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I grew up in the mid '60's, with Triumphs and MG's, and routinely drove from Lincoln, NE, to and from DC where my family and girlfriend was (the one I later married, who ran off with a lawyer when I was in the Bush in Vietnam), and so just went prepared, with assorted spares, putting 44K miles on my first car, a TR4 in the year I owned it. When I was in college, it was work to drive an English roadster, esp in the winter, when I would go out several times in the cold nights to start and warm it up, so it would start in the AM, and putting sterno cans under the sump to heat the oil (lousy multigrade oils back then), avoiding of courrse the oil drips.
When I would arrive at a party, and walk in, I would be greeted with "It's Hal, he made it", as that was never a sure thing. Once, drove that tuff little TR 1100 miles with no oil pressure, arriving in the DC area with the bearings pounded out, sump filled along the way with 90 wt gear oil. New bearings, and It was good to go. Fuses, relays, enough tools to do up to a roadside camshaft replacement. Once completed a long trip only by removing the shoe laces from my Converse Chuck Taylor's to tir the sparkplug wires onto the engine.
In the decade I drove our Superformance Cobra, on long trips, I carried a spare alternator, belts, and usually a spare starter, and have replaced all of them at one time or another in Interstate Rest stops. Once, took off the starter, and drove it for several weeks without one, just parking on slopes to fire it from a clutch drop when rolling down hill. Several years ago, Chris and I coming back from the Rolex, found the Cobra starting to dart this way and that with power on/off, and thinking it was a loose rack and pinion, pulled into a rest stop, ran the front up onto the curb, and snugged down all the gearing. Turned out a rear axle nut was coming undone. Interestingly, this past Rolex, following Chris in our GT3, noted something dragging and hanging down from the right front of our car, pulled into the same reststop, ran it up on a curb and found a dangling, dragging front brake duct, and pulled it off, and were on our way in a few minutes.
So, in the over half century I have been driving hither and yon, I have no concern or anxiety with taking any car on a road trip. Small problems, like a tire puncture, or bigger problems, there will always be a viable solution.
My son Chris and I are heading out in about three weeks from Coastal SC to western NE, to run the Sandhills Challenge, a 52 miles up and back open road event on a winding rural road. Can't wait to start. He and I prepped our car two weeks ago, checked the Shroths, put the BK harness bar back in, added an extinguisher, and just recently had the engine out for BBI pipes welded and the usual consumables replaced by Zuffenhaus near Charlotte.
Remember, there is likely coming a time for younger owners and enthusiasts when traveling the open road in high performance cars will be greatly limited if not forbidden. So do it now, and then you can savor the memories for the rest of your life.
Drove my GT3 from Marin to Big Sur then off to Laguna Seca to visit some friends this past weekend. Trip and drive was epic. This, even with my fat rear in the sport buckets. 8hrs of driving time and it was comfortable and awesome.
I've done many trips in this car (28k miles and counting) and wouldn't hesitate. The 997 GT3 may be the best dual purpose car ever made.
Timing was right and have never driven across the US. Picked up my 996 GT3 in Jacksonville, FL and drove diagonal returning to Seattle, WA in 8 days. Met a friend half way in Denver and we completed the road trip. Drive was epic with only one issue. The rear OEM tire reached the cords in Boise, ID. so had to source some rears.
Might only get one chance to do something like this, if timing is right and you have ability to experience, would recommend.
You can but it won't be the most comfortable. Driving a GT3 on a long straight highway is kind of a waste to me. Now if there are some scenic twisty routes like through big sur then hell yes. I had a blast in a BMW 128i convertible automatic blasting through that area when I drove from LA to SF.
I've driven my RS from Chicago to Atlanta, did a track weekend at Road Atlanta, and then left the track after my last session and drove straight through to Florida. No problems.
In April, I did a weekend at Sebring and headed out from Sebring to Chicago. Only problem was not realizing GPS would route me through the Florida Turnpike and I had to stop and pay cash for tolls since I didn't have a Florida Sunpass.
It's not like a stock 997 GT3 is some rip-snorting, badly idleing, shaking in your shoes, sweat inducing, toaster on wheels.
I had a Viper GTS which was like that - a pain over long distances... I drove it from NY to Florida Keys... Horrible. I drove it from UK to Austria... Horrible. It was a sauna inside, with the exception of an a/c vent pointed at your junk. It slammed and steered itself over irregular surfaces. It had a Nautalus Leg Press for a clutch and sat you just enough off-centre to ensure L4/5 would be herniated after a few hours.
The GT3 clutch is firm for a modern car, but no more than that. Pick normal seats if you're not a track junkie. Done. Enjoy.
Houston to Jupiter, FL in the first two days of ownership. Then a trip up to Myrtle Beach and back and another to Hilton Head and back. Plus a few others such as down to the Florida Keys, across to the Florida west coast etc. I love the road trips. I try to stop every 2.5 to 3 hours just to stretch the legs as I tend to get a lower back ache in any car I drive for long distances.
I never really notice the harsh ride or heavy clutch any time I drive as it's what I am used to and have never driven anything else. The only thing that does get to me is if I have a passenger in longer trips is the exhaust note. It's not until you drive for a long time in something quieter that you realise the difference. Fine if you are solo and not trying to chat with each other.
She's perfect for long drives. My only concern is that my radio does not have ipod hookup. There's plenty of room in the frunk and decent space for a cooler and food in the back. Took it up to the snow not too long ago
07-01-2015, 11:01 AM
