Well, in the month since I’ve last updated you on the happenings with my 911 GT3, the world have turned completely on its heels. The coronavirus have made its way to just about every corner on this planet, and we the citizenry have been hunkering down in our homes, hoping to prevent the worse of this calamity. Naturally then, anything automotive related – especially on the hobby side of ours – have disappeared down into a cliff.
It is hugely ironic: the roads have never been more free of cars, our locality have stopped charging bridge tolls, and gas prices – thanks to a production war between Saudi Arabia and Russia – have come down tremendously. And yet, us car enthusiasts have been unable to take advantage of such sweet situation, because we are to shelter in place and only leave the house for the absolute essential.
Those who are fighting at the frontlines – our heroic medical personnel and first responders – are counting on us to do so. We have an empathetic duty to stay home so that fewer people have to suffer.
Of course, that doesn’t stop the few amongst us to take the opportunity for some carefree speeding. On the car discussion forum I frequent, people reported sports cars doing ludicrous speeds at the local mountain roads, cars getting pulled over on the Golden Gate Bridge for going triple-digits, and a general increase in vehicular “hooning" now that the roads are emptier than ever. One teenager even crashed his BMW on Highway 35, and is now selling the remains of it on Craigslist.
For shame; that is how our collective gets a bad reputation.
I’m not entirely unsympathetic to wanting to get out and drive during these times. Those of us fortunate to be able to work from home and still draw a paycheck, right now does seem like the appropriate time to indulge in this car hobby of ours. Indeed, what sort of violation of social distancing can possible happen with us being in our cars – alone – the whole time? We’re simply breathing in our own air. The counter to that argument is that what if we get into an accident that requires medical attention; we’d be taking up precious resources that would otherwise go towards coronavirus patients.
In America we are in love with our freedoms, so I don’t begrudge fellow enthusiasts who are taking this opportunity to drive on their favorite winding mountain roads. So long as they aren’t getting out of their cars and mingle in a huge group – as we are wont to do during normal times – then I don’t really see the harm in that. It’s the reckless speeders that I strongly disagree with; selfish is the word to describe those people who are endangering not only themselves but everyone else.
As for me, I’ve stayed home as much as possible, with the GT3 parked at its resting spot for most of the month. The first weekend of March – before the shelter-in-place order was in affect – was the last time I took the car to the mountains for some serious exercising. It was also the last time I put gas in the car, ahead of the current price decrease, so I wasn’t able to take advantage of even that. With a car that returns miles-per-gallon in the teens, you’d think a four-hour romp around the San Mateo mountains would be enough to deplete the fuel tank, but that’s the beauty of the 26-gallon extended-range tank option: by the time I parked the car for good on March 8th, the fuel gauge needle was still pointing above the half position.
That wasn’t the last time I drove the car in March however, though it was out of sheer necessity, rather than the urge of heading out of the house for drive. As I’ve written about in previous monthly updates, the GT3 is parked at the garage structure of my workplace. Naturally, there are no provisions for a batter tender to plug into, so the car does have to get moved periodically to avoid a dead battery. Jump-starting a modern 911 is a rather complicated process – especially for something made in Germany - compared to the typical car, one to be avoided as much as possible.
The battery resides in the front trunk of a 911, but the trunk lid can only be operated electronically – there is no physical popper or release mechanism. Therefore it will not open in the event of a battery failure, blocking access to the battery for jump-starting. What owners must do is open the driver door using the backup car key, then place jumper cables to a specific fuse inside the fuse box down in the footwell. This provides just enough electricity to activate the trunk release, at which point you then transfer the cables to the actual battery inside the trunk to perform the normal jump-start procedure.
All that is to say: I had a valid reason to take the 911 out during this quarantine period.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t nice to get out of the house for bit. I took an hour-long loop down Highway 1, turning around at Half Moon Bay. Surprisingly, traffic was not particularly sparse on the 1, though every possible beach access and vista point has been cordoned off, preventing vehicular entry. The local gendarme was also on patrol, looking to break up any large congregation of people and or cars.
What wasn't so nice was the proper freeways: because of the tremendous decrease in number of cars on the road, plenty of drivers were going way beyond 90+ MPH. Scary stuff indeed when I'm trying to merge on at the usual pace. For better and worse, the modern car is too stable at triple-digit speeds, luring people into a false sense of security.
San Francisco has extended the stay-at-home order to the first of May, so the month of April will be largely the same as March: very little driving. Thus far the furthest I’ve stretched between moving the GT3 is three weeks; let see if I have the stomach to go beyond that threshold. The only miles during April will probably be that one time I need to take the car out to charge and preserve the battery.
Stay safe and healthy, Internet friends.
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Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 29,739
Mileage this month: 242
Costs this month: $1,397.75 (CA registration)
MPG this month: 15.38 mpg