Just Another Silver Porsche 982 GTS

What is it?

Just Another Silver Porsche, but this one is mine.

[seefar has a great thread on his 981 with better photos and wittier wordsmithing than this effort if you are short on time].

718 Cayman GTS 4.0, ordered new and collected last April after the obligatory year long wait.

A simple spec in which I studiously disregarded the "must haves" found on the threads dedicated to specs and depreciation. This car is for me, I'm not concerned with future values and intend driving it rather than worrying about mileage.

GT silver, some extra leather bits, PDK, BOSE and LED headlights just about covers the spec. It ended up being quite similar to the 25th Anniversary edition.

A couple of build photos...



Final checks...


Stick in on a boat and send it to me.


What's the Plan?
Delivery. Running in. Trip to the Isle of Man. Trip to Spain & Portugal.

Delivery was meant to be in February 2023 but delays saw the car arrive in April which worked out nicely with some decent weather.

First order of business was to get it properly run in. 1800 miles, with a roadtrip to the Isle of Man only 4 weeks away, it was time to put some miles into the car and find any wrinkles that needed attending to.

Straight from the dealers and a trip to overlook the Cotswolds...


...obeyed the Manual for running in and largely avoiding motorways so load and rpm were varied. Do I get a Gold star?

Off to the good people at BatterseaPowerwash for ceramic coating. I'd meant to do this myself, but time was against me and the team at Battersea did a much better job than I ever could have, so the car probably dodged a bullet there.


I also got to spend 2 1/2 hours driving from Battersea to Heathrow. Its comfortable, PDK makes life easy in traffic, visibility is excellent. The downside of that is I can see every deliveroo e-bike rider squeezing through the traffic in my mirrors. Please don't scratch my quite new, and ridicuously shiny car!

Until you've lived with a car there are a few questions which remain unanswered. As a roadtrip car I expect to do some long days, so "will I be happy sitting in this car for 6-7 hours?" was top of my list.

The GTS as standard gets Sports Seats Plus , I've had some days in these in a 911 and they remain my favourite Porsche seats currently available. I'm a lanky streak with a boney rear and these work a treat.

To be sure I went for a coffee to Weston Super Mare. A six hour roundtrip with one twenty minute break and back home. Perfect, no comfort issues and I got to log some off road mileage...



A slight rattle from the passenger door noted, maybe it'll sort itself out? Other than that the car performed perfectly, the BOSE isn't great, but that so far is the only area where expectations haven't been exceeded.

1600 miles covered in the first 30 odd days and the Isle of Man beckons.

Isle of Man
The remaining 200 miles of running in are done on the drive up to Heysham for the ferry across to The Rock.
From home I drove up to the Forest of Bowland for an overnight stop before the ferry the next day and returned a very un-PH like 39.6 mpg!



I'd been given some recommendations from fellow PH'ers for decent roads from the Forest of Bowland to the ferry at Heysham and they didn't disappoint.



As I rolled on to the ferry the running in was completed. As a reward I got to park outside on the ferry...



... which meant it was completely covered in dried salt spray by the time we arrived in Douglas. Cleaned the screen and the next day it got the crud jetwashed off and a little tour of the island.

If you've never been to the Isle of Man do try and make the trip. It's a wonderful place, compact but varied, the motorsport heritage, derestricted roads and fantastic scenery.


A great 5 days visiting friends and working the car a bit harder. No negatives, plenty of performance, secure and predictable and delivering that wonderful mid engined feel which is what sets this car apart from many others. Get it right and you feel the car rotate around you, instantly gratifying. Brakes, excellent.

The trip home ticked another box. Two up and plenty of luggage as I was dropping my friend off at Heathrow, no shortage of space or comfort.
So far it's going to plan.

Next update will be the first proper roadtrip to Spain/Portugal/France. More pictures of JASP up mountains, and some low quality video of lovely places where you can still enjoy motoring.

Proper sportscar that. Very jealous

Off to Spain...

Mid September and the Silver Porsche now has 3500 miles on the clock and the door rattle has been fixed. I've also fitted the smallest dashcam I could find, very easy and completely invisible from the driving position.


Luggage for a 3 week trip all goes in the front boot,along with a few spares, an old 911 aluminium scissor jack, some microfibre clothes and a pair of walking boots in the rear one, practicality box- ticked.

Off to Plymouth to catch the ferry to Santander in horrendous weather, which was the point at which I realised I'd never driven this silver Porsche in the rain. Fortunately it was raining so hard that the car still looked clean when I got to Plymouth (200 miles from home), and my pre-trip wash and polish hadn't been in vain.

No ground clearance issues getting on the ferry and we're off on time . Fortunately I don't suffer from sea sickness as there were some very green looking passengers on board as it was quite choppy for the first few hours, after sunset it got very amusing/rough and I rolled out of my little bunk a couple of times. So I went for a walk around the good ship Pont Aven... quite a few people get stuck into the bar immediately they get on board, they were definitely regretting that now. Bouncy boat & hangover isn't a good mix.
[Hopefully there's an accessible YouTube link here?]





It all calms down by sunrise and Santander hoves into view and again it is all on schedule. All in all a fun crossing, the food and facilities onboard were all good and the Brittany Ferries' staff were most welcoming.

30 minutes after driving off the ferry I was leaving the port with Passport and customs checks done. No cavity search required.

The route was westward along the coast then down the N-621 through the Picos de Europa and on to my first night's stop in Benavente (c.230 miles).

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Santander/42.977...

I'd never been to the Picos before and had high expectations, but whilst the roads were interesting they weren't much fun. Heavy rain the previous week meant numerous roadworks and contraflows were in place, and generally heavy traffic dampened the fun. But just driving MSP (My Silver Porsche, unless someone has a better name?!) is enjoyable, burbling along enjoying the scenery poking through the clouds.

The the landscape opened up, the traffic disappeared and blue skies showed themselves.



The last 40 km of N621/625 into Riano were fantastic with good surfaces, winding up and over some terrain and into increasingly good weather.
[YouTube links are just off my dashcam, so in 1 minute chunks and not of the highest quality, but hopefully might give PHers who've not been there an idea of the roads and views].



Car spotting and then the sunshine...



Lovely views dropping down into Riano,


and then keep heading south arriving at the Parador in Benaventa by about 4pm. My first stay in a Parador and it was a delight. Straight out for a walk around the town and a couple of beers. I soon realise I need to brush up on some Spanish as no one outside of the hotel has any english, I feel a bit embarrassed, but get by and don't quite die of thirst.

Tomorrow's destination is Guarda, eastern Portugal and adjacent to the Serra de Estrella National Park.

MSP has been flawless. Comfortable, quick enough and rewarding to steer.

Many thanks. Nice to know it's of interest as I've got no idea if many people read this stuff. I've a new found respect for those who do almost daily updates of their roadtrips, it seems to take me an age to find some relevant photos etc, but I don't really set off with that in mind. Some better organisation might make it quicker.

The dashcam is very wideangle which might make thinks look quicker, I was really enjoying the scenery and giving myself some nice margins.

Luggage space certainly isn't an issue. Having the frunk which doesn't get hot from engine heat is nice too, don't want to cook any wine that gets picked up along the way.

To the top of Portugal and beyond...

So onward from Guarda to Covilha and a three night stay from which to explore the Serra da Estrella, some of the best driving roads you're ever likely to leave rubber on.

Here's a Google Map link for those who like to have a more thorough look around and a route which covers a few of the suggested roads.

The Silver Porsche was perfect on these roads, nimble and with enough grunt to effectively flatten the terrain with plenty of performance in hand. And here's why you might consider going there, wonderful roads, scenery and the magic ingredient which spoils so many other contenders... not too many people.



3 truly memorable days of driving around the area, it could easily be regarded as a destination for a roadtrip rather than somewhere to visit enroute to elsewhere.
Numerous options for scenic and/or spirited drives, but this is possibly the best known piece of tarmac in the area. 07:30 on a Sunday morning, and it quickly dawned on me that I was the first person to go up the road this day, I could see my tyre impressions on the dew and sand that had settled on the road overnight.
There's also the possibility that some decent sized rocks will have migrated to the road and using my car to move them seems like a poor use of resources, mine anyway.



And a link if you want to see a few more minutes of that climb (in 1 minute dashcam chunks ) which starts from just above the treeline and climbs to Torre, the summit of the range and Portugal's highest point.

At the summit of Torre (1993m) there's a couple of gift/cheese/coffee/shagging rug shops and the remains of the radar domes. Spectacular.







Whilst that road is rather special I might have had my best driving experience on a 20 mile stretch of the N230 , that happy coming together of great weather, almost no traffic and a road which at the correct speed has a flow that brings out the best in a car. MSP loved it! Good enough that I drove it again the next day just to be sure. Up, down, sweepers, broad hairpins, in short... big fun.

Strong brakes and plenty of notice when they are getting close to their limits inspires confidence and a front end which seems to stay absolutely stuck to the tarmac whatever means that MSP flatters a hamfisted pilot like myself. Nothing wrong with a bit of self deception on occassion.

And not forgetting the evening ritual, it's important to stay hydrated. Cheers.


Next time it's off to Madrid, bull fighting and wine.

Thanks for the update . Not somewhere I had considered, not easy for me to get to , but you may have changed my mind .

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2 as HWW said. Added the polarizing filter and a 256GB memory card which is good for around 16 hours of recording iirc. My post on 29th Dec above shows the camera postion.

I wanted something as small/discrete as possible and this is not visible from the driving position and not much of an irritation to passengers. As a temporary fit I just used the supplied USB power cable, intending to hardwire it to the fuse box, but like all temporary fixes that work this will probably become permanent.

Quality is decent and fits my requirements. The memory card can be removed without having to unclip the camera, and you can link it to your phone to get a live view and set where it is pointing and various other settings. Function and set up was pretty straightforward.

The power cable exits the camera on the right (viewed from in the car) and is then simply tucked between the windscreen glass and headlining. Very easy to do, a plastic trim tool makes it even easier. Then down the A pillar, again between glass and trim. With the passenger door open there's a route into the back of the glovebox which is quite obvious. The USB A end of the cable is then plugged into the glovebox USB port.

I'll try and take a pic next time I have the car out. Black cable, black interior! But I'll give it a go.

Cracking car and a good read. Am I the only one who continually reads the thread title as “928 GTS”? I guess it just shows my age!!

I really enjoyed watching your YouTube piece and found it a little humbling too. Very candid and all the better for it imo.

At one level a roadtrip is just tarmac and turns, but there are deeper motivations,rewards & challenges which I might have a go at addressing in my lumpy style when I eventually get to the end of this "trip report".

Here's a link to Paul's piece, well worth carving out a little time to watch.