15 Hr Road Trip in my new 40th Anniversary 996 (long)

Heyas 996'ers, What a day/night! I fly into Georgia and buy RL'er 40th Mike's 996 AE #891. I then hit the Atlanta rush hour traffic and make it back to Dallas in about 15 hours. I thought I would share my experience as a brand new/first time/newbie/green/don't have a clue what I'm doing/have no business owning a Porsche/new Porsche owner! First off, I would like to thank Mike for selling his baby. You should have seen the pain on his face as I was trying to learn the clutch. Haha. (I haven't driven a manual in 20-25 years). During the "sales" process Mike mentioned he was worried about buyers remorse and me backing out. I can assure you there is no buyers remorse. But there was a hella lot of sellers remorse! It was like one of those movies where the parents are forced to watch while one of their children is taken from them. So after 15 hours on the road I thought I would share my first impressions. I don't need to tell you guys these things, but for people like me who spent months on this board before ever posting, maybe something here will be helpful for a prospective buyer. Things I liked: Performance (of course). So I get on the road and after making it out of Atlanta, we start to pick up some speed to about 55 mph. I get behind an 18 wheeler who immediately starts shooting pebbles at me. I can't take that more than a second, so I hit the gas for what seemed like 3-4 seconds, go around the semi, look down at the speedometer and it says 90 mph. I was shocked how fast I got there, and how it felt like 70, not 90. The ride was bumpy/stiff but that's exactly what I expected. It's a sports car. The interior feel. It felt like a glove. Comfortable seat (no back issues after 15 hours thanks to my patented in-seat stretching and low rider techniques). For whatever reason, where I put my elbows in a car is very important and the elbow positions were perfect. Cruise control worked well. Easy controls. Unless the on board computer was lying to me, I was getting 30 mpg on average over the trip. 6th gear, around 75 mph/3k rpm most of the trip. Listened to radio... country, pop and even some classical, but it wasn't until some 1979 classic Ozzy came on that the Bose system was tested, and it passed with flying colors. GHL mufflers: Don't make any noise at cruising speeds, but give such a nice loud deep purr from 4k to 6k. Good for neighbors (low noise if you choose) and impressing friends at the same time. Top thing liked over a 15 hour drive: If you put your wrists on the steering wheel, the dash is a perfect distance for some air piano playing, a la John Candy in Planes Trains and Automobiles. Things I didn't like: 18 wheelers spitting rocks everywhere. Pot holes/construction shifts in the road. The suspension is so stiff that I felt like those potholes were hurting the car. I cringed every time. Overall it was a great trip. I started to hallucinate about the 14 hour mark, but I made it home at 4:30 am. To anyone considering one of these babies, I couldn't recommend them enough. Based on all the issues one reads on this board, my eyes were constantly reviewing the gauges, and looking for a CEL. There was none. I was sure I would come out to a puddle of oil today, and not a drop. For preventative maintenance purposes, I have an appointment with RAC here in Dallas to do the RMS/IMS and clutch all at the same time. Questions: While I am having them do the RMS/IMS, is there anything I should definitely have them do at the same time? AOS, or do I wait for that to go bad and then fix? Water pump or can I do that myself? Alternator? Other preventative maint items? I plan to be a DIY'er and the water pump looked not that bad on a video I watched. But I don't think I want to get into dropping the engine any time soon, so the AOS is out for me. Finally, I find myself constantly looking into my garage just to look at her. Is there something wrong with me? Steve's MLC = Mid Life Crisis. If I don't respond, I'm out detailing my 911. PS. I used Mike's pictures because quite frankly, his street looks a lot nicer than mine.

Steve congrats on owning a beautiful 40th AE. It sounds like your had a great experience on your maiden voyage back home. I also had my RMS/IMS/Clutch done at RAC Performance about a year ago right after I bought my car. I decided at that time to also do the water pump. Good luck and enjoy. -Randy

Coooool hi hi. I imagine words aren't enough after the first crusie. For washing I advise getting a bucket than you can put one of the grill sort of things on the bottom that keeps the grit settled on the bootm and not getting back on what you are washing the car with. Some detailers use a sperate bucket for between lower section and upper section of the car. Wash your microfiber cloths seperate in the laundry. There are some great waxes out there. Thanks for posting pics. A general idea of location in your profile so that it shows in the threads can help you get into guys doing local cruises or help finding good sources. Take care and enjoy!

such a nice car! congrats arent mlc's fun!

Congrats on your new Porsche Steve, sounds like a great trip so you can become one with your beautiful Porsche. Welcome to Rennlist.

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Congrats and welcome! We all started out as noobs at some point, so ask away, someone on here is bound to know the answer. Congrats again. DS

Thanks guys! Almost forgot. One of the many construction zones had a "caution" machine that told you how fast you were going. I slowed down to the speed limit 60mph. The car said 60, and the machine said 57. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the speedomoters are out of whack. Roughly speaking, that's a 5% difference. So does that mean instead of 58,000 miles, my car really has 55,000 miles?

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Speedos aren't out of whack. They are purposefully built to over report. MFGs can get in some serious trouble if their gauge is found to under report, so they build them to have some buffer regardless of the wheel/tire sizes on the car.

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Congrats on the great car Proper Porsche syntax would be "Steve's LLO" - It is not a Mid Life Crisis, it is a Life Long Obsession.

Shamus, I will have to think about a swap to LLO. I'm pretty darn obsessed that's for sure. After several hours I've vacuumed every nook and cranny, dusted, cleaned anything that looked half way dirty (Mike did a pretty good job), used leather cleaner on ALL the leather. Then applied leather conditioner from my fancy shmancy leather couches and the "wear" that Mike quoted me on the drivers seat and door is all but gone after 3 applications of conditioner. I will check it in the light tomorrow. That has got to speak to the grade of leather that Porsche uses. Resilient stuff. Pac996, any detailing help is encouraged. I've been on autogeek.net and they have some good info. I was thinking of getting some Swisswax stuff and even though it's crazy priced, the stuff seems to last for years, but if you think I might be good with Meguiars or another, let me know.

Congrats! great purchase.

Welcome from another Dallas area member - great write up! RAC is awesome and will take good care of you. Make sure you start going to Cars and Coffee at Classic BMW the first Saturday of every month - show that puppy off!

Welcome aboard.

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heres a good thread i started this summer on detailing...some real detailing pros on here... https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...errerid=116195 happy detailing!

Congrats on the new car Steve. you cant beat the guys at RAC if you need something but why dont you give it a try yourself? Great chance to learn about your new car.

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KrazyK, thanks for your vote of confidence but I am a neophyte. I will tackle the maintenance items like brakes, spark plugs and air filters, but I don't think I'm ready to drop the engine at this point. I could really screw something up, and then I will be, well, screwed. Hopefully in a year or so I will be ready to start doing more advanced maintenance.