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Porsche
Club of America
By Dave
Weber, 38RSR@PorscheNet.com
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 Our
second major trip of the year took us to Lexington, Ohio, where we spent
three fantastic days driving the Mid-Ohio road course. This mid-June trip
has now become an annual event for Susana and I, as we really like the
circuit. NNJR hosts this event, which this year drew participants from
25 different PCA regions.
The track is great fun to drive with several very entertaining sections. I particularly like the stretch from "Madness", through "Thunder Valley", into the final "Carousel" curve that leads onto the main straight. Through that portion of the course you experience on and off camber, slow and high speed corners, elevation changes, and a short high speed straightaway. I like this section, because it puts a premium on driving the "line" correctly if you are to be quick around the course. Several of the corners are "linked", so you must get each one right to avoid screwing up the following corners. Our trip out and back was without any major drama. We were struck with the differences in gasoline prices. Last year, as we drove west toward Ohio gasoline prices rose dramatically to over $2/gallon. This year, the reverse situation was the case, as prices dropped significantly. Regular gasoline was priced at $1.35/gallon by the time we arrived in Lexington, Ohio. Race gas prices don't seem to vary much region-to-region, $4.50 a gallon seems to be the standard for 100 octane. We did discover a very modern and clean truck stop on the way home, which offered a pretty good buffet in their restaurant. It's not often you encounter a dessert buffet while on the road! We left just as a busload of senior citizens pulled in, prompting the hostess to ask whether everyone on the bus was planning on eating in the restaurant. Obviously she was hoping against that eventuality. According to articles I've read recently the number of trucks on the highway should be fewer, but you'd be hard pressed to come to that conclusion when you're surrounded by a pack of them moving at well over posted limits. We've traveled a lot in the last couple of years with our trailer in tow, and I've yet to get comfortable being around semis traveling at full tilt. As we neared Massachusetts, we encountered three semis hauling the Budweiser Clydesdales. The trucks and trailers were appropriately covered in graphics that made them standout from every other rig on the road. They also drove quite quickly in an almost choreographed manner. The horses must be well positioned in their trailers; otherwise they'd have been bouncing off the walls at the pace the trucks were traveling. I'm a bit surprised that cell phone coverage continues to be erratic on major interstate highways. I must have lost my connection four or five times during one 10-minute conversation in Pennsylvania. This despite the near continuous visual contact with cell towers along that stretch of highway. Our next trip should be easy, just a short ride north to Mont Tremblant. After two eleven and twelve-hour trips this year, a six plus hour trip to Canada will be an easy undertaking. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can drive each of the four days planned for our region's event. As I write this column the last elements of my new garage/office project are being completed. The driveway is being paved and a small deck is being built on the rear of the building. I've already moved in most of my stuff, but getting the cars in and out of the new garage has been a bit complicated without a driveway. I promised Susana that all aspects of this project would be completed by the time of our son's wedding that takes place in nine days. It looks like I'll deliver on my promise, but not with much time to spare. They do things differently in other states! My son recently purchased a new car for his bride- to-be at an Atlanta dealer. Over the course of four hours in the "evening", he was able to negotiate prices for the new car and his trade in, test drive the car he wished to purchase, have the new car prepped (it still had the protective films on it that are used during shipment), arrange for financing, register the car, and drive it home. One stop shopping for everything! He didn't have to wait in lines at the registry. He didn't have to return to the dealership in a few days once the registration work was completed and the car prepped. He even got a tour of the dealership (which also sells Porsches). In the back he discovered a genuine street version 996 GT3 owned by the owner of the dealership. Apparently he cannot legally drive the car in the US, and somehow was able to get the car into the US under a waiver of some sort predicated on not driving the car. He can however drive the car in Canada - very convenient when you live in Atlanta! |
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