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aahhhh....

It was really starting to annoy me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach it. Finally, in desperation, I went out and rented something to help scratch that annoying itch -- a new silver 911 (or 996). After months of being away from my car, I would be able to drive a Porsche again.

The sky is blue, the grass is green, the Porsche is silver...
(photo: Cargirl Jun-1998)

I’m sure you’ve read all of the gory details of the new 996 by now -- how its smaller engine is more powerful than the previous 993s, how it’s bigger, wider, roomier than last year’s model. I’ll try not to bore you with these details. You can pick up any other car magazines, or even Panorama, and get that information. Instead, I’ll inflict my vacation on you.

When Cargirl and I picked up the 996 from the rental agency, I was greeted with my only disappointment of the car -- it was a 5-speed Tiptronic. I prefer a manual transmission, and I wanted to try out the a 6-speed, but I thought I’d give it a chance since I’ve never driven a Tiptronic before. This is the new 5-speed Tiptronic. An indicator inside of the tachometer tells you which gear it was in, and whether it is on Drive or Manual. Shifting in the Manual mode was done only through the thumb switches on the steering wheel. Click up for an upshift, down for a downshift. To get reverse, you had to move the shift lever on the console.

We tried to do some acceleration runs so I could record some 0-60 mph and quarter-mile times. The lack of a good coffee cup holder dampened our experience, however, so I’ll have to do that some other time. Shifting quickly with the Tipronic was fast and easy, with the controls pretty easy to reach with your thumbs. It added a video-game quality experience to the driving.

Prior to this car, I had driven only one other 911 -- a 993 Carrera 4 briefly, so I can’t really compare the two. It was some time before I could drive this 996 anyway. I couldn’t pry the keys away from Cargirl. She drove from Regensburg towards Stuttgart for a Porsche factory tour the next day. The trip is normally three hours, but with the weather and construction traffic, it took us over four hours. There are fewer and fewer places on the autobahn where one can go as fast as one dares. The car felt much like any sporty sedan (from the passenger seat). There didn’t seem to be any problems driving in the rain (it had Bridgestone Potenza S-02 tires).

The autobahns here are very smooth. You can’t even sense the expansion joints in the pavement. The 996 was a joy to drive in this environment. We spent kilometer after kilometer of autobahn getting people to move out of our way.

On our third day in the car, we drove down towards the Alps to see some castles. Passing on two-lane roads did not seem to be a problem. With a quick shift of the thumb, slower traffic were quickly dispatched to the rearview mirror (who writes this stuff!?).

People did stare at the car a lot, which I found surprising in Germany. Maybe they were actually staring at Cargirl. In any case, the funniest comment I heard was when we asked for directions to Alpina, an auto manufacturer that starts with BMWs and makes them faster. When I asked the gas station attendant how long it would take to get there, he simply looked at our car and said that in that car, it wouldn’t take long at all. Well, I’m not actually sure if those were his exact words. He said it in German and we decided that’s probably what he meant, regardless of what he said.

On our last day with the car, we went up to Nürburgring to drive on the famous track. After finding the new entrance, Cargirl drove first in the pouring rain. Because of the conditions, there were a couple of times I felt very nervous in the passenger seat. I was actually comforted by Cargirl’s confidence in the car and the “it doesn’t get any better than this” look on her face, driving on a dangerous track in terrible conditions. She doesn’t know this (until now), but in retrospect I’m glad I let her drive the car first. It made me feel better when I got behind the wheel

On our way back to Regensburg, we hit construction traffic. After hours of fast driving, we sat idling in the car for over an hour. We turned off the engine a couple of times, but in general the engine temperature never moved from normal. It seemed to handle this better than my 944 Turbo engine.

So what do I think of this car? All in all, if I had $65,000+ burning a hole in my pocket, I would definitely buy one. After four days and 2300 kilometers, I found it drove well on the autobahns and the city streets. We didn’t drive it hard on the track, but it’s probably better than my car out there. It had plenty of room for two people plus our luggage. The rear seats are still small, but it could accommodate small kids (and me). I think even Cargirl liked the car. Amazingly, we only got stopped once, and the Polizei let us go without a ticket. About the only thing I would change is the transmission. I found the Tiptronic fun, but being a control freak, I still prefer shifting on my own. And I’m glad to see that after 50 years, Porsche has finally come to its senses and now makes only water-cooled engines. (I always knew air-cooled engines was just a phase they were going through.)

You’re probably wondering how fast we drove the car out in the wild, blue autobahn. I saw an indicated wimpy 251 km/h (156 mph) while Cargirl hit a more manly 262 km/h (163 mph). All I can say was I was driving uphill, against the wind, in traffic with the sun in my eyes. I’m waiting for a rematch.

<< July 1998<<

>> September 1998>>

(The BahnStormer is the official newsletter of the Rally Sport Region (Detroit area) of the Porsche Club of America. You can contact the editor at .)

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August 1998

aahhhh....