Vince's Stuff: Mazen's Second Annual Sports Car Appreciation Day

On the ferry with some cool cars

As he had done last year, my buddy Mazen graciously organized a day of fine food and driving cars from his super cool collection in the countryside. As I have had almost no track time this season, I was excited to attend an event that involved some driving. Mazen said he was not going to take out all his cool cars (M3 CS, Ferrari 360, Ferrari 512TR, Porsche 991 GT3 and Porsche Spyder RS) and that we would mainly be driving our own cars, but that was OK with me, since I am more than happy to drive my M3 on country roads on a sunny day. Last year, I got to drive Mazen's 993 Carrera 4S (now sold and replaced by the Spyder RS), and I was a bit underwhelmed by its performance. I then switched to the F430 only for it to go into limp mode (it was a faulty fuel pump). I had to drive the F430 at low speeds with almost no power for over an hour to get back to my own car. Still, I had fun in the 2024 version.

The 2025 version was much better. In the end, all five of Mazen's cool cars made the trip (and there was some car-swapping!). As we were getting ready to leave, Mazen and I were talking about what repairs had been done on the 360, and he said "You can take it if you want". I wanted. Jean-Walter again took out his favourite, the 512TR. My M3 stayed in Mazen's driveway and we were off. The actual driving portion was shorter this year, but we got to take a short ferry ride together across the Ottawa river to the Quebec side, which was cool, and made for some nice photos. I headed out in the 360 Modena and it was as good to drive as I had remembered. It feels of the same era as my M3, in a good way. The engine reminds of the M3: enough torque down low, even though it makes the real power at high RPM. It also has 2 more cylinders, and the power that comes with that. Of course, you also have a car that's lower and wider than the M3, with a much cooler driving position. I loved it, but I mentioned to JW that at some point, I would want to swap for the 512 TR, and he reluctantly agreed.

We had lunch at Chateau Montebello (nice spot, unexciting food). After lunch (which took forever, for some reason), I took the keys to the Testarossa. What a different drive than the 360... it feels like a supercar from the 80's, in that it's hard to imagine driving it every day. The pedals are weirdly spaced, the clutch and gas pedals are hard, the brake pedal is rock hard, and there is no power steering (actually, I didn't mind that part much). The visibility is surprisingly excellent. The throttle response is not great, but there is 12-cylinder torque. You really have to press hard on the brake pedal to actually scrub off speed, and the brake pedal is so close to the gas! It's not confidence-inspiring. I almost pulled over after 2 minutes to swap back to the 360, but then I decided to focus on what I was doing (double-clutch on the 1-2 shift, for example) and try to enjoy myself. It worked for a while, but the next time the group pulled over to let everyone catch up, I ran back to the 360. JW was also happy to swap.

We ended up at an ice cream place near Mazen's house and I knew it would be my only chance to drive the Spyder RS, so I asked for the keys and Mazen handed them over. He told me how to set the PDK and exhaust, and I was off. The speed limit on the way back was frustratingly low, but I still got a decent feel for the car. The ride is lovely, the sound is amazing.... the whole experience is top notch. I wasn't sure whether I believed Mazen when he said this car was clearly meant to have the PDK transmission, and not a manual. I believe him now... the transmission is awesome, perfectly suited to this car. It's the first time I drove a Porsche for which I would actually choose the PDK over the manual (no such choice exists for the Spyder RS). Wow. The day was already over, but I wasn't sad to make the 80-minute drive home in the M3 on such a beautiful day. Over all, the experience was much more satisfying than last year. I have Mazen to thank both for organizing the day and letting me drive three of his most memorable cars.