@Tonsty's blog!

Note: This post is merely a shameless copy and paste action, from my blog at 968forums.com… The trip to Finland has already happened, so it is time to contemplate the next trip.

So I’ve created a blog. Not my first, not my last I guess. My name is Ton, I’m a 27 year old 968 owner from The Netherlands. My car is a midnight blue ’93 coupe I imported from Japan. It is, however, a left hand drive car. I have been told this is a status symbol in Japan, to have a European car with the steering wheel on the “wrong” (all is relative!) side. Lucky me that wrong is right…

In the mean time I’ve had 2 factory new cams installed (there was one tooth missing on the VarioCam sprocket of one of the cams, but I wanted to play this one on the safe side), a new water pump, a valve spring has broken (and hence replaced), a leaking power steering system has been fixed (took a few tries, in the end it was still leaking at the reservoir, didn’t see that one coming..). But what a beauty it is. And what a great car compared to my old 944.

968 and Corrado VR6 by moonlight, Espoo, Finland

The 944 was an old and abused ’84 model with manual everything. Surely that had its charms as well, as it had more of a raw, spartan feeling to it. But I couldn’t drive it for more than an hour ’cause I was getting headaches from the exhaust fumes coming into the cabin. Also no AC, no power steering, no power windows…

When I first drove my 968, it was a funny experience. So familiar yet so different. The way it handled felt familiar straight away, and even though my 944 was a pre-oval-dashboard model, I had driven the later models often as well, so I was familiar with the interior, too. That was however, where the similarities ended. Powersteering, power windows, air conditioning, comfy leather seats, a six speed gearbox, working rear wiper, no exhaust fumes entered the cabin, a radio that could be heard over engine noise…

In fact, the engine noise was absent. So much so, that I had to resort to drilling four 2″ holes in the air filter box. Wide-open throttle develops a very healthy, throaty sound now. And rumor has it, this mod develops a few extra ponies when combined with the K&N cotton filter. I haven’t tested it on a dyno, but I think I felt a positive difference in the way the engine picked up after following these suggestions.

In the 6 years I had my 944, it had left our (tiny!) country but once. Now, in 11 months of ownership the 968 has proven to be such a nice travel car that it has seen Belgium (Spa Francorchamps track, as spectator not racing there), France, Germany and just some days ago I returned from Scotland. And next weekend I will be sitting on a boat for 28 hours, to visit a friend in Finland…

I almost forgot to tell that I like to write! Let’s see if I can find some time to do so… I’m looking forward to it, hope someone will bother to take a look every once in a while. Ok, enough with the introductions, ’till the next one!