Thursday, November 25, 2021

Happy "Give Thanks For Racing Day!"

If you're not having fun, it's your own darn fault!


Seriously, NMS would like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! We hope you are having a great 2021, and that you and your family and friends are staying healthy. Now, if you can add some motoring or high performance driving to staying healthy, then I guess you've got just about everything you need!

Thanks for checking out the blog. We've got more plans for the rest of the year and in 2022, so unfortunately we're not likely to stop doing this car thing any time soon!



Sunday, November 21, 2021

Watkins Glen Vol. 3, the Video

 

Talking about driving is one thing, and taking pictures of cars is another, and yet a third thing is video of driving cars, and that's what I've got for you today. Here's a  lap at Watkins Glen recently in the NMS Cayman. I guar-an-tee you it was a blast! To be precise, it's 2 minutes and twenty five seconds of having a blast!


Sunday, November 14, 2021

Porsche Cayman Details

2009 Porsche Cayman in Ruby Red Metallic


Today let's take a look at some of the Cayman interior. I've never owned a P-car before, and probably had never even been inside one! Like any new-to-you car, it's important to get familiar with how the controls work, adjust your mirrors, and to figure out how to use all the buttons! Here's a few items that I like about the Cayman: 

1: Starting in the rear trunk, (rear trunk sounds redundant, but not in a mid-engine car, because the Cayman also has a front trunk, or "frunk") we see some storage space, plus a small hatch that easily opens to reveal the oil fil and coolant/radiator fill openings. There is no dipstick on this model, so you have to check a read-out on the dash to monitor oil level. I appreciate the technology, but I think an old fashioned dipstick would be even easier. 

Below the rear hatch and the "Cayman" logo, you see the rear 
wing that is not extended. It automatically opens up at about 75 mph, or you can 
extend it by pushing a button on the dash

Also on top of the carpet covering engine you can see a little 
black net for holding down items you store back there. 



Oil and Coolant fill hatch open

2: Moving to the passenger door:

Just a nice little armrest attached to the door interior?


Surprise! The arm rest opens up for more storage! There are also two storage areas 
on the sides of the engine cover carpet behind the seats. 


3: Also on the passenger side, two recessed drink holders. They look kind of flimsy, but they work great.

Passenger dash, note the trim between the beige glove box and upper dash

Pressing on that trim opens this door, and then you can press on the two drink symbols
to open up the two drink holders. 

Drink holders extended!

4: Down in the passenger foot-well is a 12volt power source. I had to read the manual to discover it! 

Handy power port for a USB adapter

I'm not sure why they labelled this thing twice, maybe in case you're working
under the dash and end up-side down somehow?




5: Moving to the driver's seat, here's the dash. 

A few notes: as a sports car, the largest central display is the tachometer, not the speedometer. In the right display you can see the fuel gauge, so right behind the red needle you might be able to see that my gas level is just below 2/4th (not "half") and that 
when "Full" the tank is at "4/4ths." Also in the right display we see what gear is selected, so with this car being dual-clutch auto, you can go from Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, or push the lever to M for Manual.
 

The key goes on the left of the steering wheel, which is
handy for jumping in while racing at LeMans, so your right hand
can start shifting!

Here's a handy button behind the steering wheel! If you bought the optional steering wheel heater, just push the button! The dash will let you know if you've turned it on or off, just in case your hands are too cold to feel the heat I guess!

2009 was the first year for the Porsche Doppel Kupplungs getriebe (PDK) double clutch, and this is the right hand shifter on the steering wheel. An identical button is on the left side of the steering wheel, so you can shift up OR down with either hand. It's not as easy to use or as cool as the now standard paddle shifters, but on a positive note, the button is always right there where your thumb is, assuming you keep your hands in the same spot while turning the wheel. 


Sunday, November 7, 2021

BMW Cars and Coffee



On a beautiful and crisp Saturday morning I visited a mostly BMW gathering and took these photos. In addition to mostly BMWs, there were a handful of Porsches and Mercedes, as well as a Mazda RX-7 and an early 90s Japanese Suzuki Cappuccino (right hand drive of course.) It's always fun to spot something you've never seen, plus some other nice cars, and some funny license plates: 

Suzuki Cappuccino, right hand drive. Tiny, even next to the Mazda!


Cappuccino detail

Great license plate!



One of several BMW 540i wagons

Another 540i wagon

I agree, USE YOUR SIGNAL!

Always good to see another 987.2 Cayman, this one an S, from 2009-2012

I liked this shade of blue on this BMW

The DARK KNIGHT, "I'm Batman!"

Some drivers prefer red wheels

It's getting to be the Toys for Tots season!

Overview, this is behind a Panera Bread in Garden City

This Mercedes convertible looked to be in great condition


Dinan tuned BMW

BMW Car Club of America badge

I liked this guy's hoodie, Anti-Stock Car Club

Check out the rear wheel

This tow strap was different, cut into the round piece.

Mazda

Who doesn't love an orange car!

BMW

Obligatory SPOILER ALERT!

Maybe you prefer blue wheels?


Monday, November 1, 2021

BMW's Ultimate Driving Experience Returns to NYC!



In 2021 it's been a pretty normal driving year, with plenty of autocross and a record 3 track weekends for me, so I've been having fun driving! Maybe that's not enough though, because I just signed up for the BMW Ultimate Driving Experience at Citi Field for this Thursday too! On the blog I've written about several other times I've driven at these events, and it's always fun to drive other people's brand new cars while they're asking you to go faster! It's kind of like winning the lottery, although I haven't won the lottery yet to confirm!



Oh, and the fine folks at BMW make part of the experience a little autocross, and that's always fun to see how your time stacks up against the other participants. At one of these events in NJ a few years ago I was the fastest person in my group...other than the 1 cone I hit which meant I wasn't the fastest person in my group. Oh well, let's try this thing again!


Looking over the 2021 schedule, I noticed that the first event was on Long Island earlier this year, and that the November dates in NYC are the final stop on the tour. Since both these places are close to me, I might as well do them both! Maybe some day I'll retire and sign up for every location across the country and make a year out of it! Well, either that or try to  hit every Major League Baseball stadium in a summer! To see where the BMWUDE has been this year, and where they're going in the next month, check out the link at https://driving.bmwusa.com/cities 

Hopefully they'll return in 2022 and visit a location near you!