James Mcgrath
Minneapolis, USA @auto.amateur Auto Amateur autoamateur. buzzsprout.com
Lakes Loop is 911 driving nirvana. I’ve driven this 62-mile loop hundreds of times and I never get bored with it. Indeed, the anticipation is palpable. There is always the pre-drive little shot of adrenaline that boosts the heart rate and maybe raises a little sheen of perspiration on the forehead. An hour of joy; heaven for the apex hunter in all of us. A big climb and descent. Clockwise or anti-clockwise. It’s our local favourite.
Now when I say “our”, I mean the small albeit enthusiastic local 911 community. Southern Oregon is sparsely populated and our hometown of Ashland has a population of 20,000. This region is mountainous, with an abundance of rivers and lakes. And an equal abundance of lightly used roads.
So why does Lakes Loop stand out? For starters, during its entire length there is just one stop sign, no cross-traffic, and very few users. The road is very twisty – I once tried to count apexes and stopped counting at 1,000 corners over the 62mile distance. Maybe an average of 15 corners per mile.
Then there is the elevation. Lakes
Loop climbs and descends over 4,700 feet from the valley floor into the Cascade mountain range. Most of the corners are second gear affairs and most are nicely cambered. Corner exits on the climbs are just epic places to take advantage of the rear engine traction that is part of the 911 handling legend. The descents work the brakes hard.
The road surface is sublime. Not perfection as there are tar patches and a few frost heaves to be found. But the tarmac is very grippy and clean, though during the winter months there are many areas where red volcanic cinders have been laid down by road crews to provide grip when the Loop is snow covered or icy. Those cinders eventually get swept by those same road crews in late spring.
Even in the depths of winter, it’s a thrilling drive. So remote and uninhabited. Just a few gravel driveways leading to small mountain homes and a couple of ranches along the way. The 991.2 Carrera 4S on Michelin Alpin studless snow tyres handles the Loop just fine. Speeds are down, but the scenery is spectacular.
In the warm months, it’s nice to enjoy the loop with the windows open and the aircon off. The only music is the sounds of the engine and that delightful little grinding sound of ceramic brakes under hard use.
There have been times when I’ve done the circuit anti-clockwise, got back to the garage, grabbed another 911 and ran the loop again in the opposite direction. No doubt some over-indulgence, but there can never be too much fun, right?
This drive is never done to ‘set a time’. In the late spring, I’ll often stop to enjoy the views and the wildflowers. There is a tall sugar pine tree along the route and
I’ve stopped at that spot a couple of times to bring home a fallen pine cone – they can be a foot in length.
There are two small inns along the route and it’s often part of the pleasure to stop at one of them for a coffee or a cold drink. Often the drive is enjoyed with a couple of friends in their 911s, which in turn tends to lengthen the duration of the stops as we chat and linger for a while.
Road maintenance is important, particularly along the narrow road section between Green Springs and Dead Indian Memorial Road. Potholes develop along this section that are subsequently encircled by bright yellow or orange paint to warn motorists. In those times, that 15-mile long section becomes a bit of an autocross challenge, weaving around the marked potholes. The next summer, the road crews patch the holes, but one must always be wary as new potholes arise.
Then there are the lakes – Emigrant, Howard Prairie and Hyatt. All three beckon with sublime views. I’ve wondered if a single road course can fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the sports car enthusiast. In my case, Lakes Loop is 911 heaven and I can’t wait to drive it another 20 or 30 times in 2021.
I am constantly amazed by the camaraderie that exists within the Porsche community on social media, particularly Instagram. Social media platforms have served to help lots of other Porsche owners and enthusiasts or those that are dipping their toe into the water for the first time in terms of model selection, car specification, in addition to what to look out for in terms of common faults and issues. I regularly receive unsolicited messages from people reaching out for help and advice where I am always more than happy to help.
Let’s be honest here – it is our love of cars, and Porsches in particular, that brings us together, but it is the various car clubs, excellent magazines like this very publication and social media that keep us united, bound as one, a thriving Porsche petrolhead community!
But, it is not all good news.
Personally, I am not a fan of forums, not because I am opposed to them in principle, more around the minority who spoil things for the majority, as is often the way in life. For me, there are far too many ‘keyboard warriors’ out there, especially over the last year or so since the global pandemic started. I know I’m stating the obvious, but some people believe it is acceptable to say things on forums and social media platforms that they would not dream of saying in person, face to face! These individuals seem to enjoy courting controversy, and they have no place in our community where they often intentionally spoil things for others. Thankfully, they are in the minority and the various forum and social media administrators generally do a fantastic job of policing inappropriate content and/or comments.
And on that note, it is easy to underestimate the power of the internet. The original 996 ‘backlash’ surrounding the switch over to a water-cooled flat six powerplant, a new body design including ‘those’ headlights (which I am a huge fan of, having owned a brace of 996s in the past) and the apparent IMS/RMS/AOS issues were completely blown out of all proportion by the timing of both 996 generations release coinciding with the dawn and subsequent evolution of the internet, social media and online forums.
To clarify then, 99% of the people I have met in person or virtually since my Porsche journey began in 2014, with my much-loved Seal grey 996 Carrera 4S, have been genuine, passionate, decent individuals who share the same interest and love for the marque that I do. In fact, it is a community I often refer to as ‘Porsche Friends’, which says it all really.
And therein lies the unique nature and beauty of Porsche ownership. It brings together a really broad spectrum and cross section of enthusiasts from all walks of life and backgrounds. That must surely be attributable to the sheer breadth and depth of variety of Porsches that are available, with an unrivalled number of older cars still on the road and being used regularly. In my view, Porsche never made a bad car and it is really important to remember they all share the same badge, regardless of price point or rarity!
I mentioned last issue my 996 was attempting to backdate itself into an air-cooled 911 after developing a propensity to dump its coolant. It needed to be fixed, and sharpish, so I limped the car to Wrightune, my preferred specialists. In reality, the leaking coolant just added another point to a list of jobs needing doing on ‘Little Irish’ – but it was by far the most important!
The culprit was a leaking coolant expansion tank. It’s fairly common on 911s of this age: mine has had 23 years of getting hot and cold, plus a range of different pressures, creating a small crack in the plastic tank. Unbelievably, the part costs £400+VAT from Porsche for the 996.1, yet the part for a 996.2 (or 997.1) is just £98+VAT! Sadly, I couldn’t fit the cheaper option either.
Another issue is that to get the old tank out and new one in, the 996’s flat six needed to be lowered. This presented another problem: bolts for the engine mounts were seized, and trying to move them simply tore the bushing in the mount, so rigid were they after years of abuse. This meant two new engine mounts were required, which topped up my bill by another £300. You’ve got to love the 996 life!
While there I also opted to fit a low temp thermostat. This lowers the engine temperature from 83 to 71 degrees, offering my flat six a little more protection. It’s not so much the early 996s which suffer from scored bores (this tends to be later Gen1s which had a plastic lining to the cylinders) but with my 911’s flat six approaching a quarter of a century old, keeping operating temperatures as low as possible can only be a good thing. The guys at Wrightune also fitted a front under tray, as my 996 had never had one during my tenure, and the failed front drop links were replaced for MEYLE items.
That left braided hoses and a general renewing of brake lines, which had long been on the list, however we ran out of time and, with hotels closed under coronavirus restrictions, I had to book the car in for another time. I’ll be looking forward to getting the brake lines renewed so I can get the 996 on track for the first time in over a year… I can’t wait!
It’s like the stars aligned perfectly for this month’s column. The deadline for my submission was the day after I returned from a short (but action-packed) adventure I had recently, driving to the Atlanta, GA region in my 911. Let’s just cut straight to it – two days in Atlanta to blast around the track in a 993 and Turbo at the Porsche Experience Center and then attending ‘Caffeine and Octane’ (the country’s biggest cars and coffee event). Preceded by two days of driving through the Smoky Mountains, taking on dozens of twisty roads that extend through the landscape of North Carolina and Tennessee, with spectacular visuals of tree-topped peaks, rivers, lakes, dams below the cliff edges and the famous road known as the ‘Tail of the Dragon’. Let’s also not forget to mention the 1,100 miles driven there and the same distance driven back in my 911. Suffice to say, I’m a satisfied combination of tired, accomplished, exhausted, happy and, well, knackered.
The ‘Tail’, for those whom have slayed it before refer to it, is an 11-mile stretch of US highway 129 that boasts over
300 tight turns that wind their way up one side of the mountains, along and down the other. The road puts you and your Porsche to the test in every sense – the tight turns that hit you in tight succession, the narrow width of the single lane road where bikes or other motorists might come buzzing around the corner towards you while you’re in the middle of a complex turn. If you drive the tail before 9am on any given day, you’re almost certain to have the majority if not the entire stretch of the road to yourself. With that comes the additional opportunity to test your driving skills and your car even further. What turns out to be around 30 minutes of high-adrenaline driving and intense concentration has some funny after effects – stiff shoulders, clenched jaw, tightened knuckles and the unparalleled satisfaction of screaming in sheer delight as you perfectly exit a tight bend and open up into the straight, or when you chart and smash the perfect line through a chicane. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you TOTD isn’t as good as it’s hyped up to be – it is. Don’t listen to anyone who complains about slowmoving cars or traffic – just don’t expect to have the road to yourself mid Saturday or Sunday afternoon when the sun’s up. If the early bird catches the worm, the early rising car enthusiast slays the dragon with unparalleled satisfaction.
My friends and I left from our dragon slaying to shoot on down a little further south to the PEC-ATL, for 90 mins of living another dream – driving a GT3 (991.2) and a Turbo S (992) around a track with professional racecar drivers leading the way and providing all the tips and tricks any amateur like me would hand over gold to obtain. I was joined by my good friend and fellow Youtuber Jay Read. I went out in the Turbo S while Jay took the GT3, then we switched half way through our allotted time around the course. Naturally this opened up the “which one would you have?” conversation which didn’t come to much of a conclusion other than to say “both please”. I want to give a BIG shout-out to Jordan O’brien for everything he taught me during my time with him at PEC-ATL (Instagram @jordan_obrien_racing).
He’s 21, already winning races on the track, looks like an F1 champion and will know more about driving cars than I ever will. Bravo Jordan!
Over the last few weeks here in the UK it’s become increasingly apparent that dealers are running low on stock. Either people have saved so much money during lockdown that they’re all going out buying Porsches, or they’re throwing caution to the wind and stretching to buy that dream toy. One thing is for certain: stock is low and dealers are chasing cars to replenish their forecourts.
As the emails have come through from various dealers saying what a great time it is to sell, one thing I’ve noticed is how strong the values have held of firstgeneration 991 NON-GTS/GT cars. A car that perhaps listed at around the £95k mark (for a reasonably well-specced S, for example) in 2013-2014, is still being sold at OPCS for around £60-65k. That’s a depreciation of ‘just’ £30-35k in 6-7 years. For someone who bought those cars and held on to them they would be sitting on a significant amount of equity just now. What’s more striking though is the effective monthly cost. By my somewhat simple calculations that would work out at less than £500 per month. That’s mini super car performance for BMW 3-series money! I know which I’d rather have.
The usual Sunday morning drives out have resumed with the start of the easing of lockdown restrictions here in the UK. And with gusto a group of us got together and headed out for a drive and a coffee. That in itself was special enough but one of the group (@por911r) brought along a 991 Speedster. It was a sunny morning so the car made perfect sense.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I never really fell for the Speedster when it was launched. I recall seeing it at Goodwood and thinking I would much rather have a ‘proper’ GT car that would tear up a race track and look like it would too. It might have been the heritage graphics that the original cars had on them, or the in-built view I have that a GT car should have a wing! But there was something that made me just not see the value in them.
That changed this last Sunday. Seeing that car (and hearing it) made the car make sense to me finally. It sounded every rev the pure Porsche GT car it is. It also looked the Porsche GT car it is. I made the point to one of the guys that it’s rare, if ever, that Porsche make a car that needs to be seen rolling to make sense. To me the Stuttgart-born design language says enough, I don’t need it animating to believe it. But with the Speedster, seeing it threading its way along a Dorset coastal road, roof down, got me thinking that if the stars were to ever align I would have a Speedster in my collection. But until that day the GTS and I will look back at the morning we chased the Speedster along the road to West Bay very fondly indeed.
One of the most difficult games of fantasy garage, I think, is the two-car garage. Clearly one has to be a 911 but I always think you have to keep an eye on usability as well as desirability, in addition to committing to either air- or water-cooling. Unless you choose two 911s! As a family man I don’t think it would be acceptable. Even in the realms of fantasy my wings are clipped.
Back in the real world I’ve actually had a pretty solid two-car garage line-up for the last five years, in the shape of the 997 C2 and our BMW 335i Touring. For the early starts I’d often favour the heated seats and smooth shifting ZF eight-speed automatic of the BMW, but come the evening I’d crave the involvement and character of the 997. Spoilt for choice, or spoiled by choice?
Last week I found myself back in the old routine, and feeling like the cat who got the cream. I cruised to the station at 6am in the 991 C2S, in full automatic comfort mode, thinking about the day ahead with the heated seat warming me through. Come the evening I was on the paddles with the PDK in Sport and the exhaust in full agro-mode. The sunroof was open and I even had the ventilated seats puffing cool air onto my back. I enjoyed a fantastic and totally immersive drive home, taking the long route.
I’ve been enjoying the 997 following its three-month winter stay at Lava Studios. It took me a while to get back into the groove, and my initial reaction was feeling happy to sell it and just enjoy the sensational 991. Is it really that much better? It’s different – and I’m relishing once again the 911 characteristics which really shine in a 997.
Steering is light and communicative. The position of the pedal box is perfect, the brake feels long at first but is easy to modulate, perfect for heel and toe. Am I alone in thinking the much maligned M97 engine is actually quite special?
It’s bursting with character, full of song, and blessed with a perfect amount of performance to enjoy on UK roads from its 3.6 litres. My car benefits from the factory Sports exhaust and addition of an IPD Plenum, BMC filter, and Paragon remap. It feels particularly athletic.
The 3.8-litre DFI unit in the 991 feels quite different to the M97. It’s smooth low down, and razor sharp at the top end, but can also feel quite guttural at times; more ‘race car’. You do sometimes struggle to hear the tuneful motor in the 997 though, because it’s not a particularly refined car by modern NVH standards. Wind and tyre roar combine to drown out the engine sound in the cabin, at speed.
The 997 cabin is more compact than the 991, but they feel remarkably similar in overall size on the road. The roomier cabin is afforded by the longer wheelbase, 10cm over the 997, which also has the biggest effect on the handling. You have to work a bit harder in the 997, and harder still in each generation prior.
Everything is relative and the 991 has shifted my perspective. The 997 feels more ‘classic’ than it ever has done during the nine years I’ve owned it. I’m glad I kept it, and reverting to the idea I pitched a few issues ago about seven-day and seventh-day cars – perhaps I could keep the 997 around for weekend fun.