24Chromium

Some photos from Spa-Francorchamps...

signes

Great shots! Looks like a blast. First time driving Spa?

24Chromium

Yes, first time and hopefully just the beginning of many. I enjoyed it immensely. I'll post video once I'm home.

Kobalt

Have a safe trip!

ir_fuel

Hi there!

24Chromium

Hey! It was a treat to meet you yesterday. I'm jealous you were flogging a Cup, while I was in a street car. Well... then again, street tires were the best choice considering all the rain.

Thanks for not running over the newbie!

24Chromium

My track days are now complete for my first leg of my ED (I'm returning in August for more, then I'll be returning the car for shipment home).

I spent about 10 days at Nürburg. I did Touristfarhten the Saturday (in the rain!) and Sunday upon my arrival. Then evenings during the week. I did the Porsche Sport Driving School, with the first day on the GP track and the second day on the Nordschleife. In all, about 60 laps of the Green Hell. I have to say, it takes a tremendous amount of courage to go flat out around all the blind corners and crests. Especially during Touristenfarhten! I'm happy to report I never encountered a tour bus or a van. But I did see a DHL van lapping from my balcony one evening. My last day I did a track day with trackdays.de. It was about as low-key and informal as you could imagine. The downside was that the talent and experience wasn't that much better than Touristenfarhten, so I didn't set any personal bests. It was also pretty wet all day, which didn't help.

I just completed two days at Spa, running with RSR. Wow! What a great experience! RSR really pulls out all the stops. More than enough food, drinks, and at the last hour, wine and cheese.

I did the track walk both mornings. We only stopped at 2 corners, but I got a lot out of it. Ron Simons is quite a character too. And you know you're not in the USA, as his jokes and comments might have offended some. I had 4 hours of instruction to start, then I was on my own. I went quicker and quicker each session (well, I did during the dry runs!) and was thrilled to leave with the car intact. Someone in a new RS wasn't so lucky, putting it into the wall at the exit of La Source.

Spa was soooooooo very good! I'll be back!

For now, my track days are complete. I'm off to Paris to pickup a friend. Then we are off to see the race at Le Mans. We'll do some touring around north western France before flying home.

24Chromium

One small snag. I ran over a piece of debris on my 2nd day at Spa. After the car sat for a hour, while I was waiting for the rain to relent, I found my right front tire had lost about 6 psi. I knew it had to be from the debris (a bit of bodywork from one of the race cars). I filled it and continued with my day with no issues. However, when I arrived back at my hotel, sure enough, I was down again by the same amount. I awoke in the morning to find I'd lost 10 psi. Fortunately, there is a Porsche workshop next door to the hotel. They removed the tire and immediately found a fastener had caused a puncture. I'd already worn the tires down to near the wear bars, so I opted for a new set. Lots of rain in the forecast, so why tempt fate.

I'm safe and sound here in Paris now and looking forward to attending Le Mans.

24Chromium

At this point, I would like to thank all of those who went before and documented their adventures. I gleaned a tremendous amount from them and want to pass it along as well. I'm sorry I cannot cite or credit those who deserve it, but hopefully this helps those of you planning on doing ED in the future.


Arrive at least 2 days prior to ED date. I wish that I had come 3 days earlier, as I did not have time to visit the Mercedes museum.

Get a decent data plan for your mobile phone! I did and promptly ran out of cellular data two weeks into my trip. My how we rely on our phones!

ED affords one night free hotel stay.

The Porsche Museum is located at the "Neuwirtshaus/Porscheplatz" S-Bahn railway station. Take the S-Bahn line S6 towards Weil der Stadt/Leonberg. The latest timetables are available here: www.vvs.de
4 stops on the S6 line. €2.80 each way, and it drops you right at the Museum
The stop for the Steigenberger Hotel is Hauptbahnhof
From: Stuttgart, Hauptbahnhof
To: Stuttgart, Neuwirtshaus (Porscheplatz) Bahnhof
9:18 or 9:28 AM I took the train exclusively. Very convenient and easy. Never used the taxi vouchers.

Buy Porsche swag prior to ED, so you don’t have to lug it around. Great advice!

10% discount on PSDS w/ED (only in Birmingham, per the dealer delivery tool)

6000 km (3,728 mi) limit on ED travel. I'm not sure if this is accurate, since Trakcar did much more than this on both his ED adventures.

Get the EU maps loaded on PCM. It is worth it. A shortcut that I learned was to enter the zip code instead of the city. It helps pinpoint the location to avoid confusion. Yes!

Front license plate: At Stuttgart, they will give you a tow hook mount if you request it. I met a gent who picked up a GT4 in Leipzig. They tie-wrapped it to his radiator grill.

Get Green zone sticker (Umweltplakette), as Stuttgart is now requiring it. When I asked about this, I was told that my Zoll plate would suffice. I never got stopped anywhere for it.

Pick up the car, and drive it under the museum. They will let you park there for a few minutes for photos. I asked about doing this and was told that you needed to ask permission first. I ended up not doing it, as it was late, the light was low and the sky was grey.

Your PCA card will get you an additional discount at the Porsche Museum.

If you get back to the Zeppelin before 5pm you should get a pretty good parking spot. The garage was a big challenge for me. You need to pull up and take a ticket to get in. I thought my room key would allow me entry. It does not.

The Porsche factory specialist that introduces your car can help you if you need them during ED travels. I just called him on his cell and prearranged a windshield repair with no fuss.

Gas station (Tankstelle), fill the car with unleaded (bleifrei, ****. BLY-FRY) gasoline.

Use only 95 or 98 octane fuel aka: Eurosuper. I only used 98.

At autobahn and other gas stations, you pump gas and then go inside to pay the cashier. The cashier will ask for your pump number. You can pay cash or use a credit card. Some stations require pre-payment during late hours, but usually you pay after you pump. Non-autobahn stations in Germany may or may not accept credit card payment. Look for the usual credit card logos at the door or by the register.

Toll (Maut) roads are common in France. The queue is long and the toll charge is very high!

Traffic jam (Stau). Thankfully, I didn't encounter any.

Square blue sign w/white number = suggested autobahn speed

Round white sign in red circle w/black numbers = legal limit. Rarely posted, you are expected to know.

Driving on the autobahn can be draining. After two hours or so, it’s wise to take a break. The autobahn has rest stops (Raststätten) with gas stations, restaurants, shops, picnic tables and toilets (with an entrance fee of 70 euro cents!). There are also more modest stops along the way with just picnic tables and parking. Take advantage of these for occasional breaks from driving. I found it to be a breeze.

If you plan to drive into Austria, CZ, or CH, buy the vignette (toll pass). Also, CH is very strict with speeding. Be careful.

Kobalt

FWIW:

I think that you are supposed to know that the default speed limits are:

- 50 km/h within city limits

- 100 km/h between cities

- Free speed on Autobahn

So when passing a City-begin-sign you are supposed to know that the speed limit is 50 and when passing the City-ends-sign the speed is 100.

signes

Sounds like a fantastic trip. Will be there in a few weeks, thanks for putting that list together.

24Chromium

The speed limits are confusing to me. I read that in Germany, the Autobahn is limited to 130 kph, unless you see the unlimited sign. In Belgium and France the posted limits on the highways was also 130. France actually has signs that state 110 kph if it is raining.

What I saw in my pals rental car was that his navi showed the posted speed limit. If anyone knows how to set that for display on the PCM or dash, I'd be ever so grateful to know. I searched the menus a few times to get it to display, but what I found led me to believe it should already be displayed - but it's not. Ugh.

TRAKCAR

^^ right very helpful. Click on info with nav on and you get a screen with data.
In the Macan anyway.

Ferrarisimo

What did you do about a mobile plan? Did you get a SIM card or opt for a mifi?

gmgracing

I have enjoyed reading your coverage quite a bit. Please feel free to post some pictures of Le Mans!