Cayman GTS

[SFO]

X73 works well on 981 chassis as the chassis (especially the Cayman's) is so stiff.

[Sarnie]

Back from the Solihull OPC and must be the first person to come out with a cheaper spec than when I walked in!!

I took out a few things like;

-Porsche Entry & Drive: I thought this was keyless entry and then keyless start/push button ignition. It seems that all it actually does is saving you pressing the open button on your fob?? £599 saved!

-Light Design Package: This was described to me as basically having extra lighting in the cabin for those early morning starts and getting out the car at night in the dark. My car won't often be used like that, so off it went. £203 saved!

-Instrument Surround in Leather: I thought this was the surround over the top of the speedo cluster but that comes with the GTS pack. This was purely the surrounding fascia around the dials in leather. Gone! £203 saved!

- Third year warranty and Porsche Road Side Assistance: Was told that you can easily add these a few months before the end of year two, for the same price, so why pay upfront for them? £729 saved!

I talked to him about the GTS Black Exterior package and have the wing mirrors fully in yellow. The Exterior package turns the fairly cheap looking standard matt plastic black parts, into a glossy finish which will go with my glossy black Carrera S wheels. You can have the wing mirrors fully body coloured along with the side venting, but to me that is taking away some of the black accents of the GTS. For me it was either the glossy GTS exterior package or the body coloured wing mirrors so I'm going with the GTS exterior package.

Having taken circa £1,700 off the price I am now lingering over the bucket seats or even the PCCB's

[SFO]

Sarnie said:

I took out a few things like;

-Porsche Entry & Drive: I thought this was keyless entry and then keyless start/push button ignition. It seems that all it actually does is saving you pressing the open button on your fob?? £599 saved!

-Light Design Package: This was described to me as basically having extra lighting in the cabin for those early morning starts and getting out the car at night in the dark. My car won't often be used like that, so off it went. £203 saved!

-Instrument Surround in Leather: I thought this was the surround over the top of the speedo cluster but that comes with the GTS pack. This was purely the surrounding fascia around the dials in leather. Gone! £203 saved!

Entry & Drive includes a dummy key in the ignition which you simply turn. This allows you not to have touch your actual key, let alone take it out of your pocket. You open the car merely by touching the handle (the car senses the key and unlocks automatically) and lock it by touching a button on the handle.

Light design package give additional lighting in door pockets, overhead console and, I think, footwell. Good for a touch of extra ambience at night.

Get steering column in leather .. it removes quite a bit of cheap plastic.

[TDT]

I've specced the light design package - unfortunate really, as this should really be standard on a car of this level.
I mean - without it you don't even get lights in the sun visor mirrors -

[Sarnie]

SFO said:

Entry & Drive includes a dummy key in the ignition which you simply turn. This allows you not to have touch your actual key, let alone take it out of your pocket. You open the car merely by touching the handle (the car senses the key and unlocks automatically) and lock it by touching a button on the handle.

Light design package give additional lighting in door pockets, overhead console and, I think, footwell. Good for a touch of extra ambience at night.

Get steering column in leather .. it removes quite a bit of cheap plastic.

For £599 I decided that I can put my hand in my pocket and press the key fob. I only really wanted it as I thought it came with a start/stop button on the dash over the usual ignition, apparently not.

Light design sounded ok but my car will be rarely used in the dark so chose against it.

Might take a look at the leather steering column!

[m999psw]

If you go for the extended 3rd year warranty at the end of the 2 do you not have to pay for the 111 point check before it can be purchased?

Paul

[Sarnie]

m999psw said:

If you go for the extended 3rd year warranty at the end of the 2 do you not have to pay for the 111 point check before it can be purchased?

Paul

I was told if you do it before the warranty expires then no, if the warranty expires then yes.

I was also told that if the warranty expires and you sell the car, the new owner can't get the warranty put back on the car until they have had the car three months and the cars passes the 111 point check.

[SHIFTY]

I specked the light design package and to be honest not worth the money and as said before should be standard.

I did add leather dashboard as this is not part of the GTS package.

One option I should have added was the automatic dimming of the interior mirror.

Black package works out well for the money.

Oh and added CCB fills the wheels well....

[Budweiser]

newbieninja said:

I hope so! It's my first proper sports car. I'll be joining in with the Porsche CLub GB stuff, and I usually go to Ace on my bikes, so will go along to the porker night there. Where are you based bud?

I'm in North Essex.. Think a meet with the various spec'd GTS's would make a good day out and great photo opportunity. I'm happy to travel so when there are a few more cars on the road we should go for it?

[RBT0]

Me too, I removed the mob phone preparation before ordering the car

I do look forward to meeting you, my car should arrive by mid of dec, I live in Warwickshire.

Here again my spec, somebody can explain why the config code I've got from my dealer is different from the one I've built on line? Just checked the spec, are exactly the same

PFA4VMU0

PFH5GJR4 (dealer)

[McB2]

Me too. I'm in Surrey. Should arrive early November.

[RBT0]

Anyone with dual zone? What is the difference in terms of climate system performance between the single zone and dual zone? I don't care about dual, opted for single but wonder if is low speced.

[SkinnyP]

RBT0 said:

Anyone with dual zone? What is the difference in terms of climate system performance between the single zone and dual zone? I don't care about dual, opted for single but wonder if is low speced.

Someone may correct me, but its either no zone or dual zone...there is no regular climate control. In other word it's a choice between manual or dual.

[SkinnyP]

TDT said:

I've ordered a GT Silver Cayman GTS with x73 but my build was locked before I had a chance to compare x73 to PASM.
I'm coming from a 997 Carrera GTS with PASM (+3yrs from new), normal was fine but not special/sports car enough and another mode was essentially just a bit harsh and crude - so ramped up damper stiffness when really you probably want more spring rate. Sometimes PASM in the 997 felt a bit unnatural in what it was trying to do.

For comparables I have had a 981 Cayman S with 20inch wheels on the base suspension for extended test drives over a weekend. I found this impressive but could have done with tightening up - roll and dive control.

From my day behind the wheel of the carmine red gts @ PEC silverstone - x73 is a perfectly liveable option.
I went there with this sole purpose of trying to test this out on every surface I could - so I asked to go out on public roads which we were able to do. Obviously I wanted it to be ok but I really tried to be objective and true to myself about whether or not this was something that instinctively felt right or wrong as a long term proposition.

I thought it was fantastic - yes it is firm but is was never harsh and we found some roadworks roads to go over to validate and I really tried to crash it over the more hostile parts of the road.

Key thing for me is that it made the car feel like a sports car should imo - the responses were very natural and really well managed - and predictable. It got to the point were I just wasn't evern thinking about the ride anymore and was just enjoying the feedback. I really believe a lot of the benefit you feel on the 981 platform is down to the extra stiffness of the new chassis which allows the suspension to work better, even with 20inch wheels.

PASM is great as it give you a wide range of operation but for me I wanted that slightly more connected feel from the seat of my pants and I think that's what the x73 option delivers.

Edited by TDT on Thursday 2nd October 16:52

Edited by TDT on Thursday 2nd October 16:55

Very interesting thanks for posting.

I have driven the 981 on regular suspension and thought the 'feedback to through arse' factor was lacking, but if X73 fixes that then superb.

[RBT0]

SkinnyP said:

Someone may correct me, but its either no zone or dual zone...there is no regular climate control. In other word it's a choice between manual or dual.

Yes you're right, wonder what the differences are in terms of performances.

[Armen]

Not surprised you come from a 997 GTS, I drove this car and I found the sound very disappointing…

[newbieninja]

Yeah thanks for posting about the x73 guys, I think I'm going to go for it after all . My main concern was the horrendously low ground clearance (pictured)

I live in central london on a road with about 25 sets of speed bumps, so I'm worried about grounding out, however, I've been told if I take them slow enough it should be ok, and the 10mm difference in ride height between PASM and x73 isn't exactly going to make a huge difference when you consider the humps are 10-15cm high.

On a separate note, did any of you guys manage to get a bit of a deal from your OPC? mine held steady on the price for what seemed like hours, finally caving and giving me a couple of grand off the build, and also some hospitality at the carrera cup at donnington next weekend. I'd be interested to hear if anyone managed to negotiate better, and thus learn how to do it for next time!

Cheers.

Edited by newbieninja on Thursday 2nd October 22:31

[RBT0]

RBT0 said:

For those wondering about x73, here a pict that shows the ground clearance.

Edited by RBT0 on Sunday 10th August 15:15

Yes, don't think 10 mm will make a huge difference.

This one is a x73, also the yellow one you've posted?

[Sarnie]

RBT0 said:

Anyone with dual zone? What is the difference in terms of climate system performance between the single zone and dual zone? I don't care about dual, opted for single but wonder if is low speced.

I asked about this today.

My interpretation was that it was just AC for both passenger and driver zones, so they could adjust accordingly. The reality apparently is that the 2-zone AC is an advanced system so that if you state a temperature you want for your zone it will automatically adjust the AC up or down to permanently keep it at that that temp. Not ground breaking but without this I was told that the temp control would just be a slide switch turning the heat up or down manually as you see fit.

I never thought I'd want something like this, but I'd much prefer to set the AC to say 20 degrees and then whenever I get in the car, no matter what time of year, the car brings the temp up to and keep is at 20 degrees. My time in the car is going to be short each time, I don't want to be getting in and spending half the time sliding the temp switch up and down to get it right.........

Phew! That was way more than I wanted to type about a temp slider!!

[RBT0]

Yes in terms of functioning I understand.
Wonder if the AC compressor is different, could well be a low spec on manual HVAC.

What matters for me is the noise (hate noisy compressors) and cold temperature in a hot summer (I do prefer powerful AC that cool down the cabin in few secs)