The Ramblin' Rose - Porsche Club

The Ramblin’ Rose
Fall 2012
Fall 2012
IN THIS ISSUE:
PORSCHE AFTER SALES CONFERENCE
ONE SMALL ART PROJECT - LEWISTON DRIVER ED EVENT
911 TURBO THE ULTIMATE WINTER CAR
DOUBLE CLUTCHING IN VEGAS
The Rambling Rose

2
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012

The Ramblin' Rose
The Ramblin' Rose is the official newsletter of the Porsche Club of America - Wild Rose Region. Visit www.porsche.ab.ca for the latest news
and announcements.The views or comments expressed in the Ramblin' Rose are not necessarily those of the Porsche Club of America or the
Wild Rose Region. The Ramblin' Rose is published expressly for the information and entertainment of the Porsche Club of America - Wild Rose
Region, its members and supporters. The Ramblin' Rose assumes no responsibility for any submissions. All submissions become property of the
Ramblin' Rose unless other arrangements are made with the editor.
Suggestions or contributions can be made to: Newsletter Editor, Kevin Johnston, e-mail kevin.johnston@shaw.ca
Ramblin' Rose
Advertising Rates
Classified ads are free for members,
but are subject to available space.
Contact Marc Schroeder at
Marc.Schroeder@pennwest.com with
your ad text to get your ad in next
issue.
The following ad rates are applicable.
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Visit www.porsche.ab.ca for the
latest news, meeting minutes and
announcements.
Cover Photo:
WR Region, 30th Anniversary Drive
Yoho Park, September 2012
Kevin Johnston, Canada West Photos
Club Directory
Executive
President Erik Dumas 403·931-0393 edumas@mullenoilfield.com
Vice President Mark Winslow 403-213-4713 YWinslow@phxtech.com
Treasurer Yvette Winslow 403-949-2817 YWinslow@phxtech.com
Secretary Danielle Green 403-993-8697 everynameistaken23@hotmail.com
Past President Martin Kratz 403-686-6474 kratzl1l@bennettjones.ca
Committees
Activities Chair Jammie Leong jammieleong@yahoo.ca
Membership
Chair Doug Connon (403) 616-5507 doug.connon@chevron.com
Driving Event
Chair Erik Dumas (403) 213-4713 edumas@mullenoilfield.com
Advertising
Contact Marc Schroeder Marc.Schroeder@pennwest.com
The Ramblin’ Rose Newsletter
Publisher & Editor Kevin Johnston (403)283-7162 kevin.johnston@shaw.ca
Wild Rose Region Web Site
Web Master Brodie Green (403) 993-8697 brodie@brodiegreen.com
FAQ Contacts (Your club contacts for Porsche car questions)
General
356 We seemed to have droppped this list over time.
911 (early years) If you are a specialist, authority, connoisseur,
911 (1973 - 1984) doyen, or whiz with any of these varients of Porsche,
944/951/968 please contact any of the club executive to find how
Boxster
you can help out by being a FAQ Contact.
914 Thanks in advance.
928
911 Turbo
Cayenne
Panamera
PCA Zone 6 Representative
President Dave Cooley mtcarrera@rennlist.net
Fall 2012 The Rambling Rose
1

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Fall and winter in Canada mean that for a good number of
us it’s time to put the cars away. For the club it means an
end of another summer driving season and time to plan for next
year. First up is the selection of the executive that will guide the
club into 2013. Our elections are held every year at our Annual
General Meeting in December. After the AGM the club executive
will select the team that will hold the various club positions and
commitees. Everyone is a volunteer and without their efforts the
club wouldn’t function.
One of these volunteers is Jim Thompson. For the last few years
Jim has been the Editor of the Ramblin’ Rose. With the time
commitments and attention a busy career and a young family
require, Jim found it more and more difficult to dedicate himself
to producing the high quality newsletter we all have become
accustomed to. Reluctantly he made the decision to step down.
Thank you Jim for helping us produce what in my opinion is one
of the best quality newsletters in PCA. I hope to see you, your
family and that awesome turbo out at our functions and events in
the upcoming year.
The search for a new Editor was short lived as our own Kevin
Johnston has taken on the responsibility. Kevin has been the
publisher of our newsletter and anyone who has seen his amazing
photographs knows that we are in good hands. Next time you see
Kevin, be sure to talk to him about what you would like to see in
our publication. He is also going to need content so I encourage
everyone to write an article and send it to him. To make sure our
newsletter stays new and entertaining we need your stories so
keep them coming.
Cheers!
Eric Dumas
President - Wild Rose Region
Porsche Club of America
FROM THE EDITOR
First, thank you for allowing me to contribute to the club
as the new Editor/Publisher. We have a lot of members
in the Wild Rose Region with many interests related to
Porsche and automobiles. I would be pleased to receive
your articles and photos for inclusion in our newsletter. Our
newsletter is a key communication tool with our members
and PR for the club. It’s you the member who make the
newsletter relevant, so take a couple of hours when your
schedule allows and write an article on one of your Porsche
interests. Some suggested writing topics...
• a how to article
• where I went with my Porsche
• what I want in my next Porsche
• my favourite driving road and destination
• an article about the clubs early days
• why a modern city requires a race track
There will be a Christmas issue this year but it will require
articles so start soon. The next deadline for articles to be
submitted to me is December 2, 2012. Please make the next
issue a great success.
Kevin Johnston
Upcoming Events:
December 5 - Annual General Meeting and Election of
Officers
Location: Elks Golf Club
2502 - 6th Street N.E.
Calgary, Ab.
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Meeting commences: 7:00 p.m.
December 10 - Calgary Veterans Food Bank Drive
Location: Melrose Cafe
730 17th Ave SW
Time: 5:00 p.m.
January 2 - Monthly Meeting
Open to all WRR members and potential members who
would like to see what we’re all about!
Location: Elks Golf Club
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Meeting commences: 7:00 p.m.
2
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012

Porsche After Sales Conference and Executive Introduction to Porsche
This October 14 th to 19 th I was lucky enough to be
invited to Germany by Porsche Canada to take part
in the Porsche Executive Introduction to Porsche. Not to
pass up on an opportunity PCL also set up an After Sales
Conference to go along at the same time. Every Parts and
Service Manager was to take part in this week of meetings
(and some fun) as well as get fully immersed in Porsche of
Germany.
vehicles in the museum are in running condition with some
of the rarest and beautiful models I could imagine. We
completed the evening with a dinner in the Christophorus
restaurant at the top of the museum.
After landing in Stuttgart we were able to have a meet and
greet with all the other Managers at an authentic German
restaurant and see the sights that Stuttgart has to offer. Our
first full day consisted of Porsche Canada meetings and the
loosing fight against jet lag. Porsche has a very aggressive
agenda to sell 200,000 cars in a year by 2018. This meeting
is to get the Service and Parts department thinking about
what it will take to get there and continue to provide great
service to our customers.
Our next day we were bussed to Zuffenhausen the main
headquarters for PAG. Here we had multiple presentations
by our colleagues in Germany outlining “the Porsche
Brand”,
“Exclusive and Tequipment”, “Research and Development
Center Weissach” and “Marketing at Porsche”. After a
lunch at the restaurant in the Porsche Museum we were
taken on a tour of the sports car factory. As there are no
cameras allowed, I unfortunately cannot show you the tour,
but it was amazing to see how the 911 and Boxster are still
hand made.
We then moved on to the Porsche Museum and experienced
a guided tour of this one of kind buildings. All of the
Day number 3 consisted of a bus ride to Ludwigsburg,
home of the Porsche distribution centre. More importantly
it is the home of the Porsche Travel Club…the real reason
for us being there. Twelve 991 and 981 Porsches were
waiting for us to make the drive from Ludwigsburg to
Leipzig … on the Autobahn! With a driver in the front
linked via radio, we were taken on a 5 hour drive I will
never forget. I can attest the top speed of the 981 is a true
277 km/h and absolutely sings when cruising at 245! After
this rush (no pun intended), we were shipped to the Hotel
Steigenberger in Leipzig…definitely a must stay hotel in
Germany.
cont’d page 4
Fall 2012 The Rambling Rose
3

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The next day we woke to 24 degrees C and a great day at
the Leipzig facility. First was testing the new Cayenne over
at the former East German Military bunker site, including
35 degree side traverses and water crossings. Next was
testing each model on the track consisting of the most
famous curves from racetracks around the world. After
lunch we took a tour of the Cayenne and Panamera factory.
Again no camera was allowed as the Macan was hidden
somewhere in the building!
Our final treat was two hot laps with a professional driver
in Porsche GT3’s. All I can say is WOW. I never knew
race car drivers experienced such violent changes in force
while driving…a very eye opening experience. Now it was
time for the long plane ride home and back to reality!
Many thanks to Svenja & Franziska for taking care of us!
Derek Rush
4
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012

Close Call
So with the driving season over and my little green car
being dismantled for a new paint job, I thought I have to
enlighten you why I decided on a new paint job.
The car had a complete bare metal restoration 6 years ago
and when it came to the painting, I ordered the paint after the
paint code on the plaque which is mounted on the A pillar.
The car got painted and I was sort of happy, but there were
some flaws and I was be able to live with it. As most of you
know, the car is all original and I want to keep it that way.
Last year when I was in Flagstaff for Escape, I purchased
some touch up paint from Dr. Color Chip and when I got the
paint, it was a different shade of green. I thought he made a
mistake and left it that way. Than last winter we repainted
the lower front valance and I had to order new paint; to my
surprise the new paint was the same as the touch up paint.
Now I knew that the paint on my car was wrong. It kept
bugging me, but I did not feel like repainting the car to the
original green color.
Now to the title why it is called “Close Call”.
Late September I went out to Sun Peaks for a club drive with
the Vintage Car Club. Yes, those English cars actually make
it that far. On our way home we were already on the divided
Trans Canada section east of the Banff gate. We are cruising
along and are happy that all cars made it that far. I am in the
right lane; there is a small Honda just ahead of me in the left
lane. My friend with his Jaguar E-Type was behind me.
the ground when it hit the valance and left a fist size dent
down to bare metal. The rock than bounced under the car 3
times and damaged the metal cover sheet for the steering rack
and farther back the floor pan had a dent.
I looked into my rear view mirror and saw the rock taking
height again and flying towards my friends Jaguar E Type.
Now the rock was in his windshield height, my friend saw the
rock coming and swerved to the right and the rock just missed
his windshield and head by 12”.
Half a kilometre farther down the road, we came across 2
highway department lawnmowers cutting the centre divider
grass strip. Not thinking what danger they throw onto the
road. Guess where that rock in the middle of the highway
came from?
Fritz
Suddenly I see a rock the size of my fist bouncing off the tire
of the Honda. The rock flew into my lane, bounces once off
the road and is air born. My luck it was just a few inches off
Fall 2012
The Rambling Rose
5

Ein kleines Kunstprojekt
(One Small Art Project)
In a recent issue( #357) of Christophorus, Porsche’s inhouse
lifestyle magazine, there was a small article on
the re-release of the original Porsche crest for the 356 and
early 911 models.
And here's the result.
It described an overview of the evolution of the crest over
the years, from the napkin sketch done by Max Hoffman
(original USA importer of Porsche cars), through to the
latest re-release. Thinking about it, I decided it might be
fun to create myself a display of the 5 variations of the
crest, along the lines of the 'generations' posters Porsche
released a few years ago.
My first stop was to challenge Derek Rush at SouthCenter
to actually identify the part numbers for the crests, and get
them on order. I must say some of the changes were very
subtle from crest to crest (orange bars instead of red, for
example). And the 356 crest is only half as big as the rest,
so that would affect later choices for the display.
Once I had the crests in hand, I started a search to find a
suitable display frame. Although not ideal, because it is
somewhat too big, I selected a frame with 5 cut-outs for
photos to mount the crests into that I found at a large craft
retailer in town.
I decided to hang it vertically because of the frame size. I
think I'd prefer it horizontally if I had a smaller frame. It
still needs a few tweeks to get the crest points aligned, and
I'd be happier if the cut-outs were smaller, but it's just for
me, so I can change it down the road if the mood strikes
me. But since the newsletter Editor was pleading for
articles, it is what it is.
And that's it. If you'd like to make your own art project,
here are the part numbers I used:
ñ 644-559-210-01 1954 (356 hood)
ñ 901-559-210-21 1963 (911 pre-1975 orange bars)
ñ 901-559-210-20 1974 (911 post-1975 red bars)
ñ 996-559-211-01 1994 (996 series 94+)
ñ 997-559-211-02 2008 (997 series 2008+)
Perci Hala
6
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012

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Lewistown Montana Driver Ed Event
September 15 & 16, 2012
Wow!!! What a weekend in Lewistown Montana.
Great facility, lots of fun, wonderful instructors and
participants.
There were about 32 cars in attendance. There were 11
Porsche’s, 7 Mustangs, 6 BMW’s, 4 Corvettes, a Mazda,
Audi, Honda, and a 1991 Toyota MR 2. Amazing collection
of cars.
Next day we arrived at the track, registered, and were
assigned instructors. Instructors drove us around the 2 mile
track to familiarize us with the course layout; then it was
our turn. When we were passed to solo, the fun began. The
track is paved, flat, and well maintained. It is owned by the
Department Of Montana for licensing truck, school bus
drivers etc. Great facility.
My son-in-law, Rufus and I departed from Didsbury Ab
on Sept. 14, my 71st birthday. We arrived in Lewistown
8 hours later and stayed at the Super 8 Hotel. We were
welcomed in the parking lot by other participants, and
recognized as the only Canadians registered. The 2012
Boxster S Black Edition attracted interest here and at the
track.
The course is a hoot to drive with 3 corners, 4 tight corners,
2 S’s, and 2 double S corners. The back straight has a little
rise in elevation and a slough you could end up in if you are
not attentive to your driving. We highly recommend this
cont’d page 9
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cell 403.703.9111 email info@leslieschroeder.com
8
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012

event to anyone looking for a cool place to run a
roadcourse. The $50.00 for one day and $90.00 for both
days is truly a bargain. My out of pocket for the weekend
was about $800.00, the cost to register at other DE Events.
Our weekend did not go without a major challenge. Rufus
was out for his last run on Sunday afternoon. I had my
last run to follow Rufus’s. The tire pressure warning came
on. He brought the car into the pits. The right front tire
was losing air. There was a slash in the wall of the tire
from which air was escaping. A spare is not part of the
car’s equipment; instead a can of pressurized tire repair
is provided, with an air pump. It did not help. Rufus’s
instructor gave us a can of Gunk to try. It worked.
Next morning we drove to a tire shop in Lewistown.
Sidewall damage is illegal to repair so we were directed to
Great Falls Mt. to Tire Rack a 110 miles away. Gunk held
up the first 85 miles then began to fail. Last 20 miles took 3
hrs to cover. Rufus kept an ear alert to the sound of hissing,
stopped, pumped in more air, and continued another 10
minutes. We did arrive in Great Falls. New tires were
ordered and shipped overnight. We were on our way by 1
pm Tuesday.
Over-all, it was a fantastic weekend. Rufus and I had a
fabulous time and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Thanks to the fabulous organizers of the “Big Sky DE
Event” in Lewistown. You all made us feel welcome at
your great facility.
Frank Kelly
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Fall 2012
The Rambling Rose
9

Porsche 911 Turbo, the Ultimate Winter Car
in my garage, a month away from winter. You’ve all seen
those Porsche Everyday commercials. This is supposed
to be the ultimate winter car. I’ve read about it, heard
about it from other owners that winter drive their 911’s
in the winter, and see them on the road, which made me
curious… is it really the Ultimate Winter Car?
With that being said, here’s the introduction to our 911
Turbo, Ultimate Winter Car series. Let’s take a look at the
car that we’ve aquired:
I
’m a Mercedes-Benz guy - have been for the last decade.
It comes as a surprise, even to myself, that I ended up
back where I started, behind the wheel of a Porsche. My
first real sports car was a Porsche 944 Turbo, which I
owned since high school, and drove to it’s grave 5 years
ago with a hole in the block of the heavily modified
engine. I missed her when she was gone, for a few months
anyways. Looking back, with all the money that I spent,
and the toxic love/hate relationship that I had with the car, I
vowed not to get back into a Porsche again.
And here I am today, with a 2003 Porsche 911 Turbo sitting
It’s a bone stock 2003 Porsche 911 Turbo. When I
say stock, I mean it’s literally stock. It hasn’t even
been chipped. I tracked down the previous owner,
and the car was driven by his trophy wife who took it
grocery shopping, kind of like those Porsche Everyday
commercials. The car is still on it’s original brake rotors
and pads with over 50% life left.
I’ve been driving my Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG over the
last 2 winters, which is an awesome car. On dry cold roads,
it hauls, and in the snow, ESP Sport mode allows me to get
the perfect amount of rear slip to get the car pointed nicely
in any situation. My only complaint? Off the line traction
cont’d page 11
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10
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012

is atrocious. How bad? I’m getting beat by Ford Fiestas
off the line when there’s any black ice. Brutal. With the
Porsche’s AWD system, the problem goes away.
I know that this is a winter car post, but I have spent a few
days behind the wheel in summer weather, so I feel it’s
necessary to talk at least a little bit about the car’s summer
performance. Straight line, the car is a rocket, easily
outpacing the more powerful C63 in a drag race. To be
fair, we’re at a pretty high elevation of 3700ft, so the Benz
loses 60-70hp with the thinner air, while the Porsche’s
turbos work a little harder to make up for it and puts out its
factory rated 420hp. If we were at sea level, it’d be a fairer
fight.
Handling wise, what can I say, the 911’s got TONS of grip
in the mid to high speed corners, comparable to my CLK
Black Series. At the limit, it understeers quite a bit, so all
you can really do is back off. Turn in is decent, about the
same as the C63, but not even close to the Black Series.
What’s troubling are slow tight corners. The only word
I can think of that describes what it’s like hustling the
car through a tight bend, would be sloppy. Basically, the
front starts to understeer, and the rear end starts to slip.
The AWD transfers power to the front, and the car feels
like it starts to “skip”. It reduces the front power, and
understeers again, where the cycle repeats itself. It’s not
very confidence inspiring, and certainly not smooth. It’s
not as fun as the C63, but it’s definitely faster, if that makes
any sense at all.
In the rain, however, the 911 Turbo shines. Punch it off
the line, and the car rockets off like it was dry. The AWD
system seamlessly transmits power to the front wheels and
keeps it there, unlike the low speed cornering behavior that
I experienced. This should translate well when snow finally
falls.
In the next few weeks, the car will be going through a
winterization program. Here’s the initial plan that we’re
starting with:
GPS Navigation/Bluetooth/iPhone. So we don’t get
distracted driving tickets
3M Clear Bra Protection, Tinted Tailights
Carbon Fiber GT2 Spoiler (done)
Winter Tires
Update: For the last 2 months, I’ve been whining and
complaining on our forums about how boring the 996 Turbo
is. Monday night, after our first dusting of snow on the
roads, I take it all back.
Our first modification was a set of winter tires provided
by Intergra Tire on Maceod Trail. Due to the 996’s AWD
system, there are only a small number of winter tires that fit
the 996 Turbo. We choose a set of Hankook Icebear
W300’s, 225/40R18 up front and 265/35R18 out back.
These tires have average grip in snow and ice, but grips
well on cold dry pavement, which is a great compromise
for Calgary’s winters. Because the 265’s require a 10″ rear
wheel (factory rear wheel is 11″ wide), a new set of winter
wheels were required, and was provided by Kulu Motorcar.
Next up, we had to protect the vehicle from the rocks
used to sand our roads. A heavy impact area 3M job was
installed by Shadow Tinting. They also tinted the windows,
headlights, rear taillights, and side reflectors for a more
aggressive look.
Finally, an oil and filter change, tune-up and spark plug
replacement was performed by Alpine Autowerks.
And now, why I’m taking all my badmouthing of the 911
Turbo back. Late Monday night, secondary roads were
still covered in packed snow, and lots of ice from drivers
spinning their tires, which gave us a great opportunity to
test the car’s winter driving dynamics. The car was warmed
up, and PSM traction control was disabled. This is my first
AWD vehicle, so it’s been a learning experience the last 2
months.
In the dry, the 911 Turbo under steers everywhere. Safe,
but not exactly fun. Things are completely different in the
snow. Turn in and jab the throttle, the tail whips right out.
Keep the throttle planted, counter steer, and the car holds
the drift forever. Not only that, the car accelerates through
a corner. All this while sideways, but holding the line.
Back off the throttle, and the tail snaps right back into line.
Awesome.
Accelerating from a standstill, the rear loses traction, and
the fronts bite propelling the car forward at a rate I’ve
never experienced before on snowy roads. With the music
on mute, I can hear the center diff working, transferring
power to the fronts when the rears are overwhelmed. Drop
it into 2nd gear, the car has nearly full traction, putting
down all 420 horses with ease. It’s definitely the first time
I’ve felt turbos pushing me into the seat in winter. Again,
awesome.
It’s too bad AWD doesn’t give the driver any more braking
performance; it takes a while to get used to the gobs of grip
accelerating, yet no improvements in stopping. ABS was
working furiously as I was running around testing the car’s
limits.
Finally, I turned PSM back on to see what normal driving
conditions the car would provide. The car is a lot slower as
cont’d page 13
Fall 2012
The Rambling Rose
11

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PSM intervenes every time rear and front traction is lost,
however, it’s still marginally faster than any FWD or RWD
car I’ve driven in the winter. Under steer is back in the
game, (I found it impossible to kick the tail out with PSM
on), but still accelerates at a good pace out of corners.
Hopefully, we’ll see more snow in the coming days; I’m
really curious how the car eats up deep snow or slush. For
now, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in the snow. Until then,
here’s a gallery of how the car looks so far.
Shelton Kwan
Fall 2012
The Rambling Rose
13

Porsche factory assembly line at
Zuffenhausen from the late 60’s
or early 70’s. This was still the
era of hand built cars. The car in
the front right foreground has its
engine lid open - this is a 912. I
wonder if Fritz’s car is somewhere
in the photo?
"Panamera Sport Turismo concept car:
Fascinating and intelligent e-hybrid technology in the design language of tomorrow"
Illustrations courtesy of Porsche Club News 4/12
14
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012

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Double Clutching in Vegas
Fall/2012
We were peering out of our hotel room window just as
the Bellagio fountains were performing their dance
45 floors below. As Vegas virgins, my wife Leslie and I
had seen the casinos, a Cirque Du Soliel show and the
Jersey Boys at the Parisian. I was itching for some other
indulgence, exactly what, I wasn’t sure. On the table next
to the television was one of those cheesy coupon booklets;
you know the kind that lures in tourists who have no idea
what they could be doing? Flipping through it I noticed
an ad for Exotics Racing, which promised a supercar
driving experience. 24 hours later, in true Vegas style, a
stretch limo arrived complete with crushed velvet seats and
complimentary mineral water.
A 20 minute ride through
the desert north of the
city delivered us to the
doorsteps of Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, where
Exotics Racing had
recently put the finishing
touches on a proprietary
1.4 mile, 11 turn track.
The wail of high-strung
engines and screeching
tires greeted us and was
the kind of buzz of activity that would reel in any car
guy or girl. Upon entry into the temporary clubhouse, (a
new permanent building is planned for 2013), and the
usual signing of release forms, I was presented with an
a la carte menu of cars. The selection was impressive:
Mercedes SLS, Ferraris, Audi R8-V10, Lamborghinis and
an Aston Martin. The Nissan GTR was broken. Porsches?
A Cayman R, 997 Carrera S and a Turbo S. As a devout
manual shifter, I was disappointed to learn that every car
in their fleet was equipped with a dual clutch automated
transmission (for the Porsches – 7 speed PDK’s). The
reason for this was soon to become obvious. Prices
varied, on a per lap basis, according to the cars relative
“exoticness”. My ride would be the “economical car”,
a distinctive metalic green Cayman R. Leslie would not
drive, but would be the official track photographer. My
time slot arrived and I was shuffled into a classroom
with 20 other participants. Instructors spent the next 15
minutes discussing details of the correct driving position,
track protocol and the fundamental forces at play when
cars are driven at the limit. We were also reminded that
the dead pedal, seldom used in everyday driving, would
be our friend. Behind the wheel of a Porsche Cayenne,
an instructor took groups of 4 on a preview lap of the
course pointing out brake markers, apexes, and the most
efficient line around the course. With zero previous track
experience, my head was now swimming with details.
Finally, after meeting our individual instructors, we were
ready to take to the track.
Vinny would be my Brazilian co-pilot and judging by his
thick accent, he had probably been a recent arrival. MMA
was his other passion; in fact he was due to fight that
evening, but an injury would prevent him from doing so.
After nestling into the beautiful carbon fiber seats, Vinny
informed me that the rules of engagement meant that none
of the electronic driver aids would be shut-off. Our small
group was dispatched onto the track in 15-second intervals.
The first few turns lead to a 1/3-mile straightaway that
exited into an 11 degree, banked, carousel like turn number
2. The balance of the course consisted of numerous closely
linked turns and when not blessed with a photographic
memory, seemed different each time through. The fresh
asphalt did nothing to provide clues to the best racing
line. With steady coaching from Vinny I began to progress
visibly, almost catching an Audi R8 on the final lap. It had
been a huge adrenalin rush to drive flat out in a controlled
environment. The handling of the Cayman R was stunning;
as was the engine music at redline. Even the PDK was
a revelation; having started with it set in manual mode I
eventually let the software do the shifting. Would I feel
differently about the PDK after more familiarity with the
car and track? Possibly. In any case, it was a great way to
end our Vegas holiday and was certainly the highlight for
me. So maybe next time it will be the Turbo S?
Marc Schroeder
16
The Rambling Rose Fall 2012