There’s Nothing Like a Porsche
People, especially guys, think all cars are the same. Hop in, fire up the engine, and go for a drive. Right? Wrong!
This lesson was learned the hard way by a valet at a Madrid restaurant. Javier Casquero, a Spanish soccer star, handed his keys to the soon to be ex-valet. While he was in the restaurant eating the valet was busy destroying the soccer player’s Porsche 911. This valet was either another crazy European soccer fan or crazy Porsche fanatic. See the whole story here.
Not too long after taking the keys to Casquero’s Porsche the valet was on the phone to some friends wanting to know if they were interested in accompanying him on a little road trip. What are friends for?
(Side note - if you’re going to pick a high performance sports car to joy ride in be sure you can drive it.)
Turns out there wasn’t much joy on this ride along. With two friends along for the ride, a tight fit in a 911, this bozo stepped on the gas and immediately lost control. After he bounced off of six parked cars, including a BMW and a Mercedes, the extremely short-lived road trip was over. No doubt the owners of those six cars didn’t use valet service again for awhile.
Every car is a little different when it comes to factors such as handling, braking, and accelerating. On most vehicles the differences are easily manageable but in a high performance sports coupe or sedan the variations can be significant, costly or even dangerous.
Something as simple as getting a car out of first gear and in motion can turn in to an embarrassing episode, especially when trying to impress a boyfriend or girlfriend. As the aforementioned valet learned, some gas pedals can be a little sensitive.
Do yourself and your friends a favor. Research the car you are planning to drive. Spend some time practicing in a parking lot or on a track. Get a feel for the car and how it handles. Driving lessons might also be appropriate and well worth the investment.
Not only will learning how to drive properly help to avoid embarrassment it will help save money. Leaving a little rubber and smoke on the road from burning out the tires looks cool but tires for a luxury sports car, or even a cheap sports car, can be really expensive. Being able to smoothly handle shifting gears will also reduce wear and tear on the clutch, another expensive repair, as well as extend the life of the transmission.
Reducing auto maintenance costs is practical but safety is the most important reason to make sure you understand how to drive your sports car. Thankfully the idiot valet suffered only a few minor injuries. That story is certainly funny. Losing control of a vehicle because you underestimated the effect of road conditions or didn’t know how to handle the car in a curve could be disastrous. Overconfidence could lead to showing up in an obituary rather than a humorous newspaper article.
Read up on the car. Practice driving. Get lessons. These are all ways to make sure you, and your friends, have an enjoyable driving experience. Be patient and give it some time. You’ll be executing a bootleg turn and powershifting before you know it.
If you need any kind of repair work on your Porsche, check out Indianapolis Porsche repair on our main site at EuroMotorworks.com
Tags: Auto Repair Indianapolis, indianapolis porsche repair, luxury auto service, Luxury Car Care