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I've owned my 2002 996TT for 3 years now, I've tracked it at Road Atlanta and AMP. Recently I found myself with an extra Saturday out in San Jose, so I used the opportunity to use Turo to rent a guys 2008 Convertible 911 Carrera PDK ( 997.2 with the Direct Injection engine) to drive from San Jose down to Monterey then down to Big Sur. A 200 mile round trip basically, so I got highway miles, stop and go traffic miles and cruising miles all under my belt.
I am so glad I did it, the drive was breathtaking and I actually learned a lot about my 996TT as well. First I would say if you get a chance to drive down to Big Sur you will not regret it, just coming around the bend and seeing the mountains on one side and the blue Pacific on the other just makes you feel excited about driving again, just waiting to see what the next bend has in store for you.
What was interesting from a Porsche perspective was how similar and dissimilar the 996TT was from the 997.2. Here is a list in no particular order:
The dashboard screen with the white led's (dated by 2018 standards) does look really nice, I wish we had that in our 996... Watching the pressure change on the Tire Pressure System was actually interesting to me. (I'm an engineer).
The door handles on the inside felt cheap and plasticy compared to the metal handles in the 996.
The PDK is the best automatic transmission I've ever driven. It is Einstein compared to the retard, i'm sorry, the mentally handicapped 2008 BMW 535i transmission I have in my daily driver.
The gas mileage in the 997.2 was hilariously better than the 996TT. Normally I will get around 14 mpg in the 996TT, I only used one tank of gas in the 997.2 for ~ 240 miles. ( Yes I get on the 996TT more, but still )
It goes without saying the 996TT is way faster, but that wasn't what this trip was for, this was just cruising.
PDK sport mode is the perfect mode for cruising, the normal mode is just highway gear 7 and makes the car feel lumbering and heavy.
The exhaust sound of the flat six is so beautiful, in the 996TT it's muffled by the turbos.
The brake calibers are not painted and don't look nice at all compared to the painted 996TT brake calipers, it's noticeable.
997.2 cup holders. Way better.
Most interesting thing was the handling, the 997.2 felt VERY planted, on the highway it felt extremely stable, through the turns it was flat and very well composed. My 996TT must have something wrong somewhere, because when I got home and drove it on the highway I could tell the difference immediately. My 996Tt is very twitchy on the highway, you move the steering wheel at all and it darts. At Road Atlanta at 120mph it does NOT feel stable at all. There is no strange tire wear, but I will take my 996TT in to get the alignment at least checked.
I lived in Monterey when I was in the Army. Had a 2000 Boxster out there. There are few feelings in the world like driving a Porsche down the PCH! Anyway- how was your Turo experience?
I had a great experience with Turo! The guy was very nice, after I returned the car to him and told him I had a few extra miles over the limit he said don't worry about it. We got to talking and I made some suggestions that he could polish out a lot of the swirl marks out of his paint and his windshield with a dual action polisher. Turned into car guys talking cars, which is always awesome.
The only "drawback" to Turo and I'm being very critical here, is that you have to go to the person's house or some other location to pick the car up... or their is a choice to pick it up at a local airport but that adds $$$ fast to the rental. I mean it makes sense, it's not like it's Enterprise and they come pick you up.
That being said I would totally do Turo again. Would I list my car on Turo?, hell no!
I spent $156 + $20 for Turo fees to rent the car for 24 hours with 200 miles. There are much cheaper options of course, but I wanted a Porsche Convertible. There were a surprising number of Tesla's available as well, which considering where I was located at made sense the more I thought about it.
Ended up going to Butler tire by me. I need to take it out on the highway to see how it feels.
What's really interesting is the difference between alignment machines.
See picture of Kauffman Tire verse Butler Tire (Before adjustment)
Now I was talking to the mechanic and Butler and he was knocking out Alignments he did like 2 in an hour, he knew exactly how to move things around so he has made these adjustments a million times. The dude at Kauffman, I had no confidence hence the reason I left with just the free 'alignment check' two different shops alignment numbers
I had a great experience with Turo! The guy was very nice, after I returned the car to him and told him I had a few extra miles over the limit he said don't worry about it. We got to talking and I made some suggestions that he could polish out a lot of the swirl marks out of his paint and his windshield with a dual action polisher. Turned into car guys talking cars, which is always awesome.
The only "drawback" to Turo and I'm being very critical here, is that you have to go to the person's house or some other location to pick the car up... or their is a choice to pick it up at a local airport but that adds $$$ fast to the rental. I mean it makes sense, it's not like it's Enterprise and they come pick you up.
That being said I would totally do Turo again. Would I list my car on Turo?, hell no!
I spent $156 + $20 for Turo fees to rent the car for 24 hours with 200 miles. There are much cheaper options of course, but I wanted a Porsche Convertible. There were a surprising number of Tesla's available as well, which considering where I was located at made sense the more I thought about it.
The delivery options are completely up to the host. Some deliver to certain places for free. Some charge for any delivery. So yes, you need to pay attention to the delivery situation. Glad you hear you had a blast. As for listing a car, I have always driven my Porsches hard. The majority of our clients rarely even come close to driving them as hard as I have driven the ones I've owned over the years. :-)
10-30-2018, 04:37 PM
