Sports Car Driven

In mid 2005 I started reading reports of a new Porsche called the Cayman. The only details I had were photos of a camouflaged test mule and a sound clip on Porsche.com. I was giddy.

A refundable deposit and six months later I picked up the car. I have kept everything on it since.

From the outside the car is stunning. Not at first, but when you throw some 19 inch, polished, HRE wheels on it, the car becomes exotic. It’s amazing what wheels can do for a Porsche.

On the inside, the car is well crafted and bigger than you’d expect.

Everything clicks and turns like it should. Even when there is plastic, it doesn’t stick out as being cheap. The only thing I’d fix is the plastic on the front of the gear shift. For $70k I was expecting my hand to fall on something finer. Other than that, it feels just like a sports car should: Thick, stitched steering wheel with notches at the perfect spot for your thumbs. The low-slung seat is a snug fit and feels fine even after several hours.

The navigation on a Lexus/Toyota is better. The nav. seems to get you on the destination street as fast as possible, even if there are miles of freeway left.

Note to prospective Porsche owners, be prepared to be nickel and dimed to death. Click here to see the options list.

To be honest, it is frustrating. I can’t think of many $60,000 passenger cars that don’t have these options standard. Go price out an MZ4 coupe. There are a total of 6 options, not including color choices.

The Cayman has 53 options to choose from. If you want to add all the options for different interior trims, like leather, carbon fiber, etc., there are 151 options (I counted!) and you can easily option a Cayman into the six figures. If you want full leather, including the fuse box cover, that’ll be $13 grand. Dude, like seriously, how does a $60,000 car not have automatic climate control???

So, for nearly $70,000 I got a cool car that still has manual adjustments on the seats. After two years I admit it’s all completely worth it. I have experience in a ‘95 Cabriolet, a ‘96 Turbo and a 2003 350Z. This car is the most fun I’ve ever had. It’s faster that the Cabriolet, more nimble than the Turbo and hugely more refined that the Z. Is it worth $70k? No, it’s not. Is it $35,000 better than a Nissan 350Z? No, it’s not. A similar BMW MZ4 costs $15 grand less and should beat you to 60 mph, but it’s like comparing Ruth’s Chris Steak House to Outback. You know that Ruth’s Chris is overpriced and paying a la carte sucks, but it’s the price you have to pay for perfection. If you have the money to spend, perfection tastes better, but if you don’t, you can get 9/10ths the pleasure for much, much less.

The 350Z was an engine with a car. The Turbo is a weapon. It’s tough to take quick trips to the store in a 500 horsepower, 3600 lbs. Porsche Turbo. That’s like taking an F-18 Hornet for a romantic flight up the coast.

The Cayman is a scalpel. It’s a finely crafted tool that will remain fun, smooth and fast for years to come. Every time you tip into the throttle the car begs for more. The mid-engine layout makes for the most nimble car I’ve ever been in and the steering is true Porsche and the epitome of sports car precision. The 300 horsepower layout is not only quick and responsive, but sounds like….well…picture Heidi Klum and then imagine what she’d sound like if she were a car. That’s what a Cayman sounds like : )

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It has been enjoyable everyday for the past 730 days. If you have means, buy one and you’ll never regret it.

P.S. I would not recommend the PASM unless you plan on tracking the car.

P.P.S. On a lazy Saturday in June of 2005 my roommate and I went to the dealer to get some info on the car. When we entered the dealership, looking to buy the same car, the dealer asked if my roommate and I were together, as if we were shopping together, we replied “yes.” After more information was gathered we decided to place a refundable deposit.

We started filling out paperwork. My roommate and I had the same address, worked at the same company, arrived together and knew each other’s phone number.

The dealer asked my roommate: “are you married?”

Justin said “no”

I chimed in “well, you pretty much are” since he’d had the same girlfriend for 4 years and we had just been talking about it.

Dealer: “Oh, I know what you mean, my sister and her girlfriend are the same way”

I squinted, jaw dropped, replaying what I’d just heard. Justin rolled his head back, covered his face and laughed.

Justin: “no, no it’s not like that”

Me: “I like women (deep voice). We both have girlfriends”

I drove a $330,000 Bentley Azure and it was magnificent. If I have to use a metaphor I’d equate the experience to spooning with Heidi Klum.

There are two kinds of cars. Those that make you forget that you’re driving and those that make the driving experience exciting. A Lexus is a wonderful car. It’s luxurious and pleasing, but like a visit to the hypnotist, a snap of the fingers and the whole experience is forgotten. In other words a Lexus is the perfect place to have a coma.

A Porsche is exciting and involving. There’s engine noise, snug seats, dark cockpits, throttle response and thick-rimmed steering wheels. It’s masculine and electrifying.Coincidentally, the average Lexus owner is 59 while the average Porsche owner is a 40-year-old male college graduate with an income of over $200,000.

The Bentley Azure is the first car I’ve ever driven that amazingly straddles both categories. From the exterior the Big B is large, nearly 18 feet long, but inconspicuous, and attracts attention only from those that know cars. With a pull, the solid door swings open to reveal a feast for the eyes. My pupils fall first to a wide door sill and then to the thick, blue-pile carpet, emblazoned with the flying B emblem. The calming cream-colored leather and mirrored wood invites me in. From the driver’s seat, it’s an overwhelming dazzle of sparkles and leather and lusciousness everywhere. The deeply chrome-plated buttons and switches pop like paparazzi bulbs and every millimeter of surface area is covered in something sumptuous. From the leather headliner to the natural wood dash, it is all top-shelf. I think the first words out of my mouth were “Wow, there’s so much to look at.”

With a push of the “Start” button on the center console, the engine spools to life at a low hum. I delicately pressed the throttle, not sure what this twin-turbo, 450hp beast will do. Lunge? Launch? Nope. It just pulls away slowly. Kinda like a boat, which it is (3065kg or ahem, 6000 pounds!). The car is an elegant boulevard cruiser, rock solid and calmingly quiet.

Top up, you’d never know there was any other way to have it; however, it’s clear that this was meant to be a top down car. Press a button while in Park and the triple-thick top kinks and folds under a leather deck lid cover. At 80 mph on the freeway there’s no need to raise your voice for a conversation. The best part: The A/C was on, then when the top dropped, the heater kicked in to keep the temperature the same. Sweeeeet.

Up to this point, the car’s opulence and elegance is impressive. Then I realized that the gas pedal has some more travel left… Fast sports cars shove you into your seat. In a Porsche Turbo, you feel the impression you make in the tense cushion when you hit the gas. The Bentley leans into you like a linebacker. I floored it on the freeway. The six-speed automatic kicked down, and the motor’s sound shifted from a distant burble to a distant vrooooom.

But the power…. The power grows with each foot forward and never stops. The car is a leather-clad freight train! Normally a car at full throttle will hit some kind of peak and stop pulling so hard, but the Bentley just pulled and pulled with enormous amounts of torque. I could feel myself being pushed back more and more as I went faster and faster. I’ve never been in a car that just continues to accelerate and pull. Later looking at the stats, the Bentley boasts 645lb-ft of torque. For comparison that’s having more than 5 Honda Civics on tap at your right toenail and explains what I felt.

Done with a freeway sprint, it’s back to casual class. Pull into a safe parking spot, watch the top whir and whistle back into position and press the “Start” button to turn the engine off. Then appreciate that you just parked a machine worth more than the average American home. The car was truly amazing to drive.

It coddles at every seam and blazes with chromed bling, but with space shuttle power abound it’s a thoroughbred. The Azure is an ultimate cruiser, spanning the chasm between coma-like comforts and driving excitement. Most importantly the Bentley leaves you with a memorable and enjoyable experience. It is simply beautiful.

Statistics:

Vehicle type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door convertible
Base price: $337,985
Engine type: twin-turbocharged and intercooled pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 412 cu in, 6752cc
Power (SAE net): 450 bhp @ 4100 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 645 lb-ft @ 3250 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 122.7 in
Length/width/height: 213.0/75.0/58.5 in
Curb weight: 6000 lb

Performance ratings (mfr’s est):
Zero to 60 mph: 5.6 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 14.4 sec
Top speed (governor limited): 168 mph

Projected fuel economy (mfr’s est):
EPA city driving: 10 mpg
EPA highway driving: 14 mpg

P.S. In looking up stats and stories on the car I found this on www.autoblog.com and http://www.lancedixon.com.au/bentley_FS.html: “The seats alone take two days each to stitch by hand and one continuous piece of thread is used on the hand-stitched steering wheel so there are no loose ends.”

“Bentley told us the story of one particular customer who asked the automaker how far it would go to customize his Bentley. He requested that the wood inlay on his vehicle come from a tree on his property that held great sentimental value. Bentley obliged the customer and craftsmen were dispatched from the company’s headquarters in Crewe, England to retrieve the wood and create his one-of-a-kind interior.”“In the two weeks that it takes to prepare the wood for the interior, the veneers are given five coats of lacquer and three days of curing time before being wax polished by hand. Bentley uses no bleaching, the rich color of the wood veneers is entirely natural. Bentley is the only coachbuilder to use mirror patterns when applying wood veneers, placing four successive leaves end to end to make a symmetrical pattern across the fascia, a process known as book matching. Each leaf of veneer can be traced back to the tree it came from, and each tree felled for veneer is replaced with another. Great care is taken never to use endangered wood species.”

Nothing speaks to men or lesbians like fast cars and hot women.

The marriage of the two results in one of the most powerful combinations in nature, arguably stronger than the bonds of mullets to 1980’s Camaro owners (VERY STRONG).

In my search to find pictures to post, I humbly searched for hours on end for several days…over the past 5 years. Ironically, the most abundant source of images was “girl with Mustang.” If you’re board I suggest you try this search on Yahoo. Turn the safe search feature off.

My personal favorite is the pictures where you know some dude just asked his girlfriend,

“Hey Honey, do you think you could put on some skimpy clothes and go lay on the hood of the car?”

“Aw come’on, it’s not that cold out…”

“No, it’s not a dumb idea…”

“No, you don’t have cottage cheese…(yet)”

“Why would I lie?”

“No Honey, you know I love you more than the car”

“That’s ridiculous…”

“Baby, please, you know I’d do it for you…”

“We can go to Red Lobster tonight….”

“Great. I love you too babe. I’ll get the keys and my jacket….(cause it looks damn cold out).”

There are actually 4 kinds of pictures of cars and women.

1) The wives/girlfriends, which we just saw. Attractive women, coerced through promises into posing with a car (usually a Mustang) that they may or may not care about at all, in a remote location, regardless of weather conditions. The real-world, un-paid amateur approach is very appealing and popular.

2) Car Models, a.k.a. “Booth Babes”: These women are usually paid models at car shows. They essentially sell their good looks to get the cars more attention. This is commonly referred to as “good marketing.”

Good Marketing here.

Excellent Marketing Skills

Good Marketing x2

3) The Smoking Hot Girl: These are the women that are amazingly hot, yet unpaid, that still get photographed with cars. This is a hybrid of the first two categories that is rarely seen in nature, but somehow remarkably well documented on-line.

*personal favorite. Simply ridiculous. I’m mean, seriously. This is ridiculous.

4) The Holy Grail. The Women of Formula 1. They don’t necessarily have to be posing with a car. Just the fact that they exist because of a car, is good enough to have them in this blog. Exotic, mysterious and hot. Like the flux capacitor they are the secret source of Formula 1’s world-wide popularity.

 

Hopefully I’ve made your day a little brighter and informed you about a world you didn’t fully realize. To continue your education you can check out these sites that I came across:

http://www.bikinicarbabes.com/

http://www.autoexploration.com/

Drop a comment if this was worth your time.