did a GREAT job of galvanizing my loyalty last weekend.
Bob

AngM018

Thank you for your loyalty Bob! Let me know if you ever want to drive the PDK in "less harsh" conditions.