Timing is everything

The 991.2 is generally praised for being an exceptional, usable sports car. So far, I've been impressed by how the C4S handles school runs, my commute, pouring rain to Indianapolis, two lane romps, and pretty much everything in between. It's a lovely car to drive.

The 991.2 was made from 2017-2019. During my search, whenever I came across a 2017 or a 2018, one thing I'd look for in the Carfax is evidence of the coolant pump being replaced. Due to a manufacturing defect, Porsche extended the warranty on the coolant pump and the valve block to 10 years or 120,000 miles from the car's in-service date.  When I looked through the history of my car, I saw that the pump hadn't been replaced.  Knowing this is a weak spot on 991.2s, I figured it was something I'd get taken care of perhaps next year when the car goes in for its annual maintenance.

That all changed when I went to scoop Enzo up from school yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and I hadn't driven the C4S in a while because I was waiting for its permanent plate to arrive so I don't have to drive around on a temporary plate. But, I was really missing the car, so I put the PA temporary plate back on the car (the flimsy Indiana plate must've blown off the back when I was driving, note to the Indiana BMV: make sturdier temp tags...), and drove to get Enzo.

It was one of those lovely early spring/summer days. The air temperature was relatively cool, but the sun was quite intense. I was enjoying the icy AC of the C4S and reveling at how good it is for just driving around. As I tend to do, I got to the pickup line early, shut down, and waited the five minutes or so until the line started moving.

When it was time to inch forward, I fired the car up and started crawling forward. Looking at the gauges, I saw the temperature gauges start to climb towards the red zone. I was pretty surprised when I heard the cooling fans kick into "hovercraft mode," followed by this alert on the screen:

Odd, I'd expect this on an air-cooled car

Now, I thought this was pretty odd. Allison's Boxster doesn't struggle in the pickup line, and I mistakenly thought the C4S's cooling system couldn't handle the idling. I've seen the temperature gauge climb like that in the 964, and figured I just needed to get the car moving and some fresh air into the radiators and things would calm down.

Enzo hopped in the car, and I headed up to Redfield Road. It's a lovely 2-lane road with minimal traffic, and I figured it would do the trick. Sure enough, the temperature gauge quickly returned to normal. "Cool," I thought to myself, "though it is odd that a water-cooled car couldn't handle idling for a few moments on a not-very-hot day."

We got to the roundabout at Redfield and Gumwood when things took a dramatic turn for the worse:

Danger danger danger!

It was at that point that everything clicked, this wasn't the C4S's inability to keep up with the ambient temperature, the coolant pump had let go! Curses! Bitten by the weak spot of early 991.2s!

Fortunately, I have a pretty good mental map of the area. Less than a mile from the roundabout is a quiet neighborhood that's next to the Knollwood golf course, and I babied the car to the entrance, then promptly shut off the engine and coasted to a stop. Of course, Enzo was pretty nervous, but I assured him that the car would not catch fire.

A stricken 991.2

As soon as the car rolled to a stop, Enzo and I got out. I went around back, and sure enough, you could easily smell the coolant. The pump just let go and that's all there is to it. Boy was I glad in that moment to have a CPO warranty!

I immediately called my brother, as I trust him implicitly and he knows what to do in these situations. I then texted my service advisor at The Exchange, and he said the best way to do it is to call 1-800-PORSCHE for roadside assistance. He even texted me the phone number so I didn't have to dial it myself - that's classy.

I also called Allison to let her know what was up, and made plans with Olivia for her to come and rescue Enzo and me.

Then, I called for help and was texted a link to a website where I could specify the location of the car, whether it could be placed into neutral, and what type of assistance I needed. I specified that I needed a tow, but I was apprehensive about the ability to specify The Exchange as a destination, since there are other Porsche Centers that are closer to my house. However, I just scrolled to the bottom of the web page and specified The Exchange under "different location." Easy.

Olivia came to pick Enzo and me up, and as requested, brought a couple of sheets of paper and a Sharpie. I put Enzo to work making signs to leave in the car while I talked with roadside assitance and confirmed The Exchange as the destination.  The towing company also called to discuss the issue.

Long story short, Enzo created perfect signs which I put on the dashboard:

Enzo's sign

And in the driver's window:

Also in the driver's window

The conversation with the towing company was great, and we agreed that an enclosed transport would pick the car up the following day.

Today, after Enzo's 5th grade graduation, I went out to meet Marcin, the transport driver. I was thrilled to see that it was an F-350 and a single-car enclosed trailer:

Its chariot arrives

That's just perfect, safe, secure, and hidden from curious eyes. After confirming that the car was safe to drive for a short period as long as the temperature didn't exceed 225 degrees, Marcin drove the car up onto the trailer for transport.

Safely in its chariot

Ready for transport

I was super happy with the setup, and bid Marcin a safe journey to The Exchange. Due to the miracle of AirTags, I could check in and see its progress:

AirTags are so cool!

In the late afternoon, I got a text from my brother that the car had arrived safe and sound.  Perfect.

Of course, its permanent license plate arrived today:

Still a valid plate!

Fortunately, I'm heading to Chicago tomorrow to give Olivia a ride to the airport as she embarks upon her summer of Arabic language studies in Egypt. I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to hook up with my brother for dinner, so I can just bring the plate when I go. Easy.

At the end of the day, I feel super thankful that this happened when and where it did. I was close to home, close to a safe place to park, and not on a cross-country trip, or a pilgrimmage back to The Brown Bottle for pizza, or heading down to Indy on a rainy evening, or any of the numerous other possibilities.

It was also a good opportunity for Enzo to see how to handle the unexpected. He learned that when things go wrong:

1.  Pay attention to the car
2.  Stop immediately
3.  Call your brother to talk through the best thing to do
4.  Make the calls 
5.  Be thankful it happened in a non-emergency situation

Mechanical things break. I knew this was a weak spot, and I'm glad it failed because now it's getting fixed! All's well that ends well.  It's a wonderful day to be alive, and I feel super lucky that having this part fail doesn't impact our ability to get around.  As I tell everyone, there's no urgency to get this fixed, better slow, safe, and correct than rushed.

At the end of the day, things break and we can fix them.  What a wonderful world!

68,000 miles

 The CR-V rolled 68,000 miles this month:

68,000 + 383

As usual, I'm not really sure where or when this happened.  I presume Madeline was bopping around, sunroof open, enjoying the wonderful feeling of driving.

103,000 miles

Sapphire hit 103,000 miles this past week.

103,000 + 175

The van was just shy of 103,000 before Olivia set off for her camping trip, so I'm guessing that it hit 103,000 somewhere between home and the Warren Dunes.

72-hour fast

I've never really thought about fasting before. One of my close friends invited me to do a 72-hour fast with him leading up to Easter. As I was focused on a specific training goal, I politely declined. But I was intrigued.

You know how you get something new, then you start seeing it everywhere? Well, the 72-hour fast was like that. A guy at the gym brought it up in casual conversation. A guest speaker for one of my classes brought it up when we were having lunch. So, I decided to go for it.

Wednesday Morning

I started yesterday at 11 am. I had an electrolyte drink in the afternoon, and I was hungry last night around dinner time, but the sensation passed and I went to bed.

This morning, I felt normal. I had a cup of black coffee, took Enzo to school, walked the dogs, and headed to the gym. I did the Daily 50, which I augment by adding 4 sets of 5 pull-ups, followed by 10 rounds of a row/ski erg/fan bike circuit. I had an electrolyte drink after my workout.

A decently vigorous workout

I'm at 25 hours in, and am feeling a little hungry. It'll pass.

Wednesday Evening

It's 5 pm, so I'm about 30 hours in. At 2:35 this afternoon, I had a slight headache, but it went away. I've been feeling pretty hungry all afternoon, and am planning on enjoying an electrolyte packet for "dinner." I did enjoy a cup of tea with Luca in the afternoon. The hunger isn't distracting, but it's definitely there in the background.

For dinner, I had an electrolyte packet and a scoop of creatine in a blender bottle. It tasted delicious.

8:47, I felt an urgent need to sit down. Was it a mistake to continue taking my fish oil supplements? Unknown. This is just a big experiment.

Thursday Evening

I'm about 55 hours in. Today was good, pretty easy. I got up, feeling normal, had black coffee, took Enzo to school, and went to the gym. Not too strenuous of a workout, but enough to get my heart going. Mainly because I talked to a friend of mine who was in Singapore about a pending trip to Egypt.

Pretty chill workout

I drank electrolyte water during my workout, and was pretty hungry afterwards. I treated myself to an electrolyte packet and a scoop of creatine. I'll admit to fantasizing about a big scoop of peanut butter.

My fasting supplies

Throughout the afternoon, the hunger was in the background, but not as intense as I expected. Interestingly, the hunger feels the same today as it did yesterday and the day before, maybe even a bit more muted. It's in the background, but I certainly don't feel debilitated.

I don't have a headache exactly, more the sensation of a flight to Europe, or a post all-nighter feeling. I'll probably have another electrolyte packet after I get Enzo home from his art class.  I've gone to bed hungry twice, and I don't think the third time will be much different.

Friday Afternoon

I had a decent workout this morning.  I pushed the sled up to 345 pounds, and did a deadlift pyramid to 315.  There was a lot of socializing and time not spent working, as you can see from my heart rate:

Low-key workout

After that, I came home and took a nice long shower, by which point I was ready to break the fast.

It was really lovely to break the fast.  I started with a cup of black coffee with collagen, then proceeded to a cup of Allison's magical bone broth:

Coffee with Allison and Luca

Broth with a happy cat on my lap, what could be better?

After that, I had a small bowl of plain greek yogurt with a tiny bit of honey and a small scoop of peanut butter, followed by my first real meal: three eggs, two pieces of toast, and a pile of asparagus:

This tasted amazing

It's been an interesting experiment.  When you don't eat, you have a lot more time since you're not eating.  My sleep was pretty good, except for Wednesday when I stayed up way too late.  Unsurprisingly, when you don't eat food, you lose a lot of (presumably water and waste) weight:

Day	Weight	Hours of Sleep
Tuesday	204.6	7 hr 16 min
Wednesday	202.8	6 hr 17 min
Thursday	199.8	7 hr 20 min
Friday	198.0	7 hr 31 min

I still feel pretty hungry, but based on the past 72 hours, I know that’s just a function of mind over matter.  After mowing the lawn, visiting my mom, and getting Enzo from school, I had a protein shake, an apple, and two small slices of toast with burrata filling.

As far as I can see, there are no real negatives to the experience.  This morning, I felt like I’d been on a motorcycle trip for a week and got off.  Everything was moving slowly.  Does that mean my brain was firing differently?  Who knows. 

Overall, it was a good experience.  I proved to myself that I could do it, and I was most surprised by how muted the hunger became after the first evening.  I think doing it during the week as a good idea.  When you're busy, and moving around, you don't really notice it as much.  My energy level throughout was pretty good, and I didn't feel that off my game in the gym.  Of course, I wasn't pushing for maximum performance, but I still performed.

Hunger pangs.  They're a curious phenomenon.  It's definitely a reminder to eat, and it feels strangely good to be hungry at times.  I figure I'll probably end up doing this a couple of times per year.

If you're looking for a different kind of challenge, give it a try.  It's a curious thing, but something that's accomplishable and honestly, I feel pretty good all the way around.  And if there are some ancillary health benefits, all the better.

Boxster Bliss

I've been driving the Boxster a lot over the past couple of weeks. I've been using it to run Enzo to school, go to the gym, head to work, and on miscellaneous errands.

I think the shutdown message is cool.

I have to say, it's a really delightful car. It's small and fun to toss around. It's as usable as it is frivolous, with plenty of trunk space front and rear. And best of all, it has a musical flat 6 that is always ready to reach for the redline. It's comfortable, and top down motoring is just plain fun at any speed.

As I reflect on frequently, cars are best when shared with others! For example, some wheel time is a lovely way to celebrate finishing an AP test:

Post-AP celebration!

And honestly, it's just fun to drive! Look at that smile!

"I love how it growls!"

And I also think it's never too young to start learning how to drive. Enzo, lucky dog that he is, gets to thread his way around the neighborhood. Of course, I'm operating the throttle and brakes, and we trundle along slowly. That said, the PDK is magic, as it's getting him used to shifting.

Cruising around the neighborhood.

Happily, when folks see us puttering by at 15-20 mph, we get happy waves and smiles.

235,000 miles!

 The moon is getting closer!

Less than 4,000 miles from the moon!

The grey van is getting closer and closer to the moon!  With the end of the academic year upon us, it was time to vacate the dorms.  Yesterday, I was helping Olivia move out of her dorm.

Horses for courses

I thought the alignment of the front tires was kind of cool

It's been a wonderful year, filled with challenge and growth and promise.  Luca and Olivia were running around getting the last minute items they need to get their Italian passports.  I'm guessing the van rolled 235,000 when they were together, driving back to campus.  I'm guessing Olivia was driving, sunroof open on a gorgeous spring day, and I like to imagine them talking and laughing.

I have to say, when you need to move a lot of things, there's really nothing better than a pair of minivans:

Vans are great for hauling!

I still enjoy driving the grey van, with its low belt line, excellent visibility, and simple, hydraulic steering.  It's not fast, but it's good at being a van.  18 years and more than 235,000 miles later, it hauls as well as it ever did.

The moon is in sight, probably later this year!

Additional mileage-based musings

 Yesterday I ran down to Indy for Madeline's final lacrosse game of the season.  I think the C4S returned pretty good mileage on the trip:

26.3 mpg?

As I typically do when I go down to Indy for a late game, I stopped by Fresh Indian Grill for some paneer:

Mmmm, paneer

I had such a nice car chat with Navi, the son of the owner of the Fresh Indian Grill.  He's studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue, and is a car nut.  His dream is a Nissan GT-R, and I hope he makes it happen!

It poured rain the entire way down, and the C4S just trundled along, no problem at all:

Not slippery when wet

After Madeline and I merged onto 31 and settled in for the drive home, we happened to notice that we were right on time:

I love it when this happens!

Now that I have a few more miles and my first night drive in the car, I have a few more random thoughts to get out.

CarPlay

First off, the CarPlay adaptor works...mostly.  When I start the car, everything connects as intended.  If I use the speech button on the end of the turn signal stalk, the Siri voice is a little garbled.  However, if I tap the center screen, touch a name, and dictate a message, the interaction with Siri is smooth.  Spotify is flawless, works great.  So does the navigation.  No noticeable lag.

One odd thing happened when I stopped for gas.  I gassed up the car, got back in, and the CarPlay was visually working, but the sound was all coming through the phone.  Bizarre.  Whatever, it works well enough for now.  I'll continue to experiment and report.

For a long trip, I just plug my phone in.  The connection thus far is more reliable, but the wireless adaptor works well enough for running around on shorter errands.

Interior

Thinking a bit more about the seats, the single-foot hand-on-the-sill method really helps me climb over the side bolsters.  I don't like bolsters that look smashed and destroyed, so I'm pretty careful to climb over before settling into the seat.

The other thing that's striking is the amount of space in the rear seat area.  The rear seats themselves have much more headroom than the 964, but what's really impressive is the little space behind the rear seats, where you can easily stuff additional soft bags.  With the rear seats down, the space back there is pretty expansive for a relatively small car:

More rear seat space than in the 964

The cabin is a really lovely place to be at night.  The windshield is reasonably close, and there is glass pretty much everywhere you look.  The frameless side windows are large, and the glass roof combines to give you a sense of sitting in a fishbowl.  There is soft, dimmable lighting in the footwells, around the door handles and door storage pockets, a halo light on the roof above the rearview mirror, and rear seat lighting.  I kind of gives airplane-at-night vibes. 

Soft lighting in the door

Soft lighting for the rear seats

I like to adjust dash lighting at night, depending on how dark it is out side.  Driving through a city with lots of streetlights?  I like brighter gauges.  Out in the middle of nowhere, like the road from Indy to South Bend, it's much darker.  Using "city mode" would be much too bright and ruin my night vision.  Porsche makes it super easy to adjust the amount of light in the gauge cluster.  All you need to do is rotate the trip meter reset button, left for darker, right for brighter.  Even better, it uniformly adjusts the brightness of the center screen in unison with the gauges!  Thank you!  Please, every car should be like that.

You can adjust the brightness in one degree increments, so there are essentially 100 brightness levels, so it's really easy to tune.  Curiously, I set the illumination to 0%, which didn't actually turn off the dash lights.  It was a good, soft, low light, and the gauges were perfectly legible.

Granular brightness control affects gauges and center screen

Another nice touch - both the interior rear view mirror and exterior wing mirrors darken automatically when headlights approach from behind.  It's very easy on the eyes, and avoids the dimmed rear view/blinding side view effect in all our other vehicles.

The cabin is noticeably more spacious than the 964.  Madeline was pretty tired after her game, it was late, and she had a belly full of warm paneer, so it was unsurprising that she ended up sacking out.  Moving the passenger seat all the way back gave her lots of legroom, and then she reclined the seat.  From the driver's seat, it looked like a great place to get some rest!

I remember sleeping in the 964 on the way back from Milwaukee in the middle of the night, and though I got a cat nap, it wasn't exactly spacious.  The C4S has mcuh more space, and you feel it.

Not exactly an Easter egg, but I really like how the doorsill looks at night.  It's just a little reminder of what awaits as your companion for some nighttime escapades:

The headlights are excellent, I appreciate how they swivel into turns and throw lows of light down the road.  Madeline and I were talking about the car in general, and I kept coming back to how impressed I remain with its breadth.  It's as comfortable bombing around a back road as it is slogging along through a rain storm or following rabbits at night.  So many little driving-related details were engineered into the car, it has great grip, and there's sufficient power available at any speed.

The exploration continues!