Mercer Island, USA
The Pacific Northwest has a large and thriving car enthusiast community, due in no small part to the enormous economic growth that has transformed this area over the past three decades. Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and Boeing are all based here, and their rapid expansion has provided tens of thousands with great-paying careers that have enabled them to live out their automotive dreams.
Our local Porsche Club of America chapter – Pacific Northwest Region – has nearly 3,400 members and is the 12th largest out of the 147 PCA regions. There are also other active marque-specific clubs for BMW, Audi, Ferrari and more.
However, this economic boom that’s been so good for car lovers has a downside – construction! No matter where you drive in the area, there’s a huge building project going on: yet another high-rise structure to house all those hi-tech workers, a major highway expansion, or the huge multiyear light rail project that covers the entire metropolitan area. With all that construction comes road debris, such as the gravel spewed from the backs of dump trucks and concrete mixers… the perfect projectile to put deep rock chips in your pristine Porsche’s paint.
So it was a given that after I took delivery of my 992, I would have Paint Protection Film (PPF) installed as soon as possible, and that I would turn to my trusted friends at Metropolitan
Detail in Redmond, who had done such an awesome job on my GT4 a couple of years ago. Co-owners Benjamin Nussbaum and John Kleven are admitted Ocd-afflicted guys, and to say they view “detailing” with a very large capital D is one of automotive’s greatest understatements, much like saying Porsche takes the 911 pretty seriously.
Last week, under the direction of shop managers Jumar Newman and Lee Luna,
the team spent over four days washing, cleaning and polishing my car, and then applying STEK Dynoshield film. They swear by this particular PPF product because they’ve found that it offers “best in class clarity, self-healing, puncture resistance, stain resistance and an infused hydrophobic top coat, STEK Hydrophobe”.
In addition to their “Full Front” package (front bumper, hood, fenders, headlights) I had them install a one-piece “hockey stick” of PPF to cover the rocker panels up through the front of the rear wheel fender bulge, replacing the smaller factory piece. Due to the wider body of the new 992, this area will get a lot of road debris thrown at it, so they agreed to install this larger and more robust piece of STEK PPF. They applied two coats of Cquartz Professional ceramic coating to both film and paint, for ultimate gloss and protection. When I arrived on the Friday morning and got my first look at the finished product I was speechless; it looked better than even my wildest expectations.
And now my dream 911 has its own 21st century high-tech armour to brave the freeway, it’s time to put the hammer down and let that flat six really roar!