Waking up in my own bed on Monday morning was such a treat, although I wish I could have slept in longer… One of the reasons I wanted to get home was to get the opportunity to just live my dad-life again and take Piper to daycare in the morning.
Hopping into the Taycan that morning felt like piloting a spaceship after 5 straight days in the Avocado.
The difference between these cars is staggering but they still very much have the same DNA.
I’m so glad that I had the entire day off to recuperate. Megan and I snagged a late breakfast and caught up.
When I got back home, I cleaned up and swapped in the used starter I got from Chris on day #2 of the rally. If I’d had any extra time, swapping that on the road would have been a good idea. I also didn’t even try because my prevailing thought was that swapping a starter on a G50-equipped car while the engine was in was impossible (or at least really difficult) so it wasn’t completely on my radar. This was both from last year’s memory when I had attempted to pull the starter on the rally while diagnosing what was ultimately the broken ring gear and from a few people that have tried it agreeing with me… but apparently it was just as easy as swapping it on a 915… I just needed the right length socket and extension for the top bellhousing bolt, I have no idea what I was thinking.
With that out of the way, the car was now drivable again. I’d built up some more trust with the car after driving it 19 hours straight and it did remarkably well in that time frame. Comfortable, quick, and reasonably fuel efficient (24-25 mpg).
On Wednesday, I cleaned the car up, took the LMs off, and swapped the Minilites back on. I do have to say, the LMs look great on the car even if it’s not as unique. The taller/normal sized tires also really reduced the noise on the freeway. It’s still loud though. I think I’d mentioned before that a new set of Airpods Pro with the adaptive+ were a game changer. Dropped noise by 20db, I could still hear everything going on around me, and I had NAV and was listening to music/podcasts. That was quite welcome.
With a bit of trust built up, I’ve been driving the car more regularly but now that the weather is cooling, winter is coming, and another driving season is coming to an end, I continue to contemplate what’s next. I’m enormously proud of surviving the rally this year. It’s now done two Ruchlos rallies and two Overcrest rallies (I’ve personally done three of each, the other Ruchlos rally was in my 997.2 C4S which I sorely miss and Utah Overcrest rally was done in an RS3). I feel like I’ve done what I set out to do with the Avocado in this phase, just wish I could have had it drivable for more of the summer.
So what now? Complete the Cup swap? Sell it and try something new and less “hot rod”? Just leave it because it effing works for once? It could use some post rally maintenance and there are always things to make more “nice”.
I’d love to experience what it would be like to live without the constant thought of “what to do next” for the next five years. Slow down the hot rod life with something a bit more gentlemanly and divest all my aircooled parts stash (wheels, ducktail, H1 headlights, steering wheels, suspension parts, and 6 bins of parts).
One thing is for sure, I love staring at it, it's a beautiful shape, size, and color. Even looking at pics of it gives me pre-nostalgia and this garage view sure is nice to walk into.
