I was able drive the 718 with my back on some familiar roads. Any car you can drive with your back is all right in my book. We went out to Arapaho, Avalon, Westminster Abbey, even in Canada, and 56, 73, 22, 14, some 187, a bit of 43, than rural 97, over to 414, the 15 in Cloverdale, 99 (just briefly), and of course 32, 96, and the venerable route 4.


My first sensation in the 718 was floating slowly upwards, with a bright light muted by the mist. My second sensation was waking up when my passenger punched me in the arm. Thanks, Pete!

Accelerating away from a stop was sluggish due to forgetting to press that pedal on the right side. I stalled the car a couple times during the day, so it is bad and Porsche should feel bad. Outside the low end, the car was ultimately fast, at least compared to those stupid hippy cyclists.

The handling on the country road was as to be expected, but first before I describe it let me apologize for that oddly constructed prepositional phrase: OK. It was pretty fantastic. The steering feel was noticeably lighter (editor's note: than what, Dan?), presumably due to the v2 electromechanical steering (sorry for the tech talk, but you anoraks know what I'm talking about, amirite?) Braking felt identical (editor's note: ibid).

Clutch work felt different, perhaps because my idea of work is kind of odd, as you can plainly see. Part of it was that the clutch pedal required less pressure to engage than that move where you stand on a tennis ball, and gently push on it so it pops up and then you serve. 40-love! And the sensation on releasing the clutch was "light", either because of a fundamental shortcoming in the laws of physics as we (poorly) understand them, or because I was driving with my back (see first paragraph).

By the end of the day, I was accelerating off a stop using the clutch at 2500 to 3000 rpm, but my buddy Pete kept yelling “get back in the car, and shut up, your legs are not spinning at 3000 rpm. And it's “RPM”, not “rpm”. Don't quite your day job). The off the line sluggishness was gone! But don't worry, we found it at that rest stop where we stopped for some wine and cheese.

In summary, the 718 is a car, something something purist, so remember: buy vinyl, kids!