Commute Question

Looking for feedback on anyone who does long commute in your 996. How far? What model? I'm looking for some more enjoyment in my 150 mile each way commute (only twice a week though). I'm a previous 911 Porsche owner ... I'm ready to ditch the Bimmer and rejoin the family. Thanks!

40 miles each way, primarily freeway. A lot more fun when it's not stop and go traffic. When I have time I get off the freeway and take backroads through hills and canyons. That's a LOT more fun! One thing to be aware of -- occasionally bit of road noise from the rear tires. Depends on how worn they are, and is highly dependent on the condition of the road. Most of my commute it's not an issue, but there's one stretch where the freeway is very noisy. Gnome '01 C2

As a Porsche enthusiast, I'm not sure that's the best vehicle for a long (presumably) interstate drive. I use my ttX50 for a 60 mile round trip, and it's great. But, most of the time I have clear roads, can cruise in the 85mph range, and have a few nice twisty bits on the way home. For longer trips, I tend to prefer on of our other cars (BMW 850CSI, 05A6, or 00E55). I find I wind up wanting the radio and less road noise on the longer trips. Things like small tank size, tire wear, and road noise get more important on long interstate commutes. I'd be interested in the opinion of others. Maybe I'm just getting old. AS

8 miles of some nice twisties to the Metro link commuter train station. Then 40 miles on the train with coffee and the paper along side some of the most crowded freeways in So Calif. At the end of the day, back on the train, a couple of e-mails, get in the P-car and 8 miles back on the twisties to the garage! Brad 2002 Coupe Orange Cap K&N H&R GHL LOUD

I do 100 miles round trip 3+ times a week. I bought my 996 knowing well that I'd have that commute. I considered an s4 or m3 because they would be more comfortable but I knew I'd regret it whenever I'd see a 996 pass me on the freeway. It may be a bit less comfortable, but I like to live without any regrets. George 03 Seal Grey 996

I drive 36 miles each way, 5 days per week. It's mostly highway at 80-ish MPH. Not a bad drive.

I drive 135 Km ( 75 Miles ??) round trip 5 days a week when it's not snow season. I drive my 40th Ann most days. Once in a while I take the winter beater just to remind me how nice the P-Car is. I have to do that once in a while so that I don't take my 996 for granted.

I bought the 996 for a daily commute of 80 miles roundtrip, highway at 70-85mph (its Detroit what did you expect) cause life is a one way trip, and the p-car is energizing when i arrive at both destinations. No regrets. Even putting on the PSE this week to make it sound better (louder) cause its better than the radio crap around here. "There are no second acts in American life"- F. Scott Fitzgerald

I drive 22 miles each way 5 days a week into NYC. Both highway at 80 mph and stop and go heavy traffic. I love it (only wish I could do something about the fiber optic radio so my iPod works without an FM modulator). In the late fall I put on my snow tires and I'm set to go in any weather. The only daily driver I enjoyed almost as much was my '01 M5, and it didn't look half as good and its top didn't go down...

Unfortunatley I drive in Los Angeles traffic each day, about 30 miles each way.... Because I come to work early right now I get some stop and go but I also get some sprints..... 115 MPH sprint this morning.... -Eli

Do you get on MetroLink in San Clemente? I've notice a nice P-car (charcol TT) in the ML parking lot there!! Sounds exactly like miy commute - 3 miles of OK road to Metrolink train station then 43 miles on the train with coffee and newspaper, checking the surf at Trestles, looking at blasted traffic on 405 and 5. End of day, reverse except get off train and into P-car and take a top down cruise along Pacific Coast Hwy to unwind.

I drive 500 miles weekly in my 02 996 Targa - NYC traffic can be a trip, a ture test of ones reflexes... No problems thus far. Somethings Stop and Go can be a PITA - but at the end of the day, I still smile

Great feedback so far. It sounds like this should work well for me. I have a lots of variety in my drive. It starts with about 65 miles of wide-open highway. Then 40 miles of hills and turns, country roads etc, then a relaxing 50 miles of highway of which only the last 25m or so have traffic. I guess I was mainly concerned about driving so many miles but that obviously isn't an issue. I don't have to deal with snow, but what tire setup would be good for such a variety of conditions?

So now that you've got the feedback...... How about some photos..... -Eli

I'm happy to send photos when I buy the car... I'm shopping for it now. I can't imagine you want to see photos of the '03 5-series BMW (Also have a MB - ML & SLK) ...

We love pics--any pics--your cars--your wife--your girlfriends(especially your girlfriends)--your kids--your home--just pics-- Seriously--good luck on your hunt. You'll love your 911

Brad, I bet that P-car ride at the end of the day is a great stress reliever.

I can't really comment on the daily commuting because I usually walk to work, but when I've had to stay over at my parents place (they live in CT - about an hour trip) and drive into work the following day, I cannot stand sitting in stop-and-go traffic. Although I enjoy being in the 996, sitting in traffic w/manual is just not fun. Then there is always that option to drive or take the train. Rather drive anyday of the week. With that said, if your commute is not predominantly traffic-infested, then go with the 996 -- you will love it. But if theres more waiting then there is driving, I would personally go with a nice, luxury sedan that has a good stereo, more comfortable seats and better gas mileage. IMO

Do you get on MetroLink in San Clemente? I've notice a nice P-car (charcol TT) in the ML parking lot there!! 996pilot: I get on in Tustin, off in Norwalk. If you look waaaaay in the back of the parking lot, last end cut you will see my car (Artic Silver) Cheers.

Right on.... I have an M3.... -Eli

i did 40k miles last year in my old 996. i thought it was very comfortable for long commutes and no more tiring in traffic than my previous bimmer (m5). mpg avg'd ~23 on the hwy.

Toally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice and Nice!.... I do a smalish commute compared to other posts, 40 miles roundtrip exactly... and even during bumper to bumper traffic @ 10 mph, they are to be enjoyed fully!...

Eli -- you doing the 110 to downtown? I have had some nice sprints at 0530-0600 in the mornings too...

More feedback. I do a 120 mile (one way)commute, twice a week, with a 60 mile rt everyday for the remainder of the week. Without too much traffic it is 2 hours door to door, and of course it can be longer. The 996 is as comfortable as any car for that long of a commute. Your left foot rests at an angle because of the intruding wheel well, and you will notice that after a couple of hours. The car's ride is smooth and the performance, (especially the brakes) makes the car a real pleasure to drive. Because the car brakes so much faster than almost anything else on the road, you learn to look in your rearview mirror very quickly when braking hard. You will also know if your tires are not balanced perfectly or your alignment is out. Unbalanced tires make noise, and it gets steadily worse as they wear. A long commute will keep you intouch with the smallest deviation in your car's performance. For long commutes, the car is a dream, on nice days. When the weather is crappy, you feel pretty damn small on the road compared to other vehicles. By comparison I also drive an Audi A6 quattro bi-turbo, a chevy Tahoe and a 928 GT. I put the 996 away for the winter months because the inclement conditions and poor visability make commuting in heavy traffic a bit too nerve wracking. One other thing about long distance commuting in a 996 (or any Porsche). It is an ******* magnet....you have to get use to ignoring the jerks who want to race.

Yep --- I see it there most days as I get off in Tustin.

Gretch, completely agree with your observation. The other day I switched vehicule with my wife and he first comment was "Do you notice that people want to speed up to you on the highway ?"...yep, learn to ignore them. The only time it makes me nervous is when you have an old car or a minivan up your **** and you sart to think about their lack of good brakes...makes you move overand let them pass you.

Yep, it is either highly defensive driving, or going like a bat out of hell.......but nothing in between. I also stay away from the front of big trucks. One other thing, after a couple hours of driving, 85 mph does not seem fast. Blip to get around a left lane hog, and be surprised how quickly you are going WAY OVER the speed limit. Being that it is a small car, it hides well in radar shadows.....you learn to get very proficient in that aspect of driving, as with laser and instant-on, detectors are usless for highway driving.

Why yes, I did just resurrect a 12 year old thread. Because I'm wondering the same thing. I'm looking at a 996 C4 Cab, but for 13 weeks in the fall I will have two days a week that I have a 120 mile (one way) commute. I know it isn't practical. I'm not worried about practical, I want the car. I know that will shorten the time for maintenance, putting that many miles on it a week. I am just wondering, though, how bad an idea this is. You know, the idea that I'm about 99% going to do anyway.

I cannot stand being in traffic. I also cannot stand other drivers....so bus it is for me. Went to the looser cruiser about 10 years ago, and haven't looked back since.

3.5 mile commute each way for me. Unfortunately the speed limit only gets to 40 mph so it's not that great of a commute as far as driving a 911 goes. But it's still beats driving just about anything else.

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The only other car that might make sense is a Tesla. Because the autopilot feature could, depending on circumstances, literally put dollars back into your pocket in time savings. But you asked, "is this a bad idea," and I'd like point out the 590,000-mile 996 Turbo that was a highway car was used for a similar purpose. It's not really any worse an idea than buying a car and just using it semi-regularly.

I bought my 996 a few months ago to replace my Mustang GT. I drive 30 miles round trip four or five times a week, mostly through the woods. Lots of turns and I rarely get above 50 mph. I enjoy the 996 more than the Mustang. I do have to watch out for wildlife though. Two weeks ago, the road was blocked by a large flock of buzzards eating a dead critter, possibly a coyote. Last fall I had a bear run across the road in from of me, while I had the top down on the Mustang. Made me a little nervous since I had to slow way down. Could have been a bear snack! Of course there are deer everywhere. Probably the greatest hazard. This is in upstate South Carolina. I may have to commute once a week to Atlanta beginning this fall. It would be about 130 miles one way. Not sure if I want to use the 996 for that. I will probably try it once to see. Atlanta traffic can be awful.

On a drive in my Boxster up through Wisconsin one time and I had a black bear ran across the road just ahead of my car. It wasn't a close call but I was surprised. My first bear sighting. I thought about stopping and getting a picture if possible then I got to thinking the only thing between me and the bear was the canvas top of my Boxster. I sped up instead.

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Smart move! Bears can tear a car up. The canvas top wouldn't even slow them down.

20 miles each way to and from work in my 2000 C2, so about a 30 minute drive each way mostly highway. Used to drive 120 miles round trip to work every day (in an automatic 128i no less). I used to despise the drive, now with the C2...., kind of miss it.

If your commute is on a beautiful, wide, open road, the 996 is the ideal vehicle. If you have an 80% chance that you'll be in stop-and-go traffic all the way, like me (and the 80% figure isn't even BS. Unless it's Friday morning, there's traffic in San Diego. We call this event "Friday morning light" traffic.) Once your commute involves at least half an hour of stop-and-go a day, you'll want a car that (a) doesn't have a clutch, and (b) can take a serious hit from behind without endangering the driver, because every idiot on the planet is unable to resist the allure of the cell phone calling to them from the passenger seat. Pick me up! Read your texts! Reading that message from your GF explaining why she's refusing to send you nudes is WAY more important than not rear-ending the car in front of you... I'd probably drive my 996 anyway if it wasn't for that last part. If some moron hits me hard enough to pop the airbags, my original-paint 996 will probably become a salvage titled, freshly painted 997-look 996, and I will have found a way to make it worth less than almost every other 996 on the road, which is saying something.

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Ha! Wide open road, long stretches without stops.

You're gonna need a radar detector.

100 mile round trip on the Central Coast of CA. 25 miles highway @ 80+ then 25 miles of two lane country road at speed then 50 miles home on twisties. If it was not for work, it would be a great day.

That's a wonderful commute for California even with work at the end!

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Evidently the OP thought was a bad idea....at least he never came back with the pictures he promised!

I lovingly pounded the Porsche fun out of my C45 72 miles each way for three years. The Best. Traffic Commute. Apex Predator EVER. lots of fun and with careful high speed driving ZERO tickets. now a 7 mile commute and sometimes i miss those early pre dawn redline runs.

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OR it was such a good idea that he's too busy driving to stop and take pictures!

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Apex Predator - that made my morning. Where in Florida?

I drive 100 miles round trip every day. The first 10 miles in the morning are stop and go or at least slow, highway traffic. Yes, the clutch gets annoying but I don't mind since I know I have open freeway ahead. I picked up the 996 in January and live in Wisconsin so I've been working it into the rotation for the last few weeks. I justified the purchase by saying I would give my car to my wife ('17 Audi A4) to drive while I would daily the 996. I mix in an '82 928 sometimes too. It makes the end of the work day even sweeter knowing that I get to drive the 996 home. On days where I have something else, like my wife's old Kia Rio today, it makes the drive home a complete bore but it does remind me how good I have it with the other options.

I live in the suburbs, and work in downtown Los Angeles. The shortest route is nearly all freeways, at 23 miles. Usually, I drive a VW Golf to work, but once a week or so, I'll take the 996. Fortunately, I work odd hours, so the commute in occurs before traffic gets going in the morning, and I get to leave before the return trip gets too bad in the afternoon. There are a few routes available, so I may go 32 miles on the way home, if that's the quickest route. In the 996, it takes 5 miles for the water temp to come up, and another 5 miles for the oil to come up to temp. Even in traffic, the 996 is an engaging drive, and commuting in the 996 makes for a more entertaining day.