Hello from a new owner (soon)

[dcporsche99]

Congrats Manxie!

Enjoy your new toy!

[Manxie]

Originally Posted by fragdude

As far as the top gear eps, they are pretty big (most go up to 700 megs ). You can get a list of them from wikipedia, tell me which ones you want (if not all ), and I can put a bunch on www.rapidshare.com

I still can't pin down the episode details of when they took a Boxster, BMW Z4 and a Honda over to the Isle of Man

Is it Series 7 Episode 1 "Car comparison on the Isle of Man"?

Mike

[fragdude]

I have better quality eps than this, but for refrence, is it this one?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9057939483378824563

[Manxie]

Originally Posted by fragdude

I have better quality eps than this, but for refrence, is it this one?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9057939483378824563

Yes, that's the one!

Never thought of trying Google or Youtube

Mike

[fragdude]

here it is:

http://rapidshare.com/files/8324728/Top_Gear_-_03x02_-_2003.11.02.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/8324753/Top_Gear_-_03x02_-_2003.11.02.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/8324740/Top_Gear_-_03x02_-_2003.11.02.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/8324715/Top_Gear_-_03x02_-_2003.11.02.part4.rar

Use a rar expander to unpack them when you finish dling
cheers!

[Manxie]

Many thanks for uploading the files. I managed to get them yesterday and enjord watching the episode again last night with my wife.

She finally got what I meant by the loser sign as well

Mike

[Manxie]

Heh, got the call from the dealer today, the car is now with them, Just getting the reg sorted out and I'm up early on Sunday for the 07:30 ferry to the UK to collect the car and back on the 19:00 return ferry.

Getting excited

Mike

[fragdude]

Originally Posted by Manxie

Heh, got the call from the dealer today, the car is now with them, Just getting the reg sorted out and I'm up early on Sunday for the 07:30 ferry to the UK to collect the car and back on the 19:00 return ferry.

Getting excited

Mike

NP on the episode. And congrats to almost having your new Box in your hands!

[Manxie]

Wow!

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!

I collected the car yesterday. We had to endure a 6 hour return ferry crossing, but it was flat calm and very misty in patches

The salesman from the dealership picked us up at the ferry terminal and drove us to the dealership to collect the car. I was a little worried about seeing the bright red interior for the first time but it was absolutely fine and not quite as bright as I'd possibly feared.

We dropped the top and set off in bright sunshine and 25c and drove for about 100 miles before heading back to Liverpool for the ferry. It's the first Porsche I've ever driven and I'm absolutely thrilled with it. It feels a lot more powerful than I'd ever imagined and yet is very easy to drive in traffic.

I've taken it to work today, which is something I don't intend to do on a regular basis as it's only a short drive which probably won't to the engine any favors and the price of petrol here is pretty steep so I'll stick to my diesel runaround.

Off for a trip over the mountain road tonight, the one favored by Top Gear

Mike

[Sloan]

So glad to hear that the pick-up went well, and that you're so thrilled with the new car. Please keep posting your initial impressions and experiences. Some photos would be great too!

[Jeph]

Awesome awesome awesome! Let's see some pix!

And let me say your tale of picking up your car (or "collecting" as you say) sounds so cool. Catching a ferry, heading down to Liverpool, anticipating mountain roads... I live in a place called Dallas, Texas, USA -which is geographically uninspiring.

Envy resides here. Enjoy the car!

[Ike]

Hey Manxie,

Now you got it! Drive like you are trying to ditch Joey Dunlop! Did you ever see that video of him doing a lap on the TT on your Isle with a Helmet Cam? It was freakin' insane, him rubbing the helmet on the stone walls at 100+mph!!!!

The manual instructions for the breakin period of the Porsche engine is written for the general public. It is idiot proof, with the 1st priority the engine's welfare. There is nothing wrong with the manual's approach, it just can be done faster.

I recently broke in an x51 3.6L engine in my '03 Boxster S on the advice of the pros at RUF. The objective of the breakin was to suck down the piston rings as hard as possible. They said it could be done in 200 miles if done proper. Their instructions were to run up the revs and compression brake the engine - get completely off the throttle - as much as possible. They were not worried about getting into the 4-7k range, just do not stay there under power, let off, and brake the engine.....downshift, and brake some more.....downshift.... I got into a hilly part of Texass on a 2 lane and ran up and down the gears and speeds all afternoon. Boy did it make for bad gas mileage. The x51s are hand built tight tolerance engines. By the time I made it to New Mexico, the engine was spinning much easier. I had another 1000 miles of 2 lane trippin' mapped out to get home, and I started pouring the coals to it.....varying revs all the way.

Happy Trails,
Ike

[Manxie]

Photography is one of my interests so I'll definitely upload some photos. It may be a little while though as the woman in the office at work is on holiday at the moment so I'm having to cover for her and don't have any days off this week.

The pick up went very well. I've been very pleased with the Porsche Centre Chester, which is at the bottom end of the Wirral peninsular in England. I spoke to the same salesman a couple of times over the phone and the rest of the ordering of the car has been done through email with him. Despite the economic worries they seem to be doing well and kept busy and as as well as my RS 60 Spyder they'd also received another from Porsche for stock. Incidentally, mine is number 1921/1960

I did spot that the petrol flap was a little more recessed that I thought it should be and when I compared mine to others I realised that the little rubber stop was missing. Once I pointed that out it was quickly replaced and I was soon on my way.

My wife wanted to stop at a couple of shopping centres, which I find a little boring, so I stood guard over the car (I've read the parking thread!) and tried to figure out some of the settings and controls. My favourite so far is Sport Mode, but with the stiffer suspension turned off, as the note from the exhaust is just wonderful. I could listen to it all day.

I had previously asked here about running in, but I now can't see that being onerous as the car is wonderful to drive below 4000 rpm anyway. Incidentally, the salesman only said to keep it below 6000, but I think I'll stick to the recommended 4000 rpm.

I did stall the car a couple of times when pulling away at lights. I think it was due to me being a diesel car driver and I was used to pulling away in traffic on tick over. It was bugging me that I'd stalled and I was a bit anxious not to stall again at the next set of lights so I made sure I had ample revs and drove away a little "brisker" than I'd intended. "No need to drive like you've stolen it" said my wife.

One unexpected bonus is that my wife absolutely loves the car, which I find a little odd as she's not really a car person and has never really shown much interest in cars before.

I'll let you know how we progress

Mike

[Manxie]

Originally Posted by Jeph

I live in a place called Dallas, Texas, USA -which is geographically uninspiring.

I passed through the Texas panhandle in May this year. We stopped overnight at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo. The geography that you have in your favour is space and distance. You can drive somewhere, see new things. You've all that space.

I live midway up the east coast of a 30 x 12 mile island and I've lived here for all 50 years of my life so far. I can drive 15 miles north, 12 miles west, or 15 miles south. There's nothing really new to see or do. I'd love to be able to just drive for 100's of miles without going around in circles. You get a bit stir crazy sometimes, which is why we took 3 weeks off to drive Route 66 this year.

Mike

[Manxie]

Originally Posted by Ike

The manual instructions for the breakin period of the Porsche engine is written for the general public. It is idiot proof, with the 1st priority the engine's welfare. There is nothing wrong with the manual's approach, it just can be done faster.

Hi Ike

I've read in a couple of place that the break in can be done faster but I don't know if I have the balls to do that with my new car. I definitely take the point about varying the revs and not running at a constant engine speed. I don't really have many long straight roads around me so running at a constant engine speed shouldn't be a problem. I'll play it by ear, but probably err on the side of caution if needs be.

Mike

[Raybox]

Congrats

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to pictures.

[Manxie]

Here's some photos after my first week of Boxster ownership.
(Also posted the same photos on a UK based Boxster board)

I absolutely love this car. My wife's not jealous, she loves it as well. It's like a menage a trois