Bournemouth Blast and Broken Betty

The last bank holiday we took a trip down to Bournemouth. The papers widely predicted chaos on the roads as people drove more miles over the weekend than before. A quick post on PistonHeads suggested an alternative route using A roads rather than motorways. It was a truly memorable drive. We set off late in the evening and the roads were quiet! The Porsche was in top form and we covered the ground with real pace, indeed the only car to overtake us, was another Porsche, who was venturing well into licence loosing speeds. It really is a brilliant car. SWMBO realised that we were travelling quickly but felt safe in the passenger seat. The suspension enables the car to grip like a limpet while the power is so smooth it feels effortless.

The Porsche Litronic headlights are amazing. These are high intensity discharge for dipped and conventional halogen for main beam. The dipped beam is very bright and clear, like no other car I’ve driven. It provides amazing confidence to see and press on. Then when you activate the main beam, the dipped level is raised to flood the road further. It is utterly brilliant.

The following day, we went for an excellent walk in the country. We passed Madonna’s country house, which is exquisite with acres of beautifully tended lawns, bordered by native flowers and trees. A few kilometres later, we met up with some paragliders and spent a pleasant hour sitting in the sun on the side of a hill.

It was a beautiful day and SWMBO fancied driving Betty. Top down, it was the perfect day for a drive in the country. The two girls set off in the Porsche with the boys following in the chase car. We met up again back in Bournemouth and I realised that the power steering wasn’t working!

SWMBO and I have this running joke that she breaks things. I’m not the only one to poke fun at her. Indeed, at an early age, her Nanna named her “Whelan the Wrecker” after the famous Australian demolition company! Of course the fault was not anything she did, but it was funny that it broke while she was driving!

After some more research on PistonHeads, the car is now with Camtune being repaired. It turns out that a low power steering fluid level caused the pump to overheat and melt the reservoir. They are a very refreshing garage to deal with. They don’t see Porsche owners as cash cows to be milked and take the time to explain the problem and resolution in detail. It might not be cheap, but you know where your money is being spent and that a good job is being undertaken. I can’t wait to get the car back next week.

Porsche Sports Exhaust

My Boxster came equipped with the factory Porsche Sports Exhaust (PSE). It’s a factory option that cost £912. Quite expensive, but for the money you’re getting an electronically controlled system that bypasses two of the three silencers under certain conditions. You can clearly see the bypass pipes to the left and right of the tip. Impressive on paper, but when I first got the car, with no reference point it didn’t seem particularly loud to me, although the note is beautiful. Having recently heard the standard exhaust, it’s not any louder, just more tuneful. Is it worth it though? Let me share two recent experiences.

Around the built up streets of Wapping, the wails and howls reverberate off the buildings. With the top down, it’s real spine tingling stuff. I recall at the weekend approaching a mini roundabout. I spotted two pedestrians standing just off the kerb. I was slightly perplexed as to why they weren’t crossing. I was only meandering at a couple of thousand rpm in first gear. Then I twigged, it was the noise! Based on the sound, they were expecting something to be racing down the narrow street! I stopped, smiles were exchanged and they crossed in peace.

The second experience was on Sunday. SWMBO and I had cabin fever and went out cruising round London. We had no idea that the Gumball 3000 was also setting off that day. We ended up crawling in traffic in one direction as the Gumballers passed travelling in the other. I was really surprised how many people turned out to see them off. I guess the dream of driving a fast car across Europe has more allure than I imagined! The streets were lined on one side and the central reservation with people keen to get a peak. The Ferraris and Porsches were revving hard, much to the delight of the spectators. I couldn’t resist it and gave my own flat six a good blip. The crowd looked round in surprise, they weren’t expecting the same flat six noise from behind them! As I sniggered and grinned to myself, I caught the eye of a couple. They were smiling and laughing too, they commented, “you should be on the other side!”. Priceless.

Long live the PSE. Hip, hip, HOORAY!

My Boxster S - a tantalising pic!

Purposeful.

Poised.

Performance.

A superlative road car.

(c:

Boxster Trip to Ace Cafe

Today I attended a PistonHeads Porsche meeting at the Ace Cafe in London.

The cafe itself is very interesting. It's themed on mods and rockers. Something I only vaguely remember from my childhood. Today the tyre marks on the road show that it's still a haunt of bike and car petrol heads with many regular meets there.

Breakfast was good, served as ever by our trusty eastern european migrant workforce. The conversation was also good and I gained a lot of useful info on where to go to have my car properly maintained.

The drive back was fantastic. Bright warm sunshine, top down, light traffic. Man and machine in perfect harmony. The corners flowed together, Same Man on Kiss 100 being punctuiated by the rasping howl of the sports exhaust. Beautiful!

Boxster S : First Impressions

My initial impressions on the Porsche are very good indeed. When I collected it, the car was clean, the tyre pressures correct and even the washer bottle was full! How refreshing to find an honest and reliable private seller.

Driving it back from Essex to London was a pleasure. The car is very responsive in any gear at any speed. The flat six configuration gives it a really smooth and free revving nature too. Sixth gear enables you to cruise along from 30mph – 160+mph and still effortlessly keep up with traffic. This makes progress really effortless. And if you do really want to overtake, just drop it a cog or two and squirt past in a very assured manner.

Ride and handling is also excellent. You get all the feedback you need along with assured roadholding and massive grip. Driving over a coin, you could probably guess if it was heads or tails, yet the ride is surprisingly supple. Indeed, the stiff chassis means that cobbles are dealt with easily. There’s none of the dreaded scuttle shake here. It really is a very elegant and effective setup.

Although SWMBO only had a short trip round London, she is really impressed too. She was very impressed with the comfort of the optional sports seats.

I can’t wait to use the car more to get to know it’s limits and capabilities better. Roll on the weekends away and trips to Europe!

Free Choice - or is it?

Isn’t it interesting when we go to a restaurant and are buying a bottle of wine? Everyone imagines it’s a free choice, but actually it’s not!

Imagine there were just two bottles on the wine list. One at £6 and a second at £18.

Now imagine there is a third bottle on the list at £34 a bottle. Are you more likely to buy the £18 bottle now? Most people are.

Porsche have done the same too with their model range. They have three sports cars. The Boxster, a convertible sportscar, the Cayman – a tin top Boxster and the 911 – the fastest in the range.

Before the Cayman it was just Boxster and 911. You either bought the cheaper, but very capable car, or the ‘ultimate’.

Now the Cayman – it is priced above the Boxster, despite being cheaper to produce than a convertible. Having a top makes it stiffer and so it will be better handling. Not that 90% of the owners will ever be able to tell the difference.

The case in point is the 911 / 911 cabriolet. The 911 cabriolet is more expensive!

So it’s all in the marketing. Make the Cayman more expensive than a Boxster and appear closer to the purist ideal of the 911 and people will buy it!

It’s no wonder Porsche is the most profitable car manufacturer in the world, making something like £15,000 per car sold.

Forget location, location, location. It should be marketing, marketing, marketing.

The Masochist

Boxster S!

I found a good one!

Much to my surprise, the first one I looked at had everything I wanted and at a price that both the seller and I were pleased with.

It has lots of nice options. 18" split rim alloys, litronic headlights, sports seats. Also has a full service history and is in top condition.

I can't wait to get my hands on it next week.

She's already been named Black Betty.

Boxster S

I think I may have made up my mind on a car – finally! I can imagine SWMBO’s relief. I think it has to be a Boxster S. It’s not cheap, but it is a wonderful car. The exhaust noise alone should be bottled and sold as an anti-depressant! I looked at all the costs (depreciation, servicing, tyres, fuel, insurance, tracker), and, for a second hand car, the cost of ownership is actually not too bad. I won’t be doing many track days in it, but the occasional jaunt across Europe will be most excellent!

A twisting road, no traffic, a centrally mounted tacho, 3.2 flat six singing as the wind whistles past your ears. Ahhhhhhh! . . . . . . . . SWBMO telling you to slow down.

Now to find a good one!