Cayman S as a daily ?
Discussion
As a daily driver:
Negative points:
Loud and droning when cruising
Harsh ride
Heavy steering at slow speeds
Only two seats
Horrible interface for stereo etc
Gutless at low revs so overtaking is a bit embarrassing
Positive points:
Small
Good visibility (except directly backwards)
More economical than expected
Comfortable
Reasonable luggage space
It has a Porsche badge
Negative points:
Loud and droning when cruising
Harsh ride
Heavy steering at slow speeds
Only two seats
Horrible interface for stereo etc
Gutless at low revs so overtaking is a bit embarrassing
Positive points:
Small
Good visibility (except directly backwards)
More economical than expected
Comfortable
Reasonable luggage space
It has a Porsche badge
Gen 1 - 3.4 Cayman S
Yeap, great car, apart from when I fancy taking the push bike!
Depends what car you're coming from/expecting. Its not an M3 or C63. Its a proper sports car.
Don't agree with the comments on performance, I'm yet to be embarrassed by anything, if you spend your life doing diesel style 4th gear drag races from 20 mph then perhaps, but then you're treated to that great Porsche engine note on pick up. Use the gears and get beyound 4,500 as often as possible, not much on the road will keep up.
The cabin is perfectly pleasant for any type of trip, especially A road commutes, and on the motorway, with cruise it settles down perflectly, and will happily sits at whatever speed you choose, with no drone. I don't notice any bobing as some 911 owners might suggest. (I previously had a Remus, which sounded epic, but was partial to drone in the 2,500 - 2,900 rev range. I took that off, and now revel in the Porsche engine sound again, lovely! Gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day)
The PCM/Nav system is perfectly fine, would have been better with rear speakers, but if you turn it up, it certainly sounds good enough for Radio 2 to me!
Ride on 19's with PASM is firm, but no worse than firmly sprung hot hatches or M Sport BMWs, in fact, much better I'd say. We suffer from a lot of subsidence in our area and the roads are horrendous, as smooth as the lunar surface, it does give the shocks a bit of a work out, which can cause noise in the cabin, but you can smack a pot hole or too and they'll be absorbed beautifully. Tyre noise might be an issue, but the girlfriend's MINI is louder.
Around town the steering is perfectly weighted, I've haven't driven anything else with such feel. That might be a problem if you're driving on Britains worst roads, but otherwise, its one of the biggest reasons to buy a Cayman.
MPG, on a commute I average 30mpg. That's with a couple of blasts out of roadabouts.
I'm currently pondering whether a 996 GT3 would be equally usuable!
Yeap, great car, apart from when I fancy taking the push bike!
Depends what car you're coming from/expecting. Its not an M3 or C63. Its a proper sports car.
Don't agree with the comments on performance, I'm yet to be embarrassed by anything, if you spend your life doing diesel style 4th gear drag races from 20 mph then perhaps, but then you're treated to that great Porsche engine note on pick up. Use the gears and get beyound 4,500 as often as possible, not much on the road will keep up.
The cabin is perfectly pleasant for any type of trip, especially A road commutes, and on the motorway, with cruise it settles down perflectly, and will happily sits at whatever speed you choose, with no drone. I don't notice any bobing as some 911 owners might suggest. (I previously had a Remus, which sounded epic, but was partial to drone in the 2,500 - 2,900 rev range. I took that off, and now revel in the Porsche engine sound again, lovely! Gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day)
The PCM/Nav system is perfectly fine, would have been better with rear speakers, but if you turn it up, it certainly sounds good enough for Radio 2 to me!
Ride on 19's with PASM is firm, but no worse than firmly sprung hot hatches or M Sport BMWs, in fact, much better I'd say. We suffer from a lot of subsidence in our area and the roads are horrendous, as smooth as the lunar surface, it does give the shocks a bit of a work out, which can cause noise in the cabin, but you can smack a pot hole or too and they'll be absorbed beautifully. Tyre noise might be an issue, but the girlfriend's MINI is louder.
Around town the steering is perfectly weighted, I've haven't driven anything else with such feel. That might be a problem if you're driving on Britains worst roads, but otherwise, its one of the biggest reasons to buy a Cayman.
MPG, on a commute I average 30mpg. That's with a couple of blasts out of roadabouts.
I'm currently pondering whether a 996 GT3 would be equally usuable!
t lolI've just (Friday) picked up a Cayman S. I traded in an Elise SC & sold my Freelander to buy the car with the intention of the Cayman being my sole means of transport. So far so good. Admittedly I'm in the "honeymoon" period but this thing ticks plenty of the right boxes. I race bikes (pedalled type) & used the Freelander to lug my bikes to races etc. With the Porsche I've got the factory roof bars & a Thule bike rack so that problem is sorted. The Elise was the adrenalin pump & these Caymans have a more than respectable turn of speed & feel very planted. You feel very confident to exploit the chassis whereas the Lotus was stupidly quick but the car always had half an eye on you, ready to punish you should you get it wrong. In my hands, point to point I'd say the Cayman would be quicker.
andyroo said:
As a daily driver:
Negative points:
Loud and droning when cruising
Harsh ride
Heavy steering at slow speeds
Only two seats
Horrible interface for stereo etc
Gutless at low revs so overtaking is a bit embarrassing
Speaking from my Gen II S point of view..Negative points:
Loud and droning when cruising
Harsh ride
Heavy steering at slow speeds
Only two seats
Horrible interface for stereo etc
Gutless at low revs so overtaking is a bit embarrassing
- its not loud/droning when cruising. There's a tyre noise at motorways speeds, but not to an annoying level, exhaust noise when cruising is quiet below 100mph.
- ride is fine, I have PASM/19" wheels, and no issues there
- steering is perfectly weighted, with supreme feel, not heavy,
- two seats is not a problem unless you need to move more than 2 people
- stereo on the gen II is fine
- pick up from 2000rpm onwards is great, so not sure what you're on about there.
Furthermore the bluetooth on the Gen II means I can talk on the phone legally when driving, which is convenient, the heated seats make it a nice place to be on cold mornings, and the aircon keeps me cool on warm days.
the bose stereo, and universal audio interface mean I can blast tunes out to my hearts content when I wish.
so I think it a great daily, even though I don't use it as that, as I mostly walk to work.. I find myself wishing I had to commute in it, and sometimes choose to drive in the morning to make use of the car!.
R Soul said:
andyroo said:
As a daily driver:
Negative points:
Loud and droning when cruising
Harsh ride
Heavy steering at slow speeds
Horrible interface for stereo etc
Gutless at low revs so overtaking is a bit embarrassing
IdiotNegative points:
Loud and droning when cruising
Harsh ride
Heavy steering at slow speeds
Horrible interface for stereo etc
Gutless at low revs so overtaking is a bit embarrassing
From my experience of owning a Boxster and 3 Caymans over the years:
1 You can get a drone in the cabin at motorway speeds, I don't really notice it and a BOSE stereo is a good solution.
2 The ride isn't harsh, depends what you're comparing it to but PASM makes a huge difference, without it it's still not that bad.
3 Heavy Steering??? Not noticed that, I'd suggest more time at the gym.
4 Stereo interface is fine, I've had Caymans with PCM and standard radio, both perfectly adequate, look dated compared to touch screen systems but still easy to use and look good.
5 Gutless at low revs? You need the car above 4k rpm to get at the performance, this often involves changing gear for an overtake, I can only assume you're comparing it to a turbo.
It's a perfect daily drive IMO. The hatch and boot space is great, ok fuel economy, it's comfortable in traffic and in the right colours is a very understated looking and usable car with plenty of performance for use in the UK.
I've been using an '06 Cayman S as a daily since March.
My last car was an S3 and I can't say I've found many negatives at all. Mine has 19" wheels with PASM and I would say the ride is better than the S3 in normal mode, the interior is a nice place to be ( mine has the full leather option ) and although the PCM looks a bit dated it does the job well.
I have taken a couple of trips to Europe and had no problems with the motorway ride / noise and the PCM worked fine and even diverted us around a couple of jams.
The steering is heavy compared to some cars ( I'm not sure if the steering in my wife's Audi is connected to the wheels ), clutch is also heavier but it's not something I notice now I am used to the car.
Could also argue there is a lack of low end torque compared to a Turbo ( Petrol or Diesel ) but once in the revs it goes well enough. Certainly on the motorway it's not a problem as the revs are high enough for it to pull reasonably well.
I was also surprised by the practicality, the combination of two boots and lots of trinket space in the cabin makes it fine for a week away. I even had some space to fill up with booze when coming back from Europe.
My last car was an S3 and I can't say I've found many negatives at all. Mine has 19" wheels with PASM and I would say the ride is better than the S3 in normal mode, the interior is a nice place to be ( mine has the full leather option ) and although the PCM looks a bit dated it does the job well.
I have taken a couple of trips to Europe and had no problems with the motorway ride / noise and the PCM worked fine and even diverted us around a couple of jams.
The steering is heavy compared to some cars ( I'm not sure if the steering in my wife's Audi is connected to the wheels ), clutch is also heavier but it's not something I notice now I am used to the car.
Could also argue there is a lack of low end torque compared to a Turbo ( Petrol or Diesel ) but once in the revs it goes well enough. Certainly on the motorway it's not a problem as the revs are high enough for it to pull reasonably well.
I was also surprised by the practicality, the combination of two boots and lots of trinket space in the cabin makes it fine for a week away. I even had some space to fill up with booze when coming back from Europe.
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