My California Has Arrived!

I've driven 160 miles on urban, rural and highway roads during the 2 dry days I've had the car at home. Initial impressions:

1. When parking, the car feels *much* longer than the 997 (longer hood for the front-mid engine) even though the cockpit is cozier (smaller). When I pull out of the garage with park assist turned on, the car beeps crazy like my kids' Nintendo DS games.

2. Yet when I'm at speed, the car feels comfortable like a broken-in baseball glove - I've quickly gotten acclimated to the steering and throttle response and low speed driving dynamics. The suspension in comfort mode is very nice for stop-go traffic. The sport mode is less bone jarring than the 997's sport mode. I haven't pushed the car hard on corners yet. I plan to break-in the tires a little more.

3. Not sure about the stop-go exhaust note. Since its been chilly, the top has been mostly up and windows shut. The drone coming into the cockpit is mildly irritating to me. But when I've cracked the window open to listen to higher revs, its been great!

5. Haven't hooked up an iPod yet, but the FM sound quality is muddy lame even with treble turned up and bass and midrange adjusted (I didn't upgrade to HiFi package anyway).

6. This is the first car I've had where the kids remarked how nice the inside smells. The fit and finish is top notch. The car feels solidly put together. The diamond seat was comfortable for a 60 min drive.

Overall I'm very pleased so far!

 

^^

I've put on another ~300 miles since my last update. About 200 of it was highway commuting to/from work. At 70mph, the engine is turning @ 2600-2700RPM (I last drove it to work Thur so I don't remember exactly), so the gearing makes for less gas mileage. Plus my changing speeds and downshifting to hear the exhaust and vary the RPMs has taken its toll on MPG. The reward of the new car certainly makes up for an otherwise boring drive on the highway after a long day of work.

I need to get used to speeders staring at me and drifting in their lane towards me as they go by. I've been very careful about monitoring the speed limit - I programmed the alarm to beep at 75mph and I find it comes up quicker than my 997.2 cabrio. Maybe its because I'm more familiar with the 997 exhaust note and what the corresponding speed is. I have no urge to get a ticket even before I get my license plates, although I did manage to find some speed on a wide, deserted stretch of highway one morning.

The other ~100 miles was weekend suburban roads and going out to Half Moon Bay from the SF Peninsula. The car is very docile in traffic and sure-footed in the twisties going over the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was a blast zooming past slow moving traffic while heading uphill on Hwy 92 and easily taking the corners.

As you know its been cold so I've left the top up. The car feels rock solid with it up. I did have the opportunity to go top down for about 20 miles. It will take a little bit to get used to the creaking and groaning as the hard top retracts, but there was no scuttle shake whatsoever even on bumpy and twisty hilly roads like Hwy 84 (albeit at slower speeds).

I put the gearbox into Auto mode when I reach my neighborhood. As I slow down coming up the hill before I turn onto my street, the gearbox downshifts flawlessly, but the slightly higher revs coupled with a light throttle cause the exhaust to resonate. We live 3/4s of a block from the intersection and my wife tells me she can hear when I take the turn. My driveway has a somewhat steep uphill incline, and I've found the ground clearance is better than the 997 - no nose scraping going up or need to back out of the driveway going down. One slightly odd thing is that as I crest the hill and turn to head into my garage, the gearbox seems to hesitate for a moment, almost like it shifted into neutral or is hunting for something besides 1st gear. I probably need to develop a better level of feathering on the throttle.

Another quirk I need to get used to is making sure the e-brake is engaged. Sometimes when I pull the paddles to select neutral and then pull the brake lever it doesn't engage, which can be disconcerting when I feel myself drifting downhill!

Thanks Rick for the pointer on disabling the park assist. For now I'm leaving it on as I get used to comparing my visual clearance with the assist display.

My kids are 11 and 7 and I will say that the car isn't as roomy for them as the 997, although they report the seats are more comfortable because the backs are at a better angle than the forward tilting backs of the cabrio. Coincidentally, we watched Ferris Bueller and National Treasure 2 this weekend and I was delighted they were excited to realize we had the same marque of car as in the movies. Maybe it was the RC California models that I bought for them that also got them excited.

I'm still very pleased with the car.

Balsamina

 

Thanks. I enjoy reading others' impressions too.

 

Thank you Wong. I saw your specs in the other thread. Congratulations on the order - it will be stunning! Savor the anticipation.

 

Not great quality, but I snapped off a few quick shots late this afternoon.

I do covet the 458 and SLS (and R8 for that matter), but I am delighted with the California. I have decided though, that my next "toy" will be a 250, 275 or 330 variant of some sort.
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