One thing I love about my roommate, other than him being on time with the rent and being an all-around cool dude, is his cushy Motor Trend gig. Though I had it pretty nice at my old job, taking home cars every so often for review, he one ups me simply by being in something new and fairly exotic just about every other day. Our neighbors must think we're shady cats, and I can already see the headlines now: "They've always been nice, quiet boys but always knew something was odd because of all the different cars that were going in and out of here." Since I'm still trying to build the Driving Line empire, slowly working my way onto approved media loaner lists, I'm still going to get on as many drives as possible, even if it means having to ride shotgun in these cars. Because, if there's anything my old boss and mentor, Matt Pearson recently taught me: "The OEMs wouldn't even give us cars to test drive. We rented cars for two years until they decided 'oh, you're still here; fine then'. Do whatever you need to do to get into those cars." And so begins my personal series of test "rides" in cars that manufacturers won't give me; I say rides because they're literally 10 minute cruises around the neighborhood, or whenever my roomie decides it's time for him to go to work. First up: the new Porsche Cayman GT4. One thing we like to do before going on our test course - I mean, two-mile cruise through the 'hood - is to see if the car can pass the driveway test. Cars always make it up the driveway fine, but coming back out is a challenge because it's steep and narrow. At stock height it's standard game, but the Cayman GT4 is much lower than most; its front lip spoiler took it like a champ. Of course, Nate inched out at a snail's pace to pull this off. The next couple of minutes involves him showing me all the features he likes and what would happen if I pressed "that button". We laugh and joke around, taking selfies from different angles, all while figuring out what kind of annoying Snapchat video to upload once we're back at the pad. Then he'll pull off somewhere that's as photogenic as I decide and lets me have at it with a more professional DSLR. It's as every bit as plush and race-car like as you would imagine this interior to be, and sitting passenger does not suck at all. These buckets are comfortable and keep you secure; the ride feels a bit harsh but is nonetheless smooth for a car of this caliber. I like it and I wasn't even the one doing the driving. This is normally where I'd produce a super sweet engine shot but that would've required disassembling most of the rear trunk panels, most of which I'm sure would have been really time consuming and honestly, too difficult to do without potentially messing something up - so you get this cool photo of the rear wing instead. According to Porsche, it's said to "produce a noticeable amount of downforce"; I know, I looked it up. Alas, all good things must come to an eventual end, and twas bittersweet to have enjoyed the GT4 engine's sweet symphony for less than a quarter of an hour and at a speed no higher than 60mph (morning rush hour prevents any higher speeds...as far as you know). We get our Instagram posts and Snapchats dialed in for the day and depart our separate ways for work. If this doesn't help me land my own cool personal drives for the future, well, at the very least I get to tell you a cool story...and continue sitting shotgun. To read more on the Porsche Cayman GT4, including all the extremely technical bits and to see more cool images of the car itself, click HERE. (Special thanks: Nate Martinez for the ride, and Calvin Kim at Porsche North America PR, who will someday loan me a car willingly!)
