Crown

When I took delivery of my new Carrera GTS a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was planning to embark on an extended road trip as a means of running in my car (and, of course, to have some fun along the way).  Well, mission accomplished. 

I returned yesterday after 10 days of exploring virtually every (tarred) mountain pass in the Western Cape and adding 3,229 km to the odometer (which now stands on a total of 3,690).  To put this into perspective, following the shortest point-to-point route on the highway to my furthest destination would have meant a round trip of about 1,150 km.

What makes the Western Cape province (which is, I guess, roughly the size of England) such a suitable region for exploring mountain roads is that it is virtually cut off from the inland regions to the north by a continuous string of mountan ranges - collectively known as the Cape Fold Mountains.  This means, of course, lots of mountain passes.

What an epic experience!  Not only did it give me a great opportunity to run in my car in style, but it reminded me of what excellent drivers' roads are accessible virtually on my doorstep - and it provided my wife and myself with an enjoyable holiday to boot.  For those who know the area, our overnight stops were in Tulbagh, Franschhoek, Hermanus, Oudtshoorn, Knysna (two nights), Mossel Bay and Arniston.  While I had mapped out a route in advance, we made no advance reservations, as I didn't want to be constrained by a fixed schedule - so we literally arrived at each overnight stop and found a room for the night.  Luckily, they were all in very pleasant hotels (we knew where to go), so the day's driving was complemented by good food and wine at night. 

I couldn't have chosen a better way to bond with my new GTS.  It reminded me yet again of why the 911 is such a special car to drive.  The way the front wheels communicate every nuance of the road surface via feedback to the steering wheel.  The way the back end gives you that unmistakable signal just before reaching the limits of adhesion - and allows you to steer through corners on the throttle.  Special indeed!

Of course, the first 8 days were interesting in the sense that I was trying to run the car in gently - specifically, trying to shift up at or before 4,500 rpm - which meant that I was often just outside of the ideal powerband, effectively a gear too high.  Despite this, much fun was had - and, of course, from day 9 onwards, it was flat out.

I thought that some of you may find a selection of pictures from my trip interesting - I've tried to limit myself to one picture per pass (which proved to be very difficult), and will spread the pics out over a few posts.  Perhaps this will also inspire some of you to visit this part of the world in the not-too-distant future. 

The map of our route.  The orange highlights are the mountain passes I identified in advance, while the blue highlighted line indicates the route I took (looks a bit like the wanderings of a drunken ant).  Below that, my odometer on the day before our departure from cape Town - showing a total mileage of 460 km.

More pics to come.

What a trip! Can't wait to see the pics and hear more. Epic indeed.

"I don't mean to brag, but I am really good at self-deprecation."

As a fellow GTS enthusiast, I can't wait for the next part of your report..

In three weeks I will have had my GTS for a year - believe me it gets better and better .. 

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out."

# 1: Starting out on our doorstep the day before we left Cape Town, this is Chapmans Peak Drive, the most scenic drive in the Cape Peninsula.  Connecting Noordhoek and Hout Bay, this is a coastal pass with two different characters - the Noordhoek side is tight and narrow, full of hairpin bends with a sheer drop on one side and cliffs on the other, while the Hout Bay side has longer, sweeping curves.  The only problem here is that the road is always clogged with slow-moving traffic.

The scenic village of Hout Bay, seen from the peak of Chapmans Peak Drive.

# 2: Victoria Drive, the coastal road between Llandudno and Camps Bay on Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard, running between the Twelve Apostles mountain range and the sea.  This is literally in my backayrd - I live in Camps Bay, which is visible in the background of this shot.  Again, this would be a great drive if it wasn't always full of slow-moving, sightseeing traffic.

# 3: On the lower slopes of the Helshoogte Pass, just outside the town of Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands.  A fast pass, with broad sweeping curves - a favourite with bikers over weekends.  This region produces some of the best wines in South Africa, and also has many of the best restaurants.

# 4: The Dutoits Kloof Pass, climbing over the Klein Drakenstein Mountains above the Paarl valley in the Cape Winelands.  Little used these days, since a 4-kilometre toll road was tunnelled through the mountains - but well worth the detour.

# 5: The Bain's Kloof Pass, climbing over the Slanghoek Mountains from the town of Wellington (still in the Cape Winelands).  A tight, narrow, twisting pass, with bumpy, broken tarmac and no run-off areas - definitely not for the faint of heart.  The rough, rocky nature of these mountains is a scenic delight.

# 6: Michell's Pass, heading into the town of Ceres.  A wide, modern pass - very different to Bain's Kloof - with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.

# 7: The Gydo Pass, climbiing out of Ceres to the north (and miles of nothingness).  A tricky driving road, which used to be the venue of the "King of the Mountain" hill-climb event, before it was cancelled a few years ago as a result of inadequate safety precautions (and after a few spectators had been injured).

# 8: The Hex River Pass, an unremarkable driver's road on the N1 national highway, but one with the benefit of leading to the beautiful, green De Doorns valley to the south.

# 9: The view from the Burgers Pass over the Langeberg to the verdant valley below.

# 10: The Kogman's Kloof Pass, between Montagu and Ashton in the Breede River Valley.  A pass more noted for its scenic rock formations than for the excitement of driving it.

# 11: View from the Franschhoek Pass to the vineyards of the Franschhoek valley below.  This is a favourite weekend drive of mine - an epic pass with a mixture of tight, twisty bends (many of which are unsighted) and short connecting straights.  Also a charming town, surrounded by interesting wine estates, and with a selection of good restaurants and guest houses.

# 12: The Viljoens Pass, between the Theewaterskloof Dam and the fruit-growing region of Grabouw and Elgin.

# 13: Clarence Drive, connecting Gordon's Bay and Rooi Els along the eastern shore of False Bay.  The views along this long, sweeping road are truly incredible - with rugged mountain peaks on one side of the road and the (often stormy) sea on the other.

# 14: The view from the peak of Sir Lowry's Pass back towards Cape Town (Table Mountain is faintly visible in the distance).  An unremarkable driver's road, but the main gateway to the east across the Hottentots Holland Mountains on the N2 national highway.

# 15: The Houwhoek Pass outside the town of Bot River in the Overberg region.  A good pass to take flat out, but be careful of the trucks and buses which struggle up and down this road.

# 16: The foothills of Shaws Mountain Pass, heading from Caledon towards Hermanus in the Overberg region.  A hair-raising, narrow, twisty pass with sharp elevation and camber changes.  I had to turn around at this point as the tar road turned to gravel.

# 17: The unremarkable, but wonderfully-named Akkedisberg Pass (literally translated, this would be Lizard Mountain Pass), leading to Stanford and, ultimately, the coastal town of Hermanus in the Overberg region.  Hermanus is well-known as a whale-watching mecca and is a very popular weekend and holiday spot.

# 18: The Tradouws Pass, leading over the Langeberg mountains to the town of Barrydale and Route 62.  A truly epic pass, both from a driving perspective and as a sheer visual spectacle - in fact, so impressive that I decided it warranted two pictures rather than one.

Clearly not a mountain pass, but I couldn't resist slipping this in - a picture of the "world-famous" Ronnie's Sex Shop, literally in the middle of nowhere on the road between Barrydale and Ladismith in the Little Karoo region.  It has absolutely nothing to do with sex - it's a roadside pub frequented by bikers and other travellers, with its main claim to fame (other than the inspired name) being a bar festooned with thousands of items of women's underwear and walls covered in scrawlings by the many visitors over the years.  Truly an odd little place, but a landmark in a vast, dusty area remarkable for little else.

# 19: The Huisrivier Pass, between Ladismith and Calitzdorp on Route 62 in the Little Karoo.  Another mountain road of epic proportions.  It was raining the first time I drove across this pass, so I decided to return and do it again (in both directions) a few days later - which only required a detour of some 140 km (well worth it).

# 20: Schoemanspoort, between the town of Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves.  This was perhaps the most satisfying drive of the entire trip, with the GTS scrambling for traction around the many turns of this wonderfully twisty road.  I had to turn around and do it again from the other direction, as the Swartberg Pass (which lies beyond the caves) is a gravel road and therefore out of bounds.

# 21: Meiringspoort, over the Swartberg mountains.  Visually, this was the most spectacular pass we crossed - with towering rock formations in all directions (two pics below).  From a driving perspective, less satisfying - as it was clearly the road of choice for many huge trucks.  I almost got taken out by an articulated truck crossing into my lane across a narrow bridge.  I realised it was time to back off a bit when I saw my wife's wide eyes and her white knuckles gripping the seat - to her credit, it was the first time she'd asked me to slow down.

# 22: The Kredouw Pass leading to the town of Prince Albert in the Karoo.  A disappointing little pass, with nothing to recommend it.

# 23: Uniondale Poort, between the towns of Uniondale and Avontuur.  Twisty and fun to drive.

# 24: The Potjiesberg Pass, south of Uniondale and finally on the way to the Garden Route.  A fast pass, taken at high speed, but nothing spectacular.

# 25: The Outeniqua Pass, a long, winding road over the Outeniqua Mountains on the way to the town of George and the coast beyond (two pics below).  A feast for the eyes.  Not much fun on the way down, but I had a blast driving back up this pass a few days later.

# 26: The view from the peak of the Grootrivier Pass outside Plettenberg Bay - towards Nature's Valley and the Indian Ocean below.  A narrow, twisty mountain road through thick forests, with lots of unsighted corners and broken tarmac - so not great from a driving perspective.

# 27: Looking down to the ocean from the peak of the Kaaimans River Pass.  The traffic authorities have gone mad here, with a 60 km/h speed limit and cameras everywhere, so this was a big disappointment.  Visually magnificent though, with the road winding through thickly forested slopes along the Kaaimans River.

# 28: The Robinson Pass, across the Outeniqua Mountains between Oudtshoorn and Mossel Bay. 

# 29: The Du Plessis Pass on the road to Herbertsdale, near Mossel Bay in the Garden Route.  This was perhaps the most disappointing pass of the trip, with little to justify the 74 km detour to reach it.

# 30: The Garcia Pass across the Langeberg mountains north of Riversdale.  An excellent pass to round out the trip - fast and fluid, with a mix of long, sweeping curves and tight, 2nd-gear corners.

Insect graveyard - the remains of the thousands of bugs which committed suicide on my front bumper during the trip.  This would have looked even worse if some unknown individual had not taken it upon himself to wash my car at one of our overnight stops (I suspect it was a security guard in the parking area of the hotel we stayed at, but I never got a chance to thank him).

Finally back home again, safe and sound, with my odometer now indicating a total distance covered of 3,690 km (and 3,229 added during my road trip).  What a trip, what a car! 

Great summary and pics, thanks for sharing 

what a scenerie....

Amazing shots!

 911 Carrera 3.2 - 997 Carrera

What at fantastic thread PureBlue! I really enjoyed looking at the pictures, great roads you have there 

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Fantastic PureBlue, what a stunning country you live in, thank you so much for taking the effort.

Sad to see #29 was so disappointing, as it bears my family name.

@PureBlue: what a wonderful road trip - some truly stunning views - and what a fantastic way to break in your car and bond with it :) So glad you and your wife had such a memorable time!

I covered some of the same places as you - my photo diary is gradually taking shape ... it will take some time to put it together :)

Thanks again for sharing your trip with us :)

997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen pickup, BMW Z4 2.5i Roadster Sterling Grey/Red

It turns out we drove these ones too (using your numbering): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 but in a different order to you. We were also able to drive through some other passes too :)

997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen pickup, BMW Z4 2.5i Roadster Sterling Grey/Red

Thank you so much for sharing, beautiful photos !  

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Carrera GTS Cabriolet PDK, BMW X5M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S Countryman All4

Those are beautiful indeed. I am no good driving in such nice place, I easily get distracted by the view. Last year, was driving to the Loro Piana HQ up at Vercelli, got distracted and almost killed myself. 

Thanks you very much for sharing and putting up these photos 

The roads and the scenery looks fantastic....not forgetting the car of course !

I once drove from Durban to Mossel Bay and then to Graaff Reinet , ( saw quite a few Porsche test cars over there ) and then back to Durban.

I also did all the routes around Cape Town on a motor bike . 

All was so much fun !!!

 997.2 C2S, PDK, -20mm

Great photo's & report PureBlue. We plan to do something similar in the latter half of 2012 but only in a rental like Easy. Will definitely use both of your experiences to get the best out of the 7 days that we will have available

7 days is only just enough for Cape Town let alone the rest of the Western Cape ... are you sure you can't spare more time?

997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen pickup, BMW Z4 2.5i Roadster Sterling Grey/Red

Porsche Carrera GTS (2012); Porsche Cayenne Diesel (2012)

Porsche Carrera GTS (2012); Porsche Cayenne Diesel (2012)

Just one word : PERFECT !!!  The GTS looks great !!

Cape Town is just amazing, what a great scenery !!!

Thanks for the effort !!

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I enjoyed putting together this photo diary of my trip.

@Easy - Nice to see you drove many of the same passes, but I'm willing to bet I had more fun doing it than you did.   I'm really looking forward to your report - it will be interesting to get an outside perspective on a region I know so well.

@Gilmour - There are a few companies in Cape Town which will allow you to rent a Porsche or Ferrari for a week - at a cost, of course.  You should consider it if you want to enjoy the driving experience while you're here.

@Budster - Cycling and running?  Impressive, but far too much like hard work for me.  I did see a few tell-tale flashes while on the road, and I'm sure the speeding fines will start arriving soon.  I'll write them off as the inevitable cost of having fun. 

Great report and a wonderful way to run-in your GTS... 

I'm coming up to a year in mine and, be assured, the car just gets better and better the more miles it travels..

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out."

It's almost a shame putting the GTS in front of the scenery .

It is such a beautiful country and we drove ourselves 4000km few years ago. Great seeing these picture!

2012 Cayenne S White/Espresso 

Ex: 993 Targa, 986S, 986 and 964 C2

easy_rider911:

7 days is only just enough for Cape Town let alone the rest of the Western Cape ... are you sure you can't spare more time?

Unfortunately not Easy. The price of working in "paradise"

PureBlue:

@Easy - Nice to see you drove many of the same passes, but I'm willing to bet I had more fun doing it than you did.   I'm really looking forward to your report - it will be interesting to get an outside perspective on a region I know so well.

Of course, driving a 911 through these mountain passes is bound to give more driving pleasure than a VW Polo  But the VW was a good companion on our travels - I was actually a little sad to say goodbye at the end of our trip - and, to be honest, nearly all the passes we drove were more like 'winding roads through the hills' rather than the more extreme mountain passes one finds in the Swiss Alps. As such, we were more focussed on enjoying the landscape and one could appreciate the scenery no matter which car one happened to be driving, as my photos will (hopefully) show. As for my photo diary, yes, it will hopefully be posted sometime in the first few months of next year. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how much we managed to see and do in just 3 weeks! I like to get a really good understanding of the places we tour 

997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen pickup, BMW Z4 2.5i Roadster Sterling Grey/Red

Budster:
 

And that small front plate (that I recall seeing in the showroom being put on!) must get you into trouble from time to time..?

Yep, that small front plate is technically illegal, but I've always used those on my Porsches - less of an eyesore on the front bumper.  I was stopped in a roadblock outside a small town (along with everyone else), for a roadworthiness check.  I spotted two traffic officers pointing at and discussing my front plate, so I fully expected to be fined - but not a word from either of them.  Guess I got lucky. 

John H:

I'm coming up to a year in mine and, be assured, the car just gets better and better the more miles it travels..

Good to know, John - especially since your original posts were a contributing factor in my decision to trade in my 997.1 C2S for the new GTS.  I haven't regretted it for a minute! 

BTW, while my GTS was rock solid on the trip (as all good 911s should be), I did pick up one problem.  Towards the end of day one, I started experiencing a very loud, whining noise when touching the brake pedal - but intermittently.  No shuddering or scraping, and no effect on stopping power or brake action, just a disconcertingly loud noise.  I called a senior technician at the OPC the next morning to consult on the problem.  He had not heard of a similar problem, but we agreed that there did not appear to be any safety-related issues - so I decided to continue on the trip.  This recurred on a daily basis, and it became clear that the noise came fom the front brakes and that it only happened when the brakes were hot, i.e. after an extended period of spirited drving.

I took my car in to the OPC yesterday and was able to demonstrate the noise with the service manager as a passenger in my car.  Upon returning to the OPC and discussing the issue with a group of technicians, it surfaced that "a few" other new GTSs had recently presented problems with their brakes, although none had exhibited exactly the same symptoms as mine.  Their theory was that the front discs may be slightly deformed.  Anyway, the upshot is that we're lodging a warranty claim to replace both the front discs and calipers.

I was wondering if any other owners of new GTSs (or other 997s, for that matter) had experienced similar problems?

PureBlue:

Budster:
 

And that small front plate (that I recall seeing in the showroom being put on!) must get you into trouble from time to time..?

Yep, that small front plate is technically illegal, but I've always used those on my Porsches - less of an eyesore on the front bumper.  I was stopped in a roadblock outside a small town (along with everyone else), for a roadworthiness check.  I spotted two traffic officers pointing at and discussing my front plate, so I fully expected to be fined - but not a word from either of them.  Guess I got lucky. 

 The smaller front number plate certainly looks good

Your story doesn't surprise me one bit ... if you remember I was asking about the rules relating to declaring ZAR in cash on arrival in RSA ... we voluntarily declared our cash on arrival and the customs official looked surprised that we had even bothered! On departure, we didn't bother either ...

My observations (albeit based only on 3 weeks there) are that RSA has quite strict rules that may not always be enforced. If not enforced, life's easy. If enforced, it can be done to the letter with no discretion applied.

A little example, when we were leaving Cape Town, we claimed back 12.5% of the 14% sales tax (less the 1.5% admin fee) on our shopping. The bureaucrat at the airport insisted on every receipt stating the words 'tax invoice' which was the case for all of our receipts bar one of them since we had purchased a delightful bottle of wine at one of the restaurants we dined at - since its shop was closed in the evening - so we couldn't claim on that one item. It didn't matter - it was a trivial amount - but it showed that, with certain officials, the rules could be applied to the letter with no thought involved.

Anyway, we had very few such experiences. Our dealings with officials (especially Police at road checkpoints) were very polite, helpful and friendly. Officials generally seemed much more laid back than we expected.

997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen pickup, BMW Z4 2.5i Roadster Sterling Grey/Red