I took delivery at about 9 PM Friday night.
Yesterday turned out to be an awesomely sunny day, so I spent about two hours driving it in/around Seattle. It’s definitely a COMPLETELY different experience than driving any modern car. It’s loud, but not obnoxious, and not having a radio will be something worth getting used to. The high sidewall tires are very noticeable at high speeds, and while it can be somewhat of a rough ride in the city streets, it’s surprisingly comfortable at highway speeds.
The seating position is pretty far forward, for both driver and passenger. I’m probably going to look into getting the rails moved an inch or two back; this appears doable without any real trouble. There is absolutely no need for a passenger side mirror with all the glass, I just have to remember to look all the way around instead of looking for a mirror. I will still probably source one and have it painted so I can put tint on the windows (WA law).
The pedals are indeed floor mount and they take some serious getting used to. The clutch is pretty soft, but it’s in such a position that you’re letting it out with your heel of the floor, so it’s all muscle and no leverage. If you aren’t really paying attention, it will try and catapult your foot off the pedal. I’ve had this happen a few times but surprisingly, the car hasn’t stalled. The engine is actually pretty resilient because I haven’t stalled the car at all. You really have to stand on the brake if you want to stop quickly or if you’re descending one of Seattle’s many steep hills. It’s much more mechanical than other cars I’ve driven; I like it. The gas pedal doesn’t really feel that much different than anything I’m used to.
The car is much quicker than I thought it would be. I guess that’s what you get when the car is 1000 lbs less than the behemoth Legacy. The wheelbase is also 16″ shorter, so you can easily perform u-turns in the middle of city streets. By comparison, the Legacy sometimes has trouble doing them at intersections. All around, it’s a surprisingly good city car. I welcome that, despite not buying it for that reason.
Then there’s the attention you get. People definitely look and the way they do ranges from trying not to be obvious out the corner of their eye to full on staring with small head nods. There are also honks from guys in old jeeps, a friendly wave to/from a guy getting out of his VW Karmann Ghia and the guy who said “Your Porsche is perfect, man” while were drove through Pike Place Market. Yeeeeaaahhhh, I drove it through the market. It’s actually the first time I’ve done that and something I’d probably reserve for this car. I acknowledge people and despite driving such an obvious car, try to do it as modestly as possible.
Still no luck on a name. One day it’ll just come to me.
Here’s a fairly boring video test I did of mounting the GoPro on the roof. I wanted to see how the sound would come out with the open back on the camera case and what sort of quality would come of shooting HD in such a vulnerable position. If you dare watch, be sure to switch it to 1080p.
Love the sound of that S engine.