1975 Porsche 911 Targa Rebuild
What you are about to read will be the rolling diary of my efforts to put a '75 Porsche 911 back on the road. This car is the embodiment of a 25 year obsession for this scribe. It's not my first restoration, but it is my first 911 and as usual I find quickly how much I don't know. I don't pretend to have the deep pockets of some that choose to love cars as toys, and as such I try and make up for that with as much DIY as I can manage (which is usually most anything). I've read "The most expensive Porsche is a cheap Porsche". Thankfully the bodywork had been done (and seems to be of pretty nice quality) and painted in the same color I'd have chosen if I'd have painted it myself (big bonus). There is even a fair amount of brand new pieces collected ready to be installed. Aside from just being stressful ferrying my new prize back down the country we had one mishap. My car came with a somewhat rare vintage accessory top (Saratoga Top). When I picked up the car I noticed it seemed loose from the front frame. This made me nervous enough that just a few miles down the road I stopped and duct taped it to the windshield.
Storage is okay and visibility is good as well. It鈥檚 easy to manoeuvre and you don鈥檛 have to make compromises to use the 718 Cayman every day. We鈥檇 like a little more kit as standard, though. Safety equipment is more limited, too, because you get six airbags and that鈥檚 about it. Bi-xenon headlights are fitted as standard, but you can add adaptive LED units for 拢1,397. You can also specify adaptive cruise control for 拢1,094, which includes collision warning and autonomous emergency braking. You might want to add parking sensors given it鈥檚 a low-slung sports car, but visibility is actually good. Rear sensors are 拢362, or it鈥檚 拢1,086 for them all round plus a reversing camera. The 718 was actually the least efficient car on test, but even its result of 31.8mpg was impressive. But the Alpine again showed why a lower weight can be a benefit; it managed 33.6mpg, which equates to annual fuel bills of 拢1,958. Expect that cost to rise the more you explore the performance, though.
In Pure trim the A110 is fabulous. Everything stems from its light weight, including efficiency and low running costs. Despite its modest power output, performance is great and the gearbox isn鈥檛 a hindrance, despite it being the weakest point. This car isn鈥檛 that practical, but the chassis is so sweet and the set-up so totally rewarding that it just edges ahead here, despite flaws in other areas. It nails what a small sports car should offer. The 718 was so close to beating the A110 again, not least thanks to its brilliant manual gearbox and incredibly capable chassis. The engineering has true depth that鈥檚 felt through the steering and damping, but it鈥檚 the engine that still grates, even if the rest of the package is dynamically brilliant. Items such as the infotainment are also showing their age, but make no mistake, this standard 718 Cayman is still a fantastic sports car. Updates to the TT S aren鈥檛 extensive enough to elevate it from third place against incredibly tough competition. There鈥檚 no denying its accessible, storming all-weather performance, while the tech, cabin and efficiency are all strong, too. With two small back seats, it鈥檚 also the most practical model. But these cars are about thrills and involvement, and the TT doesn鈥檛 deliver the highs of its extremely talented rivals here. Is it worth waiting for this model? It might be pricier, but the Toyota Supra promises huge performance from its straight six (0-62mph in 4.3 seconds) and a driving experience with poise and balance that should rival our test trio. It鈥檒l be usable, too.
However, they do not provide any sort of timeline as product development can be unpredictable. As we can see, the common theme for communicating ETA seems to be like what Andrew from Automattic said, 鈥減romise updates, not timelines鈥? Product development can be unpredictable so we would not want to give promises that we might not uphold. When the feature is completed, it鈥檚 nice to go back to these customers to let them know that the feature they requested has been implemented. This makes sure they get a chance to use it. For instance, Davida from Campaign Monitor said that if they add a feature that has been requested, they will get back to those customers even if it鈥檚 years later! Even before that, perhaps you could get them to be beta users for the feature. At Buffer, if an unreleased feature is stable enough, the team would offer to enable it for the customer鈥檚 account for them to check it out. When a customer requests the feature, the team can reply, 鈥淒o you know what, we鈥檙e working on that, fancy having a play? We鈥檇 love to know what you think! I like to think of this situation as a two-way street. When customers make the effort to offer a feature request or suggestion, it is only right for us to reciprocate by taking the time to understand their requests and respond to them honestly and politely. By communicating with the appropriate mindset and language, we can give a response that the customers would, hopefully, be satisfied with and prevent bad satisfaction survey. Happy customers and happy agents - a win-win situation for us! There isn鈥檛 a perfect way to reply to all feature requests as it depends a lot on the context. How do you normally handle feature requests and suggestions? We would love to hear about them!