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The first 1700 miles in my 911.2 4S

alpinaB3

Well-known member
Joined
24 Mar 2016
Messages
98
I took delivery of a new 911.2 4S with manual transmission back in late October last year, (arrival at the dealership https://youtu.be/ivratfGRLoU and the day of handover https://youtu.be/6oCXyPHwGeA) and in early November I had the car booked in with a detailer and Xpel authorised installer. I decided to go with a full Xpel Ultimate body coverage with Gyeon Q2 MOHS coating.

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Now road legal having a front number plate applied, I chose not to go with the stranded screwed to the bumper black plastic mounting plate.

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On handover I noticed that the rear spoiler was not aligned correctly and was sitting slightly raised from the rest of the adjacent body panels. This was resolved by the Porsche dealership, and on first washing the car I noticed a completely straight 15 cm vertical scratch on the passenger's side rear side glass window, which was 100% parallel to the vertical edge of the glass. The dealership arranged a specialist to machine out the scratch.

On driving the car I also noticed occasionally a rattle/vibration noise coming from the passenger-side front dashboard area when driven on rough road surfaces, and when the ambient temperature was over 12 degs. So booked the car in with the dealership to get this fixed. I drove the car with one of their technicians to demonstrate the rattle/vibration noise. As few days later the dealership informed me that they believed they have identified the issue; however to get this resolved the whole dashboard would need to come out. Also to complicate the issue my wife had already organised and booked hotel accommodation for a driving holiday in Wales for me to familiarize myself with the car and this was in two weeks time!. 10 days later, the day before we were due to go on our trip to Wales, I collected car from the dealership, with them assuring me that they have resolved the fault. Driving through Wales would be an ideal test ground. Thankfully, 730 miles later the vibration noise has not returned.

I confess I would not have expected to experience such poor quality workmanship from Porsche. So I have informed Porsche UK of the situation and am yet to see what they will offer as a gesture of goodwill!

The driving trip in Wales effectively started with the Evo Triangle which, after all the hype, we were underwhelmed with. We stayed overnight at Bangor and the next day we drove along the Llanberis Pass (Snowdonia) which was enjoyable, then we drove down through Betws-y-Coed and towards Aberystwyth and then across to Builth Wells and finally to our hotel at Llandeilo.

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The next day's plan was to have an early start and drive the various roads through the Brecon Beacons, including the Black Mountain Pass, the A4067 and the A4059, and then do the return journey.

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However since the last time I drove along the Black Mountain Pass the Council has restricted the speed limit from 60 MPH down to 40 MPH which was disappointing, plus they had recently resurfaced the road will tar and loose chippings so it was not a particularly nice experience having the noise of loose stone chippings hitting the car! So as not to repeat the same ordeal we decided to drive down to Rhossili Bay in the Gower peninsular for the afternoon. So we typed our destination into the SatNav and we set off. However we found that the latest Satnavs are just as bad as in my previous car - even though we set it to the 'Fastest' and not 'Shortest' route, we still found ourselves on single-track roads with the occasional passing place - not great! So we resorted to the good old fashioned OS maps with my wife being the navigator. We got to Rhossili Bay with no major incidences... only to find that the normal carpark was having a major update and was down to a third of its normal size! There was additional parking in a field but the entrance was not suitable due to the low clearance height of the car. However we found a space in the original car park.

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Driving through Swansea also had its issues with speed bumps, so to the annoyance of the drivers behind I gingerly drove over these at a snail's pace. However on one occasion I did hear a scraping noise. Back at the hotel and looking underneath the car I believe this was the plastic flap that is located directly in front of the front wheels which was scraped and not the front splitter... phew!

The next day was driving back home. My wife and I were shocked by the poor condition of the so-called 'main' roads in Wales with multiple potholes and the debris from the broken road surface. If you dodge the pothole you drive over the loose remains on the road! On closer inspection of the car I have noticed a high number of stone impact marks on the rear arches, but fortunately the stone protection film has saved the car, and taken a bit of a beating!

One of the roads that I did enjoy was the A483 - there is a section where you are driving on a gradient with lots of nice sweeping bends.

So what have we learned in the first 1700 miles with the car?
The sport suspension (20mm height reduction) is definitely firm and on poor road surfaces it can be a bit tiresome on long journeys, being jiggled about so much; however we drove home without any stops which took us over 4 hours, and had no aches or pains from the journey. The stance of the car just looks great with the 20mm drop. Having the 18-way sport plus seats really helped to cushion the firm ride (I believe these have more padding than the 4 way seats).

Also we were pleasantly surprised how much luggage space there is in the front bonnet. We just needed to put one small backpack on the backseat.

Having the 'Mode Switch' dial I found the 'Individual' mode option very handy to quickly switch from 'Normal' to my 'Individual' setting being Sport,with sport suspension. Having a manual for me was the icing on the cake and a very enjoyable experience, especially with the rev matching and sport exhaust.

Back safely at home.

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So what's next?

At the end of April we are driving up to Edinburgh, then on to Fort William and up to the Isle of Skye, hoping the road surfaces in Scotland are in better condition than in Wales!
 
The car looks great :thumbs:

Where did you get it from...plate suggests Leicester or Nottingham? What is that front number plate made of (a sticker I presume) and who did it for you?
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. Re the Evo Triangle, its not about the scenery, especially compared to mid wales, but the road itself. Once you get to know it and its quiet its a great test for a road car but you have to be committed to it to get the most out of it (thats why Evo used it in the first place). I can understand that your not going to be ragging your pride and joy around it which would make it underwhelming compared to some of the other roads you drove on the trip.
 
Superb post, beautiful car :worship:

Great to see how much fun you're trying to have driving it.

It never ceases to amaze me what poor condition new cars are often delivered in these days. :nooo:
 
jonttt said:
Thanks for sharing your experience. Re the Evo Triangle, its not about the scenery, especially compared to mid wales, but the road itself. Once you get to know it and its quiet its a great test for a road car but you have to be committed to it to get the most out of it (thats why Evo used it in the first place).

When we were on the Evo Triangle there were a few grannies driving in front plus there was also a Mini convoy meet which slowed things up. So yes I could not exploit the road to its true potential. It was a Sunday so there were more traffic than if we did the run in weekday.
 
Out of interest how do you maintain the expel covering. My OPC who fitted mine said just to wash it. I'm thinking maybe it should be waxed with a UV inhibitor included.
 
Curious2 said:
Out of interest how do you maintain the expel covering. My OPC who fitted mine said just to wash it. I'm thinking maybe it should be waxed with a UV inhibitor included.

I had expel film on my previous car and a few detailing/ coating solutions did have mild adverse effect on the film, so I reverted to a good quality wax however this was a pain in the backside removing the wax from the edges having to resort to a toothpick to remove it. I was recommended by the Xpel installer to use 'Gyeon Q2 Cure' or Gyeon Q2M - Wet Coat as this provides protection and can be used as a gloss enhancer and can be used on glass and trim. So far I am very happy with the product. Xpel do their own film Protection sealant and cleaner. (http://www.xpel.com/aftercare-products-tools/) I have already used their film cleaner to remove a rubber scuff mark from the door sill. These can be ordered over the phone details https://www.facebook.com/XPELuk/
 
Many thanks for info on care products, will follow up with your links. :thumb:
 
Awesome write up and photo's!

Know those roads well, when i bought my RS6 i went for a weekend blast... only to nick the unluckiest of stones on a road on black mountain that damaged the nearside tyres sidewalls... so it was an expensive morning out, but great memories and really good fun.

Have the occasional squeak and rattle in the car, but i find it part of the 911 charm and you soon drown it out with the right foot ;)
 
Is that Sapphire Blue? It really suits your car. Got to make a choice on colour for my GTS4 soon and that is an outside bet but it looks a bit pale on the configurator.

Favouring Carmine red currently but am unsure as I don't want a pink/purple looking car!

:?:
 
Great
Looking car , beautiful colour and looks the dogs dangles ....


It's a 4S though .. isn't it, not an S4 ( Audi)

I know ... pedantic .....🙄
 
Yes, Sapphire
 
weejimmy said:
Is that Sapphire Blue? It really suits your car. Got to make a choice on colour for my GTS4 soon and that is an outside bet but it looks a bit pale on the configurator.

Favouring Carmine red currently but am unsure as I don't want a pink/purple looking car!

:?:
Yes its Sapphire Blue. :wink: I was at the local dealership yesterday and they were manoeuvring a brand 911 turbo in Sapphire Blue ready handover, it looked awesome
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911TEL said:
Great
Looking car , beautiful colour and looks the dogs dangles ....

It's a 4S though .. isn't it, not an S4 (Audi)

I know ... pedantic .....🙄
You are correct, I can never remember the correct order being dyslexic :oops: :wink:

Thank you for all the comments, very much appreciated :thumb:
 

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