911 back on the Autobahn after 34 years - long

buster73 · buster73's Garage

Hi Guys,

was a long break but I"m finally back on this forum. As posted earlier (Sorry guys, you are losing a 911 to Germany). I just moved back from California to Germany and of course brought my 73.5 along the way. Shipped the car together with my furniture and moving goods in one 40' container. Shipment was delayed and took more than 2 months but in the end everything arrived safely, with only some slight damage to the metal S front spoiler (RGruppe ride heigth specifications not recommended for container shipment). I picked the car up at the customs warehouse, closely watched by the whole warehouse crew, some of which seemed to have never seen a carburated car before. Nobody expected the car would start up by itself and they had already prepared the jumper cables. To my satisfaction (and thanks to my dual Odyssey battery setup and plenty of pumps with the gas pedal) the car started with the first turn of the key and ran smooth breathing German air after 34 years in sunny CA. Left the warehouse with a big smile and some wheelspin and just made it to the closest gas station, as the gas tank had to be almost empty for shipment. My smile turned a bit more painful after filling the tank at 6.15 $/gal. Next step was to check tire pressure and then heading for the first Autobahn run. Car was running smooth and I slowly increased speed to 200 km/h (125 mph). It was a windy day and my heartbeat was accelerating faster than the car. There it was again - the same experience I made many years back driving 911"s at Autobahn speed in windy conditions. Especially when passing trucks the car becomes very unstable and it takes full concentration to keep it on the track. Frightening but a feeling I had not forgotten in many years. You can save a lot of money on bungee jumping, which is a pretty lame experience in comparison. Porsche knew why they introduced spoilers back then. After checking the car at a friend's garage I headed back and this time it was time to show if the old lady would stilll go full throttle. The car accelerated fast to 235 km/h (145 mph) and then slowly leveled out at 245 km/h (153 mph). Almost too good to be true. Will have to verify if thats real speed or if the newly converted km speedo from Palo Alto Speedometers is a bit too optimistic. Anyway, not bad for a car that was supposed to do 205 km/h (128 mph) in its best days and after 34 years of speed limit.

Unfortunately I only had one day to enjoy the car, before parking it in my garage. I will now have to do all the paperwork for the German registration and TUEV approval. Fortunately I received a datasheet form Porsche which should help in the process. I will post a thread on the technical conversions and the approval process as soon as possible. One thing is pretty sure - I will have to adjust my alignment. The PCA AutoX setting is pretty much "unsurvivable" on the Autobahn and I will have to relax a bit on camber, caster and toe.

Joeaksa · 03-27-2007, 12:03 PM

Guenter,

Glad you made it and the car is back home. It sure is fun to take a 911 on the autobahn where it belongs.

As well "viel spass mit TÜV!"

Tchuss,

Joe A

fly4val · 03-27-2007, 06:07 PM

'Tag Guenter.....am hopeful to join you one day in my '88 Carrera. I have family (former inlaws) in Ostfriesland close to Emden. You give me hope....danke'

Alantic · 03-27-2007, 06:23 PM

Man Guenther, was soll das ?

Why would you go back to the old world ???

I wish you good luck though and admit that I envy you for the Autobahn - I'd love to drive my 964 there ... sigh!

Dirk

Kraftwerk · 08:15 PM

Reminds me of the time (in 2004) I took my car to Germany. The ole Porsche seemed to like it there! I know I did, driving from Bremmerhaven to the Black Forest... Never got over 127 mph on the Autobahn--old suspension and no spoilers didn't feel that great at speed, though cruised all day at 118 mph it settled nicely, no problems...
True, it takes lots of concentration, exhausting really-- to do that for 3, 4 or 5 hours! Also, gotta watch the hell out in the rear-view for those "rocket" Audi's!!
Have fun!

DJC911 · DJC911's Garage

You guys are killing me! I lived in Muenchen for 2.5 years and never once got to get on the autobahn in a Porsche (I was 14 when we moved there). Best I could do was a ride in a U.S. market BMW 325e (yes "e"). That and the MBZ 250 my mom had. Neither was especially fast -- at least not compared to the big Benzes, Porsches, and Cosworth Sierras that blew by us in a blur. Guenter...keep us posted on your adventures, please!