Cayman GTS

[TDT]

T25UFO said:

This has probably been asked before but anyone changed from a 997 GTS to Cayman GTS? Would welcome any views, good or not so good. I don't need the rear seats, but I would have to buy secondhand - looking at a nearly new manual demonstrator with good spec. Cost to change circa £20k.

Yes - I've done this. I got money back on my 997 GTS when I sold it this time last year (Brought brand new in 2011) and used some of the money as deposit for a new Cayman GTS.
When I drove the 981 it immediately made my 997 feel very old - but actually they are just different. 981 is much more chuck-able, agile - light on its feet and immediate. 997 is layered.
I had a thread running on this - Stick or Twist: Carrera GTS to Cayman GTS

997 GTS was and is a fantastic car. If mine was a manual - I would have kept it and done some mild tweaks: specifically Sharkwerks Crossover pipe and TPC DSC system.
But it was a PDK and therefore wasn't a complete 'classic' feel for me. The 9x1 PDK made the 9x7 PDK obsolete on arrival - changes the experience of the car - much more sporty and dynamic and really now does what you the driver would when left in auto and its completely awesome when in manual mode.

If you have a manual - I'd suggest you keep it and tweak. As mine was PDK, I'm glad I made the change - 981 S/GTS with PDK is a street weapon - plenty fast and loads of fun as a daily, which mine is.
To get me back to a 911 it'll need to be a 991.2 Turbo/S as a daily or a 991 GT3 as a weekend toy.

Edited by TDT on Friday 11th December 11:54

[Boggle73]

TDT said:

Yes - I've done this. I got money back on my 997 GTS when I sold it this time last year (Brought brand new in 2011) and used some of the money as deposit for a new Cayman GTS.
When I drove the 981 it immediately made my 997 feel very old - but actually they are just different. 981 is much more chuck-able, agile - light on its feet and immediate. 997 is layered.
I had a thread running on this - Stick or Twist: Carrera GTS to Cayman GTS

997 GTS was and is a fantastic car. If mine was a manual - I would have kept it and done some mild tweaks: specifically Sharkwerks Crossover pipe and TPC DSC system.
But it was a PDK and therefore wasn't a complete 'classic' feel for me. The 9x1 PDK made the 9x7 PDK obsolete on arrival - changes the experience of the car - much more sporty and dynamic and really now does what you the driver would when left in auto and its completely awesome when in manual mode.

If you have a manual - I'd suggest you keep it and tweak. As mine was PDK, I'm glad I made the change - 981 S/GTS with PDK is a street weapon - plenty fast and loads of fun as a daily, which mine is.
To get me back to a 911 it'll need to be a 991.2 Turbo/S as a daily or a 991 GT3 as a weekend toy.

Edited by TDT on Friday 11th December 11:54

Please can I ask....
Did you go PDK on the 981 GTS, and how are you finding the whole experience?
Are you bored of it yet or does is have merit in all areas?
Thanks.

[nsm3]

Had my S PDK for 2 years and no regrets whatsoever. As posted elsewhere, I recently got a drive in a manual 370 and it didn't tip my attitude away from the double clutch box. It's been done to death on here, but it really is a subjective issue, only you can decide.

[RBT0]

Street weapon. This.

I would never go back to a manual. Dual Clutch all life long.

[cibble10]

RBT0 said:

Street weapon. This.

I would never go back to a manual. Dual Clutch all life long.

I recently drove a very low mileage R8 V10 Spider. As new condition. Admittedly the first iteration auto box. It was a stark reminder of how glorious the PDK box is in my Boxster GTS. The DCT gearchange is probably one of the most glorious sounds known to men. The Audi's box was horrible. Admittedly it has been upgraded but then I would have to find nearer £100k to enjoy the pleasure. And then of course the handling was not as good in the Spider either....

Gentlemen, we are blessed.

[Mario149]

I certainly think manuals still have their place even on modern Porsches. But as I've been saying ever since I saw the spec on the manual 981 and then drove it, the gearing just ruins it for me. If I was buying a 981 as my only fun car and it was available with a 991's manual 7sp 'box which appears to have similar ratios to the PDK 7 sp, PDK wouldn't get a look in.

As it is, while I do miss the interactivity a good manual on my BGTS would give, the PDK brings other tricks to the party which I am also very happy with.

[RBT0]

Gearshifts like shots from a gun. Immediates and louds.

The combo Flat 6 sound and gear shifts sound make Porsches with PDK recognisable from long distance.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Mario149 said:

But as I've been saying ever since I saw the spec on the manual 981 and then drove it, the gearing just ruins it for me.

So how would you describe the "problem" that ruins it?

[TDT]

Boggle73 said:

Please can I ask....
Did you go PDK on the 981 GTS, and how are you finding the whole experience?
Are you bored of it yet or does is have merit in all areas?
Thanks.

Yep - I went PDK on the 981 GTS again - I tried manual in a Boxster S for a day - and I didn't really gel with it - difficult to form an opinion on just an afternoon drive - i know. PDK suits this car and engine specifically.
The manual gearbox in the 2.7 has shorter ratios, and the GT4 3.8 has more torque to pull the gears more easily than the 3.4 guises.
Absolutely no regrets - extremely sporty when you want it to be i.e in Sport and Sport Plus.- super fast - flat throttle shifts on the up and awesome rev matching on the way down. Sport on the road is where the car is at its best imo - I use it when i'm on a mission, rather than all the time- keeps the experience fun and fresh

[XGT]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Mario149 said:

But as I've been saying ever since I saw the spec on the manual 981 and then drove it, the gearing just ruins it for me.

So how would you describe the "problem" that ruins it?

It's a good job we are all different then...I had a couple of hours test drive in a pdk 981 and really didn't like it. Auto is fine for my daily hack but for a sports car I still come back to a manual for max involvement and enjoyment. And the gearing isn't any better with the pdk by the way.

[Boggle73]

I drive 40-45k a year in a van, I suppose it was nice in the PDK to just relax and enjoy the car/noise/handling.
I feel a lot better today about my choice,

[NBTBRV8]

XGT said:

It's a good job we are all different then...I had a couple of hours test drive in a pdk 981 and really didn't like it. Auto is fine for my daily hack but for a sports car I still come back to a manual for max involvement and enjoyment. And the gearing isn't any better with the pdk by the way.

+1, that is why I went for a manual.

[Trev450]

Apologies if this has already been discussed, but I don't want to trawl through 170+ pages. For any of you that have driven a manual 987 S and a manual 981 GTS, did you find the gear change in the GTS to have a shorter throw and require less movement of the lever when going across the gate from say 2nd to 3rd?

[dreamcar]

TDT said:

Yes - I've done this. I got money back on my 997 GTS when I sold it this time last year (Brought brand new in 2011) and used some of the money as deposit for a new Cayman GTS.
When I drove the 981 it immediately made my 997 feel very old - but actually they are just different. 981 is much more chuck-able, agile - light on its feet and immediate. 997 is layered.
I had a thread running on this - Stick or Twist: Carrera GTS to Cayman GTS

997 GTS was and is a fantastic car. If mine was a manual - I would have kept it and done some mild tweaks: specifically Sharkwerks Crossover pipe and TPC DSC system.
But it was a PDK and therefore wasn't a complete 'classic' feel for me. The 9x1 PDK made the 9x7 PDK obsolete on arrival - changes the experience of the car - much more sporty and dynamic and really now does what you the driver would when left in auto and its completely awesome when in manual mode.

If you have a manual - I'd suggest you keep it and tweak. As mine was PDK, I'm glad I made the change - 981 S/GTS with PDK is a street weapon - plenty fast and loads of fun as a daily, which mine is.
To get me back to a 911 it'll need to be a 991.2 Turbo/S as a daily or a 991 GT3 as a weekend toy.

Edited by TDT on Friday 11th December 11:54

I went from a 997 Carrera S PDK coupe fitted with X71 power kit to our current Boxster GTS. The Boxster feels a far more modern car in every way, in particular the huge advance of the PDK 'box and also the styling and quality of the interior. The 997 was also frustrating in that here in the UK with speed limits and crowded roads it is only possible to scratch the surface of the car's performance potential, it's wasted here and needs continental trips to really appreciate the abilities. With the Boxster it is possible to enjoy thrills at much more realistic speeds. I had several drives in the 991 but it left me cold, more GT than sports car, less mechanical in feel, more PlayStation. Regarding the manual vs PDK debate I love the latest transmission, it's an amazing achievement and a quantum leap ahead of the box our 997 had. However I took the car back to my dealer for some minor issues to sort out and was leant a standard Boxster 2.7 manual and I did enjoy the greater mechanical interaction with it. Possibly because of the necessity of physically changing gears and lower power the high gearing is certainly more noticeable with the manual 'box. I'd be happy with either to be honest!

Edited by dreamcar on Sunday 13th December 09:35

[Mario149]

Ozzie Osmond said:

So how would you describe the "problem" that ruins it?

Spent a morning in it at PEC Silverstone and never got to use 3rd gear for more than 3 secs at a time when revving it out, which is criminal considering the track there is supposed to mimic a country hoon. It's a peach of an engine and I found it immensely frustrating that the gearing was so long blunting performance and reducing number of gearchanges you could make while using it's full reach - all just to give it a better emissions figure. 84 mph in second gear and 110mph+ in 3rd is simply too long for me. 2nd with PDK takes you ~75mph and 3rd to <100mph - you get slightly better straight line performance (not the be all and end all, but a nice bonus) and you get to use more of the gears more of the time with less risk to your licence

[Mario149]

XGT said:

the gearing isn't any better with the pdk by the way.

Yes it is, look at the specs. I've also driven both specifically looking at what speed they redlined, there is a fairly significant difference

[DuncGTS]

I wanted manual over auto for my Gts, as just like to drive the car fully when I get time to use it.
Yes the auto box is great and fast, but for me it just leaves you not much to do and for me that's a bit boring.
But we all like different things and that's good, your choice.

[Timmy Pop]

Hi all,

Got a high spec GTS Cayman 2014 Oct manual in white I'm selling early next year if anyone is interested?

Thought I'd piggy back on this thread!

[Timmy Pop]

Hi all,

Got a high spec GTS Cayman 2014 Oct manual in white I'm selling early next year if anyone is interested?

Thought I'd piggy back on this thread!

[XGT]

Mario149 said:

XGT said:

C
the gearing isn't any better with the pdk by the way.

Yes it is, look at the specs. I've also driven both specifically looking at what speed they redlined, there is a fairly significant difference

See that's what happens. With pdk there is nothing better to do at speed than analyse spec sheets and watch the speedo and rev counter ... meanwhile the rest of us are otherwise engaged in rev matching and stirring a stick around