Hey all,
It's a quiet evening here in Chez Twinfan as Mrs Twinfan is working job #2, so as I've been to my OPC today I thought I'd give a quick update on the adventures of me and my Racing Yellow 718 GT4 Cayman - affectionately known as "Wolfgang".
For those who don't know, I've owned him from new (delivered in mid-March 2020, a week before the first COVID lockdown!) as I was fortunate enough at the time to get an early allocation. In fact, Wolfie was the third 718 GT4 delivered to my OPC. Wanting a car with a manual gearbox certainly helped to bump me up the queue as PDK would not be offered until a year after launch. Aside from the Spanish gearbox, he's an almost fully loaded Clubsport car with the exceptions being:
* PCCBs - too expensive to replace, are at risk of damage, and after having driven PCCB cars I personally felt they offered minimal dynamic benefit (YMMV of course!)
* BOSE - I hardly use the stereo, and I felt it wasn't in-keeping with the GT car ethos
* Homelink programmable garage door opener - not needed, as the car lives outside
* Climate control panel in leather - the rest of the panel is plastic, it would stand out oddly if done in leather
So that's the starting point, and the car stayed like that for around 6 months before the modifications started. In order, I think they went like this over a period of 12 months or so:
* replacement final silencer from Ninemeister
* a single mass lightweight flywheel, also from Ninemeister
* Porsche 911 Cup car top mounts, Porsche shims and Porsche Motorsport rear toe arms to get a geo with increased camber all round
* a second set of wheels with PS4S tyres (my winter set)
* exterior decorative stripes in black vinyl and Porsche logo on the rear wing
* 3D printed seat inserts from Porsche Tequipment
* Manthey braided brake hoses
* race-spec brake fluid
At this point I was pretty happy with the car and having started doing track days I'd added some things to help the car on track. After wearing out the stock discs and pads I switched over to PFC discs with their 331/332 series pads which I've found to be excellent. They lasted for a few years and after a new set of front pads last year I've recently had a full set of new discs and pads fitted - the same again. If they ain't broke....
So after the initial small mods, the really big event was exactly 2 years ago when I worked with my OPC to get a set of Manthey 718 GT4 coilovers on the car. At this point they weren't yet Tequipment approved so it was all a bit off the books, but we managed to get a set sent to the UK and my OPC's Manthey technician fitted them and set them up. I started a thread about them here for anyone who's interested:
www.porscheclubgb.com
So that brings us to today. Where are we at?
Well, Wolfie and I have just ticked over 26,500 miles and around 25 track days together, including a PEC Precision Course at Silverstone. My driving is better than it was, but coming to the track day game later in life I just don't have the confidence to really lean on the car as I would have done as a younger man. So I have, and accept, my limits and I'm more than happy running around a track at mid-pace and having a bunch of laughs during the day with friends. You just can't beat it!
As for the car, well he's just returned from having the OEM silencer put back on as after 5.5 years I'd started to get annoyed with the drone between 2-3k revs. Most, if not all, aftermarket silencers for the 718 4.0ltr cars do it to a lesser or greater extent, so it's certainly not unique to the 9m option. Driving back from my OPC after the swap was an absolute pleasure and the car still sounds superb - I think those GPFs have had a good battering bouncing off 8,000rpm plenty of times...
As the Manthey coilovers are now Porsche Tequipment approved they are covered under the Extended Warranty scheme which I renewed at the 6 year service in March this year. Good job I did, as Wolfie also had a PADM replacement yesterday so the warranty has just paid for itself. Again. Which was nice.
So aside from the LWFW and the PFC discs and pads, everything on the car is now either factory Porsche, Porsche Tequipment (seat inserts and spare wheels), Porsche Motorsport (rear toe arms) or Manthey (coilovers and braided hoses). The flywheel is mega and really helps the engine spin up freely - I've found it really gives the car some character via enhanced feel between your right foot and the engine. Porsche discs and pads are OK but being drilled they crack really easily, and the pads are very soft which isn't good when they get to high temperatures on a summer track day. PFC have supplied 911 Cup and Supercup cars with brakes and a set of their discs and pads is around the same price as the OEM Porsche parts but much better suited to track work - the discs are grooved not drilled and the pads deal with high temperatures very well.
Cosmetically Wolfie still sports his stripes and Porsche logo, which are wearing pretty well to be honest, plus a bunch of circuit maps under the rear wing - one for every different circuit and/or layout we've done on a track day. He has a reasonable collection of small stone chips (I don't believe in PPF...) and plenty of scuffed plastics on his underside, but cars are meant to be driven. I'm fully embracing the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi here, which has a tendency to bring looks of bewilderment to some of the Cars and Coffee crowd!
The future. What does it look like?
It looks like more of the same to be honest! With the huge increase in the price of new cars I just can't just stomach the price to change to anything else. The only cars that would interest me would be manual GT3s, so £100k to change is just way out of my league. As long as I can continue to find work (I'm a self-employed contractor) then I'll just keep doing what I'm doing with my decidedly average driving skills and my brightly coloured two seater sports car -spectating at race meetings or driving around having fun on a PCGB trackday.
Thanks for reading, and if you got this far - well done!
It's a quiet evening here in Chez Twinfan as Mrs Twinfan is working job #2, so as I've been to my OPC today I thought I'd give a quick update on the adventures of me and my Racing Yellow 718 GT4 Cayman - affectionately known as "Wolfgang".
For those who don't know, I've owned him from new (delivered in mid-March 2020, a week before the first COVID lockdown!) as I was fortunate enough at the time to get an early allocation. In fact, Wolfie was the third 718 GT4 delivered to my OPC. Wanting a car with a manual gearbox certainly helped to bump me up the queue as PDK would not be offered until a year after launch. Aside from the Spanish gearbox, he's an almost fully loaded Clubsport car with the exceptions being:
* PCCBs - too expensive to replace, are at risk of damage, and after having driven PCCB cars I personally felt they offered minimal dynamic benefit (YMMV of course!)
* BOSE - I hardly use the stereo, and I felt it wasn't in-keeping with the GT car ethos
* Homelink programmable garage door opener - not needed, as the car lives outside
* Climate control panel in leather - the rest of the panel is plastic, it would stand out oddly if done in leather
So that's the starting point, and the car stayed like that for around 6 months before the modifications started. In order, I think they went like this over a period of 12 months or so:
* replacement final silencer from Ninemeister
* a single mass lightweight flywheel, also from Ninemeister
* Porsche 911 Cup car top mounts, Porsche shims and Porsche Motorsport rear toe arms to get a geo with increased camber all round
* a second set of wheels with PS4S tyres (my winter set)
* exterior decorative stripes in black vinyl and Porsche logo on the rear wing
* 3D printed seat inserts from Porsche Tequipment
* Manthey braided brake hoses
* race-spec brake fluid
At this point I was pretty happy with the car and having started doing track days I'd added some things to help the car on track. After wearing out the stock discs and pads I switched over to PFC discs with their 331/332 series pads which I've found to be excellent. They lasted for a few years and after a new set of front pads last year I've recently had a full set of new discs and pads fitted - the same again. If they ain't broke....
So after the initial small mods, the really big event was exactly 2 years ago when I worked with my OPC to get a set of Manthey 718 GT4 coilovers on the car. At this point they weren't yet Tequipment approved so it was all a bit off the books, but we managed to get a set sent to the UK and my OPC's Manthey technician fitted them and set them up. I started a thread about them here for anyone who's interested:
The modifications continue - Manthey coilovers incoming...
Morning all :) After some to-ing and fro-ing with my OPC I've just had confirmation that my Manthey coilover kit has been ordered and should be here in a week or so. Unfortunately they won't be on the car ready for Oulton Park next week, but as the weather is pretty miserable at the moment I...
www.porscheclubgb.com
So that brings us to today. Where are we at?
Well, Wolfie and I have just ticked over 26,500 miles and around 25 track days together, including a PEC Precision Course at Silverstone. My driving is better than it was, but coming to the track day game later in life I just don't have the confidence to really lean on the car as I would have done as a younger man. So I have, and accept, my limits and I'm more than happy running around a track at mid-pace and having a bunch of laughs during the day with friends. You just can't beat it!
As for the car, well he's just returned from having the OEM silencer put back on as after 5.5 years I'd started to get annoyed with the drone between 2-3k revs. Most, if not all, aftermarket silencers for the 718 4.0ltr cars do it to a lesser or greater extent, so it's certainly not unique to the 9m option. Driving back from my OPC after the swap was an absolute pleasure and the car still sounds superb - I think those GPFs have had a good battering bouncing off 8,000rpm plenty of times...
As the Manthey coilovers are now Porsche Tequipment approved they are covered under the Extended Warranty scheme which I renewed at the 6 year service in March this year. Good job I did, as Wolfie also had a PADM replacement yesterday so the warranty has just paid for itself. Again. Which was nice.
So aside from the LWFW and the PFC discs and pads, everything on the car is now either factory Porsche, Porsche Tequipment (seat inserts and spare wheels), Porsche Motorsport (rear toe arms) or Manthey (coilovers and braided hoses). The flywheel is mega and really helps the engine spin up freely - I've found it really gives the car some character via enhanced feel between your right foot and the engine. Porsche discs and pads are OK but being drilled they crack really easily, and the pads are very soft which isn't good when they get to high temperatures on a summer track day. PFC have supplied 911 Cup and Supercup cars with brakes and a set of their discs and pads is around the same price as the OEM Porsche parts but much better suited to track work - the discs are grooved not drilled and the pads deal with high temperatures very well.
Cosmetically Wolfie still sports his stripes and Porsche logo, which are wearing pretty well to be honest, plus a bunch of circuit maps under the rear wing - one for every different circuit and/or layout we've done on a track day. He has a reasonable collection of small stone chips (I don't believe in PPF...) and plenty of scuffed plastics on his underside, but cars are meant to be driven. I'm fully embracing the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi here, which has a tendency to bring looks of bewilderment to some of the Cars and Coffee crowd!
The future. What does it look like?
It looks like more of the same to be honest! With the huge increase in the price of new cars I just can't just stomach the price to change to anything else. The only cars that would interest me would be manual GT3s, so £100k to change is just way out of my league. As long as I can continue to find work (I'm a self-employed contractor) then I'll just keep doing what I'm doing with my decidedly average driving skills and my brightly coloured two seater sports car -spectating at race meetings or driving around having fun on a PCGB trackday.
Thanks for reading, and if you got this far - well done!
Attachments
Last edited:
]. Your comment about just enjoying the car on-track at your own pace is spot on.
