Fudgie
New member
Hello Cayman lovers, I've posted a few times already over the last few months in reply to others threads but thought it was time to start my own.
My intention for this tread is to give an occasion review of my experiences of living with a 718 Cayman as a 'one car does all' solution over the next few years. Having previously had at least one 'toy' car (couple of Lotus's & a classic Porsche) tucked up in the garage for weekend blasts, occasional sunny drives to work and of course road trips to Le Mans etc, along with a daily driver / mile muncher doing circa 20k+ per year (most recently a 64 plate Audi S3), a big change in personal circumstances has resulted in review of my car needs. Having counted the number of times in the past year that someone travelled in the back of the S3 on the fingers of one hand (plus the option of blagging my partners Fiesta on those rare occasions a back seat is needed) meant a 2 seater was viable as a daily. Having considered an Audi TTS the lure of a Cayman 718 was too great, a test drive of a manual in Guards Red in mid November was arranged, the test drive confirmed this was the car for me but the need to try a PDK & 20" wheels resulted in a second over night test. Although the PDK box changed my opinion of 'flappy paddles' I still didn't think I was ready to turn my back on old the skool manual box which is a joy to use and for me gives a connection to the car that still can't quite be replicated via a paddle, the 20" wheels without PASM was a definite no for me - way to jiggly for my liking.
After endless hours pouring over the configurator a final spec was decided and order placed with Dick Lovett Bristol, however with very little indication on when I could expect to take delivery along with reading numerous forum threads relating to this topic by mid December my already impatient character was being tested and I started trolling the classifieds for a used alternative. This is when I spotted that Dick Lovett were selling their Guards Red demo, a quick call & a few days of negotiation regarding the trade in value of my S3, resulted in a deal being done and I collected the car on 29th December 16.
The car has all the options I spec'd on the configurator plus a few fripperies I wouldn't of bothered with (Crest on headrests / Carbon illuminated door sill trims etc) but have now become quite fond of. It's mostly comfort / practical options that make daily driving less of a chore, see below (plus my little synopsis of each):
Sports seats Plus (Great for my average build & make you feel like you’re sitting in not on the car)
718 Model designation (Too wordy on the back otherwise)
Bi-Xenon headlights including Porsche Dynamic Light System (Great spread of light in the Cotswold winter gloom)
Park Assist Front and Rear (Essential for quick & easy daily parking)
Rear Wiper (Essential for daily driving IMO plus I like the Porsche Rear Wiper heritage)
Electrically folding exterior mirrors including courtesy lighting (Again essential for quick & easy daily parking)
19-inch Cayman S wheels (Just the right compromise on looks / ride if you don’t tick PASM…plus easy to clean!)
Cruise control (Another essential especially for average speed camera zones)
Automatically dimming mirrors with integrated rain sensor (Could live without, especially rain sensing wipers which never seems to work as you need them too)
Light design package (makes the black interior less gloomy at night)
GT sport steering wheel (simply a must have, so much nicer than the standard diameter wheel which feels like a bus after this…)
Two-zone automatic climate control (why is this not standard… drove a car without it and spent the entire journey having to fiddle as either too hot or too cold, don’t buy one without it…)
Seat heating (Toastie)
ISOFIX child seat (Helpful if you have a baby…)
Vehicle key painted and key pouch in leather (Quite cool but paint already chipping…)
Guards Red seat belts (Just love these because…)
Porsche Crest embossed on headrests (Nice touch but would I bother…?)
Door sill guards in carbon & illuminated (Gimmick but I now love them)
Navigation Module for PCM (Can’t stand having a TomTom stuck on the screen)
BOSE surround sound-system (Ok sound but nothing special – I’ve heard better)
Digital radio (Can’t live without this anymore)
Connect Plus (Great once you’ve fathomed how to use it…enjoying spotify app on the move)
I’m now just over a month & 1,494 miles into ownership so what’s it like…?
So far I love the looks, performance and the handling & feeling which isn’t quite so telepathic as my old Lotus’s, but night & day compared to my recent blunt instrument fast Audi’s. The only other car I’ve owned that gave anywhere near the same feel was a Renaultsport Megan 250 Cup. After initially thinking the clutch was a bit heavy / springy I now find the pedals ideally placed & weighted and in sport mode with the sharper throttle response a (9 times out of 10) perfect heel n toe down shift can be performed without having to be a driving god.
I’ve found the car to be very practical, maximising both luggage areas on one particular shopping trip, also initially I though cabin storage was a bit stingy but I’ve overcome this with some strategic use of the twin door bins & reasonable glove box. I’m not convinced that the interior build quality is quite up to Audi standards but not far off, only time & use will tale how durable some of the plastics & trim prove to be.
In general things are going well apart from a few niggles which have slightly dampened my experience… Firstly I noticed a different tone to the noise when shutting the drivers door to the passenger. On further investigation I found that the driver window was not aligned correctly, the trailing edge of the glass touching the rear quarter glass when the door was shut and then upon opening / closing when the glass drops the two actually over lapped. On the passenger side there is approximately a 4-5mm gap between the two pieces of glass which emphasises how far out the driver door was. Secondly having picked the car up in the dead of winter I’d had little opportunity to scrutinise her in the day light & clean… one bright morning I had an hour or two spare and broke out a bucket of water to clean off the build up of road filth, the best way to get to know a new car. To my disappointment I found the front n/s bumper air intake grill to be mis-aligned and one of the parking sensor to be slightly off centre within its recess, not to worry a quick call to my OPC and they agreed to rectify these faults at the same time as driver door glass, however I’m rather surprised these issues weren’t picked up on the pre delivery checks…?
So last Thursday I dropped the car off at OPC, picked up a nice Cayman S courtesy car and arrange to be back by 6 that evening. At around 3pm I took a call from the service desk who said they would need to keep the car overnight as they needed to order a new damper, my N/S Front had ‘worn prematurely’, this was picked up during their routine health check & would be covered under the warranty. Also, the O/S Rear tyre had a puncture and needing replacing, a quick check on Black Circles resulted in some negotiation and an agreed price of £256 for a 265/40 R19 P-Zero, not too bad but still an unexpected early expenditure.
Leaving the puncture to one side as this could happen at any time, the other faults have left a bit of a question mark in my mind over the car & dealer, I will be keeping a close eye on things over the coming weeks & months and hope I’ve not bought a ‘Friday afternoon’ car…
Look forward to your thoughts & feedback… []
My intention for this tread is to give an occasion review of my experiences of living with a 718 Cayman as a 'one car does all' solution over the next few years. Having previously had at least one 'toy' car (couple of Lotus's & a classic Porsche) tucked up in the garage for weekend blasts, occasional sunny drives to work and of course road trips to Le Mans etc, along with a daily driver / mile muncher doing circa 20k+ per year (most recently a 64 plate Audi S3), a big change in personal circumstances has resulted in review of my car needs. Having counted the number of times in the past year that someone travelled in the back of the S3 on the fingers of one hand (plus the option of blagging my partners Fiesta on those rare occasions a back seat is needed) meant a 2 seater was viable as a daily. Having considered an Audi TTS the lure of a Cayman 718 was too great, a test drive of a manual in Guards Red in mid November was arranged, the test drive confirmed this was the car for me but the need to try a PDK & 20" wheels resulted in a second over night test. Although the PDK box changed my opinion of 'flappy paddles' I still didn't think I was ready to turn my back on old the skool manual box which is a joy to use and for me gives a connection to the car that still can't quite be replicated via a paddle, the 20" wheels without PASM was a definite no for me - way to jiggly for my liking.
After endless hours pouring over the configurator a final spec was decided and order placed with Dick Lovett Bristol, however with very little indication on when I could expect to take delivery along with reading numerous forum threads relating to this topic by mid December my already impatient character was being tested and I started trolling the classifieds for a used alternative. This is when I spotted that Dick Lovett were selling their Guards Red demo, a quick call & a few days of negotiation regarding the trade in value of my S3, resulted in a deal being done and I collected the car on 29th December 16.
The car has all the options I spec'd on the configurator plus a few fripperies I wouldn't of bothered with (Crest on headrests / Carbon illuminated door sill trims etc) but have now become quite fond of. It's mostly comfort / practical options that make daily driving less of a chore, see below (plus my little synopsis of each):
Sports seats Plus (Great for my average build & make you feel like you’re sitting in not on the car)
718 Model designation (Too wordy on the back otherwise)
Bi-Xenon headlights including Porsche Dynamic Light System (Great spread of light in the Cotswold winter gloom)
Park Assist Front and Rear (Essential for quick & easy daily parking)
Rear Wiper (Essential for daily driving IMO plus I like the Porsche Rear Wiper heritage)
Electrically folding exterior mirrors including courtesy lighting (Again essential for quick & easy daily parking)
19-inch Cayman S wheels (Just the right compromise on looks / ride if you don’t tick PASM…plus easy to clean!)
Cruise control (Another essential especially for average speed camera zones)
Automatically dimming mirrors with integrated rain sensor (Could live without, especially rain sensing wipers which never seems to work as you need them too)
Light design package (makes the black interior less gloomy at night)
GT sport steering wheel (simply a must have, so much nicer than the standard diameter wheel which feels like a bus after this…)
Two-zone automatic climate control (why is this not standard… drove a car without it and spent the entire journey having to fiddle as either too hot or too cold, don’t buy one without it…)
Seat heating (Toastie)
ISOFIX child seat (Helpful if you have a baby…)
Vehicle key painted and key pouch in leather (Quite cool but paint already chipping…)
Guards Red seat belts (Just love these because…)
Porsche Crest embossed on headrests (Nice touch but would I bother…?)
Door sill guards in carbon & illuminated (Gimmick but I now love them)
Navigation Module for PCM (Can’t stand having a TomTom stuck on the screen)
BOSE surround sound-system (Ok sound but nothing special – I’ve heard better)
Digital radio (Can’t live without this anymore)
Connect Plus (Great once you’ve fathomed how to use it…enjoying spotify app on the move)
I’m now just over a month & 1,494 miles into ownership so what’s it like…?
So far I love the looks, performance and the handling & feeling which isn’t quite so telepathic as my old Lotus’s, but night & day compared to my recent blunt instrument fast Audi’s. The only other car I’ve owned that gave anywhere near the same feel was a Renaultsport Megan 250 Cup. After initially thinking the clutch was a bit heavy / springy I now find the pedals ideally placed & weighted and in sport mode with the sharper throttle response a (9 times out of 10) perfect heel n toe down shift can be performed without having to be a driving god.
I’ve found the car to be very practical, maximising both luggage areas on one particular shopping trip, also initially I though cabin storage was a bit stingy but I’ve overcome this with some strategic use of the twin door bins & reasonable glove box. I’m not convinced that the interior build quality is quite up to Audi standards but not far off, only time & use will tale how durable some of the plastics & trim prove to be.
In general things are going well apart from a few niggles which have slightly dampened my experience… Firstly I noticed a different tone to the noise when shutting the drivers door to the passenger. On further investigation I found that the driver window was not aligned correctly, the trailing edge of the glass touching the rear quarter glass when the door was shut and then upon opening / closing when the glass drops the two actually over lapped. On the passenger side there is approximately a 4-5mm gap between the two pieces of glass which emphasises how far out the driver door was. Secondly having picked the car up in the dead of winter I’d had little opportunity to scrutinise her in the day light & clean… one bright morning I had an hour or two spare and broke out a bucket of water to clean off the build up of road filth, the best way to get to know a new car. To my disappointment I found the front n/s bumper air intake grill to be mis-aligned and one of the parking sensor to be slightly off centre within its recess, not to worry a quick call to my OPC and they agreed to rectify these faults at the same time as driver door glass, however I’m rather surprised these issues weren’t picked up on the pre delivery checks…?
So last Thursday I dropped the car off at OPC, picked up a nice Cayman S courtesy car and arrange to be back by 6 that evening. At around 3pm I took a call from the service desk who said they would need to keep the car overnight as they needed to order a new damper, my N/S Front had ‘worn prematurely’, this was picked up during their routine health check & would be covered under the warranty. Also, the O/S Rear tyre had a puncture and needing replacing, a quick check on Black Circles resulted in some negotiation and an agreed price of £256 for a 265/40 R19 P-Zero, not too bad but still an unexpected early expenditure.
Leaving the puncture to one side as this could happen at any time, the other faults have left a bit of a question mark in my mind over the car & dealer, I will be keeping a close eye on things over the coming weeks & months and hope I’ve not bought a ‘Friday afternoon’ car…
Look forward to your thoughts & feedback… []