“Thanks for the invitation to start with. I want to thank Porsche China and Bose China, yes, the well-known audio brand. Without their 20 years of ‘revolutionary friendship’, there might not have been this wonderful ‘classic journey’ and the unforgettable ‘time machine driving experience’ in the past few days. So, all I have to say about these two brands is: buy them!”
If you ask me about the most unforgettable car I’ve ever driven, although I’ve driven many sports cars like ‘Bulls and Horses’, I think that feeling can only be considered as ‘satisfying’ or temporary satisfaction of our vanity. But now I can proudly say that the most unforgettable car I’ve ever driven is the Porsche 911 SC Targa (G Model) pictured below, which is almost 40 years old, and I actually drove it on the winding mountain road of Qinglong 24 in Guizhou!
It’s unforgettable because it’s a classic car that was transported from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany to the beautiful mountain roads of Guizhou, China, and it can legally drive on our roads.
The classic roll bar design of the Targa model, the graceful and compact rear-wheel-drive body shape and proportions, in this era of ‘sports cars getting bigger and more aggressive in design’, look so coordinated, stunning, and classic.
When you open the rear hood, the 3.0 liter six-cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled engine looks like it jumped out of our familiar desktop model into the real world. Although 204 horsepower and a maximum torque of 230 Nm may not be considered as the data that sports cars should have now. But in that era, it was top-notch, and the unique sound of an air-cooled engine at the moment of ignition is enough to make all petrolheads shiver, plus the 5-speed manual transmission…
It’s like a Hong Kong and Taiwan movie star walking out of an 80s calendar, the feeling can’t be experienced by just looking at the pictures, that’s why I said it’s unforgettable.
And if you ask me again, what’s the hardest car I’ve ever driven? Sorry, the answer remains the same…Perhaps due to the narrow body design, this car has a strange human-machine engineering setting. The uncomfortable positioning of the gas and brake pedals means that I have to shift my legs to the right in order to correctly press the pedals and maintain this posture.
The heavy clutch pedal requires some adaptation to accurately coordinate with the throttle operation. However, if you happen to encounter traffic on such a mountain road, it really tests your ability to start uphill…
The manual gearbox is not as blurry as imagined, and the mechanical collision sound when shifting gears is very enjoyable and clear.
The heavy, non-powered steering required me to use all my upper body strength when driving on the 24 bends of Qinglong.
Of course, the most difficult thing is the air conditioning system, which only has warm air but no cold air. Coupled with the Targa convertible setting, we can perfectly experience the scorching sun in Guizhou (at this time, I really regretted not using enough sunscreen this morning…).
Yes, the above are the most intuitive feelings of driving this “time machine”, in a word: painful, yet enjoyable!
Even so, I cherish every moment spent with it and every kilometer bounced on the dashboard, because I know that in this “new automotive era” full of modern civilization, cars that can ignite the passion of petrolheads are almost gone. These Porsche “antiques” are either displayed in various brand car museums or parked in the living rooms or garages of car collectors. Coupled with various environmental protection policies of the country, the number of truly “road-worthy” old cars is very limited.
Therefore, although enthusiasts say that “old cars never die”, there are really not many friends who can actually drive these cars and feel the peak era of fuel-powered vehicles. So, I think I am lucky.Apart from the 1982 Porsche 911 SC Targa G-Model, the Porsche Classic Tour also brought a member of Porsche’s innovative variable drive shaft series, the 1983 Porsche 944, with its psychedelic black and white checkered interior design (I strongly suspect that the interior designer of Porsche at that time took LSD before designing it, haha).
Many people can recite the models of the Porsche 911, but I believe that many car enthusiasts may not be familiar with this front-engine, rear-wheel-drive Porsche. In fact, the sales and ownership of the 944 were relatively high abroad, making it a successful sports car for Porsche at that time.
In my opinion, this car was a relatively unique member of the Porsche family. The 2.5-liter inline-four cylinder engine of the 944 was located behind the front axle. In fact, we can crudely understand that this engine is the product of cutting Porsche’s V8 engine in half (which has actually undergone many improvements and optimizations). Additionally, the gearbox of the 944 is placed above the rear axle, enabling it to achieve almost perfect weight distribution of nearly 50:50.
Compared to the G-Model, the driving experience of the classic pop-up headlights Porsche 944 is more approachable in terms of the feeling of the accelerator pedal, gear shifting and clutch, and steering. If I may use a rather “punchable” statement, it truly has a driving experience resembling that of the “Pusang” (a Chinese domestic car brand), haha.# Except for these two “classic treasure cars” that are almost 40 years old, Porsche also brought Targa 4S of 997.2, the Panamera 4S that made its global debut at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show, and a 2008 Cayenne GTS. The most impressive one is this Cayenne with a red interior.
Switching from the 944 to this Cayenne GTS, I was dumbfounded… Turning on the ignition and listening to the unique sound of the 4.8 V8 engine, looking at the bare steering wheel in front of me, and then looking at the manual transmission on the right side, I felt a bit confused… This is actually a “base version, manual transmission, Cayenne, GTS”. Maybe only the Germans can do such a thing…
But honestly, the driving experience of this manual transmission Cayenne GTS is really excellent! With the abundant power of the deep V8 and the super-smooth 6-speed manual transmission that provides very clear road feedback, it has outstanding noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) and is equipped with the optional BOSE sound system. compared to driving the first two old cars, driving on the mountain roads in Guizhou, I almost cried out without any dignity.
Of course, besides the players in the “senior group”, Porsche also prepared the all-new Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet (992) and the electric sports car pioneer, Taycan, for us to drive and experience. If nostalgia and excitement are left for those Porsche classic cars, then the technology and enjoyable driving experience are left to these new members that have joined the Porsche family.
I won’t talk much about the driving experience because those who understand, understand. The main competitor for each generation of Porsche 911 is not someone else, it’s themselves. And Porsche has indeed achieved this, surpassing its predecessors in design, performance, and handling in each generation of 911, which also makes us “Porsche fans” very pleased. As Porsche’s first purely electric vehicle, the Taycan is also setting a new benchmark in the electric field.
Since Porsche entered China 20 years ago, it has been constantly breaking through, whether it is the transformation of the 911 model or the Cayenne and Panamera models, which were considered to be unorthodox at the time, or the electric debate caused by the pioneering Taycan model. But at least for now, the market has proved that Porsche is right. Over the years, Porsche has undergone many changes and there is one unchanging partner, which is BOSE, a name that appears most frequently in the option list for Porsche owners.
Starting with the Porsche 996 model in 2001, Bose customized car audio systems for Porsche, and thus began the friendship between the two “good buddies”. Bose has been with Porsche for more than 20 years, from the first luxury SUV Cayenne that incorporated Bose’s digital signal processing technology and AudioPilot noise compensation technology, to the Bose 5.1 surround sound and full-car 100% neodymium magnet speakers featured in the first generation Panamera in 2009, to the subsequent upgrades of Porsche’s entire model line, whereby Bose continuously introduced even better audio systems to match different models. These upgrades include the new Bose digital signal processing technology, the second-generation Bose Centerpoint virtual surround sound technology and the second-generation AudioPilot noise compensation technology introduced in the 2011 Cayenne, and the Bose 5.1 surround sound system in the 991 that innovatively integrates audio waveguide technology into the vehicle’s crossbeam structure. Most recently, Bose’s SoundTrue audio source repair technology was even applied to Porsche’s first pure electric vehicle Taycan in 2019.
With the acceleration of electrification, the sound of sports cars and performance cars will inevitably be further weakened. This is a regret for us “Petrolheads”. Fortunately, there are “geeky audio players” like Bose who, through their ultimate pursuit of in-car audio experience, are constantly making technological breakthroughs, allowing us to enjoy the ultimate audio experience while driving a Porsche supercar.
Of course, with the development of automotive intelligence, we are spending more and more time in our cars every day. Some have even said that in-car audio may be the most expensive audio equipment purchased by many “non-audio enthusiasts”. Therefore, as a Porsche owner, I strongly recommend all potential Porsche buyers not to skimp on the option of Bose audio when making your car configuration selections.
Perhaps one day, when visiting the Porsche Museum in Germany again, I can tell the mature child by my side: “Look, this is the red car that Dad drove before,” and then tell her/him the stories of these “time machines”.
(PS. Finally, let me recommend the Bose noise-cancelling earbuds. They have excellent texture and sound quality, and are comfortable to wear. They are the best choice for business travellers. You can set three noise-cancelling modes through the mobile app and switch them by touching the earbuds, which is very convenient. Alright, I’m not a tech blogger, just sharing my personal experience. Don’t like it? Don’t hate on me.)
And I sincerely say Porsche YYDS! It is not an easy task to make these classic cars fly on the roads in China, but Porsche has been doing it for three years in a row. Perhaps there will be a fourth or fifth year… This is a matter of great significance for journalists in the car industry, car enthusiasts, or even children playing by the roadside who occasionally catch a glimpse of a row of red sports cars slowly passing by. Porsche is using its actions to convey the classic car culture and brand culture. As a practitioner who can participate in this journey, I feel extremely lucky.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.