Preparation for the arctic
We'll drive across some of Europe's longest bridges and venture deep into the Swedish wilderness. We'll cross the Arctic Circle, chase the Northern Lights in Lapland and stay at the Ice Hotel near Kiruna. Returning, we'll travel along the beautiful yet familiar E6 through the length of Norway.
This all requires some preparation.
Photography
Still photography will be the focus of this trip – we're bringing both a flying Hasselbald and a 100 megapixel medium format camera to capture our experiences. My co-driver carries a travel friendly 47 megapixel Leica Q2.
Luggage
For sure the 911 Targa does not have as much storage space as our previous Taycan Turbo S. But with the right planning, it is surprising how much you can carry with you, though you have to accept you will be "living" around your luggage.
We carry two white coloured Roadster Hardcase 4W Trollies – closest match to our Crayon exterior Targa – in our frunk and two Urban Eco Weekender for the rear.
Tolls
We will be crossing a number of tolls during this trip.
- Great Belt Bridge (Storebæltsbroen): An 18km bridge linking the Danish islands of Funen and Zealand.
- Øresund Bridge: A 12 km bridge and tunnel linking Copenhagen in Denmark to Malmö in Sweden.
- Bognes – Skarberget: A 25 minute ferry journey integrated into the E6 road in Norway
Emissions regulations
We have already enrolled our car and registration plate with the authorities in Germany – so that we can avail of access to low emissions zones in cities.
Yes, even though we're no longer travelling via an electric Taycan, we're still in the same "Green" emissions zone with our 2024 Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS.
Tyres
Our car has the staggered 20/21-inch Porsche Tequipment 911 Turbo S winter wheel-and-tyre set painted in Black (satin-gloss) fitted with Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 NA2 tyres.
Front axel: 245/35 R20
Rear axel: 305/30 R21
MICHELIN
With two adults, frunk full of luggage, snow chains and plenty of hiking and photography equipment, we likely have reached the "full load" threshold.
However, given our limited high-speed driving, lack of rear passengers (not feasible in a 911!) and snow-covered driving for most of the trip, we've decided to use "part load" pressures.
Slightly lower tyre pressures aid grip on winter tyres by allowing more rubber in contact with the snow and helps the tread blocks and sipes “key” into packed snow
Therefore we're running on these officially recommended pressures:
Snow Chains
Additionally we carry the official Porsche snow chains for the 911.
Porsche Tequipment
Note: The shop listing describes the chains as for the 991 models but when you place an order and set your current era 992 car, they'll ship you the correct variant.
Technical Equipment
The arctic regions we're visiting has the potential to be very unforgiving in winter. We will spend most of this trip in below zero freezing conditions which will challenge both us and the car.
Alongside adequate insurance, including our European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and active car rescue service subscription, it is imperative to plan for worst case situations and with that in mind we carry the following technical equipment:
- Snow / Ice scrapers
- Porsche 911 snow chains
- 4000 kg tow rope
- Foldable snow shovel
- Emergency wool blankets (x2) with my co-driver using hers for comfort in the cabin already
- Flask with hot water refreshed daily
- Insulated drink mugs (the pink pigs)
- Emergency foil blankets
- Porsche First aid kit
- Porsche branded winter screen was (1:2 mix)
- Re-chargeable flashlight (charges from the cars USB-C)
- Spare (x2) CR2032 batteries for key and tracker fobs
Top-up oil
It's no secret that a healthy 911 flat-six engine consumes oil – around 400 millilitres every three months. To keep it running smoothly, we always carry a litre of the correct-spec top oil in our kit.
We use Mobil 1 ESP X4 0W-40 which meets Porsche C40 specification and is the oil our car came with from the factory.
We'll likely be fine for this road trip as we have just had the car serviced and leave with a perfect oil level. But in the spirit of "being prepared" we still carry a litre of top-up oil with us.
Car Detailing
The weather has been terrible here for the past few weeks and the car was showing all the usual signs of winter grime. Though it won't stay clean for long on this trip, it is always great to start off with the car in pristine condition.
The guys at Flawless doing a superb job as always. That place often has more 911s being worked on then are at the nearby Porsche dealership.
Pink Pigs
The pink pigs are ready to go!
Apple Music
If you are an Apple Music subscriber you can listen along to some of the music that's accompanying us on our trip via our BOSE audio system and the car's in-built Apple Music player, streamed over the roaming data connection provided by Porsche.
