Last Sunday morning the weather was really nice, the sky was blue, and the Boxster was calling. I decided to go for a short drive through the mountains near my house. It's a fun twisty road and I mostly cruised though it, top down, just enjoying the road and the scenery. About 15 miles into the drive, I was about to turn out of the mountains to return home when a black 964 Carrera 4 crossed the street in front of me, heading deeper into the mountains. Well, that's too much of a temptation on a day like it was so I turned left instead of right and decided to follow.
What ensued was one of the best drives I've ever had with this car. He was moving really quickly but absolutely staying within his lane. He clearly knew the route as every corner was taken with what I can best describe as impressive precision. Brake lights barely ever lighting up. Through switch backs and over sweepers, I followed at the same pace but a safe distance behind. I could tell around a few of the corners, he had more grip than I did. I'd start to get some movement and squealing around some of the corners that he seemingly effortlessly carved up. I was impressed with the 964's power too. He couldn't pull away from me, but I don't know that I could have pulled away from him either. The whole time I had a huge grin on my face. What fantastic cars Porsche makes! This is so obviously what they were made to do.
After about another 20-25 miles we came to a crossroad where I intended to turn off. I hit my blinker before he got to the turn. He saw that I intended to turn so the turned as well and pulled over onto the shoulder. I pulled behind. We both got out of our cars, engines still running, and made introductions and talked about our cars. John was a really nice guy and a clear Porsche enthusiast. He explained how he had just recently put a set of 993 wheels with P-Zero Russos on them. This (and the AWD) explained the grip difference, my M+S ContiSports can't wear out fast enough, I really want to replace them even more now that I've seen what a stickier tire will do.
I told him how I've heard horror stories about the expensive AWD system on the 964 and the problems they can have. He explained that his car has over 90,000 miles without a hitch. In fact, he still has the original clutch. After about 10 minutes, we both got back into our cars and went separate ways.
We really do drive one of the world's greatest sports cars. Go out and enjoy the privilege!
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