718 Cayman Pictures Thread

[Tim bo]

Are those racing yellow seatbelts I spy there?

[Tim bo]

Splash of yellow here and there, why not. Makes stuff more interesting if nothing else.

I've gone for a very monochromatic interior, and went for grey seatbelts to keep with the theme.

[Tim bo]

Woooooo a miami!

Niiiice. Looking great with the black rims. Look forward to more pics of this one.

[Tim bo]

A 718 with the chrome window surrounds. Wish I'd considered these more seriously before I locked down spec as I think they look great. Suspect they may suit a darker-coloured car like this agate one though.

Edited by Tim bo on Tuesday 14th February 10:58

[Tim bo]

Military green with satin wrap anybody?

[Tim bo]

Looking really good Scotty.

So the 'shipping issue' which prevented my 718CS from being shipped last week didn't impact yours.

Lucky bugger. Enjoy!

[Tim bo]

Sexy! Looks like one mean machine with the black rims.

Liking Porsche crest on headrest too ... i'm a sucker for such things.

Nice sunny day too wherever you are - great for first drives.

Cracking. Enjoy.

[Tim bo]

As with the 718 Boxster, Techart has turned its attentions to the Cayman ...

[Tim bo]

Mmm Carmine looks really good with the black rims on the 718.

Stunning example. Lookin forward to more pics.

Enjoy!

[Tim bo]

Thanks for pics bobo.

High-gloss rims, any indication yet as to how quickly the gloss fades with dirt and brake-dust? Wondering how often they'd need a clean, or if the gloss paint is such that dust etc doesn't tend to stick much ...?

[Tim bo]

ikonic, if I recall you've gone for the Cayman S wheels, but standard silver, not satin or black?

[Tim bo]

Look at the shiny shiny!

Wow - fabulous!

[Tim bo]

Picked her up today. Finally.

OPC went to great lengths to make it a fun pickup.

Got a few phone pics inside the centre. Crappy pics don't do her justice, and it was a miserable day out there so no good light for outdoor shots.

Got detailing booked in mid-April, so will get the proper camera out, find a decent location on a day with good light, and get some proper pics.

Edited by Tim bo on Monday 20th March 16:01

[Tim bo]

Scotty982 said:

Looking good Tim bo

bobo67 said:

Although they will be a nightmare to clean the turbo wheels really suit sapphire blue -looks extra well

andywalton said:

Looks great, Tim. Look forward to seeing some arty shots when the weather picks up.

LiamH66 said:

Yay! Looks stunning Tim.

Thanks for all the kind comments fellas.

Sparkyhd said:

Looks great Tim. Didn't realise you could have the embossing on the central storage lid.

Thanks Sparky.

Yep I wanted a subtle touch of flair in the interior.

ANDERS MICHENEK said:

what model is that Tim bo please

Spec below;
718 Cayman S
6-speed manual gearbox
20-inch 911 Turbo Wheels
Sapphire Blue Metallic
Sport-Tex leather interior in Black
LED headlights including Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS Plus)
ParkAssist (front and rear)
Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM)
Sport Chrono Package including mode switch
Sports exhaust system (incl. sports tailpipes in silver colour)
Cruise control
Automatically dimming mirrors with integrated rain sensors
Sports seats Plus (2-way, electric)
Two-zone automatic climate control
Smoking package
Passenger footwell storage net
Silver Grey seat belts
Storage compartment lid with model logo
Navigation Module for Porsche Communication Management
BOSE® surround sound-system
Digital radio
Connect Plus

[Tim bo]

ikonic said:

Looks great and well done for choosing the best colour and manual!

Spec looks excellent and very complete too.

What are your first impressions? Everything you expected it to be and then some?

Thanks ikonic.

First ownership impressions formed during 80 miles of rain-soaked driving around and about after pickup from OPC on a miserable day weather-wise yesterday, on a mixture of all roads from city roads, country lanes, A roads, B roads and motorways.

Most things thus far I'm extremely happy with. A couple of niggles which I'll point out.

Interior
The cabin and interior feels compact and purposeful. Everything around the driver is where it should be. The switches feel both robust and expensive.

The seats and driving position are first rate. I went with the sports seats plus, 2-way electric. Firm, supple, good back-support. Steering wheel fully adjustable in all 3 dimensions. Very low seating position which I'm very much still getting used to, but it certainly feels 'right'.

Stalks do exactly what I want them to do. Wasn't aware that there is a 4th stalk which controls the display screen in the right-hand binnacle in the dash, to the right of the tach. Very easy using this to swap between the different display modes, from Mini-nav to G-force to entertainment media to track timers to car status. Mostly kept it on the display with the engine and oil temps, oil and boost pressures. Had great fun watching the turbine boost pressure build up and seeing that translate to the road.

PCM is first rate, and feels like a significant step up from the BMW I-Drive I'm used to in my previous M235i. Touch screen is definitely where we should be in 2017
Interface is pretty slick, quick, intuitive and not too fiddly. Am still figuring out the Jukebox and media settings, and have used up a chunk of the 40GB internal drive with my tunes. Playlists are proving difficult but that's kind of expected with differing formats and compatibilities.

Sport-Tex leather I'm not impressed with. Looks and feels a little cheap. Main reason I went with it was for the contrasting stitching around the cabin, which looks great, but the touch and feel of the sport-tex itself is a bit meh. Full leather much nicer somehow. Will see if I get used to it.


Drive
Perfect. Superb. Awe-inspiring. Lots of other superlatives and no hyperbole.

The car feels supple and light, through both gentle, sweeping curves at speed or with more vigorous turn-ins. Haven't pushed it at all hard yet though so very much still first impressions here. Yet certainly felt like my confidence increased throughout the day in the corners, especially considering what a wet day it was.
I know exactly where the car is in the corner, and feel that I can put it exactly where I want it to be. The M235i was pretty good in this regard, the M and M-Lite BMWs are excellent machines dynamically, but the 718 really felt like I'd levelled up and was managing the same roads with far greater ease. Astonishing to me. Really feels as if I am in a thoroughbred Sports car.

Left the PASM untouched so only on default pliancy. Wasn't aware of too much firmness through the 20" rims at all at this setting. Low speed over speed bumps, small potholes, shifting left to right, braking into corners and accelerating out, the active suspension was never upset or did anything untoward. Soaked up all that was asked of it, and held the car firm throughout. I'll try the PASM on firm setting on my next outting.

Gearbox-wise, the manual 'box is absolutely terrific, and not just because I'm so pleased to be out of the ZF-8 auto with its too-many-gears and constant flappy-paddling and back into a manual with a stick and clutch, which I've missed terribly.
With a short throw and brisk change this is easily the best manual I've ever had the pleasure to shift.
The clutch has the right feel; not so light it feels jittery and twitchy, and not so heavy it feels cumbersome. It's a goldilocks clutch.

Only niggle drive-wise is the electronic parking brake. I may get used to it, but throughout the day yesterday it felt unwieldy and unnatural. Have yet to trust it. And still getting used to the auto-hold function, and how I need to use that in concert with the parking-brake (if at all!).


Engine
What the heck! What the bloody hellfire is this thing!!? This loud, mad, gruff, harsh, burbling, barking mechanical lump of insanity?!

When I was busy signing all my money away in the OPC and chatting to my sales exec, one of the other staff fired up the car next to me to drive it out of the showroom and into the bay ready for me to drive away. I almost burst out laughing in shock! I didn't recall the sound being quite like that when I had my test drives last summer. Perhaps I just never heard the engine from outside.

When I finally did get into the seat in the bay and fired her up ready to go, I actually did laugh. There is nothing on this planet I've heard that has that sound. It's utterly peculiar, and I utterly love it. The sound of this F4T has had all sorts of adjectives thrown its way since its release, some good, most not, and comparisons made to other cars past and present, from air-cooled beetles to bug-eyed Scoobys and many in-between. It has elements of these other cars, but is not quite like any singular one of them, more like many of them added together, then builds on them, to give one enormous, massive, huge belly-full of character. It's like the Brian Blessed of the engine world, it shouts at you and doesn't care.

As I pulled out of the bay and onto the road I immediately wanted PSE on and Sport mode engaged to get more volume and noise behind this incredible character. I became intoxicated by it. So very harsh and gruff, it really sounds like it wants to crawl out of the engine bay and chew your leg off.

And does this character extend to the way it pushes the car down the road? Christ does it. Turbine comes in quickly at low to mid range and shoves you rapidly down the tarmac with an almighty punch. The delay, or lag, before the turbine spools, was quite prominent. Moreso than I remember from my test-drives. Yet somehow that just added to the character of this incredible engine. If the lag were not so prominent, then nor would the thump in the back as the turbine ramps up be so prominent.

I can certainly understand some folk not getting on with the lag. It is present, there is no escaping it. So if it annoys you then it will always remain a niggle I suppose.
It is a component of the forced-induction, and, for me, it is, partly at least, the forced-induction which gives this engine its special character.

I spent a happy couple of hours in the rain, playing with acceleration from low-revs, keeping revs on-boost, playing with deceleration to come off-boost and back on again, finding the sweet spots of this engine.

Remarkably different from the 3.0l twin-scroll turbo lump I'm used to in the M235i. The twin-scroll delivery is so much more subtle, the thump in the back more like a nudge. Performance stats between the M235i and the 718CS are not too dissimilar, but there is a chasm of difference in terms of delivery. The harsh bark of the F4T in the 718CS eggs me on and encourages me and pushes me in a manner that the larger straight-six of the beemer doesn't.

~

In summary, waking up this morning, I feel lucky and privileged to see the 718 CS outside. It feels very special.

Edited by Tim bo on Tuesday 21st March 09:57

[Tim bo]

Maxym said:

And respect for using the word 'pliancy'. I think some journo years ago used 'compliance' and it's been used unthinkingly ever since. Compliant with what? Some instructions or something?

Heh

Not sure if I made it up but wanted to refer to differing levels of pliant, so pliancy seemed fitting.

[Tim bo]

andywalton said:

Tim, great write up thank you. Very interested in your comments as my spec is very very similar to yours.

I am leaning toward the Sport-Tex for the deviated stitching but mainly I would prefer Alcantara but that's not available on the S so thought the Sport-Tex would be a good alternative. Are they comfortable? I find the leather 2-way seats tend to be a bit thin and hard when compared with the 18-ways. Also, as I'm pretty likely to be hit by the price increase it has made me question whether there is anything I could do without so have been re-thinking the sport exhaust. On my PEC day I had a car with it, but I was concentrating so much I can't really remember whether there was a big difference in having it on or off. Would you spec it again? I was surprised at how angry the engine sounds from outside and I like it, but is it enhanced significantly by the sports exhaust?

To be honest Andy, I've not tried or sat in the 18-way seats, so can't compare I'm afraid. At roughly £2k more for the 18-way over the 2-way, I personally felt this was too big an expense. Other folk who have specced the 18-way tend to say they're excellent seats however.

So far the 2-way are perfectly comfortable for me, but I don't usually find much discomfort in car seats, so I make a poor guinea-pig in this regard.

The Sport-Tex I'm still ambivalent about. My immediate reaction on seeing and touching the actual sport-tex material which makes up the main surface area of the seats was that it was the same material as you would find in a 1990s Japanese car. Just didn't seem to fit in with the excellent materials and textiles that make up the rest of the cabin. May be a personal thing, I've not heard a single complaint or similar comment from others who have specced it, so I guess it could just be down to tastes. Regardless, the contrasting white stitching is fabulous, so does make up for my indifference to the seat material.

PSE, well, this is probably the wrong time for me to be commenting on it. I've just been out for a 45 min blast in the spring sunshine, windows right the way down, in Sport mode, with PSE firmly and definitively set to angry (suitable word, Andy). Once warmed up, this F4T gets incandescent. I didn't get any real chance to test the overrun sounds yesterday in the rain, but I certainly did today. I'm being careful during run-in to keep below 4k revs, but even lifting off in 2nd at 4k revs the sound of the exhaust snarls and bangs and barks. And it is indeed very loud. No subtlety nor elegance nor smoothness here; it's very coarse and uncouth. I find it wonderful, and I've become hooked.

So because of this sudden addiction, I've not actually been able to switch off PSE to try to do a sober and reasoned comparison of the differences between PSE on/off, Sport mode, Sport plus etc. I suspect that PSE exaggerates and amplifies the sound rather than alter the timbre or pitch. Quantitative rather than qualitative in nature, then. For those (plentiful! ) folk who are non-plussed or entirely indifferent or just don't care about the sound, then PSE is not going to help.

I'll try to approach such tests more objectively and comprehensively, or at least less one-sidedly, over the coming weekend, when the weather is currently looking good and I have a couple of long drives planned.

Edited by Tim bo on Tuesday 21st March 15:36

[Tim bo]

alanshaw said:

Scotty,
The "Hold" function is basically hand brake without actually applying it by hand ie: when stationary depress the brake pedal until HOLD comes up green on dash, take foot off brake & car will not move. When accelerator is depressed the car will come out of hold & accelerate. Similar to driving off - no need to manually release hand brake as it release automatically.

A ha! This I didn't know. Useful!

So I suppose the parking brake isn't for your normal stopping at lights etc, but more for steeper inclines?

Will play with Hold a bit more today if I get a chance.

Scotty982 said:

Does anyone know if you get a USB cable with the car to use with connect Im sure the demo cars I have driven had one but my car hasn't got one ?

There is a USB slot in the glove box and also under the centre armerest.

andywalton said:

Thanks Tim, it's great to read someone really enjoying the car and to get a bit of spring sunshine perfect ... PSE stays, I think you said it all. Turn it on and enjoy. I've just been told July build for me so another few months of thinking about changes to the spec.

How long is the run-in, is it fixed to 4K or can you push it as the miles run up?

July not too far away ...

Manual says to keep below 4k revs for the first 3,000km (or 1,864 miles). Try to avoid short trips. And don't track the car

I had meant to ask the OPC for their added input on run-in, as opinions differ, but entirely forgot. They will be calling me this week sometime to ask how I'm getting on, so will ask then.

There are dozens of threads on PH in the Porsche section and elsewhere on run-in periods, with, of course, wildly differing opinions. Some say it's fine to rag it once you're out the door, others maintain strict adherence to the owner's manual.

I normally take a common-sense approach. Keep it below 4k for much of the advised run-in mileage. Above about 1k miles I may go over 4k revs a bit once the engine is warm, but won't red-line until the end of the advised run-in.
Avoiding short trips is difficult as I'm on the outskirts of London, but will avoid using the car if the distance is short enough that the engine doesn't get fully up to temp.

Fortunately, this being a proper sports car, there is the option to show proper information on the engine status on the display in the dash, so engine temp, oil temp and oil pressure are all there. It has become a real frustration with most car manufacturers now removing this info, leaving it to warning lights if something is wrong with the engine. BMW did the same, and moved engine temp display to a hidden menu option for which an esoteric access code is needed to be input to access it. Ridiculous. Another step toward removing drivers from what the car is actually doing.

Edited by Tim bo on Wednesday 22 March 07:38

[Tim bo]

Yeh I only do around 4k miles a year.

2k really is very minimal.

OPC called this afternoon so I asked their advice on run-in. They said they usually tell their new car buyers to take it easy and keep revs down till 1,500 miles.

Got a long road trip in the 718CS in 5 weeks time to Nîmes in the south of France with a buddy of mine.

Hoping to do lots of miles before then, so may reach that sort of mileage during the road trip.

Got over 200 miles on the clock already in just a couple of days.

Edited by Tim bo on Wednesday 22 March 22:37

[Tim bo]

Silver and black - a winning combo!

Lovely motor there