2019 718 Cayman GTS
Written By:
Mike G
The 2019 718 Cayman GTS feels like an older car in a good way! Let me explain, the cabin in the car is much more intimate than the bigger brother 911. Additionally when you are outside of the car and from an optical perspective the car looks proportional to an air-cooled 911 which is a very good thing! So needless to say we were pleasantly surprised on these fronts on how the car presents itself. We were like most people in the Porsche world where as we thought 911 or nothing. It is funny; you don’t know what you don’t know. I am sure a lot of you have heard that saying in the past but it really does rain true in this case. We really didn’t know what we were missing with this car.
Let's discuss some stats because everyone loves to compare things on paper. So what are we talking about here 2.5 liter turbocharged flat four producing 365hp, 309 lb-ft of torque. Launching this thing to under 4 seconds in the zero to 60. So for all you watercooler folk like that to talk about what cars can do from a stat sheet there you go! Now, for the real world stuff. Is it fast? Yes it is very fast; especially considering it’s a flat four. Butt dyno says very very fast. So much so that it seemed violent under sport plus hard acceleration and shifts, which is a very good thing in case you didn’t know. Interior very nice, alcantara everything in the GTS trim. Only drawback is on the interior door handles are covered in the stuff and that is wear point and could look pretty bad after some repetitive closing and opening of the doors. Tons of storage in the frunk and the rear hatch, the mid-engine nature helps with the storage. The clutch engagement was very soft; it could be used in stop and go traffic without a problem. Oh, did I mention the one we tested was a manual transmission! It was very well suited for this vehicle, the transmission was easy to use and felt really good through the gears. Visibility was outstanding, and you didn’t feel as if you couldn’t see out of it even though the cabin was tight. Brakes were very good and had a good feel on your foot under braking.
To sum it up, we really enjoyed the time we had with the car. It reminded me of time and place when Porsche made smaller more nimble cars. We believe this car is a special regardless of people whining about the engine note on the car. We didn’t find it to as bad as people make it out to be. Also, this car has so much after market potential you put a tune and aftermarket exhaust on this car you’re looking at a 450hp weapon. For 80k new and a couple more thousand for the bits we talk about you have a 911 killer on your hands! So you if you are like us and Ricky Bobby and just want to go fast and do it for less the 2019 Cayman GTS is your running mate. We would like to thank Porsche of Tampa for providing this vehicle for us to review, make sure you visit their website and Instagram for more reviews from us!
Goodwood Festival of Speed
Written by:
Author: Mike G.
Goodwood Festival of Speed or FOS as most people referred to it, happens at the beginning of July annually at the Goodwood House in West Sussex, England. This is at the southern tip of England and usually provides very good weather. This event started in 1993 as a Hillclimb race. It has blossomed into so much more than that since then. Almost every major auto manufacturer that is involved in racing showcases their most recently developed hardware and rich heritage through their vintage cars. This event takes place over a four day period from Thursday to Sunday. Now, this isn’t only just a showcase of speed. The vehicles are setup into classes and the drivers are shooting for the best times up the hill for their class. So, if you can catch my drift these drivers are hauling the mail on ever run they get. This makes for a very exciting atmosphere, with echoing of race sounds and permeating the air with all their smells. An unbelievable fact is that you can walk around the race cars when they get back to their paddocks with no restrictions whatsoever is incredible. I was only there for the last day the Sunday. That is the shootout day where all the vehicles that qualified with the top times compete against each other at the end of the day. However, during the day you still get to see all the cars race up the hill. Giving an idea of speed fast cars can make it up the hill in 60 seconds or less. Most of the pre war race cars going over the 60 second mark. I was totally overwhelmed by the incredible setup of the grounds. I almost had access to everything on the grounds with just a general admission ticket. Including the race paddocks, the drifting area, the rally course, and the hillclimb I could access it all. Along with all the manufactures beautiful static displays. Such an incredible blend of old vintage and new race cars to see race and hear in person. I should have gone for an additional day just so I could have spent more time on certain aspects. I did feel a little hurried trying to get it all in one day. One day was better than no days though. This was a bucket list trip for me and I am sure many of you reading this it is for you as well. I am telling you right now my only regret is waiting as long as I did to go. You need to stop what you’re doing and book your trip to the next FOS right now! In all seriousness, I know many people including myself has seen footage of the race on YouTube and other media sources but that really doesn’t do the event any justice. The sounds your ears can pick up compared to the TV doesn’t even compare. So don’t be one of those people that says “I wanna do that someday” just do it and quit talking about it. I promise you it will blow your mind. Make sure you go for at least two days though because one day visit to a car guy’s paradise like this isn’t enough! Inclusion, I plan on attending this event every year I can now it’s that good. I am over just seeing vintage and new cars sitting on the grass or paved and not do anything. The spirit of the vehicle running and moving does something to our emotional depths. It gets the juices flowing as they say. I promise if you haven’t been to an event like Rennsport Reunion or Goodwood FOS it will change your entire perspective on how you look at static display car shows forever.
Just go! Stop putting it off!
1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 “The 964”
Written by:
Mike G
The best analogy to describe this car is literally like a fine wine. Let me describe what I mean. In the 90’s and into the 2000’s the 964 was regarded as one of the most unloved 911’s ever. That’s why I say it is like a fine wine because in 2013/2014 time frame people started to take notice of the 964. For many reasons, the smooth body lines, the tight cabin and the narrow body. In 2013/2014 the 911 was growing in size and many enthusiasts were turning back the clock to a simpler time when a 911 felt like a 911. As Singer chooses the 964 as its platform for its Reimagined series the masses really start to pay attention. I suppose people needed someone other than Porsche to tell them it was a good platform. Additionally prior to Singer’s emergence many DE racers used the 964 for their track cars and beat them to death. Truly many cars met their demise on the track. Since the 964 was a step child it was cheap and fell into many hands of people that didn’t have the means to maintain the vehicle to the standard required from a sports car. Therefore many were just severely neglected. A perfect storm is brewing…
Let’s discuss the hardware. The 964 is a 3.6 liter 247 hp engine with the car weighing in just over 3000lbs with a top speed right around 160mph. You have to think of the time, it is 1990 man! Those are impressive numbers. To put things into perspective of the times the 1990 Ford Mustang Gt made 210 hp out of a V8 motor! That’s nuts! The naturally aspirated 3.6 liter had punch during its era. Was it a drag race monster with tons of torque? No! Porsche’s are not meant for that. They are nimble, quick, lightweight sports cars meant to blend class and style. Guess what it delivers in spades! Even to this day the 964 is quick and feels agile for a car that is nearly 30 years old. That is an impressive feat to be completely honest. This particular car is sporting the 5spd G50 transmission. What is a G50 transmission you may ask, its only one of the best freaking transmissions that Porsche ever built! Let’s talk about the feels. The car feels tight, responsive, and very solid. Remember this model was the last of the hand built Porsche’s. The 964 really takes you back in time to an era when a naturally aspirated Porsches felt like a finely tailored suit. It so intimate it feels like you are wearing the car, you and the machine are one traveling down the road.
The storm, so with the amount of cars wrecked at the track, combined with Porsche only making them for a short period of time before a model change, and Singer’s development the Porsche 964 becomes a swan. How you may ask? It is all of these factors in addition to a new generation of people that can afford a classic Porsche. The 964 in case you didn’t know it is a social media whore, it is on so many Instagram posts even to this day it’s unreal. With all of these aspects combined the 964 has transformed itself from one of the most unloved 911’s to one of the hottest vintage 911’s to own. Don’t believe me, go try to buy one for less than 50k. Not going to happen! You may say man I would never pay 65k for a 1990 911 C2 coupe with a 5spd! Don’t worry you don’t have to there is a line around the building waiting for a shot to buy a 964 in that spec. Just politely step to the side of the line and allow the nice person waiting behind you make the purchase, and poof like Keyser Soze its gone! We will see you on the review!
1991 964 TURBO
Author: Mike G.
Let’s turn back the clock to 1991. You are waking up on an early Saturday morning and are the owner of a 1991 Porsche 964 Turbo! What a life, right? Such a simpler time when horsepower numbers were not approaching 1000. Ugh, back when driving was driving and not a stat sheet competition. This is the era when driver nannies were few and far between, and the driver was required to manage the car’s capabilities, not the other way around. This particular 964 turbo is a 3.3 liter single turbo charged engine producing 315 hp @5750 rpm and torque 332 lb-ft @4500 rpm. Now that number seems bleak compared to modern cars. However, the turbo boost doesn’t hit until 4500 rpms and when it does it’s like a mule kicked you in the back, and the car surges forward at a remarkable rate. I can’t imagine owning this car in 1991, it must have felt like a space shuttle. Even by today’s standards the car is quick, not fast but quick.
The interior cabin of the car is small like a fighter jet! This 964 Turbo is from an era when sports cars were light, nimble and smaller than other cars on the road. The road presence of this 911 is remarkable, while we were doing the review of the vehicle we must have had a dozen people wave and say “nice car”, “man that’s an awesome classic”. Even in its black on black flying under the radar color it got that attention however, the rear fender arches and big tail wing give away that this is a special beast. Not to mention the block buster movie Bad Boys where the feature car was a 911 3.6 Turbo black on black driven by Will Smith. Most people see this black on black turbo and they think it is the Bad Boys car. We didn’t bother trying to correct people, we know our Porsches but trying to tell someone why this isn’t a Bad Boys car who doesn’t know Porsches is like trying to explain quantum physics to a grade schooler learning basic arithmetic.
In short, this car is a very special animal. Even though it isn’t the highly coveted 3.6 turbo, that car is roughly 200k more than the price tag this car carries in its current condition. Will you get 200k more car with the 3.6? Hard to say, two schools of thought on that. First one to the collector, hell yes!! They only made the 3.6 for one year and in very low numbers. So a rare bird to put it lightly. Additionally, all the big time Porsche collectors consider the 3.6 turbo the last of the last. What I mean by that it is the last air-cooled rear wheel driver turbo ever! That’s a big deal in the collector community. Second school of thought is these were meant to drive. Who cares what the mileage is as long as it has been maintained, who cares if it’s a 3.3 or 3.6, and who cares if it has been modified or not. These are your people who just want to experience the car on a regular basis. These people are not putting the car on display, they are living the dream of 90’s in the modern day of owning and driving the pinnacle of Germany engineering at the time. Now with those two schools of thought mentioned, one is not more correct than the other and it’s totally your preference and your dollars. How would you choose to spend them? I know how I would spend mine and I would be riding it into the sunset! So if you have the means and you are looking for a classic car that checks all the boxes: drama, presence, drivability, collectability, and sense of occasion, the 964 Turbo is your match!