More Discovery

Hooray for weekends!

Thanks to them, I'm starting to get to know the roads in my locale. At least the curvy ones to the west, within a couple of hours drive. Last weekend was a chance to connect up with my GT Silver Cayman S buddy and take a drive out for breakfast at the roadside diner near Griffith, ON.

I figured I'd get a few more kilometres of life out of my front Michelins before I change them out for fresh ones this week - they definitely have worn out less than the rears, but as they are getting close to the end, and there's a fresh set waiting at my mechanic's, swapping them seems like a good idea.

But one last little jaunt out for some curvy fun was on the cards, so I Google-mapped up a route for us that did a bit more exploring. There's not a lot to choose from in this area with respect to twisty roads, but finding new ways to get to the ones I do know is a pleasure. This time I charted a highway-avoiding path up through Packenham, up to Calabogie Road and eventually to the best bit of curves around at Black Donald Road. Traffic was reasonably light, although wouldn't you know it, we got stuck behind some SUVs (who just love to pull out in front of you and then NOT get up to speed quickly) as we were getting close to the decent stuff.

Thankfully they turned off, leaving us with just one trailer-hauler in front who very kindly pulled over and waved us by as soon as we got onto Centennial Lake Road where the curves begin. I gave him a toot on the  Porsche's (very European sounding) horn in thanks and he gave us a grin and a thumbs-up! Wish all road-trippers were so accommodating - he clearly "got it".

With the Cayman close in my rearview, looking rather menacing I have to say (tinted windows and that low-slung body really look aggressive-in-a-nice-way), I clicked the car into Individual mode (firmer dampers & engine mounts) and we brought the speed up a little. Leading the way, the Boxster unflappably carved through the bends, nonplussed by a little gravel kicked up onto the apex of a turn or two by an errant wheel of a people-hauler in front of us no doubt. The Cayman kept a respectful and safe distance behind as the two of us sliced our way across the countryside.

I know all too well the confidence one draws from having a similar car driving a little spicily in front of me, and I could tell my trip-mate was enjoying pushing his car a little more as he chased me along the scenic byway. Shod in the same Michelins, he could feel confident in handling the road ahead given that I was pathfinding for him, and I enjoyed leading him into the bends, occasionally hearing the bark of his PDK downshifting behind me. With the top down, the Boxster unsurprisingly lets in all the sounds from around, and since I don't really run much with the sports exhaust turned on, I could hear his car quite well. Sounds great by the way - I don't know what all the Internet hue and cry about the sound of the turbo-four in the base and S models is.

Of course occasionally dropping down into second and really getting on the gas to power out of some of the nice compression bends had the wail of my flat-six overpowering the sound of the Cayman behind - and what a glorious note that was as the revs climbed, let me tell you. Grinning from ear-to-ear, we eased off and pulled sedately in to the diner for a breakfast pitstop. Fans blowing, engines pinging with mechanical cooling sounds, and a waft of hot-engine smells drew comment from my buddy as we appreciated how well these cars manage having the motor stuff away behind our seats instead of out from where 'normal' cars get much of their cooling. I'm always grateful for the third radiator in the GTS...

You can't get more basic than the Pine Valley Restaurant's Sunrise Breakfast, but it's hot, fast, tasty and the coffee is decent. The friendly 'good ol' boy' serving us was full of great one-liners about rural life and roadside diners, and we enjoyed chatting about the cars and the curves and just how continually blown-away we are by the unflappable composure of these machines to just eat up the road miles. My fellow P-car driver noted just how 'happier' his car seemed to behave when he drove it a little more like the way I'm sure the engineers at Porsche intended it to be driven, and I wholeheartedly agreed. They just live for being taken out and DRIVEN.

With regular day-to-day life looming, we finished up and returned to our fine motors. I chose us a more direct route back that shaved some time off, though I could tell we both would like to have been out there a little longer. There were a couple of roads I had spotted along the way that warranted further investigation another time, and I had taken note of them so as not to forget. But various responsibilities awaited us, so we turned back towards Ottawa and wound our way to the main highway for the return.

That's ok though - we will just have to get out again - with new front tires!

~ Luke