Carerra White - 1st Mountain Trip w/Photos

Spent the weekend on my first trip into the country driving tothe mountainsaround Karuizawa about1.5 hours northwest of Tokyo... Interesting cold weather testing as it was -6 degrees centigrade during theafternoon and about -14 in the morning. Porsche needs to do a bit more workin the area of cold weather functionality... The windshield washer sprayers froze solid and the heater, despite 2 cycles, couldn't manage anything. Was reduced to tossing 'clean' snow onto the windscreeen. The suspension boomed and was clearly much less supple when the temp dropped below -2. Learned that PSM has it's limits as I managed to the car completely sideways on a nice turn with a nasty piece of black ice tucked out of sight until way too late. Was able to recover instantly, no damage, but boy does something like that make your heart skip a bit on a narrow mountain road. Driving the twisties was immense fun, handling really akin to an Elise, only not quite as harsh. Didn't have to flash the highbeams once to clear the lane, folks saw (heard?)me coming and pulled into the slow lane (they have these on certain sections of uphill mountain roads here) so I had a pretty much uninterrupted run which led to... ...reread the third paragraph.Got the car up to200 kphon the highway for a short blast, but didn't really wind it out; still trying to take it a bit easy until I get 1000 kilometers on it. Have yet to see another Cayman on the road though I know that my dealer has delivered at least one other. Have gotten many comments from folks when stopped at gas stations, parking lots, etc. Oneguy whoparked nearby at aboutthe same time as Iwent back and forth between looking at me and the car while we all walked about 75 meters in the restaurant area at a rest stop. A lot of people of have read/heard about the Cayman and they arevery interested when they seeone in the flesh. Oh,(it bears harping on this point), it's kind of hard to get frost off the windscreen when the car is cold and the nozzles don't spray... A few photos...

Thanks for the report and pictures. Makes the last few weeks of waiting a little easier.

Friedman-san, Are you running the summer performance tires on that lovely white cayman??

Are u telling us that the defrost did not function? Mike

Am using the standard tires on the car. I stayed far away from roads if there was packed or deep snow. Defrost and interior heating work quite well once the engine is warm, but in cold temps my experience is that proper warmuptakes between 10-12 minutes.

Yourwhite car looks great in that landscape, very appropriate! Thanks for the photos and comments.

The tires your car is equipped with are summer performance tires, and are not suited to driving in temps below 45 degrees F. Even if the roads are dry, the operating temperature is never achieved, and the tires can be dangerous. I recommend you purchase a set of winter tires for your beauty, and you will be much safer in cold temps. Nokian makes a 19' winter tire, that would work great on your car.

Woodhouse...the stock sneakers are dangerous below 45. Is that just for spirited driving? I live in PA and will use the car at times in winter.

Friedman, Thanks for the report, I sure won't have to worry about those kind of conditions. The pics are excellent, and your car looks gorgeous in that backdrop. Aloha Russ

PACayman, It isn't that the stock sneakers are 'dangerous' per se below 45 degree it is simply that they will lose some of their capability and grip so if you are planning on them performing the same at -2 you may be in for a big surprise, hence Woodhouse's dangerous comment. I would concur with Woodhouse that if you are going to be doing a lot of winter time driving you should have winter tires on the car for grip and safety reasons. How 'dangerous' the summer tires are will depend upon the road conditions and your driving style.

that white looks incredible. do yo have any interior pics?

The white looks absolutely stunning against the fallen snow. Totally gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

I sure do like the looks of the white on your car. I ordered the same color and am glad to see it in some picss. If you could post any interior shots it would be great. Tires; I am wondering about using winter tires where I am at. The winter can get snow (2-6' total over many days) but the roads will get some ice. Not sure that winter tires would be worth the outlay for tires & wheels to have a second set for only 3 months use.

In my experience Winter tires are for more than just snowfall and icy roads. Winter tires warm up quicker when the temprature is very cold outside, meaning they get traction quicker than performance tires do. Performance tires become very hard in cold weather- they loose all of their stickiness.

friedman, many thanks for the driving update and pictures. You have a stunning car!

Carrera White really looks stunning! Thanks for the nice pic./fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/thumbsup.gif

Friedman- is your car right hand drive?

Friedman, I am an amateur photographer and I have to ask what kind of camera and settings were you using? Very nice composition in all your pics. Thanks Russ

Historically I've used either a Nikon F5 or F100, I recently purchased a D2X and am loving it. I have a bunch of different Nikkor lenses, a 16mm fisheye,14mm wideangle, 35-70 zoom, 80-200 zoom, and a 105 macro. I generally use aperture priority or manual, and split metering 50/50 between matrix meter and center weighted. I do mostly black & white and develop and print myself but the D2X is going to change all of this...

Be very careful. Friedman of Japan, your car looks killer in white with the red calipers, and the 19's. Very striking. Not to be a know it all..., but being a Midwesterner, who grew up as a teenager driving on the frozen ice rink after skating hours (most of the time, anyway). I had those same wheels on my 997, possibly the best 19 inch choice I think, (although I ordered the 10 spoke 19's because they are supposed to be the widest by .5 inches, have not seen many photos of those, there are a lot of the 12 spoked...). Anyhow, the wide 19 inch wheels with the performance tires mounted on them at delivery I see are a nightmare below 45 degrees. An absolute disaster waiting to happen, as it sounds like you've discovered. The night I sold my 997 with the same tires it was 3 degrees F, and I was able to snap the car sideways at 30 MPH in second gear simply by a rapid throttle jab, traveling in a straight line. Very instantaneous and unexpected from an 11' wide rear rim. About a month earlier (last year), my sales representative was out in a GT2 with a young man on a test drive who managed to demolish the test car because he lost traction due to the severe (about 10-20 degrees) cold, and a complete lack of common sense. True story. Just snapped sideways into the armco. Needless to say it was a problem. My 550i is wearing the snows from my old 545i, mounted on some nice 18" inexpensive ASA rims from the Tire Rack. The ride quality, handling, wet weather performance with modern performance snows is astounding. It's a lot like club racing my old Ducati 750SS in the rain, without rain tires, it's nearly impossible to compete, or even finish. With rain tires, I could easily lift the reat tire in puddles, hard on the front brakes, as well as lift the front tire on corner exit, again in the rain. Your car is totally hobbled by driving in weather cold enough to maintain snow on those 19 performance tires. Almost as bad, they are too wide for snow. I run a 18" X 8" front and 18 X 9" maximum rear. More tires available at lower cost in 18", plus more sidewall for the potholes. My 550i BMW owner's guide warns against driving on the OEM tires in the cold if the car has Summer Performance rubber. I believe the Porsche manual will offer a similar disclaimer. Another fringe benefit of modern high performance snow tires is that by rotating the tire set, you are effectively extending both of your tire set's useful life. Your snows will last 3-4 years. Very cheap insurance, and nothing inspires driver confidence than the correct tires for conditions. I won't drive in cold weather without my 18" Dunlop Sport Snows. Better drive "chill" on the OEM.

Friedman, That does explain it, the D2X is a mighty fine camera. I got my canon 20D last year and I am still learning how to make things work. It has taken my photography to a new level which is still far below yours. Thanks for sharing your car and the great job of photographing it. Aloha Russ/fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/thumbsup.gif

Friedman, dittos on the photo compliments. I've always been partial to white, especially on performance vehicles, think they're more subdued, understated and stealthy. Not having seen one in person yet, do you find the white color obscures some of the beautiful contours? Thanks for the nice write up.