GT4, New Vantage, Macan GTS and a Volvo EV
Discussion
Admittedly the Vantage has been on one of these threads previously, however the other three are new and I think I've (finally) found the perfect 4 car garage. It felt like a good time to start this thread as the GT4 is still less than a month old, and I collected the Volvo only a few days ago. I've owned all 4 of these from new, which isn't a position I ever thought I'd be in - previously loving used bargains.
I'll start with the 'new toy' - a Cayman GT4. My first Porsche was the Macan (I'll get to that later) which hugely impressed. After looking around a bit for a possible Aston replacement, I realised I couldn't bare to part with it and rather than a single replacement that would be slightly compromised (a GT3 would have been fantastic, but not so great for weekends away with my other half, and an F12 would have come with some monster running costs) I'd prefer a best of both worlds scenario.
I'd always had an eye on the GT4, especially as they present a bit of a bargain, being under £100k new and enjoying very slow depreciation. I put the deposit down last May, a month after collecting the Macan, and very fortunately got my dealer's last build slot, with the car arriving a couple of weeks ago in August. I originally wanted a manual, but after the Porsche experience day I realised the PDK suited the car much better - everything said about the manual's tall gearing is absolutely true. I went a little overboard on the spec, figuring I (hopefully) won't ever be parting with it, and knowing I would be keeping the Aston as the comfortable car, I wanted the Cayman to be more of a track car to replace my outgoing Clio Trophy. With this in mind, I went for Clubsport (roll cage and harnesses), carbon buckets etc. About the only option I didn't tick was the ceramic brakes - personal preference.
Collection day was a little odd as the car went straight onto a trailer to be taken away for PPF and ceramic coating. These cars are a magnet for stone chips with the wide side pods and sticky tyres, so I didn't want to drive it on the road prior to having this done. I drove it all of about 50 feet out of the showroom, then had to wave it goodbye for a week. Having waited over a year for the collection day, this was pretty difficult - however seeing it in the handover bay of Assetti after the PPF was worth it - it was flawless.
We took the Aston up to collect it, I'd been wanting to replace the rear PPF patches for a while as after 3 years they were pretty shot so I left it with Assetti for the day whilst we took the Cayman out for some tentative running in mileage. As they're based in Ellesmere Port, we had a quick trip over to Wales and back to kill a few hours and get the first hundred or so miles on the clock.
Driving back was an experience, my girlfriend in the Vantage and me in the Cayman. She wasn't really into cars when we met but has slowly come around - I think we'll be doing more drives/events in both cars going forward.
Once we arrived back, I put it in the garage for the first time and had a real 'pinch me' moment.
The second night it was here, I got a notification around 11pm that my garage CCTV had detected motion. I quickly checked my phone, and to my horror saw this:
My little s
tbag of a cat had sneaked in, hidden, and broken cover after I'd closed the garage doors. I ran down to chase him out - all I can say is thank god for PPF - the bonnet and front bumper would otherwise have been scratched. It looks like he'd been asleep under the rear wing, must have been a nice warm spot for him.
A couple of local early morning drives through the Peaks with mates helped get more miles onto it, from reading around it seems that this sort of mileage is much better for running in than constant speed/RPM on the motorway, so I've been doing my best to get out in it. Last weekend, I did a wales trip with SCD which took it past 1,000 miles. It's not quite there, but now not far off being able to see what 8k rpm feels and sounds like!
That brings me up to now for the Cayman, I've bought some nappa leather seat bolster protectors for the buckets which I need to fit this weekend, then I'm planning to get it over to String Theory for a proper setup before the winter weather kicks in.
So, onto the Aston...
It's Elwood Blue, and is a keeper. I've always loved the brand and never thought I'd find myself in a brand new one. I've done loads in it and it's very much a member of the family. My girlfriend loves driving it too, so the plan is to keep it for good. I bought it at the end of the term for less than trade price due to where the market was, so it's not been particularly expensive to own. I ran it in properly, it's been detailed a couple of times and properly looked after - I wouldn't be able to get another like this if anything happened to it.
I've made a few subtle changes to it, the most recent and biggest change being swapping the front end for the new/facelifted version which is back to a more traditional grille.
Collection Day
Soon after
I didn't like the silver diamond cutting on the wheels, there's nothing else silver/chrome on the car so it always looked out of place. I had them refurbed in gloss black, which I think looks much better.
The front end was a big one, something I never loved about the original car. It's a big improvement in my eyes, and it was a simple retrofit organised through my main dealer
I've done some amazing events in the Vantage, both with Supercar Driver and stuff we've organised ourselves. Highlights include a Wales trip with a group from the Aston section on here, and the NC500 with close friends.
Next up - the Macan. I'd previously had a Range Rover Sport P400E new on a good lease deal, however hated it. It never worked properly, the dealer was absolutely terrible and the whole experience was a bad one. After around a year, my girlfriend was using it for her long commute as I was fed up and happy to have her Qashqai instead as it worked! This arrangement worked until it lost power on her on the motorway, which was the final straw. It was rejected back to LR, and I started the hunt for its replacement. I'd decided I didn't like the hybrid, the EV running was great, but the battery didn't last long and then it was a wheezy 2 litre petrol that just didn't suit the car. I wanted to go back to something large engined and reasonably practical - it had to have back doors at least. this was the back end of 2021 when new cars were difficult to get hold of, and the Macan I really wanted was a 24 month wait away. A chance encounter at a dinner event pointed me to Porsche Stockport, at the time a brand new dealer, who I was told had a substantially shorter waiting list. I placed the order in November, and collected the car in April which was super lucky. When I collected it they were going for £10-20k over list, and have only now softened.
This was the first new car I'd had the proper experience of specc'ing myself (the lease cars were a choice of colour only, and the Aston was a showroom car). Porsche have a way of making you tick far more boxes than you meant to, so after a couple of hours at the dealer I'd locked in a spec that had a fair bit of scope creep, blew the original budget but had everything I wanted, including the Burmester stereo (this experience was repeated again for the GT4...)
It was duly taken to the Peak District to get some running in mileage, where my photographer mate got some decent snaps
It's been a great car - zero issues with it in the 16 months I've had it for and a lovely, comfortable place to spend time. The only downside is the fuel economy...it's terrible! I've never actually seen 30mpg on the readout, even on longer trips doing the speed limit. Normally it's low 20's, short trips get it into the teens easily. Slightly disappointing for a modern car, although it is heavy. It comes into its own when the weather's poor or we're going somewhere in the middle of nowhere that the Aston/GT4 wouldn't be able to access with splitters intact. One of the downsides of buying it (and going a bit overboard on spec) is that it's hard to treat it like a daily - it gets pampered far more than I'd intended and most 'daily' duties are done by the Volvo.
The one time it did let me down is last winter when we were in the Cotswolds on a weekend away. Out of nowhere, we had a fair downfall of snow - right on the day we needed to head home. It's on wide, sporty summer tyres, which meant even in off road mode with the 4WD system it was terrible. In fact, I very nearly came a cropper on a lane with a small hill, not something I want to repeat again!
Where this car absolutely comes into its own is on a decent B road. The GTS replaced the Turbo as the most powerful Macan in the range, with 440bhp. This makes it fast enough in a straight line, but it's the corners where the magic happens. Dropped down low on the air suspension with the dampers set to stiff, PDK in manual and flicked into Sport + mode, you completely forget that it's an SUV. The only thing that gives it away is when you go for the brakes and remember that stopping distances are a little longer!
We went to Wales earlier this year with a group of mates, and I was intending on taking the Aston. That is, until it sprang a coolant leak a few days before we were due to head over there. With no time to get it repaired, we took the Macan instead. I'd lent my Clio Trophy to one of the group as his Clio has also got an issue, so we set out to see what the Macan could do. Any sadness about not having the Aston evaporated on the B4391 heading north out of Bala. It was pinned to the Clio's, and I never once felt short changed. I'm not sure there are many other SUV's that can do this - if any at all. The Macan is the reason I put my name down for the GT4 - having never driven one before I assumed if Porsche can make a mid size SUV drive like this then that must be on another level altogether. Turns out I was right!
I'll start with the 'new toy' - a Cayman GT4. My first Porsche was the Macan (I'll get to that later) which hugely impressed. After looking around a bit for a possible Aston replacement, I realised I couldn't bare to part with it and rather than a single replacement that would be slightly compromised (a GT3 would have been fantastic, but not so great for weekends away with my other half, and an F12 would have come with some monster running costs) I'd prefer a best of both worlds scenario.
I'd always had an eye on the GT4, especially as they present a bit of a bargain, being under £100k new and enjoying very slow depreciation. I put the deposit down last May, a month after collecting the Macan, and very fortunately got my dealer's last build slot, with the car arriving a couple of weeks ago in August. I originally wanted a manual, but after the Porsche experience day I realised the PDK suited the car much better - everything said about the manual's tall gearing is absolutely true. I went a little overboard on the spec, figuring I (hopefully) won't ever be parting with it, and knowing I would be keeping the Aston as the comfortable car, I wanted the Cayman to be more of a track car to replace my outgoing Clio Trophy. With this in mind, I went for Clubsport (roll cage and harnesses), carbon buckets etc. About the only option I didn't tick was the ceramic brakes - personal preference.
Collection day was a little odd as the car went straight onto a trailer to be taken away for PPF and ceramic coating. These cars are a magnet for stone chips with the wide side pods and sticky tyres, so I didn't want to drive it on the road prior to having this done. I drove it all of about 50 feet out of the showroom, then had to wave it goodbye for a week. Having waited over a year for the collection day, this was pretty difficult - however seeing it in the handover bay of Assetti after the PPF was worth it - it was flawless.
We took the Aston up to collect it, I'd been wanting to replace the rear PPF patches for a while as after 3 years they were pretty shot so I left it with Assetti for the day whilst we took the Cayman out for some tentative running in mileage. As they're based in Ellesmere Port, we had a quick trip over to Wales and back to kill a few hours and get the first hundred or so miles on the clock.
Driving back was an experience, my girlfriend in the Vantage and me in the Cayman. She wasn't really into cars when we met but has slowly come around - I think we'll be doing more drives/events in both cars going forward.
Once we arrived back, I put it in the garage for the first time and had a real 'pinch me' moment.
The second night it was here, I got a notification around 11pm that my garage CCTV had detected motion. I quickly checked my phone, and to my horror saw this:
My little s
tbag of a cat had sneaked in, hidden, and broken cover after I'd closed the garage doors. I ran down to chase him out - all I can say is thank god for PPF - the bonnet and front bumper would otherwise have been scratched. It looks like he'd been asleep under the rear wing, must have been a nice warm spot for him.A couple of local early morning drives through the Peaks with mates helped get more miles onto it, from reading around it seems that this sort of mileage is much better for running in than constant speed/RPM on the motorway, so I've been doing my best to get out in it. Last weekend, I did a wales trip with SCD which took it past 1,000 miles. It's not quite there, but now not far off being able to see what 8k rpm feels and sounds like!
That brings me up to now for the Cayman, I've bought some nappa leather seat bolster protectors for the buckets which I need to fit this weekend, then I'm planning to get it over to String Theory for a proper setup before the winter weather kicks in.
So, onto the Aston...
It's Elwood Blue, and is a keeper. I've always loved the brand and never thought I'd find myself in a brand new one. I've done loads in it and it's very much a member of the family. My girlfriend loves driving it too, so the plan is to keep it for good. I bought it at the end of the term for less than trade price due to where the market was, so it's not been particularly expensive to own. I ran it in properly, it's been detailed a couple of times and properly looked after - I wouldn't be able to get another like this if anything happened to it.
I've made a few subtle changes to it, the most recent and biggest change being swapping the front end for the new/facelifted version which is back to a more traditional grille.
Collection Day
Soon after
I didn't like the silver diamond cutting on the wheels, there's nothing else silver/chrome on the car so it always looked out of place. I had them refurbed in gloss black, which I think looks much better.
The front end was a big one, something I never loved about the original car. It's a big improvement in my eyes, and it was a simple retrofit organised through my main dealer
I've done some amazing events in the Vantage, both with Supercar Driver and stuff we've organised ourselves. Highlights include a Wales trip with a group from the Aston section on here, and the NC500 with close friends.
Next up - the Macan. I'd previously had a Range Rover Sport P400E new on a good lease deal, however hated it. It never worked properly, the dealer was absolutely terrible and the whole experience was a bad one. After around a year, my girlfriend was using it for her long commute as I was fed up and happy to have her Qashqai instead as it worked! This arrangement worked until it lost power on her on the motorway, which was the final straw. It was rejected back to LR, and I started the hunt for its replacement. I'd decided I didn't like the hybrid, the EV running was great, but the battery didn't last long and then it was a wheezy 2 litre petrol that just didn't suit the car. I wanted to go back to something large engined and reasonably practical - it had to have back doors at least. this was the back end of 2021 when new cars were difficult to get hold of, and the Macan I really wanted was a 24 month wait away. A chance encounter at a dinner event pointed me to Porsche Stockport, at the time a brand new dealer, who I was told had a substantially shorter waiting list. I placed the order in November, and collected the car in April which was super lucky. When I collected it they were going for £10-20k over list, and have only now softened.
This was the first new car I'd had the proper experience of specc'ing myself (the lease cars were a choice of colour only, and the Aston was a showroom car). Porsche have a way of making you tick far more boxes than you meant to, so after a couple of hours at the dealer I'd locked in a spec that had a fair bit of scope creep, blew the original budget but had everything I wanted, including the Burmester stereo (this experience was repeated again for the GT4...)
It was duly taken to the Peak District to get some running in mileage, where my photographer mate got some decent snaps
It's been a great car - zero issues with it in the 16 months I've had it for and a lovely, comfortable place to spend time. The only downside is the fuel economy...it's terrible! I've never actually seen 30mpg on the readout, even on longer trips doing the speed limit. Normally it's low 20's, short trips get it into the teens easily. Slightly disappointing for a modern car, although it is heavy. It comes into its own when the weather's poor or we're going somewhere in the middle of nowhere that the Aston/GT4 wouldn't be able to access with splitters intact. One of the downsides of buying it (and going a bit overboard on spec) is that it's hard to treat it like a daily - it gets pampered far more than I'd intended and most 'daily' duties are done by the Volvo.
The one time it did let me down is last winter when we were in the Cotswolds on a weekend away. Out of nowhere, we had a fair downfall of snow - right on the day we needed to head home. It's on wide, sporty summer tyres, which meant even in off road mode with the 4WD system it was terrible. In fact, I very nearly came a cropper on a lane with a small hill, not something I want to repeat again!
Where this car absolutely comes into its own is on a decent B road. The GTS replaced the Turbo as the most powerful Macan in the range, with 440bhp. This makes it fast enough in a straight line, but it's the corners where the magic happens. Dropped down low on the air suspension with the dampers set to stiff, PDK in manual and flicked into Sport + mode, you completely forget that it's an SUV. The only thing that gives it away is when you go for the brakes and remember that stopping distances are a little longer!
We went to Wales earlier this year with a group of mates, and I was intending on taking the Aston. That is, until it sprang a coolant leak a few days before we were due to head over there. With no time to get it repaired, we took the Macan instead. I'd lent my Clio Trophy to one of the group as his Clio has also got an issue, so we set out to see what the Macan could do. Any sadness about not having the Aston evaporated on the B4391 heading north out of Bala. It was pinned to the Clio's, and I never once felt short changed. I'm not sure there are many other SUV's that can do this - if any at all. The Macan is the reason I put my name down for the GT4 - having never driven one before I assumed if Porsche can make a mid size SUV drive like this then that must be on another level altogether. Turns out I was right!
Edited by AMV93 on Monday 11th September 19:39
On to the Volvo. My other half took rather a fancy to the Macan, especially as she never fully forgave me for getting rid of the Range Rover that had become 'hers'! We moved house a year or so ago and are now 2 miles from the centre of town and my office. Using the Macan for this commute seemed a waste, and we needed a car we could use without worrying about what we might want to chuck in the back, or where it might be left overnight.
I care too much about the Macan for tight carparks and tip runs, I was also conscious that it didn't look particularly good in my work carpark, or those of our customers. I needed something sensible, cost effective and preferably fairly new. As more and more of our mileage was very short trips, I started looking into EV's. Having looked around (this was mid 2022, so new cars were still scarce - especially EV's) I'd almost given up on getting anything as anything remotely new was trading at or over list price.
I stumbled upon Volvo, who had the XC40 Recharge in stock. It wasn't quite the trim level I wanted and only the single motor/lower range version, however the lease was very good value and it was on a 3 month term, meaning I could hand it back at any point after 3 months with no penalty. As I didn't know whether an EV would really work for me, I rolled the dice and ordered it, collecting a couple of weeks later.
I was immediately impressed by it. Being quiet and smooth was a given being an EV, but it's a great all round car. A perfect size, comfortable and just the right image for what I wanted. The official range was 258 miles, however the reality was more like 200. Having the other cars meant I never really needed to do long trips and mess about with public chargers, however we managed to pile the miles on it and it didn't take long for its odometer to surpass the Macan's, despite having owned that car for 6 months when the Volvo arrived. It does make you realise just how many trips you do within a 50 or so mile radius, we never really had any issues with the range during day to day use.
It was refreshing to have a car I didn't worry about, whenever we were going somewhere with a tight carpark etc we just took the Volvo and didn't worry about it. The few times I had to take it longer distances, a little planning and flicking around ZapMap meant charging was fairly simple, if a little inconvenient, however not really a problem. If it was my only car, and/or I was doing long distances regularly it would have been far more of a pain.
The cost of public charging is also worth mentioning. The fast public chargers are now 79p - 89p per KwH - meaning that it's genuinely cheaper to run the Macan on super unleaded (at sub 25mpg!). Plugging in at home overnight on an EV tariff is the way forward.
The reason I've been speaking about the Volvo in past tense is that I'm now on my second one, which I collected last week. The spec is identical, however this new one is a twin motor with much improved range and is the top trim level which gains some nice extra's. Another reason I went for the Volvo 3 month option - the tech is constantly getting better and committing now for 3 years feels like a leap too far. Sure enough, after receiving the original car in October, the new version was announced in December. I ordered one as soon as they were announced, especially as the cost increase was negligible, and patiently waited.
The only way to tell the new car apart externally is the cross climate tyres - I'm sure these will come in useful in winter now I know how poor the Macan is!
The range in the new car is much improved, a long return trip confirms it will do around 275 motorway miles to a full charge whilst the weather is warm, which is far above the last one. Mixed driving should return around 300 (WLTP is 330). It's also stupidly fast, unnecessarily so, especially as the chassis clearly wasn't designed for it. It's around 400bhp with 600nm - not far off the Macan! The twin motor makes a big difference, the previous one was FWD and used to axle tramp badly as it couldn't handle the instant torque, which has been hugely improved by the 4WD.
So, that's how despite the other cars I've ended up spending about 70% of my time in an electric Volvo - I can't fault it!
I care too much about the Macan for tight carparks and tip runs, I was also conscious that it didn't look particularly good in my work carpark, or those of our customers. I needed something sensible, cost effective and preferably fairly new. As more and more of our mileage was very short trips, I started looking into EV's. Having looked around (this was mid 2022, so new cars were still scarce - especially EV's) I'd almost given up on getting anything as anything remotely new was trading at or over list price.
I stumbled upon Volvo, who had the XC40 Recharge in stock. It wasn't quite the trim level I wanted and only the single motor/lower range version, however the lease was very good value and it was on a 3 month term, meaning I could hand it back at any point after 3 months with no penalty. As I didn't know whether an EV would really work for me, I rolled the dice and ordered it, collecting a couple of weeks later.
I was immediately impressed by it. Being quiet and smooth was a given being an EV, but it's a great all round car. A perfect size, comfortable and just the right image for what I wanted. The official range was 258 miles, however the reality was more like 200. Having the other cars meant I never really needed to do long trips and mess about with public chargers, however we managed to pile the miles on it and it didn't take long for its odometer to surpass the Macan's, despite having owned that car for 6 months when the Volvo arrived. It does make you realise just how many trips you do within a 50 or so mile radius, we never really had any issues with the range during day to day use.
It was refreshing to have a car I didn't worry about, whenever we were going somewhere with a tight carpark etc we just took the Volvo and didn't worry about it. The few times I had to take it longer distances, a little planning and flicking around ZapMap meant charging was fairly simple, if a little inconvenient, however not really a problem. If it was my only car, and/or I was doing long distances regularly it would have been far more of a pain.
The cost of public charging is also worth mentioning. The fast public chargers are now 79p - 89p per KwH - meaning that it's genuinely cheaper to run the Macan on super unleaded (at sub 25mpg!). Plugging in at home overnight on an EV tariff is the way forward.
The reason I've been speaking about the Volvo in past tense is that I'm now on my second one, which I collected last week. The spec is identical, however this new one is a twin motor with much improved range and is the top trim level which gains some nice extra's. Another reason I went for the Volvo 3 month option - the tech is constantly getting better and committing now for 3 years feels like a leap too far. Sure enough, after receiving the original car in October, the new version was announced in December. I ordered one as soon as they were announced, especially as the cost increase was negligible, and patiently waited.
The only way to tell the new car apart externally is the cross climate tyres - I'm sure these will come in useful in winter now I know how poor the Macan is!
The range in the new car is much improved, a long return trip confirms it will do around 275 motorway miles to a full charge whilst the weather is warm, which is far above the last one. Mixed driving should return around 300 (WLTP is 330). It's also stupidly fast, unnecessarily so, especially as the chassis clearly wasn't designed for it. It's around 400bhp with 600nm - not far off the Macan! The twin motor makes a big difference, the previous one was FWD and used to axle tramp badly as it couldn't handle the instant torque, which has been hugely improved by the 4WD.
So, that's how despite the other cars I've ended up spending about 70% of my time in an electric Volvo - I can't fault it!
Edited by AMV93 on Monday 11th September 22:06
Edited by AMV93 on Monday 11th September 22:27
I can echo your thoughts on the Volvo.
I have C40 twin motor, its a tad expensive, however its blisteringly and unnecessarily fast in straight lines, easy to drive etc.
I find myself using it above and beyond what I expected leaving the other toys somewhat neglected.
However, the remainder of your fleet far surpasses the appeal of mine, They look fantastic. You would think the GT4 and Macan is all you need, but I totally get needing more toys and tools lol
I have C40 twin motor, its a tad expensive, however its blisteringly and unnecessarily fast in straight lines, easy to drive etc.
I find myself using it above and beyond what I expected leaving the other toys somewhat neglected.
However, the remainder of your fleet far surpasses the appeal of mine, They look fantastic. You would think the GT4 and Macan is all you need, but I totally get needing more toys and tools lol
MR2 Steve said:
Those XC40 twin motors are very inconspicuous for 400bhp. Expensive though on the subscription lease. Assume through a company and VAT reclaim, CT deduction and low BIK makes it more reasonable when you work out the net cost. Down to c.£500 net cost to you personally.
You're right - buying an EV personally doesn't really make sense in the current climate, however there's still some very good incentives for companies. The price has gone up a lot since I ordered this latest one in December, they certainly don't look such good value now so I'll be hanging on to this one despite still being able to switch with 3 months notice!RD-1 said:
I’ve not read the whole thread yet, but that’s a pretty nice fleet you’ve got there. Great colours too!
My wife has a Carmine red Cayenne GTS and they look so much better with some colour on them!
Congrats and enjoy
Thanks! Carmine is a beautiful colour in person, I think Guards would be a little too bright on something Macan/Cayenne sized (I did think fleetingly about Miami before seeing one in person and realising it's best left to GT3's!!)My wife has a Carmine red Cayenne GTS and they look so much better with some colour on them!
Congrats and enjoy
I managed to get the bucket seat protectors onto the GT4 - something I really should have pulled my finger out and ordered prior to the car being delivered. I've been super careful with them for the couple of weeks that I've had the car, however you just can't stop them from creasing/scratching. Even cars with low mileage look pretty abused as there's no easy way of getting in and out of them. As I've already gone to the expense of PPF, it seems reasonable to spend a few hundred quid on protecting the seats.
The covers are made out of the same nappa leather that Porsche use and the stitching matches perfectly. I thought they would be move obvious than they are - now they're fitted you can barely tell (they're fitted in both pictures).
Another job I really should have done prior to collecting the GT4 was sorting the garage. It's been a dumping ground for far too long, and the bare breeze block and concrete mean it's dusty. I ultimately need to get the central pillar removed and a large single door in its place, however as the electricity feed and consumer unit are mounted on it this won't be a small job. I've painted the walls (real pain) and I'm now laying the tile flooring, however any insulating/plasterboarding the ceiling and fancy lighting will have to wait until post pillar removal. It's double skinned and has insulated doors so doesn't get too damp in there thankfully, although I'll be getting a dehumidifier and storage heater for winter.
The covers are made out of the same nappa leather that Porsche use and the stitching matches perfectly. I thought they would be move obvious than they are - now they're fitted you can barely tell (they're fitted in both pictures).
Another job I really should have done prior to collecting the GT4 was sorting the garage. It's been a dumping ground for far too long, and the bare breeze block and concrete mean it's dusty. I ultimately need to get the central pillar removed and a large single door in its place, however as the electricity feed and consumer unit are mounted on it this won't be a small job. I've painted the walls (real pain) and I'm now laying the tile flooring, however any insulating/plasterboarding the ceiling and fancy lighting will have to wait until post pillar removal. It's double skinned and has insulated doors so doesn't get too damp in there thankfully, although I'll be getting a dehumidifier and storage heater for winter.
A few more updates across the board...
I finally got the garage done. I went for 7mm PVC tiles for the floor - although they're (allegedly) hardwearing and suitable for all types of jacking etc, I don't really work on cars anymore as there's not a lot I can really do on these and they're all under warranty/service plans so most of my tools are now redundant. I wanted instead to create more of a showroom type space, so I thought the grey tiles would work well against the white walls and help keep the dust down/insulate the floor slightly and perhaps even help with the tyre flatspots over winter.
The flooring was really easy to lay and we got it down within a day, including making all the cuts to the edges and door surrounds. I'd wanted big logo's on the wall but really struggled to find anyone to supply - these were from Etsy in the end and came from Poland. I think they look great, they're laser cut MDF and all I had to do was stick them on with the supplied 3M stuff.
I still need to sort a dehumidifier and heating, however at least now I can get both cars in with plenty of room spare, the gap between the cars is enough to fully open the doors and they've got somewhere safe to live over winter on trickle charge.
In other news, the GT4 is now fully run in. A close friend had his new 911 GTS delivered in September, so we headed over to North Yorkshire to get mileage on both the cars. Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely terrible and a real challenge. We did the Buttertubs pass in complete cloud/mist coverage without being able to see anything, had to turn around a few times in various places due to flooding and battled constant rain and standing water. The GT4 really struggles, especially with standing water, so I had to be really careful. The 4WD 911 in contrast was just a spaceship. The wet didn't phase it at all and it didn't step once - I wish I could say the same for the Cayman. The PPF on both cars really, really paid off - the roads were covered in small stones from all the water flowing over them and there were various patches of newly surfaced roads which were peppering the cars. There's no carpet in the arch liners of the GT4 so you hear everything - it really sounds like the car is getting shotblasted when in reality I still don't have a single chip. The PPF on the bonnet has had a workout though and will probably need replacing after a couple more trips as there are marks which are beyond self healing.
I finally got the garage done. I went for 7mm PVC tiles for the floor - although they're (allegedly) hardwearing and suitable for all types of jacking etc, I don't really work on cars anymore as there's not a lot I can really do on these and they're all under warranty/service plans so most of my tools are now redundant. I wanted instead to create more of a showroom type space, so I thought the grey tiles would work well against the white walls and help keep the dust down/insulate the floor slightly and perhaps even help with the tyre flatspots over winter.
The flooring was really easy to lay and we got it down within a day, including making all the cuts to the edges and door surrounds. I'd wanted big logo's on the wall but really struggled to find anyone to supply - these were from Etsy in the end and came from Poland. I think they look great, they're laser cut MDF and all I had to do was stick them on with the supplied 3M stuff.
I still need to sort a dehumidifier and heating, however at least now I can get both cars in with plenty of room spare, the gap between the cars is enough to fully open the doors and they've got somewhere safe to live over winter on trickle charge.
In other news, the GT4 is now fully run in. A close friend had his new 911 GTS delivered in September, so we headed over to North Yorkshire to get mileage on both the cars. Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely terrible and a real challenge. We did the Buttertubs pass in complete cloud/mist coverage without being able to see anything, had to turn around a few times in various places due to flooding and battled constant rain and standing water. The GT4 really struggles, especially with standing water, so I had to be really careful. The 4WD 911 in contrast was just a spaceship. The wet didn't phase it at all and it didn't step once - I wish I could say the same for the Cayman. The PPF on both cars really, really paid off - the roads were covered in small stones from all the water flowing over them and there were various patches of newly surfaced roads which were peppering the cars. There's no carpet in the arch liners of the GT4 so you hear everything - it really sounds like the car is getting shotblasted when in reality I still don't have a single chip. The PPF on the bonnet has had a workout though and will probably need replacing after a couple more trips as there are marks which are beyond self healing.
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