GT3 Diaries

September 2020: things are on fire

On a typical binge of automotive YouTube content, I encountered Brian Makse’s video review of the ND2 Mazda MX-5. Watching the presenter row through the manual gears in that little red roadster made me incredibly nostalgic about my previously owned ND1 Miata. The fourth-generation MX-5 is indeed a brilliant sports car, offering fun at any speed. The prototypical front-mid engine, rear-wheel drive convertible is also tiny in size, making it the perfect runabout in dense urban cities, provided you don’t need to carry any cargo, of both the people and inanimate objects variety.

The moment of nostalgia really made me want an ND2. The revised roadster comes with an updated engine, with more horsepower and revs higher. The steering wheel now offers telescope adjustment, which for someone like me who barely fits into an ND, is a godsend to finding the perfect driving position. For about high $20,000s, the current Mazda Miata still represents the bargain, no compromise sports car, the default answer to every question of what fun car to buy.

New car financing rates sure are low these days…

Escaping back to reality, I remember that I already own a 911 GT3 – why on earth am I pining for the Miata, a car I sold to buy the Porsche? Funny how the human brain works: you can own one of the defining sports cars of a generation – the iconic 911, atmospheric motor that revs to 9,000 RPM, and a track-ready chassis – yet the thought of buying another sports car still remains as enticing an emotion as ever. It’s no wonder people with the means – and even some without – tend to have multiple cars in their stable.

I of course just have the one. The GT3 is expensive enough as it, and I currently don’t even have a space at home to park it, let alone adding another car to the situation. But hey, it’s nice to daydream about these kinds of things, and I truly do miss the driving experience of my old MX-5.

What isn’t so nice is the absolute quagmire the Bay Area these is in these recent months. The reason I didn’t write an update in GT3 dairies last month – aside from general laziness – is because there really wasn’t anything to talk about. I didn’t get opportunities to drive the car much at all, because the climate around these parts have been extraordinarily crappy.

First, there was the wildfires. Sparked by a weekend of atypical thunderstorms (but no rain, crucially), the dry tinder in the Bay Area mountains ignited into flames. It seems all of our favorite driving roads were encircled by the fires: from Highway 1 up north towards Point Reyes, Mines Road over east in the Livermore mountains, to my usual stomping grounds of Highway 35 and Highway 9 in the south. There was quite literally nowhere for me to go to take the 911 out for spin, because I did not want to be that asshole driving in an expensive sports car around the burning areas, even though some of the roads nearby remained decent.

I thought perhaps once the fires were contained it would be good to go out again. Wrong: I erroneously forgot that along with wildfires comes the accompanying smoke and ash that fill up the air. One weekend the mountains are on fire, and the following weekend the skies are too filled with smog to go out for a drive. Again, I did not want to be the asshole in my GT3 bombing around the mountain bends, while the air-quality is well into the unhealthy territory for outdoor activity, and it’s a Spare the Air day. The Bay Area had consecutive Spare the Air days for almost a whole month. It’s been that bad.

So we were trapped in our house that we’ve been stuck in since March due to the ongoing pandemic. It’s a perfect confluence of maladies, enough to cause cabin fever to even the best of solitude-loving introverts. That’s why I don’t fault some of my fellow car enthusiast brethren who actually did go out for drives, even though the mountains are burning, and the skies were darkened and orange. I understand deeply the meditative quality of aimless driving, but I can’t stand to needlessly add to the piss-poor air quality. Mental health notwithstanding, these sports cars are toys.

Superbly meaningful toys, but toys nonetheless.

You may have noticed that I speak of the burning mountains in the present tense, because that’s precisely what’s happening right now as I type these words. The wildfires of August may be extinguished (a hearty thank you and kudos to the firefighters), but a recent heatwave late in September have ignited yet another inferno, this time in wine country up in Napa. It seems we only had one week of normal, clean Bay Area air (that we pay so expensively for with our housing prices) this month, and then we’re right back into another round of heat and haze.

For me, as long as it’s a Spare the Air day, the GT3 remains stationary. If all of these particulates in the air isn’t healthy for human lungs, then it’s probably not that great for a car’s engine, either. The driving fun can and will have to wait. Here’s to hoping for a “normal” winter; I would much rather deal with the slippery intricacies of Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires in the rain, than the last two months of fires and smokiness.

Obviously, there isn’t much to report on the 911. Blessed with covered parking, I didn’t have to scramble like so many others to wash off the apocalyptic amount of wildfire ash dropped on the painted surfaces (I’ve never seen the lines at the local car wash stretch out onto the street until recently). Be that as it may, I still managed to give the exterior a proper wash for the first time in a long time. If this current COVID timeline holds, then I should be good on washing for another six months.

Readers of the GT3 diaries know I bought the 911 with intentions of driving it often, taking it on many road adventures. As we head into the month of October, the sad realization comes into view that this whole year of 2020 is a huge bust in that regard. I’m afraid to count, but I’m guessing the GT3 has yet to cross 2,000 miles cumulatively this year. Paying hefty insurance for the car to sit parked most of the time is not my ideal of 911 ownership. This is not a complaint, but rather a statement of the situation. God knows there’s many out there far less fortunate than me. To be able to fret over the lack of mileage on a sports car is a privilege, especially during these times.

Things will get better. For all of us.

----------

Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 30,596
Mileage this month: 74
Costs this month: $283.55
MPG this month: 16.6 mpg

July 2020: shelter-at-home 4

Due apologies for the absence of a monthly update for June. Here in America we are still wracked with the coronavirus, and therefore nothing went on in regards to the GT3 for that particular month, so there weren’t really anything to write about. Actually, that’s not entirely true: the 911 did get taken out for a spirited drive on the mountains during a weekend in June, but more on that later.

So was it laziness? Lethargy? Probably a bit of both. On certain days, the COVID-19 situation really grinds, making me desperate for things to get back to normal, when I can take the car out every weekend and go on adventures like I used to do. Unfortunately, that dream is not to be for at least the rest of this year, perhaps longer. Honestly, it kind of hurts to be paying a monthly payment in the thousand and insurance premiums in the hundreds for a car to be parked 95% of the time. I could take the GT3 off the road permanently and stash it in a garage, but the cost of renting a space in San Francisco (parking tax is 25%!) would cost more than the insurance I would be saving on.

It’s okay to be frustrated sometimes.

I probably wouldn’t be writing this piece for the month of July if not for the fact I had an unscheduled visit to the dealership. With regular maintenance being an annual thing, the GT3 was not due for service until December, though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at making an unscheduled trip: the 911 is a German car after all, and what are German-made automobiles known for but not-so-good reliability? Even from Porsche, a manufacturer with a sterling reputation for engineering excellence, one shouldn’t expect a trouble-free ownership experience. Had I wanted that, I would have bought a Lexus, but I can’t afford the LFA by a significant margin.

At least it wasn’t the engine, or anything to do with mechanical motivation!

On a periodic drive of the car this month - to bring the oily stuff up to temperature and to charge up the battery - I realized the HVAC system was malfunctioning. The longer I got into the drive, the hotter it felt inside the cabin, even though I’ve always had the automatic climate control set to a nice 70 degrees (Fahrenheit). A hand test to the vents felt no air coming out, and pressing the button for maximum AC – which turns the system on full tilt – did absolutely nothing. I was slowly cooking in the car, though thankfully for San Francisco weather, it never got to an uncomfortable level. Actually rolling down the windows to let air into the car: what a novel concept!

Hoping that it’s just a temporary fault of the electricals, I found a highway rest stop to park and did a “restart” of the system: shut off engine, pull key (no push button start here), wait a few seconds, then start the car back up again. Sadly, the power-cycle did not resolve the issue, so it was onto the next step.

Lacking immediate tools to perform the procedure, I had to wait until the next day to bring along a 10mm wrench to then unhook the negative battery lead. This constitutes a proper reset to the whole electrical system, and after a minute of an absolutely dead GT3, I reconnected the battery and fired up the car. Once again, still no air coming out of the vents under any combination of buttons on the HVAC controls. This means it’s time to make an appointment at my dealership, one that’s rather inconveniently located 50 miles away.

No big deal: the GT3 is still under the certified pre-owned warranty, so I knew that this issue wouldn’t cost me a single cent. It’s a good opportunity to see how the dealership is operating in this new COVID world, and if it weren’t for the fact I had to make the trip with no mechanically-assisted air circulation, it would’ve been a solid hour of fine cruising to get there. Thank god the weather was mild that day.

Other than a distinct lack of foot traffic, and the fact everyone was masked up, it appears my dealership isn’t really operating differently. The service advisor said that after a brief period of deadness in March, the amount of work haven’t decreased at all – on the service side, anyways. Make sense: even during a pandemic, cars still require maintenance work, which is the reason why I was there. Knowing full well that any work would be covered by warranty, it was a quick signing of the papers and off I went back home to await updates.

So what was the problem with the HVAC system? Turns out it was a failed blower motor, a $600 dollar item according to various online Porsche parts catalogs. Factor in the dealership premium and labor costs, this was probably a $1,500 job to fix the problem (because it was warranty work, the invoice did not list the true cost of the service). While I am happy my out-of-pocket cost is zero, this ordeal is a reminder to purchase an aftermarket extended warranty for the GT3 once the CPO warranty expires. The initial outlay of a few thousand dollars is absolutely worth the peace of mind of not having to stress about any surprise costs due to unreliability.

Again, the 911 is a German car after all.

The impromptu service took a week, not because the procedure actually took that long, but because the replacement part arrived broken. It took the third overnighted blower motor for one to arrive intact and ready to be installed, which is fine: it’s not like I’ve got anywhere else to go with the car.

As the adage goes: you don’t realize how much you miss and take for granted something as essential as air-conditioning until it fails and you no longer have it.

Did long periods of sitting during these coronavirus times cause the blower motor to fail? I would certainly hope not, but having the GT3 sit stationary for long durations in between drives probably doesn’t help. These high-strung sports cars are meant to be driven and used regularly; it’s when they sit for an extended period that’s when undue issues happen (I would bet the person who just bought a pristine 8,000 mile E30 M3 for a quarter of a million dollars is likely to have some hefty surprise maintenance bills in his future). Obviously, the lockdowns make it difficult to drive our sports cars regularly; to do so would be, in my opinion, reckless.

Perhaps it was on a drive in the Livermore mountains back in June that caused the blower motor failure. I remember that day well because the weather was deep into the 90s, and for the better part of an hour, the GT3’s tach needle was constantly living in the upper rev range as it carved through the mountain pass. Engine oil temperature spiked to over 240 degrees - probably the first time it has done so this whole year – and of course I had the air conditioning on at full blast. It resembles the sort of conditions the GT3 was engineered for: track days on a circuit, with heavy heat and engine load lap after lap. I wasn’t concerned about the hot conditions at all; I was actually quite happy the car was getting some proper exercise in, after having pretty much sat and done nothing for over four months (and sadly will continue to do so for the rest of 2020).

Little did I know, the next drive after that brilliant jaunt on Mines Road – some weeks later – would be the one where I discovered I had zero mechanical air circulation. But again: at least it wasn’t the engine, and honestly, life with the GT3 was getting bit boring anyways.

See you all next month.

----------

Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 30,342
Mileage this month: 152
Costs this month: $258.18
MPG this month: 15.12 mpg

May 2020: shelter-at-home 3

Are hugely expensive sports cars even relevant right now?

This isn’t about to be a diatribe about wastefully powerful cars with little utility being a drain on the environment; (I love them!) rather, I’m speaking of this exact moment in time, with the world falling apart at the seams, the visuals of an Asian guy driving around in a six-figure Porsche is probably not a good look. The coronavirus have killed over 100,000 people in America, and there’s currently over 40 million Americans unemployed. State and local budgets are utterly strained, and even those of us who are still gainfully employed have a horizon full of uncertainty. We just don’t know.

On top of the COVID-19 situation like salt on a wound, riots have broken out all over the country due to the brutal killing of a black man at the hands of police in Minnesota. The graphic video of yet another senseless death of an African American by a white policeman lit the fuse to the powder keg of pent up energy stemming from citizens having been stuck inside our homes for the better part of three months. The frustrations many people had with the horrible economic reality was given permission to boil over. The resulting violence and looting looks catastrophic, and the worst part is, we’re only at the beginning of this new mess.

Out of the fire, and into the frying pan.

Those that have or appears-to-have might become targets, so even with the gradual lifting of restrictions after May, I shall remain conservative about taking the GT3 out for a drive. Unlike the typical ownership profile of this class of cars, I do not live in areas immune from protests (read: rich), nor do I earn enough money to render any potential vandalizing of the 911 to be a trivial matter. I don’t even have a proper garage to park the car in! All this is to say, when I go out for a drive, the GT3 is a highly visible machine - I don’t live in an environment where it would blend in (say, Los Gatos).

It’s relative, obviously: compared to a Ferrari, the Porsche can be nearly discreet. But where I live, there’s no way to camouflage the 911 in GT3 trim; not in these heady times.

Because perception is absolutely everything, and when it comes to cars, the general public’s perspective on vehicle cost is largely anchored to the badge (excellent job on advertising, I have to say to manufacturers). A BMW will always be perceived as expensive, no matter the actuality of exactly how much a person paid for it. A brand new Toyota Camry can be had for around $30,000, but if I drive up in a used BMW 3 Series that I bought for $20,000, people are going to automatically assume I have more money than if I had actually paid more to buy the Toyota.

No need to explain the prestige and perceptions behind the Porsche badge, is there?

When so many Americans have lost their jobs, and pay-cuts looming for those of us lucky enough to still have one, I reckon it would be slightly dangerous to be driving around in the 911, especially as an Chinese person. After hearing of too many instances of anti-Asian racism that have popped up since the coronavirus began, last thing I want is to look like a rich Chinese kid running around in the expensive Porsche that no doubt daddy back in China bankrolled. The problem is: that is exactly how I look sitting in the GT3! If things get worse at work and personnel layoffs actually happens, I might have to stop parking the 911 at the work lot. It’s best to avoid potentially inciting the rage of a former employee walking towards the garage one last time.

Sure, I have insurance, but insurance companies have an awful track-record of raising your rates after you’ve made a claim. The GT3 is expensive enough as is to insure with a clean sheet, and I’d very much prefer to keep it that way.

On the flip side, you might argue: why the hell am I worrying about what other people think? I should drive the 911 as normal and let the proverbial dice roll as it may. I can’t control the actions of others, so why let it disturb my singular and most favorite hobby, which is cars and driving? In a way, this is not wrong: I’d never make it out of the house if I let the fear of something bad might happen take over. We can only do the best we can with what we are given, and looking towards the opinion of others as a guide on how to live my life is a recipe for disgrace and stress.

Ultimately, I’m going to enjoy my expensive sports car to the maximum, no matter what, for as long as I can. With the lockdown somewhat over, I look forward to putting significantly more miles on the GT3 in the coming months. But I think this has been a good thought exercise; none of us live in a vacuum, after all. The events happening outside have real consequences, and I certainly will have to be smart about how and where I drive the 911 in the near future. Anonymity is crucial, so writes the person with his own website and a page dedicated to his automotive toy.

The quarantine might be over, but the weirdness of 2020 is here to stay for a long time.

----------

Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 29,845+
Mileage this month: <35
Costs this month: $242.97
MPG this month: 15.4 mpg

April 2020: shelter-at-home 2

Honestly, what is there to update on with my 991 GT3 when the entire month of April was under shelter-in-place orders? The only time I touched the car was during the middle of the month when I had to take it out for a drive just so the battery wouldn’t go dead from too much sitting. I’m afraid this particular monthly update is going to be a short one.

With the usual caveat of checking my privileges and how there are people out there who’s got it much worse, I have to say it’s been enviously frustrating to see other car enthusiasts having the ability to work on cars in their garages during this quarantine. Indeed it’s being said in numerous automotive-related YouTube videos I’ve watched (too much, probably) lately: now is the perfect time to tend to your car projects and get various maintenance items done. However, as a person who doesn’t have a garage, this messaging stings quite strongly.

I mean, never mind a garage: my GT3 isn’t even parked within the vicinity of where I’m living.

I would very much love to tackle a project, perhaps something like building a Caterham Seven like they did on Top Gear many moons ago. One such kit popped up on Craigslist for about 40 grand, which if I had a garage, it would be worth a hard second look. Even something far less spendy, like buying on a flawed used sports car fro $10,000 and then fix those flaws myself. Or perhaps spend very little money at all: simply a spot where I can store the 911 and keep it clean, and maybe pop in to stare at the beautiful classic lines from time to time.

Either any of those ways, having a garage would be something to better pass the time during this coronavirus lockdown; to keep my mind and hands busy with an automotive hobby I’m dearly passionate about. I’ve gone as far as look on local listings for garages to rent, though as I’ve found out, scant few allow for activities other than parking – mechanical work or detailing are usually forbidden. But there’s an overarching problem with any rental garage away from where I live: the lack of restroom facilities. A do-it-yourself brake service that takes a whole day isn’t going to be viable if I don’t have any place to handle my animalistic business periodically.

Besides, there’s a hankering I desire more than having a place to work on the car: the ability to access the 911 without needing to drive to a secondary location. It took me a long time to suss this out: the hassle of driving to my work parking lot every time I want to drive the GT3 has been subconsciously grating on me, likely ever since I bought the car and was seemingly resigned to the arrangement. The extra layer of required action before I can even turn the wheel adds additional stress and strategy to every car-related decision: do I have the 40 minutes or so to spare for the roundtrip? Will the car be okay and undamaged?

Those midnight runs, taking the car out on a whim? That’s not a possibility for me.

What this quarantine period have revealed to me – to the core – is that I would very much like to have the GT3 be stored or parked at the same place where I am living. Logistically, this means moving out of the my current spot to somewhere where I can at least have decent access to street parking. It’s not really the garage space I want, but rather it’s closer proximity to the car. To be able to go for a drive in the mountains and then return right to my home, without first parking it at the work lot and then taking an UBER.

That’s what I’m going to be working towards once this COVID-19 shelter order is over.

Shelter-in-place have extended for yet another month here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and unlike some of my enthusiast brethren, I intend to continue to abide by the order and staying off the road (for the most part). So please stay tuned for next month’s update where not a lot of actual driving happens again!

----------

Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 29,845
Mileage this month: 106
Costs this month: $278.22
MPG this month: 15.41 mpg

March 2020: shelter-at-home

Well, in the month since I’ve last updated you on the happenings with my 911 GT3, the world have turned completely on its heels. The coronavirus have made its way to just about every corner on this planet, and we the citizenry have been hunkering down in our homes, hoping to prevent the worse of this calamity. Naturally then, anything automotive related – especially on the hobby side of ours – have disappeared down into a cliff.

It is hugely ironic: the roads have never been more free of cars, our locality have stopped charging bridge tolls, and gas prices – thanks to a production war between Saudi Arabia and Russia – have come down tremendously. And yet, us car enthusiasts have been unable to take advantage of such sweet situation, because we are to shelter in place and only leave the house for the absolute essential.

Those who are fighting at the frontlines – our heroic medical personnel and first responders – are counting on us to do so. We have an empathetic duty to stay home so that fewer people have to suffer.

Of course, that doesn’t stop the few amongst us to take the opportunity for some carefree speeding. On the car discussion forum I frequent, people reported sports cars doing ludicrous speeds at the local mountain roads, cars getting pulled over on the Golden Gate Bridge for going triple-digits, and a general increase in vehicular “hooning" now that the roads are emptier than ever. One teenager even crashed his BMW on Highway 35, and is now selling the remains of it on Craigslist.

For shame; that is how our collective gets a bad reputation.

I’m not entirely unsympathetic to wanting to get out and drive during these times. Those of us fortunate to be able to work from home and still draw a paycheck, right now does seem like the appropriate time to indulge in this car hobby of ours. Indeed, what sort of violation of social distancing can possible happen with us being in our cars – alone – the whole time? We’re simply breathing in our own air. The counter to that argument is that what if we get into an accident that requires medical attention; we’d be taking up precious resources that would otherwise go towards coronavirus patients.

In America we are in love with our freedoms, so I don’t begrudge fellow enthusiasts who are taking this opportunity to drive on their favorite winding mountain roads. So long as they aren’t getting out of their cars and mingle in a huge group – as we are wont to do during normal times – then I don’t really see the harm in that. It’s the reckless speeders that I strongly disagree with; selfish is the word to describe those people who are endangering not only themselves but everyone else.

As for me, I’ve stayed home as much as possible, with the GT3 parked at its resting spot for most of the month. The first weekend of March – before the shelter-in-place order was in affect – was the last time I took the car to the mountains for some serious exercising. It was also the last time I put gas in the car, ahead of the current price decrease, so I wasn’t able to take advantage of even that. With a car that returns miles-per-gallon in the teens, you’d think a four-hour romp around the San Mateo mountains would be enough to deplete the fuel tank, but that’s the beauty of the 26-gallon extended-range tank option: by the time I parked the car for good on March 8th, the fuel gauge needle was still pointing above the half position.

That wasn’t the last time I drove the car in March however, though it was out of sheer necessity, rather than the urge of heading out of the house for drive. As I’ve written about in previous monthly updates, the GT3 is parked at the garage structure of my workplace. Naturally, there are no provisions for a batter tender to plug into, so the car does have to get moved periodically to avoid a dead battery. Jump-starting a modern 911 is a rather complicated process – especially for something made in Germany - compared to the typical car, one to be avoided as much as possible.

The battery resides in the front trunk of a 911, but the trunk lid can only be operated electronically – there is no physical popper or release mechanism. Therefore it will not open in the event of a battery failure, blocking access to the battery for jump-starting. What owners must do is open the driver door using the backup car key, then place jumper cables to a specific fuse inside the fuse box down in the footwell. This provides just enough electricity to activate the trunk release, at which point you then transfer the cables to the actual battery inside the trunk to perform the normal jump-start procedure.

All that is to say: I had a valid reason to take the 911 out during this quarantine period.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t nice to get out of the house for bit. I took an hour-long loop down Highway 1, turning around at Half Moon Bay. Surprisingly, traffic was not particularly sparse on the 1, though every possible beach access and vista point has been cordoned off, preventing vehicular entry. The local gendarme was also on patrol, looking to break up any large congregation of people and or cars.

What wasn't so nice was the proper freeways: because of the tremendous decrease in number of cars on the road, plenty of drivers were going way beyond 90+ MPH. Scary stuff indeed when I'm trying to merge on at the usual pace. For better and worse, the modern car is too stable at triple-digit speeds, luring people into a false sense of security.

San Francisco has extended the stay-at-home order to the first of May, so the month of April will be largely the same as March: very little driving. Thus far the furthest I’ve stretched between moving the GT3 is three weeks; let see if I have the stomach to go beyond that threshold. The only miles during April will probably be that one time I need to take the car out to charge and preserve the battery.

Stay safe and healthy, Internet friends.

----------

Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 29,739
Mileage this month: 242
Costs this month: $1,397.75 (CA registration)
MPG this month: 15.38 mpg

February 2020: two annoyances

One thing that has been really annoying me lately about my 911 GT3 is its tendency to scrape the bottom of the front bumper on driveways, even with the front-axle lift system turned on. Perhaps the driveways of San Francisco are just designed differently compared to those of Europe, because I’d thought opting for the nose lift would eliminate a majority of potential scraping issues. In reality, the system is no panacea against a mangled front-lip; even with the front-end raised and attacking the incline an angle, I cannot avoid scraping just exiting the carwash I frequent.

And sometimes you’re not afforded the space to do fancy angles, so you simply take the scraping as it comes, the horrible sound that plastic on concrete makes.

Ever since I had the privilege to my own car, I’ve had this weird obsession with keeping the bottom of the front bumper clean of scrape damage. This is of course a near impossible task as the cars I tend to buy are of the low-slung sporting variety, rather than tall sports utility vehicles that can go up driveway head-on without consequences to the paintwork. My first car – a Toyota Corolla – is a bog-standard family car with reasonable ride height, yet two weeks into ownership, I utterly obliterated the front bottom while pulling into a friend’s house.

I can remember being mentally devastated, lacking in the maturity to handle stuff like that as part of the experience of owning a car. Lacking in the funds to take the Corolla to a body shop – so obsessively compulsive I was that I’d actually pay money to fix damage that you can’t see at unless you lay on the ground and look upwards – I began to surf car forums to commiserate with people that suffered similar fates. It gave me some solace to see that cars at any price point, from plain sedans to fast exotics, are not immune to front bumper scraping.

So I learned to take driveways at peculiar angles, as if I drove a car worthy of the pages of StanceNation or Hellaflush. But it only takes one moment of inattention and all your dutiful carefulness is for naught. Such as it were with my Subaru Impreza WRX STI. You’d think an all-wheel drive sports sedan bred for rallying would have zero problems going up driveways without scraping, but you’d be wrong. The front bottom of the car got seriously damaged while I was pulling up into a Safelite for a front windshield replacement. I’d forgotten to attack the driveway at an angle, and apparently it was far steeper than I thought.

There goes the pristine front bumper.

After that incident, I drove the STI as it were: I had begun to accept stuff like that as part of the game, though I’d be lying if I said it was mentality easy to get over it. There’s no guarantee it won’t happen again if I get the bumper repainted to new condition.

One of the many reason I miss my old ND Mazda Miata the most is that it’s a car I never have to worry about scraping on driveways and parking blocks. The front overhang of the MX-5 is so short that it’s nearly impossible to touch it on anything because the wheels are there immediately to take up the slack. The tiny roadster also sits sufficiently high enough that parking curbs don’t pose a danger, which is something I cannot say for both the Corolla and the STI.

Obviously, I abandoned that peace of mind when I upgraded to the 911 GT3. In order to own and drive one of the finest sports cars ever produced, there’s got to be some sacrifices. Indeed, the GT3 sits lower than the Toyota Corolla with the 2-inch drop I put on it, and after not having to pay any any attention while owning the Miata, I had to go back to defensive driving of the kind that avoids hitting the front bumper bottom on things. That entails slowing insufferably down (for the driver behind me) for speed bumps, taking driveways at odd angles – when possible, and stopping the car before the parking curb stop.

I’d thought buying a used GT3 with the front-axle lift option ticked would make life easier, but after a year of owning the 911 in San Francisco, I’m not sure how much of a help the system really is. You forget to turn it on once and there goes the front lip spoiler crunching on the street surface. Even with the lift system turned on, the front-end still isn’t as high as you’d like, therefore you either scrape or have to angle the car at 45-degrees regardless. Knowing this now, if I were to do this over again and get the opportunity to spec a GT3 to my liking, I’d skip the axle lift option and save the few thousands of dollars and 12 kilograms.

Because I’m going to scrape the front-end anyways, with or without the system.

Porsche in its infinite wisdom knew the GT3’s front lip would get utterly chewed up, either by steep driveways, or at tracks with nasty curbing. So they engineered the piece as unpainted plastic, easily replaceable for a few hundred dollars. Because the front lip is black, you wouldn’t notice the damage unless you’re right up against it, which no one would be doing. It’s both functional and aesthetically pleasing, though someone needs to explain to me why am I then still OCD about scrape damage. I guess old mental habits die hard, and honestly, the scraping sound remains one of the worse noises you can hear from a car, no matter if the scarring is superficial and easily remedied.

At the beginning of my ownership period I had replaced the front lip with a brand-new piece, and one year later the bottom of that is looking rather tattered. To allay my OCD nerves, I could buy yet another replacement, but money is a bit tight to make that move. Honestly, it looks fine from the surface, and with an expensive brake service on the horizon, money should go towards functional items and not aesthetic pieces.

Another thing that’s also annoying me lately about the GT3 is the center-lock wheel hubs. I am convinced they are the most useless, needlessly complicated feature to ever be fitted to a road car. If there was an option for to get normal five-lug wheel hubs, I’d pay serious money for that because center-lock wheels are all hassle, zero benefit.

The frustration started from this past December when I took the car in for service. The rear Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires were worn down to the cords, so a replacement set was absolutely needed to get me safely back on the road. To my frustration, the dealer refused to install tires that aren’t prescribed from the factory, meaning I was unable to switch to the acclaimed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, even though it comes in Porsche-approved ‘N0’ specification.

Under normal circumstances with a car that has the standard five-lug bolt pattern, I can simply put the vehicle on jack-stands and take the wheels myself to a proper tire shop. Fitted with center-locking wheels, the GT3 makes that task needlessly difficult. To get the tire off I’d need a special breaker bar that’s capable of undoing the 450 ft-lbs. the center nut is tightened down to. Upon return from the tire shop, there’s a delicate greasing procedure on the nut (incredibly messy) before you once again tighten it back to that huge torque number. This requires a specialized torque wrench, and a whole other person to sit in the driver seat and push down on the brakes, because you must torque the wheels while it is still jacked up in the air.

A wrench and bar set capable of the task is over $400 dollars, an expense that I otherwise would not have to fork over had Porsche not chosen vanity over utility and equipped the GT3 with the standard five-lug wheel pattern.

And it’s an expense I still have yet to pay: for the time being I’ve decided to have professionals deal with the center-locking hubs, should I require any tire service. Unfortunately, that presents another problem: finding a tire shop that knows how to deal with center-lock wheels is tremendously difficult. From what I’ve read, the typical chain store doesn’t have the knowledge – or tools – to properly reattach the wheels. With the sort of speed and performance that the GT3 is capable of, the last thing you want is the wheels not correctly torqued down to specs.

Let’s recap, shall we? For the glory of having pretty-looking center-lock wheels, you’d need an expensive wrench to take the wheels off, the procedure of which is more complicated than usual, and you’ll need a mate to help out. Should you want a different set of tires from the factory specification, you’ll have to find a specialty tire shop that knows how to deal with center-locking hubs to fit them for you, rather than simply going to the closest America’s Tire.

Center-lock wheels is the one feature I truly dislike in the otherwise splendid 911 GT3.

As expected, mileage on the car for February was tragically low. Life’s circumstances got in the way and I didn’t exercise the 911 as much as I’d have liked. I barely squeaked pass January’s mileage total, a month which I was out of the country for two weeks!

There is a small incident of note during this month: I was driving up a super narrow road up in the San Mateo mountains, barely enough width for two normal cars to pass each other. An oncoming car did not keep lane discipline, and I had to take evasive maneuver to avoid a collision. In doing so, the front passenger-side wheel momentarily dipped into the drainage rut, and the front underside of the car made contact with pavement.

Thankfully, the damage is limited to some superficial scrapes underneath front trunk pan, and one severely mangled bumper clip, easily replaceable with a $40 dollar (!) part. The aforementioned front lip spoiler took the brunt of the hit, and it honestly looked no worse for wear than before. Porsche engineered the GT3 to tackle curbing at race tracks, so I shouldn’t be surprised a little bounce off the tarmac left only slight cosmetic damage.

Chalk it up as another dose of patina for those all-important ‘character’ points. Stuff like this will happen when you put miles on the car, and I don’t intend to stop.

----------

Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 29,497
Mileage this month: 230
Costs this month: $353.42
MPG this month: 17.58 mpg

January 2020: one year anni

This past Friday on the commute home I noticed a familiar shape merging onto the highway. The iconic swept-back roofline was unmistakable as the early-model long-nose 911 came into view, a shade of green that under the setting sun appeared nearly black. In it was a middle-aged gentleman seemingly too large for the decades-old car, his upper head completely obscured into the inner roofline. The car was a stunning sight amongst the sea of mundane sports-utility vehicles; the classic 911 joining in on the commute, with the pinkish glow of golden-hour light as backdrop.

The driver could’ve been far more comfortable in any modern machinery, but his passion for the Porsche crest means driving his beloved 911 under all circumstances.

‘Passion’ is the word that overwhelmingly comes to mind as I surpass the one-year ownership mark of my own 911, the GT3. It’s not enough that you should buy sports car and drive them lots: the 911 represents the quintessential sports car experience, and you won’t understand it until you’ve owned one. It doesn’t have to be a pricey trim like a GT3: any 911 is special, even 50-year-old samples of the first-generation model, as demonstrated by the gentleman I encountered that evening.

Indeed, it’s been over a year since I’ve signed the biggest check of my life for a preowned 2015 911 GT3, and over the 6,000 or so miles since, I’ve come to comprehend fully the passion for the Porsche flagship. The 911 is an unique and magical car, one that’s due entirely to its peculiar engine layout. Placing the motor completely behind the rear-axle isn’t something an engineer would do starting from a scratch today, but I’m thankful the legacy that began with the very first Volkswagen Beetle continues on with every new generation of the 911.

The alluring shape aside (and it’s indeed a super beguiling profile), it’s how the 911 drives that truly makes it a must-own for any car enthusiast, and the paragon that other sports cars are compared to.

The pendulum-effect of having 60-percent of the weight over the rear-axle gives the 911 a tremendously playful character in how it rotates mid-corner – there’s no other car like it. Slow-speed turns is where this characteristic is most apparent: the rear-end has this uncanny ability to follow the front, a sort of secondary assist after making the initial turn. There’s a multitude of options for the driver to manipulate this: a stab of the throttle, a lift off the brakes, or a quick steering action. It’s like dancing with a partner, and once you’ve learn the quirks of the 911 layout, you can make the car dance beautifully.

The other key variable to the 911’s magical equation is the steering feel. Even with modern electrical assistance instead of hydraulic, the 991.1 GT3’s steering rack retains the classic Porsche feel that owners have long raved about. Again, it relates to the weird drivetrain layout: with only 40-percent of the weight situated on the front-axle, there’s no need for spectacularly wide tires to support it. Porsche 911s are known for running relatively skinny front tires, and the 245 sections of the GT3 are fairly narrow considering some family sedans these days are fitted with tires of the same width.

Narrow tires mean it takes less force and effort to control the smaller contact patch, which in turn allows engineers to run a less beefy power-steering unit. The GT3’s electric power-steering doesn’t quite communicate every road pebble and imperfection like a good hydraulically-assisted rack can, but it still writhes and moves to the road wonderfully, able transmit more than enough information on what the front-end is doing. I’ll never forget the first time I felt through the hands the progression of the standard Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires going from cold to operating temperature. No need to check the pressures: steering feel alone will let you know when the tires are ready to attack.

The 911’s superb steering is the one feature I miss most when I get into other cars; dull and lifeless in comparison.

And then, there’s the engine. Not the placement of it, but rather, the sound it makes. The reason you pay six-figures for the GT3 trim is because it’s the last modern 911 to feature a naturally-aspirated engine – the rest of lineup have turned to turbocharging, and the 3.8-liter 9A1 flat-six is as sweet and melodious as advertised. It revs freely like a motorcycle engine, and on the long crescendo towards the mighty 9,000 RPM redline, the final 1,000 climb sounds like one, too. Throttle response is instantaneous: you can actually hear the throttle-plate cracking open behind your ears as your foot presses down on the gas pedal.

Windows down. All the time.

You can certainly find the same handling characteristics in far cheaper 911s, but the GT3’s atmospheric engine is worth every bit the additional cost over the typical Carrera. Speaking of costs, it definitely isn’t cheap to keep my 911 on the road, especially with the amount of miles I put on it relative to other GT3 owners. Rough calculations have it just under $8,000 in total expenditure – insurances, gas, and maintenance – for year one, a significant chunk of money that only the most enthused of car enthusiasts are wont to pay, especially if they make middle-class income like me.

It’s not just a passion for Porsche, but it’s a passion for cars. That’s the reason I’m willing to spend nearly a third of my income on one vehicle. Admittedly, there were a few moments throughout the past year that the high cost of running the GT3 weighed on me like an albatross. The financial sensibilities that got me into the position of affording the 911 in the first place was up to its old habits, ringing huge alarms bells on why I’m spending so much money on a car that I only drive on the weekends. I can’t say it was quick to get over those psychological barriers, though driving the car certainly helps to focus the mind and remind myself why I bought it in the first place – for the 911 magic.

I’m a big believer in seeing decisions made through to the end. Even if I don’t keep the GT3 forever – which is still the plan, by the way – I’m determined to hold onto it at least until the car is fully paid off, four years from now. Finishing off the loan will return some flexibility to my financial situation; by which time I think I’ll be at a better position to reevaluate the ownership prospects.

Whatever happens though, this one-year experience with the GT3 have proven to me I’ll always need a 911 in my life. The driving characteristics of this rear-engine sports car is absolutely singular in the automotive world. I can now see why people will come back to the Porsche icon after dabbling in more exotic metal - there’s really no substitute.

I hope my 911 story continues to be this very Sapphire Blue sample for a long time to come. The car hasn’t put a single foot wrong, even as I take it to roads and weather conditions that similar 911s won’t ever see. There’s a bit more patina on the exterior after one year, but the car wears those with great pride. Perhaps decades from now, I will be just like that gentleman I saw in the green long-nose early-model, driving home for the weekend in my blue GT3, still running splendidly after all the years and miles.

—————

Nothing much at all to report for January, as expected. I was away the first two weeks of the month on vacation, so the GT3 did not get driven at all. In returning to the States, it took some time for me to recover from travel fatigue (it’s definitely a thing as you get older), which in combination with the usual cold and wet winter weather meant I barely squeaked pass 200 miles of mileage for January. The car just had its service in December, so any big-ticket costly items are way far ahead into the future, which at this moment I’m quite thankful for (had to pay for that vacation, obviously).

February is a short month, so I’m not sure I can get up to anything interesting. March is actually what I’m looking forward to: if the cards align, the GT3 might make its first big road trip.

----------

Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 29,230
Mileage this month: 206
Costs this month: $310.73
MPG this month: 16.41 mpg