Mike Bickell
Sussex, UK
With events and road trips for the year in the planning stages it’s time to start reviewing possible replacements for trans-european excursions. Currently, duties are shared between the trusty C4S and the 928. Both cope well covering several thousand miles in a few days, but I’m becoming less inclined to endure their quirks and features, with the lack of lumbar support in the 996 standard seats being a particular issue. The fact is that my hands hit my knees on hairpins, and what’s now considered a diminutive size is fine for medium-length trips, but the prospect of the planned Arctic circle trip is less appealing.
On the cards to add to the stable are the 991 Turbo S or a 992 Carrera, which it would hope would give a bit more of a GT experience. The 996, meanwhile, would be retired to local events and always available to others in the household. However, the issue with the winter tyres last month means the snowboarding road trip in the C4S had to be switched to a much newer alternative means of transport.
As I write this surrounded by snow, what happened with the alternative vehicle makes me pause immediately in my consideration of adding a newer Porsche or anything to my collection. The vehicle I’m in is extensively modified as a mobile office, capable of enabling me to work from anywhere in the world.
To cope with the additional weight it was remapped four years ago and insured as such. This came undone when the fourth manufacturer’s recall in four years was implemented without my knowledge during a sensor replacement, which wiped out the remapping. What should have been an 800-mile journey on the cruise control turned into a fiesta of gear changing and teeth grinding.
What does this have to do with picking an addition to the stable? The current collection belongs to me, and between me and my independent specialist the cars are cared for without either outside interference or contrary to my agenda of long-term ownership. My worry with much newer cars is that you’re at the mercy of outside influences that really don’t care, and stonewall attempts to interact on a more-thancursory level. As we left for the Alps a demand from the DVSA landed that the vehicle be taken to the dealer again, because the airbag had been recalled. The recall was in place when the dealer messed up the remapping, but I guess that required more effort than Ctrl-altdeleting the vehicle’s ability to climb hills and was ignored.
With one of the other Porsche finishing a window-out respray, this frees up the budget to look at the complete overhaul of the suspension system on the C4S. Chatting to the team at Nine Excellence and their knowledge of what we get up to in our mini fleet, they’ve suggested we look at Ohlins; switchable for autobahn use or the rapid hairpin bends of the D996 and B roads of France. The 4S shares the suspension and wheels of the Turbo and so runs at a slightly lower ride height to the standard Carreras. My preference is to not go much lower unless absolutely required, because there are already difficulties clearing ramps in covered parking.
The entire suspension is to be renewed; after 135,000 miles everything is showing up as sub-par and needing consideration. It’s also an opportunity to get components replated, powder coated and brought back to factory fresh, ready for the next 100k miles.