Several weeks ago, a longtime friend of mine orchestrated the Porsche 50 State Drive for Hope. The Drive For Hope is a charity fundraiser for cancer research and the NY City Fire Department. This year, the team set a new record and raised nearly $200,000 for charity by driving all 50 states (~12,000 miles) in less than 9 days! The drive started in Hawaii. The cars, three 2001 Porsche 996 Turbo’s then flew via a 747 Cargo plane to California. From there, they drove to Alaska and around the country hitting all 50 states and ending in Las Vegas.

Since the drive ended in Las Vegas, the cars needed to get back to Toledo, OH and my friend asked if I’d
like to help out by driving one of them. How often do you get to drive a $150K sports car? I’m in!!

I flew to Vegas and we prepared to leave the following morning.

Pulling out of the hotel, the first thing you notice about the car is the amount of attention it draws. People stop what they doing and look. Couples walking down the street elbow one another in the ribs and point. Over the course of the trip, I saw more than one person with a camera or video camera taking photos. It’s really weird.

We turned onto the I-15 on-ramp and the two other cars took off. Here’s my chance to see what the acceleration is like… 2nd gear, foot to the floor… 50, 60… (the LCD speedo is jumping in multiples of 3)… 70, 80 (this is second? I have 4 gears to go!), shift to 3rd… 90, 100, 110… lift and tuck into traffic. Holy %#$! I had read about the acceleration (0-60 in 3.8 seconds) but feeling it is amazing.

The performance of the car was extraordinary but what surprised me just as much is how easy it was to drive. The engine had so much torque (415 ft/lbs) that it was as easy as my CRX to drive around town. You could leave intersections in second gear and the thing would barely notice. Cruise around town in sixth gear and the car was docile and well mannered. When you wanted it to move though, just downshift stuff the loud-pedal and get ready to start making shifts.

Driving on the highway was not uncomfortable. As you’d expect, the suspension was stiff and you noticed every bump but, even doing 700 miles/day, I felt as if I could still drive a couple more hours at the end of the day. Again the amount of torque didn’t even require downshifts to pass. There’s a slight lag as the boost comes up, but then it accelerates very quickly. A quick downshift to fifth and cars disappear in the mirrors. Cruising through the desert at triple-digit speeds was effortless for the car. Doing well over 100 felt like 60.

I’m not sure what the lateral acceleration numbers are for the car, but there is tons of grip. Going through the mountains in Colorado, we were able to hold about 90mph though all of the corners without trouble.

On the third day of the trip we encountered rain. I thought the car would be a handful but the combination of the all-wheel-drive and the PSM (Porsche Stability Management) made the car nearly idiot proof. Full throttle acceleration in the wet is not much different than the dry. Point it where you want it to go and put your foot to the floor. The tail twitches a little but nothing that requires any steering corrections. You get a few blinking lights on the dash that tell you something is going on but, otherwise, it just goes… fast! I ended up turning off the PSM just to have a little fun.

Overall, the car was wonderful. It had both Dr. Jeykl and Mr. Hyde personalities. Easy to drive when you just felt like to getting someplace, yet it had awesome performance when you felt like playing. This would be the ultimate daily driver if you had $150K worth of disposable income to spend on it.

 

Lucky bastard.

 

Gee, with all of those stickers and that roof rack, I wonder why people were staring....

 

*drool* *thud* <picks chin off desk>

Too bad it has all those stickers all over it... What? Do those add like 40 horsepower? I mean, really, did you guys actually stay in Hyatt's and surf on Yahoo? I didn't think so.

 

They don't add horsepower... they pay the bills.

Most of the decals were oncology related and money contributed by these companies (~$200,000) is going to the Hope Foundation.

and, yes... the drive started at the Hyatt in Hawaii and ended at the Hyatt in Henderson, NV on Lake Meade.

 

Just to clarify, I was teasing. I'm just jealous.

 

CRAZY FUN!!!!!!!
good review man, thanks!
those Porsches look great all ready to tear up a long stretch of highway.

 

sick fun

 

man, if you actually drove those cars to alaska they have to be beaten to hell. That hwy sucks so, big *** potholes rocks, animals. Although it sure is a beautiful drive especially when the northern lights are out. But congrats on that experience.