2013 Porsche 911: Not Great for Left-Foot Braking
July 12, 2013
I like to use my left foot for braking. It feels natural once you get used to it and it's safer. There are plenty of people who will tell you differently, but to each his own.
As you can see, our 911 doesn't exactly accommodate left-foot braking. The brake pedal is clearly cheated over to the right. This obviously makes for easy to swap between the accelerator and the brake pedal with your right foot, but trying to squeeze both feet in there isn't very natural.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: How It's Made
July 8, 2013
So I caught the Science Channel's How It's Made program a few nights ago. The program is currently showing a series called Dream Cars and features the Porsche 911 assembly plant in Stuttgart, Germany.
It made me laugh.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Optional Steering Wheels
June 26, 2013
Last week I wrote a long-term update stating that Porsche doesn't clutter the 911's steering wheel with buttons.
I was wrong.
2013 Porsche 911: Checking the Oil
June 24, 2013
This morning I checked the Porsche's oil level. The entire process took about one second and I never left the driver's seat.
2013 Porsche 911: Kids Fit
June 21, 2013
There's one thing a Porsche 911 can do that a Chevy Corvette, Porsche Cayman, Mercedes SLS, Mercedes SL, McLaren MP4-12C, SRT Viper, any new Lamborghini, and even a Nissan 370Z cannot: Take my kids to a ball game.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: The Coat Hooks
June 20, 2013
The coat hooks embedded in the 911's seat backs aren't especially useful. You can forget about using a nice hanger, as the cheap wire one seen here had to be severely misshapen to only slightly fit and even then, it quickly dislodged after only a minor jostle. Joan Crawford would not approve. Using them with a coat's internal tag hook works better, but the garment itself doesn't really have enough vertical real estate to hang down.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: No Steering Wheel Buttons
June 18, 2013
Porsche's 911 lacks even a single steering wheel button. This, I'd wager, is a choice. Possibly Porsche knows that a steering wheel's function is so fundamental to what happens while driving that cluttering it up with a bunch of buttons is something it refuses to do.
2013 Porsche 911 Cabriolet: Child Seat. Can It Be Done?
June 17, 2013
The presence of LATCH fasteners in our Porsche 911's back seats (I use the term loosely) means somebody thinks it's possible to put a child seat back there.
Here's the reality...
2013 Porsche 911 Cabriolet: Wind Deflector Makes a Big Difference
June 12, 2013
I'm not really a convertible kind of guy. I don't like roasting in the sun, I'd rather not have the wind in my hair, and the noise on highways gets old quickly. Now, I do appreciate the top-down experience more in cooler months when I can bundle up, throw on a hat and enjoy the car at slower speeds on a scenic and/or twisty road. There is certainly a more engaging experience one enjoys. Unfortunately, my wife takes little joy at any time of the year. She doesn't tolerate the cold and I certainly understand why she might not relish having long hair constantly whipping about her face. Put together, we are not ideal candidates for a lengthy drive in a convertible.
Nevertheless, the Porsche 911 Cabriolet turns out to be an exception.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Convertible: Just Love Driving It
June 10, 2013
There have been a few times now when I've gotten out of our 2013 Porsche 911 after driving it and found myself saying out loud (to myself, but hey, nobody else was around), "Man, this car is cool."
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Check Engine Light Solved
June 7, 2013
If you remember, Beverly Hills Porsche told us the cause of the check engine light on our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet was a faulty tank leakage diagnostics module. Apparently this has been an all-too-common problem on the 991 generation.
2013 Porsche 911: German Size Cupholder
June 6, 2013
Porsche can make a damn fine sports car, but when it comes to cupholders, it doesn't waste much time on them. The fold out contraptions used in the 911 are marginal at best, so they don't stand a chance against the monstrous Styrofoam cups used at a local teriyaki bowl stand I splurge on every once in a while.
2013 Porsche 911: No Detail Too Small
June 5, 2013
Whenever I drive our 2013 911 Carrera I'm always struck by how well Porsche's engineers sweat the details. It's evident throughout the cabin and it almost makes it feel like it's worth over $100,000.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Convertible: Fuel Economy Update for May
June 3, 2013
Now that our Porsche 911 has settled back into daily driver duty after its cross country trip, its mileage has suffered a bit. Its overall mileage number dropped from 22.8 to 22.4 after several tanks of, uh, let's call it aggressive driving.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Convertible: I Could Get Used To This
May 31, 2013
On a recent weekend morning I was out driving our long-term 2013 Porsche 911. It was a beautiful day. Sunny, 76 degrees and pretty blue sky and clouds. Ideal, you might say, for a convertible sports car such as our 911.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Making Excuses To Drive It
May 30, 2013
If you're fortunate enough to have a 2013 Porsche 911 at your disposal, I suspect you'll always been on the lookout for extra opportunities to drive it. Maybe your household needs some milk, or a drug prescription picked up. Exciting or mundane, it doesn't matter. All you need is an excuse.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Meet Up With a 1983 911 Owner
May 29, 2013
A friend of mine owns an older 911, a 1983 911 SC. Curious to get his thoughts on our long-term 2013 Porsche 911 and 30 years of 911 progress, I suggested we go to lunch.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip Photo Gallery
May 24, 2013
Cross country in a 911? Erin Riches and I did it around the time of the 2013 New York Auto Show in our Long-Term 2013 Porsche Carrera Cabriolet.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Hips
May 24, 2013
All right, so this is a lousy photo to illustrate my point, but you've seen a 911 before. You know what its hips look like. When we think of curves, we think Italian or maybe Jaguar (pound for pound, does anyone bend sheet metal better than Jaguar?).
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: You Just Have To Drive It
May 23, 2013
For a car that's has so much history behind it, it's inevitable that car enthusiasts are going to have preconceived notions about the Porsche 911. From some of the comments we've read or heard, it seems our long-term 911 is seen as a "lesser" car by a few people.
It's the base model, not the high-output S, they say. It has the automated PDK transmission, not a traditional manual. It's a convertible. It's got the big, flashy 20-inch wheels.
This is the 911 you assume smarmy Hollywood agents buy simply because it's a "Porsch."
Maybe those agents do just that. But if you were to drive our 911, you'd realize that it still has more pure sports car genes in it than just about any other competitor.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: From Snow to Fires
May 22, 2013
Our 2013 Porsche 911 has driven through freezing temperatures, ice and snow, thanks to its trip to New York. Now, a couple of months later, you can add "forest fire!" to its check-off bucket list.
Actually, it was more of a 4,100-acre wildfire that I encountered about 80 miles north of Edmunds' Santa Monica, CA, office. There was no imminent danger to motorists at the time, but it made for some very interesting scenery.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Track Testing on Different Tire Pressure
May 20, 2013
As you've read before, finding the correct tire pressures for our 2013 Porsche 911 is no easy task.
We're currently running our tires at 31 psi front and 34 psi rear according to the "comfort, part load" specifications. In conversations with Porsche, they suggested that we use this tire pressure for our testing as well as it should give us the best results.
We could take their word. Or we could try it out for ourselves.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Check Engine Diagnosis
May 17, 2013
I took our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet to our friends at Beverly Hills Porsche. And like some kind of automotive Dr. House, assistant service manager Erik rendered a probable diagnosis without even looking at the car.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Check Engine Light Message
May 17, 2013
Takahashi noted it first, and although I always hope for spontaneous remission of car problems, there has been no self-healing here. The "check engine" light in our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet continues, in its very correct German way, to covey both information and blame.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Check Engine Light
May 16, 2013
So here's a check engine warning that popped up in our long-term Porsche 911 when I started it up this morning. The 911 ran just fine on the drive into the office, so hopefully it's nothing major. Stay tuned.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Track Tested
May 15, 2013
Before Erin and I shuttled our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet cross-country, we took it to the track for our usual instrumented testing.
And for fun, we decided to compare it against a more powerful 991 911, a 2012 Porsche Carrera S Cabriolet.
2013 Porsche 911: Who Needs Rear Seats?
May 15, 2013
Most hardcore sports car fans would call the rear seats in the Porsche 911 useless. And they would be right to a large degree. You can't fit adults in them and even kids need to be small to wedge in there for any length of time.
2013 Porsche 911: Choosing a Tire Pressure for Everyday Driving
May 14, 2013
As you can see, there's not much sidewall to the tires on our Porsche 911. A set of 20-inch wheels doesn't leave much room for such extravagances. The result is a slightly jarring ride depending on what you consider jarring.
Personally, I think our 911 rides exceptionally well given its combination of paper thin sidewall and firm suspension. It's an easy everyday driver, even on the beat-up, concrete highways here in Southern California.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: No Limousine Stops
May 13, 2013
Our long-term 2013 Porsche 911's braking ability is outstanding in virtually every way. But there's that word: virtually. The one thing that could be better is the way our car approaches a halt in that tiny window of time just prior to when the tires stop rolling. Ideally you want a jolt-free stop, a result that comes from easing off the brake pedal ever so gently just as the car stops. The car then seamlessly transitions between rolling and stopping. In the trade this graceful halt is described as a "limousine stop."
2013 Porsche 911: One Small Disappointment
May 10, 2013
This is nothing but nitpicking, but sometimes a car in this price range deserves it. I'm a little annoyed by the side mirrors on our Porsche 911, mainly because the bottom half of each mirror is covered in a big hunk of black plastic.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Frunk Holds More Than You'd Think
May 9, 2013
Both Erin and Mike said the frunk in our Porsche 911 Cabriolet held their carry-on bags but not much else. They had to use the interior for extra cargo space.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Garment Hangers
May 8, 2013
Before my cross-country drive in our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, I read through our long-term posts to see what I was getting myself into. One thing that stood out was a post by Erin, who was taking the car to NY for me, and addressed the Porsche's lack of garment hangers.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A., Putting Summer Rubber Back On
May 7, 2013
After our cross-country road trip the Pirelli SottoZeros were still showing good tread and hadn't suffered much wear over the past 6,500 miles. Still, we'd had enough with driving on winter tires. They were darned good when the weather got cold or when we hit bad weather, but the summer tires we had on our stock 20-inch wheels just grip so much better.
Mark and I took the car down to our shop, threw it up on our Rotary Lift and swapped the wheels in about ten minutes. (And for those looking closely, yes, I forgot to bring the center caps and had to install them back at the office. That took another 45 seconds.)
I still think the 19s look better. We're considering getting a set of summer tires for these wheels as well. What say you?
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: 10,000-Mile Service
May 6, 2013
At the tail end of the road trip, our 2013 Porsche 911 Cabriolet declared that it needed service.
This wasn't an unexpected warning as we knew full well that the 911 requires a service at 10,000 miles and another one at 20,000 miles. We're not going to argue with a 10,000-mile service interval.
So, I got back to L.A., washed the car a few times and then called Beverly Hills Porsche, our closest dealership, to set up an appointment.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A., The Aftermath
May 3, 2013
Between Erin and me, we drove our long-term 2013 Porsche 911Carrera Cabriolet from L.A. to New York to Maine and then back to Los Angeles. We covered 6,608.6 miles in less than two weeks and hit exactly zero car washes.
At the end of the 7,000+-mile Road Trip to Alaska in our Jag, the car looked like it had survived Superstorm Sandy after being fished out of the Hudson. This is why people hate black cars.
After 6,600 miles in the Porsche...it actually looked okay. Even the winter-spec tires weren't showing any wear from the days-upon-days of high-temp highway running.
The slippery Porsche shunned any real bug splatter and the light greyish color really hid the road grime. The only time you'd notice it was if you happened to touch the paint. Oh, the wheels were also a mess; had to hit them with $5 worth of that highly caustic (probably) green stuff from the self-wash just to make them presentable.
It took three carwashes to get it back to normal. Next stop: Porsche Service.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Fuel Economy Update for April
May 2, 2013
With the last few tanks of our cross-country road trip figured in, our 2013 Porsche 911 has now bumped its lifetime fuel economy number up another notch. Unlike last month, however, this time it was a mere tenth of a mile per gallon, from 22.7 to 22.8.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A., Fuel Economy Report
April 30, 2013
To be fair, I didn't know we were competing on fuel economy until I read Erin's post after I'd gotten home. I didn't know I was supposed to be trying for fuel economy.
I just knew this was a Porsche and that, after the first day's error, my radar detector was working very well.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A., Three and Out?
April 29, 2013
Day 3 started off much like day 2 of my leg of the cross-country road trip in our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: I woke up long before my alarm clock was set to go off and I was feeling good. By day 3 of me and Kurt's road trip to Anchorage I contemplated faking a seizure so that I wouldn't legally be allowed to drive home.
I hopped into the Porsche that third morning like it was my first time driving one. The car and I were ready to go.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A. 10,000 Miles
April 26, 2013
In the last post, our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet was in a parking lot somewhere in Colorado with almost 9,200 miles on the odometer.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A., Maintenance Required
April 25, 2013
This maintenance minder popped up somewhere in Colorado letting me know that our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet was due for its first service in 900 miles.
Sorry, buddy. We're just over 1,000 miles from home and I'm not stopping early for an oil change.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A., Change of Plans
April 24, 2013
I am the polar opposite of Erin Riches. She plans things like road trips very thoroughly. She looks at maps, sets goals and hits them. I sort of assume I'm supposed to be heading roughly west and figure out the rest on the fly. So when managed 1,016 miles on day 1, I was pleasantly surprised.
When I sat down to dinner that night, I texted Kurt and asked if we'd ever done a 1,000-mile day during our Jaguar XF Supercharged Road Trip to Alaska. He confirmed that we hadn't, I blamed the slow photographer.
Not only did I feel smug at my small accomplishment. I felt great. I was awake, alert, and had absolutely zero butt/back/leg/hip/whatever pain from sitting in a car for 14-ish hours.
It's almost like they design these things for endurance racing.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to L.A., 2,995 Miles To Go
April 23, 2013
There are good ways to start a road trip and there are not so good ways.
I spent the night in Cambridge, MA before leaving on my route back to Los Angeles in our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. The apartment was 2ish miles from the Mass Pike and had ample, safe street parking. Perfect.
Except that there's an invisible line somewhere on this street that separates the towns of Cambridge and Somerville and, with my Cambridge parking permit, I was on the wrong side of that line in the mist.
I loaded my luggage into the frunk and, as my carry-on is exactly the same size as Erin's, it fit exactly the same with no room for my briefcase. I set that down on the curb, took pictures of every street sign within 200 feet (none said Somerville, two said Cambridge), got back in the car, set the nav and started my 2,995-mile drive.
I thought the trip was starting out on only one bad note. You, dear reader, via reading it a week after it happened, have noticed that the trip actually started out on two bad notes.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Mom Hates Launch Control
April 22, 2013
The danger of showing up, unannounced, to your mother's house on her birthday with a shiny new 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet is that she may think it's a surprise gift.
Good thing she knows I'm a journalist.
Still, the six-hour drive to northern Massachusetts was worth it. She hadn't seen her only child in quite a while, and I hadn't terrified her via a car with launch control in, like, ever.
I told her I'd take her to lunch. A spot up by Kittery. I told her we could put the top down and take the coast up.
I failed to mention what 350 horsepower in a Porsche was actually like.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Escape From Manhattan
April 19, 2013
I'm still not sure if it was worth it. Jacobs and I got the shot, but it cost me a safe exit from Manhattan. Traffic getting off of that island, if you hadn't heard, is a bit of a nightmare, especially if you're heading north into the 'burbs of Connecticut.
That's right. I was going north. Instead of simply heading back to L.A., I was taking a bit of a detour. My Mom's birthday fell on day 2 of the 2013 New York International Auto Show and, well, it's only a 4-hour drive...
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip Driver Change
April 18, 2013
If I needed any more conclusive evidence that New York is not the same as Los Angeles, I got it at the valet counter at Erin's Hotel. High-end valets in L.A. understand the needs of a driver with a valeted car and can grasp the concept of a car being dropped off by one party and picked up by another.
In NYC, you have to wait 25-30 minutes for them to retrieve your vehicle from some rat-infested subterranean nightmare and the fact that I had the valet ticket only convinced the hotel that I'd murdered the fair Mrs. Riches and was planning to flee with her Porsche.
Hey, at least they graciously offered to let me stand in their lobby while they tried to figure it all out.
I didn't really have time for the wait, though. This was day 2 of the 2013 New York International Auto Show, I'd already covered a few cars and had to get this car quick; me and Scott Jacobs had a date with Times Square.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to New York, Fuel Economy Report
April 17, 2013
So our long-term 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet made it from L.A. to New York. But that was only the first half of the road trip. I've turned the keys over to Mike Magrath for a second half. He's not taking the same route, of course. And he'll probably put the top down no matter how cold it is.
It goes without saying that we're competing on fuel economy. It's not just about logging the highest overall average mpg, either. It's about who gets the best mpg on a single tank, worst mpg on a single tank, and the most miles on a single tank. There's also the matter of who spends the most money on premium fuel.
Check my totals after the jump. These are the numbers Magrath has to beat.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to New York, Day 4
April 16, 2013
For the last three days, I've been getting supportive emails and texts from my coworkers. "Don't be foolish," some of them begin, "just park the Porsche and somebody will come get it." But even during my worst hour, I know I'm going to complete the drive to New York somehow. And after stopping in Indiana last night, that goal is finally in sight.
First, though, the 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet and I will take in more of Interstate 70, plus I-76 (better known as the Pennsylvania Turnpike) and I-78. It's an experience I won't soon forget.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: Road Trip to New York, Day 3
April 15, 2013
Two nights and a day after my road trip in our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet stalls out in Kansas (due to a mechanical problem with the driver, not the car), the Porsche and I are back on the road to New York. Of course, now the goal is to get to Manhattan in time for the second press day of the 2013 New York Auto Show. There won't be time to explore any crazy back roads or tour the battlefield at Gettysburg as I'd planned.
I'm just going to have to be content with the 911's entertainment value when it's pointed straight down Interstate 70 (and then 76, 78 and every other numbing Northeast artery that comes after that). The PDK seven-speed, dual-clutch automated manual transmission makes this pretty easy.
2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet: 5,000 Miles in Ruleton, Kansas
April 12, 2013
If you read the last installment of our 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet's journey to New York, then you noticed it hit 5,000 miles. Here's where it happened. I can't remember the name of this exit off Interstate 70. This road runs both north and south of the highway, and there's not a lick of pavement. Not many cars look this good on a desolate dirt road. My weather app told me that we were in Ruleton, Kansas. I think it was about 30 degrees.
The wind gusts were considerable when I popped out of the car for a quick shot in the evening light. I didn't linger, either, lest I get run over by a tractor or a steer. In any case, the 911 remained in tip-top health when it passed this milestone.
So far, I've seen only one other 911 on this road trip: It was a 996 Turbo convertible, and I spotted it, where else, just outside of Vegas. I suppose it's the weather that's keeping all the Porsche 911 owners off the road, but really, with a set of snow tires, the 991 generation at least is quite hardy.