I suppose one can reasonably drive a Cayman year-round in Oregon, but since ODOT spreads "sand" (small rocks) and "de-icing fluid" (salt) on the roads anytime it freezes or snows a few flakes, I choose to leave the Cayman in the garage for the winter, which probably means until late March or early April.

My last driving day was this past Saturday. It was partly cloudly and 50F, so I went out for one last good drive, about 75 miles worth. Heated the car up nicely....

blueone

One of the most expensive aspects of owning a high-end sports car these days is buying tires for it. Anyone that has priced a replacement set knows that you might spend $1500 for new Michellin Pilot Sport 2s. This makes tire health a factor we should pay attention to, making sure our alignments are correct, inflation is correct, and that wear is occurring evenly.

You can stand there and stare at the tread, or you can measure tread wear across the face of the tire, and note progress...

blueone

I brought my OBDII code reader to work today, so I could reset a check engine light on a friend's 2008 Corvette Convertible. Here in Oregon, one of only two states in the US you can't legally pump your own gas, these CELs are more common, because the pump jockeys either don't tighten the gas cap enough, or they twist it around a couple of extra orbits just to be sure, wearing out your cap quickly in the process. I love to go to Washington or California just to pump my own gas. Oregon is such...

blueone

Alright, so I said no mods, and after three months I've already broken my promise to myself. Well, I couldn't resist. The stock Cayman S exhaust tip is not my taste. The cost of Porsche's chrome tip is outrageous, so after sneering at the stock tip for awhile, I ordered the Agency tip from Vivid Racing. I think it looks A LOT better.

Alright, now I can safely say no more mods. Just like my spouse, her diet always starts tomorrow.

blueone

As someone does that does his own maintenance, one of the jobs that I dread most, but I know has great value, is changing the fluids in transmissions and differentials. In manual transmissions (Is there any other kind?), transfer cases, and differentials, the fluid is unfiltered, subject to a lot of heat and shear action, and in many modern cars the fluid volume is being reduced to save weight and space. Yes, I know many manufacturers say these fluids are "lifetime". Well, when they...

blueone