Car geeks? Porsche's GT car allocation system...

[Aidokea]

I saw the video of the new 2022 Porsche 911 (992) GT3 doing a sub 7 minute lap of the Nordschleife...and realized that even if I can afford one, I can't buy one, because of Porsche's GT car allocation system.

For those that haven't had to deal with Porsche's GT car allocation system, you have to purchase numerous new Porsches of increasing value from the same Porsche dealer, before a dealer will be willing to give you an allocation to order a new GT car.

The Flacht cars are limited production, and the dealers are trying to minimize the incidence of speculators ordering GT cars for the purpose of flipping them at a profit, but there has to be a better way. I'd be driving a GT4 and looking at a GT3 if there was...

[Aidokea]

[dream34]

That's basically the same thing Ferrari has been doing for years. Not that I find it an issue as I cannot afford even the cheapest new Ferrari. I have toyed with getting an old 308/328 when I retire.

[Aidokea]

That's basically the same thing Ferrari has been doing for years. Not that I find it an issue as I cannot afford even the cheapest new Ferrari. I have toyed with getting an old 308/328 when I retire.

Well, Ferrari does that with their "halo" cars, but I don't know about their regular ones.

An F8 or an 812 Superfast would be beyond me. I AM well and truly smitten by the Portofino, but even that would be a bit of a stretch for me.

We looked into getting a used 360 Modena, because the older cars are maintenance nightmares. But most 360s come with Ferrari's crude "F1" single-clutch robot-controlled manual transmission (no clutch pedal), the gated manual ones go for a premium, and you can't buy a Ferrari in any color other than "resale red", unless you want to be buried in it.

We looked into a used Lamborghini Gallardo, but most of them come with Lamborghini's crude "E-Gear" single-clutch robotized manual gearbox, which needs a $10,000 clutch replacement about once a year, and the gated manuals go for premium prices. But at least you can buy them in any crazy color you want, and you'll still be able to sell it later.

The thing about Porsches, is that they don't break down or catch on fire just to spite you. They are "the everyday supercar". Mine has been as reliable as an anvil. I can do my own oil changes, and the only significant amount of money I've had to spend on it, is a grand for a pair of new 20" rear tires at about 20K miles, even though I drive like a grownup. A GT car would get through tires a lot faster than that, but at least you can still drive them whenever you want...

[Aidokea]

I saw a news article recently where a LaFerrari owner flipped his car in violation of the terms to which those cars are sold, and because he held a financial interest in the dealership that sold the car, Ferrari pulled their franchise. How Italian...

[Aidokea]

Then again, the 193-mph 718 GTS 4.0 is less than $100K if you don't go crazy when ordering options, even if you order it as a convertible. And it comes on 4S tires instead of Cup 2 tires, so you can drive it in the rain. And the convertible has the one-touch power top. And even normal guys like me can get an allocation to order one.

But the thing about the actual GT cars, is that they basically cost nothing to own- you can generally sell them used for around what they cost new, and a lot of them even appreciate. Used 997 GT2 RS "Widowmakers", for example, are going for an easy half-million now, several times what they cost new.

I guess it all comes down to whether you can get an allocation or not, and whether you can afford to tie up your cash in something like that or not.

Dammit...

[Aidokea]

For a while, I fancied the GT4, even though I probably couldn't get an allocation to order one.

I liked the fact that the Porsche advertising video spent the first 1:15 of a 1:45 spot, showing the kinds of people that would hate the GT4, before even showing the car in the last 30 seconds of the video.

[Aidokea]

Yeah.

Are you familiar with the track? It is the Nurburgring Nordschleife, arguably the most famous race course in the world.

The 12.9 mile long Nordschleife (German for "North Loop") is technically a one-way German toll road. It loops through five villages around Nurburg Castle in Germany, and effectively has no speed limits. When it is not closed for racing, anyone can pay the equivalent of about $20 per lap to do Touristenfahrten (German for "tourist drives") and/or go for a ride around the Nordschleife as a passenger in a 'Ring Taxi driven by a racing driver.

When I let my wife custom-order a new BMW Track Pack car, we did it as a European Delivery and picked it up at the factory in Munich, so that we could drive it at speed on the track that the Track Pack was designed for.

I also bought her an $860 cab ride in a track-prepared Porsche 911 GT3 RS Race Taxi driven at speeds of up to 320kph (200mph) by the late Sabine Schmitz, known as "The fastest taxi driver in the world".

When I ordered my Porsche, we originally wanted to do another European Delivery, with us picking it up at the factory in Stuttgart. But Porsche announced that they were going to discontinue the engine that I wanted, so we had to order the car right away, took delivery of it here in the U.S., and then used public transportation for our next Europe trip.

[9L81]

Yeah I am familiar. I was in Germany for 2 months years ago doing work for EUCOM but it was January and February so I didn't even bother to try to get there because the weather was cold and wet nearly the entire time. I've watched a lot of onboards of laps there including with Sabine driving. Driven on some older video games too I believe. Would love to get a few days to lap it with something that properly handles and see what kind of improvements I could make. Then once I have it somewhat figured out I'd like to ride a moto on it. But my wife gets car sick easily so I'd be on my own if I ever got the chance.

[Aidokea]

We are not "video game people", but one of the things we did to prepare for the Nurburgring, was to purchase an X-Box, a rather expensive force-feedback steering wheel and pedal set (with paddle shifters, just like her car would have), and a Forza video game cartridge that depicted the Nordschleife in great detail, right down to the spray-painted graffiti that drivers and riders use to locate their turn-in points.

We also watched numerous online tutorials- the most helpful ones were done by Dale Lomas. Dale is a British guy that lives and works at the Nurburgring. His day job is as a 'Ring Taxi driver for BMW, but he also runs the "Bridge To Gantry" web site, races cars there, and does driver and rider coaching professionally.

My wife and I have a background in road racing (motorcycles), and we worked hard to remember that all German road laws apply there, the most important of which is no passing on the right.

We were there in September and October (we did Oktoberfest in Munich in costume), and fortunately it was dry the entire time.

Sorry to hear about your wife's car sickness problem- it can be very helpful to have a passenger to help you to watch out for traffic approaching from behind, even at high speeds. Maybe you can send her on a day trip of the Mosul Valley Wine Region while you drive the Nordschleife.

If you're able to go back, I highly recommend it. A European Delivery with Porsche, BMW, or Mercedes can make the trip a lot easier and less expensive, but as you know, public transportation like the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn, work very well, and there are places at the Nurburgring that rent track-prepared cars.

[Aidokea]

I see you ride motorcycles- I also recommend doing the Isle of Man TT. It is absolute motorcycle Mecca.

We rented a luxury cottage in Peel, for practice week and race week.

We also rented a big-bore Ducati, to repeatedly lap the Snaefel Mountain Course at triple-digit speeds, both solo and two-up- there are no speed limits on the Isle of Man outside of town. It is well and truly the most dangerous race course I've ever done- five people died while we were there.

Visiting Joey's statue overlooking the Bungalow Curves was an emotional experience.

If you go, you can mail your riding gear to yourself whenever you're staying, so that you don't have to drag it all through the airports and stuff, and then mail it back home afterwards.

[Aidokea]

Sabine was a very special person, and she was very nice to my wife and I. When we were unable to find a fire suit and helmet in sizes small enough for my wife for her taxi ride with Sabine, Sabine loaned my wife her own personal spare fire suit and helmet. Then she invited us to have beers with her after she was done driving for the day. She will be missed...