Pyrenees Trip 2024 GT4 style

2023 – Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 4.0 PDK in Shark Blue

Driver – Steve Hall
Cornwall

Co Driver – Les Cozens
Cornwall

I have always been a car enthusiast ever since my Uncle raced cars and had a Porsche 911 back in the 80’s.
I remember sitting in the small back seats when I was a young lad on a road trip through Wales to the coast, and
promising myself to do the same one day.
Well that day came recently when we boarded the Ferry to Santander to begin what was, simply an epic drive around the Pyrenees!

I met Les a few years ago at a garage where I had a business selling used German cars. We both have a passion for racing and exciting cars, especially F1 so
we get along well. Les is a Marshall at the Silverstone Grand Prix every year, and travels the world to many of the circuits on the F1 calendar.

I purchased my GT4 back in April from Porsche West London with just 1800 miles and it’s an incredible car! I was a bit worried the bucket seats would prove to be uncomfortable on such a long road trip, but I installed riser brackets on the front mountings to give a more relaxed tilted driving position, which proved to be perfect! We both found them to be excellent with no issues whatsoever!

Being a Cayman, the storage space was perfect, having both front and rear compartments. As far as pre-trip prep goes, I packed a puncture repair kit, small low clearance jack, the usual European driving kit that is mandatory, a few basic tools, tyre compressor and a radio. The radios were essential in my view, they provide an element of safety when driving in a group as the lead car provides commentary on what lies ahead, oncoming vehicles, cyclists, road surface etc. Not much to prepare on my car, inflated the tyres a few Psi higher than standard to factor in the motorways and extra weight (Les)!

I have always been an advocate for a manual gearbox, but I’m so glad a went for the PDK on the GT4 as it proved perfectly suited for the mountain roads on this trip. Did I find any of the gears too long? No, the PDK was sublime, I drove the car on the paddles 90% of the time.

The roads were surprisingly smooth, even high up in the mountains where the winter weather is harsh, so we had no suspension comfort issues, even in the hard setting.
Overall, the car performed extremely well without a single issue, other than a false alarm when I thought we had a puncture leaving a village after a coffee stop! The rear tyres felt out of shape, like someone had swapped them for 50 pence pieces! A puncture? The road surface? On the radio, it quickly became apparent that others had a similar issue and then i realised that our tyres must have been very hot when we all parked up for the coffee and had flat spotted somewhat while cooling. After a mile or so, the sensation disappeared never to return.

The first day was very wet and so being on Dunlop Maxx Race 2 tyres, I was quite cautious, although they did appear to be slightly better in those conditions than the CUP 2’s, but not much in it. For the rest of our tour, the weather was superb, frosty mornings followed by glorious warm sunshine.

Highlights for us?
Sharing the trip with a terrific, like minded and enthusiastic friendly bunch of people all with stunning cars.
Watching Martin’s 996 Turbo flying over a blind crest ‘at speed’ and disappearing into the unknown, and just the sheer quality of the roads with endless twisty and winding sections. It’s what these cars were made for…

Final comment…..JAM FIRST!