Growing up, my father was always a car fanatic. I grew up in the back of a 1967 Volvo, and went off to college in a 1981 Peugeot turbo diesel. Great cars, and most importantly, European. The thing that sucks though, is that through the years my father has always spent more time cleaning his cars than driving them. And driving them hard was always out of the question. My dad now drives an E39 BMW and has never come even close to redlining the engine. Needless to say, I inherited the terrific addiction to all things auto, but I also inherited the keep it waxed and in the garage mentality. I'd always take the "other" car to go pick up a DVD etc. Recently this has all changed. I stepped out of a 2004 E46 M3 to get into my '06 C4. The M3 was an awesome car, but it too fell victim to me spending more time cleaning it and obsessing over rock chips rather than driving it hard and enjoying it everyday. After 30 months of ownership, I only put 15k miles on that car. Totally stupid.....

I'm pleased to announce publicly that I have officially gotten over it being more important to me that there is no brake dust on my wheels, than driving the car and enjoying the terrific brakes. My 911 has changed everything. There's just no way in hell I'm going to let that car sit in the garage. I love driving this thing so much it's incredible. With that said, here's my totally clean car...

 

congrats ! enjoy the driveing.....by the way.....nice car

 

very sexy! how do u like it compared to your former m3?

 

Nice, so come clean and tell us how many miles you have on your c4

A little over 10k miles myself at 9months of ownership. Life is short there is plenty of time to be dead!

 

I've put about 1000 miles on it in a month. I bought it with 5,100 miles and now have 6200.

 

Vegas, I'm soooo feelin' ya brotha!! i too had an E46 M3 "garage queen". after that i had an E39 M5 that I vowed to drive everyday, and did, even though i only kept it for 4 months then decided to get into my beloved '07 C2S which i'll drive MOST days. LOL... i won't drive it in the rain.

happy motoring!

 

Since I have 2 other cars in the family, I could easily avoid rain if I want too..

As far as comparing my C4 to the M3, there just isn't that much to say really. It's a completely different experience in all aspects. The M3 was awesome, but there's something about the way the 911 handles, sounds, smells, looks and feels on the road that's lightyears ahead of the BMW, IMHO. Funny how I took such good care of that car for so long and now I don't even think about it. It's all Porsche for me now.

 

Great choice love the wheels and colour.

 

Another wake up call, I could have kept the Mini when I got the TT or now the GT3 but it was not for me, the GT3 is my only car and I love it...cars are for driving unless the are so rare they are unreplaceable...then u drive them spareingly...

 

I too drive my Porsche as my daily. I know that many will garage them, care for them, pamper them, and keep them squeaky clean at all costs. Not a problem, as I truly believe to each their own.

For me, I love this car so much, I want to be in it as much as possible. It does help that I travel out of the country so much, that I don't have much time with it.

PS, I could not agree with you more on the handling. The porsche is just a diffirent animal when it comes down to hugging the road and giving the driver that extra boost of confidence in doing a curve at a high speed.

 

well said. you've summed up my experience as well.

 

Vegas:

I have a 2002 E39 530 Sport with Sportronic automatic and I redline it a lot. It is a beautiful car to drive - the best vehicle I have owned, except of course the 997 - and with 68,000 miles it's as good now as new.

I stored my 2006 997 C2S this winter, but next winter I intend to keep it home as my daily driver. My views have changed, too, and I intend to drive the 997 as it was intended by Porsche. As my dealer GM has told me, the Germans think we in the USA baby these cars too much. After all Stuttgart is a cold weather climate and a 911 with winter wheels and tires would be excellent in snow.

 

Congrats, sweet ride, now let's see an *** shot of that C4!

 

Good for you. You've described my Dad and I to a "T."

Grew up in and around 'vettes, camaro's, BMW's and Porsches. Dad always taught me to take VERY good care of everything, not just cars. Whether it was cars, motorcycles or one of his small planes over the years, nothing EVER got "put away wet."

He always lusted after Porsches, and now that he's got one, it's anxiety inducing to see how paranoid he is about it. ALWAYS warmed up and cooled down (non-turbo). ALWAYS wiped down after a drive. Always covered. He skitters around like he has to tinkle whenever he hands me the keys...

Has completely flipped me to the "dark side." While I still value my education on extreme care for nice things, I feel like I can take a big, deep breath and ENJOY.

While the occasional door ding or rock chip still annoys me, it's not crippling - it doesn't ruin my day. And maybe more importantly....the days of those around me.

Rantestimonial off...(struck a chord, you did)

 

An awesome revelation! Congrats!