U turn if you want to, Slippy's not for turning .....
Discussion
or is he ? ? ?
Best uncork something or get the kettle on ......
Porsche, like any good quality narcotic, is highly addictive, and try as I might to quit the habit, I can't. I am an addict.
Unfortunately unlike the enticing deals offered by your local purveyor of recreational pharmaceuticals, few, if any, first Porsche hits are free (though looking at current aircooled prices, my first 964 RS bought for £23k 15 years ago was as good as...)
Faced with raising the funds for a house build 18 months ago, my Mk1 996 GT3 along with my 964 RS had to be sold. Last summer, whilst full of excitement at the thought of the impending house build, was my first sans "toy" for many, many years. And by last autumn I was all too aware that 2017 would most likely be no different.
As the nights drew in, more time was spent looking through the PH classifieds and Autotrader, along with the usual purveyors of quality Pork to the gentry. The more I looked, the more it became clear that getting back into any iteration of GT3 or indeed a decent spec (LHD, manual, preferably without sunroof, 2WD) 993 or 964 was going to be a tall financial order. Much scouting on mobile.de only confirmed my worst thoughts, I was out of the game with little or nothing in the way of chips to get back in.....
Faced with another summer sans "toy", I started looking at Gen 1 987 3.4 Caymans. Plenty of cars on the market, but nice examples (lowish miles, strong colours, manual, decent coloured interiors and decent spec) weren't exactly thick on the ground, and those that ticked my boxes were worrying close to the asking prices of leggyer Gen 2 3.4 Caymans.
All too aware of the engine issues that can afflict the Gen 1 cars, and knowing that funds would be tight over the coming 12-18 months, it made more sense to spend an extra £4-5k and buy a Gen 2 car with their less troublesome powerplants.
At this point budget creep entered the equation ...... Sure a nice sensible (40K) miles Gen 2 car with some decent options could be had for £26k (though when I was looking in late Nov/Dec there were few, if any Gen 2 cars in strong colours) but furthermore I knew I'd want to tweak whatever Gen 2 car I bought, and thus the cost of seats/seat trimming, wheels/tyres, suspension kits, brakes, exhaust etc etc, soon elevated the cost to a price point perilously close to that of the fabled Cayman R.......
Now the stalwarts on here will know I've expressed my views on the lightweight Cayman R in less than glowing terms based on a week long roadtest back in 2011.
Having purchased a Gen 1 997 GT3 off Swindon OPC, it required several issues be addressed (a testament to Swindon's fine used car preparation standards. Not) Somewhat miffed at having to hand back the GT3, I demanded an example of the much lauded Cayman R as recompense (please note this is not my usual modus operandi, I'm normally very laid back and sanguine about what loan cars I'm given, unlike the average PH Porsche owner it would seem...)
Upon dropping the GT3 off at Swindon and chatting with the hugely professional service advisors (yeh right ...) not to mention demonstrating the issues with the car to their Master Technician, who clearly thought I'd arrived the previous day on one of these :
I was given the keys to an as new (less than 500 miles) GT ? Silver Cayman R. Having read the rave reviews, i was looking forward to the week ahead, though all too aware that filling the GT3's shoes was going to be a tall order for the lightweight Cayman.
The journey home up the M5 was tedious, and didn't really play to the car's strengths. All in all the Comfort seats were uninspiring, the engine lacklustre (note the mileage) the gearbox/shift like that of any other mass produced modern car, the exhaust note irritating (Sports exhaust fitted), and the final ignominy ? The brake pedal turned to mush after 3-4 miles of Slippy "abuse" on the twisty roads leading back to chez Slippy.
When I exited the cockpit the brakes were wafting smoke in manner reminiscent of someone enjoying a Havana cigar within the confines of the wheelarch ......
The Cayman sat on the drive forlornly for the next few days, my plans for an all out assault on the roads of N.Wales and the Evo Triangle dashed.
I did however take the car down to Fearnsport at Silverstone, which meant using the wonderful B4525 (aka The Welsh road) between Middleton Cheney and the A43 at Syresham, and here I noted the car's rather impressive balance and composure, not to mention it's undoubted pace ....
Finally the call from Swindon OPC arrived. with the good news the GT3 was ready for collection. The Cayman returned to it's home, not disgraced, but not the object of desire I'd hoped/wanted it to be. My summation was aired on here some three years later in response to something inflammatory the then wet behind the ears Porsche newcomer ORD had said on a thread in General Gassing
Apologies, the wonderful PH architecture won't allow me to format this quote in italics or bold
Quote starts here :
"When my Slate grey Gen 1 GT3 went back to Swindon OPC for some warranty work, I requested a Cayman R as a loan car. Swindon were very accommodating and I found myself with the keys to an almost new GT Silver Cayman R for the next five days.
Having read all the glowing road tests of the recently launched car, I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.[/b]
Alas, I’m afraid it turned out to be rather a damp squib. If the 964 RS sounds like old tin cans (not sure what you’re referring to specifically ?) the Cayman R sounded like any other car on the road (but hey, at least by pressing a button you could make it sound “sporty”). And what a sporty noise it was. Not. Instead you got a slightly louder and more convoluted/synthesised version of the “basic” non-sport noise.
A word in your shell-like, get someone to take you out in a de-catted 964 RS, (preferably one fitted with a Cup pipe fitted) then you’ll know what “sporty” sounds like. But failing that, I’ll take you out for a spin in my Manthey modified GT3.
“But what if I don’t want the sporty noise all the time ?” you say. Simple, don’t tread on the loud pedal so heavily.
So my summation is thus :
Steering ? Lifeless, lacking in weight, feedback and to a lesser degree, feel (not helped by the Bridgestone tyres I suspect).
Brakes ? Rather lacking in feel, pathetically small and looked lost behind the rather lovely 19” lightweight wheels.
Engine ? Dull, lacking in any real character, top end verve and a decent soundtrack.
Internal door pulls ? A joke (see my original post below requoted for posterity) :
"Pull on the inner door latch release pulls (formed from doubled up loops of seat belt material) feel the way they release the door latches so mechanically (then try the pastiche of the same idea on the Cayman R and feel how, as a sop to the RS, they've tried to incorporate the same idea into a door trim that wasn't designed for it (neither was the release mechanism) and feel how utterly sh*te it feels in it's action when compared to the original. It's what happens when the marketing men decree what goes into a car, rather than letting an engineer decide"
Interior ? Bland and generally lacking any sense of occasion.
The drive ? Very accomplished (but wait for it), dull. I had the car five days, but having driven it from Swindon back oop North, it sat forlornly on the drive for the duration, as I couldn’t muster sufficient enthusiasm to take it on a proper cross country hoon across N.Wales. How sad is that ?
Conclusion ? Just not special enough, too amorphous and too anodyne for my taste.
Overly harsh ? Maybe. But anyone that's driven an air-cooled RS or a water-cooled GT car (well certainly the 996 iterations) will be all too aware that the Cayman, irrespective of how efficient it is at getting from A to B, has little in the way of character, limited tactility, and from my perspective is about as engaging as night down the pub with Simon Cowell.....
And ends here ^
Almost as damning as 911R's summation of his Mk2 996 GT3
Evening David, how's your blood pressure ? 
Anyway, back on track, fast forward to early January 2017 and I find myself at Cameron Sports Cars looking at a rather fine example of Meteor grey Cayman R, manual, Spyder wheels, carbon fibre buckets, quickshift, sports exhaust (iirc).
The drive is illuminating, the weather whilst typically cold for early January finds me road testing the car under an azure blue sky with the sun making an all too welcome appearance. the quickshift makes the gearbox a tad too baulky when cold, but once warmed through it's pretty much perfect. The sports exhaust is a bit meh still. But the car's intrinsic balance and composure on the roads North of Cmoose's front door, showed just what a capable package the Cayman is. I was rather smitten, but having owned a Gen 1 997 GT3 in Meteor (and it is a wonderful colour) I craved something stronger for the Cayman.
Whilst there were plenty of cars on the market (the yellow ex PGB press car with no A/C gave me many a sleepless night) none were the correct spec nor colour. So I kept coming back to the Guards red example at RPM in Knaresborough. Shocking photographed (sorry Nick et all) it didn't look good, but it ticked all the boxes : sensible mileage ie not collector status low, Spyder wheels, manual, carbon buckets, a classic Porsche colour and "sensibly" priced.
After several days procrastination, I figured I'd nothing to lose by driving up to Knaresborough and checking the car out, so headed up there to meet Nick and the team at RPM. Upon my arrival the Cayman sat outside looking a thousand times more impressive in the flesh than it had in the advert photos. And truth be known, I knew I'd be buying it before I walked over the threshold and introduced myself to Nick ! !
The testdrive was uneventful, the glorious weather I'd experienced only three days previously in the Cotswolds was but a distant memory, and replaced by Yorkshires finest persistent drizzle (or as I prefer to call it, pizzle) however whilst the weather was miserable, the Cayman really shone. No quickshift, no sports exhaust, and an engine that felt far more willing than the Meteor grey car at Cameron (or the Swindon loan car), and rolling on Michelin Pilot Sports rather than the ubiquitous Bridgestones, it made for a fun and entertaining driving experience.
Suffice to say a deal was struck and I headed home a very happy bunny indeed. Events on the property front meant the car stayed at RPM from early January until I picked it up some 5 weeks ago. The journey home left me with a healthy dose of buyers remorse (not uncommon for me) the seats whilst wonderful, are set too high, this triggered my usual back problems, and added to the drive home being 95% motorway miles, I arrived back tired, irritable, achey and generally wishing I'd not bought the bloody thing... ! ! !
Twenty four hours later I ventured out in the car feeling refreshed, less achey and more open minded. Driven on some local twisties my enthusiasm was quickly rekindled
A couple of small faults have presented themselves, both noted whilst having a geo set up at Fearnsport (thankyou to Matty and Matt) Firstly the outer third of the anulus of the inner face of the front discs has the obligatory deep corrosion and the stunning lightweight Spyder wheels look to have been cleaned with a Brillo pad and subsequently polished with a bottle of Colour Magic or similar. The good gents at RPM (who were excellent to deal with and made for one of the most painless buying experiences I've experienced, along with 911Box from whom I bought my first 996 Mk1 GT3 off) have been made aware and will no doubt step up to the plate to make both matters good as per their previous undertaking to do so.
The geo adjustment was required as the car displayed some handling deficiencies under duress a couple of weeks ago (the "duress" was by way of a spririted Saturday morning drive with a 430 Scuderia, a 991 GTS PDK, a 3.9 450hp engined Mk1 996 GT3 and a Gen 1 997 GT3).
The deficencies manifest themselves in a willingness to turn into righthanders with some alacrity, but then oversteer when getting back on the throttle, and a distinct refusal to turn into lefthanders, but provide copious amounts of traction once back on the throttle ..... It made for some "interesting" moments when the rain came down I can tell you ! !
The lads at Fearnsport wound all the front camber they could on (aluminium doors but no GT3 split coffin arms or adjustable top mounts, what were the bean-counters thinking ?) and set the front toe parallel, the rear toe was set to toe in a smidge and the camber equalised. The end result ? The drive back along the Welsh road was "brisk" and resulted in something akin to this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJx-4SlItH0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9wZbXhqzM4
Suffice to say the car now handles like a go kart and has grip aplenty in both left and right handers
Struggling with the uncomfortable seating position, I elected to order a set of these from the States :
http://www.tarett.com/items/996-997-991-products/9...
Not cheap with the carriage (never mind what the robbing bar stewards from HMRC had off me) the lads at Fearnsport fitted them at the same time as doing the geo. They are an improvement, but I suspect I'll end up being utterly selfish and removing the sliders and bolting the seat in a fixed, lower position to a floor mounted adaptor. That should drop it another 10-15mm (making for a total of about 25mm). It should then be perfect.
The brakes always stop it, even under serious duress, but confidence inspiring they ain't, The pedal is mushy and the travel excessive.
The standard gearshift does exactly what it says on the tin, no complaints, it's fast enough and precise enough.
The engine in this car is a peach, waaaay stronger than the two other cars I've driven, it revs wonderfully freely and sounds superb even with the standard non-Sports exhaust.
A friend bought a stunning albeit low mileage Cayman R last year or the year before (can't remember) and as an ex-Mk 1 GT3 Clubsport owner said he thought the Cayman was slower when it came to overtaking when compared with the Mk1 GT3. I'd disagree with that and would say there's little in it up to 90-100mph (especially if you wring the Cayman's neck to redline), though I suspect the GT3 may edge it above 100mph.
The suspension is deeply impressive (all the moreso bearing in mind the 19" wheels) and whilst the spring and damper rates are excellent and well chosen, I have some reservations about the dampers (or specifically their quality) as whilst out for that Saturday morning drive, they were found wanting over some of the really fast cresty stuff (I won't divulge the speeds for obvious reasons...) though this slight waywardness may have been down to the less than perfect geometry settings pre adjustment. However the fact that the Cayman wasn't found wanting in such exalted company speaks volumes for it's overall abilities. Though it has to be said that extracting it's performance isn't especially difficult when compared to a 996 GT3...
I bought the car because I wanted something that was a bit special, relatively (In Cayman terms) rare and sought after, and it needed to have decent residuals. The latter as I suspected its tenure may be short lived, not because it's a bad car in any way, merely that as several of you (specifically Cmoose) have said, a Gen 2 S could be fettled to make something better, for a quite a lot less money. However ....
Even in the five short weeks I've been driving the car, it's got under my skin and proven itself to be very accomplished and fun. And there's the rub, it's actually such a good all round package (allied to what look to be decent residuals for the "correct" spec cars) that my plans to use it as a benchmark for a future Gen 2 S "project" have been somewhat thwarted Thus if finances will allow, it's tenure may well be extended
And the obligatory pictures :
[url=https://postimg.cc/sBYZ55Jk]
[url=https://postimg.cc/Thwp3zZM]
[/url}
P.S Still hate the internal door pulls mind
Edit to add images.
Best uncork something or get the kettle on ......
Porsche, like any good quality narcotic, is highly addictive, and try as I might to quit the habit, I can't. I am an addict.
Unfortunately unlike the enticing deals offered by your local purveyor of recreational pharmaceuticals, few, if any, first Porsche hits are free (though looking at current aircooled prices, my first 964 RS bought for £23k 15 years ago was as good as...)
Faced with raising the funds for a house build 18 months ago, my Mk1 996 GT3 along with my 964 RS had to be sold. Last summer, whilst full of excitement at the thought of the impending house build, was my first sans "toy" for many, many years. And by last autumn I was all too aware that 2017 would most likely be no different.
As the nights drew in, more time was spent looking through the PH classifieds and Autotrader, along with the usual purveyors of quality Pork to the gentry. The more I looked, the more it became clear that getting back into any iteration of GT3 or indeed a decent spec (LHD, manual, preferably without sunroof, 2WD) 993 or 964 was going to be a tall financial order. Much scouting on mobile.de only confirmed my worst thoughts, I was out of the game with little or nothing in the way of chips to get back in.....
Faced with another summer sans "toy", I started looking at Gen 1 987 3.4 Caymans. Plenty of cars on the market, but nice examples (lowish miles, strong colours, manual, decent coloured interiors and decent spec) weren't exactly thick on the ground, and those that ticked my boxes were worrying close to the asking prices of leggyer Gen 2 3.4 Caymans.
All too aware of the engine issues that can afflict the Gen 1 cars, and knowing that funds would be tight over the coming 12-18 months, it made more sense to spend an extra £4-5k and buy a Gen 2 car with their less troublesome powerplants.
At this point budget creep entered the equation ...... Sure a nice sensible (40K) miles Gen 2 car with some decent options could be had for £26k (though when I was looking in late Nov/Dec there were few, if any Gen 2 cars in strong colours) but furthermore I knew I'd want to tweak whatever Gen 2 car I bought, and thus the cost of seats/seat trimming, wheels/tyres, suspension kits, brakes, exhaust etc etc, soon elevated the cost to a price point perilously close to that of the fabled Cayman R.......
Now the stalwarts on here will know I've expressed my views on the lightweight Cayman R in less than glowing terms based on a week long roadtest back in 2011.
Having purchased a Gen 1 997 GT3 off Swindon OPC, it required several issues be addressed (a testament to Swindon's fine used car preparation standards. Not) Somewhat miffed at having to hand back the GT3, I demanded an example of the much lauded Cayman R as recompense (please note this is not my usual modus operandi, I'm normally very laid back and sanguine about what loan cars I'm given, unlike the average PH Porsche owner it would seem...)
Upon dropping the GT3 off at Swindon and chatting with the hugely professional service advisors (yeh right ...) not to mention demonstrating the issues with the car to their Master Technician, who clearly thought I'd arrived the previous day on one of these :
I was given the keys to an as new (less than 500 miles) GT ? Silver Cayman R. Having read the rave reviews, i was looking forward to the week ahead, though all too aware that filling the GT3's shoes was going to be a tall order for the lightweight Cayman.
The journey home up the M5 was tedious, and didn't really play to the car's strengths. All in all the Comfort seats were uninspiring, the engine lacklustre (note the mileage) the gearbox/shift like that of any other mass produced modern car, the exhaust note irritating (Sports exhaust fitted), and the final ignominy ? The brake pedal turned to mush after 3-4 miles of Slippy "abuse" on the twisty roads leading back to chez Slippy.
When I exited the cockpit the brakes were wafting smoke in manner reminiscent of someone enjoying a Havana cigar within the confines of the wheelarch ......
The Cayman sat on the drive forlornly for the next few days, my plans for an all out assault on the roads of N.Wales and the Evo Triangle dashed.
I did however take the car down to Fearnsport at Silverstone, which meant using the wonderful B4525 (aka The Welsh road) between Middleton Cheney and the A43 at Syresham, and here I noted the car's rather impressive balance and composure, not to mention it's undoubted pace ....
Finally the call from Swindon OPC arrived. with the good news the GT3 was ready for collection. The Cayman returned to it's home, not disgraced, but not the object of desire I'd hoped/wanted it to be. My summation was aired on here some three years later in response to something inflammatory the then wet behind the ears Porsche newcomer ORD had said on a thread in General Gassing
Apologies, the wonderful PH architecture won't allow me to format this quote in italics or bold
Quote starts here :
"When my Slate grey Gen 1 GT3 went back to Swindon OPC for some warranty work, I requested a Cayman R as a loan car. Swindon were very accommodating and I found myself with the keys to an almost new GT Silver Cayman R for the next five days.
Having read all the glowing road tests of the recently launched car, I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.[/b]
Alas, I’m afraid it turned out to be rather a damp squib. If the 964 RS sounds like old tin cans (not sure what you’re referring to specifically ?) the Cayman R sounded like any other car on the road (but hey, at least by pressing a button you could make it sound “sporty”). And what a sporty noise it was. Not. Instead you got a slightly louder and more convoluted/synthesised version of the “basic” non-sport noise.
A word in your shell-like, get someone to take you out in a de-catted 964 RS, (preferably one fitted with a Cup pipe fitted) then you’ll know what “sporty” sounds like. But failing that, I’ll take you out for a spin in my Manthey modified GT3.
“But what if I don’t want the sporty noise all the time ?” you say. Simple, don’t tread on the loud pedal so heavily.
So my summation is thus :
Steering ? Lifeless, lacking in weight, feedback and to a lesser degree, feel (not helped by the Bridgestone tyres I suspect).
Brakes ? Rather lacking in feel, pathetically small and looked lost behind the rather lovely 19” lightweight wheels.
Engine ? Dull, lacking in any real character, top end verve and a decent soundtrack.
Internal door pulls ? A joke (see my original post below requoted for posterity) :
"Pull on the inner door latch release pulls (formed from doubled up loops of seat belt material) feel the way they release the door latches so mechanically (then try the pastiche of the same idea on the Cayman R and feel how, as a sop to the RS, they've tried to incorporate the same idea into a door trim that wasn't designed for it (neither was the release mechanism) and feel how utterly sh*te it feels in it's action when compared to the original. It's what happens when the marketing men decree what goes into a car, rather than letting an engineer decide"
Interior ? Bland and generally lacking any sense of occasion.
The drive ? Very accomplished (but wait for it), dull. I had the car five days, but having driven it from Swindon back oop North, it sat forlornly on the drive for the duration, as I couldn’t muster sufficient enthusiasm to take it on a proper cross country hoon across N.Wales. How sad is that ?
Conclusion ? Just not special enough, too amorphous and too anodyne for my taste.
Overly harsh ? Maybe. But anyone that's driven an air-cooled RS or a water-cooled GT car (well certainly the 996 iterations) will be all too aware that the Cayman, irrespective of how efficient it is at getting from A to B, has little in the way of character, limited tactility, and from my perspective is about as engaging as night down the pub with Simon Cowell.....
And ends here ^
Almost as damning as 911R's summation of his Mk2 996 GT3
Evening David, how's your blood pressure ? Anyway, back on track, fast forward to early January 2017 and I find myself at Cameron Sports Cars looking at a rather fine example of Meteor grey Cayman R, manual, Spyder wheels, carbon fibre buckets, quickshift, sports exhaust (iirc).
The drive is illuminating, the weather whilst typically cold for early January finds me road testing the car under an azure blue sky with the sun making an all too welcome appearance. the quickshift makes the gearbox a tad too baulky when cold, but once warmed through it's pretty much perfect. The sports exhaust is a bit meh still. But the car's intrinsic balance and composure on the roads North of Cmoose's front door, showed just what a capable package the Cayman is. I was rather smitten, but having owned a Gen 1 997 GT3 in Meteor (and it is a wonderful colour) I craved something stronger for the Cayman.
Whilst there were plenty of cars on the market (the yellow ex PGB press car with no A/C gave me many a sleepless night) none were the correct spec nor colour. So I kept coming back to the Guards red example at RPM in Knaresborough. Shocking photographed (sorry Nick et all) it didn't look good, but it ticked all the boxes : sensible mileage ie not collector status low, Spyder wheels, manual, carbon buckets, a classic Porsche colour and "sensibly" priced.
After several days procrastination, I figured I'd nothing to lose by driving up to Knaresborough and checking the car out, so headed up there to meet Nick and the team at RPM. Upon my arrival the Cayman sat outside looking a thousand times more impressive in the flesh than it had in the advert photos. And truth be known, I knew I'd be buying it before I walked over the threshold and introduced myself to Nick ! !
The testdrive was uneventful, the glorious weather I'd experienced only three days previously in the Cotswolds was but a distant memory, and replaced by Yorkshires finest persistent drizzle (or as I prefer to call it, pizzle) however whilst the weather was miserable, the Cayman really shone. No quickshift, no sports exhaust, and an engine that felt far more willing than the Meteor grey car at Cameron (or the Swindon loan car), and rolling on Michelin Pilot Sports rather than the ubiquitous Bridgestones, it made for a fun and entertaining driving experience.
Suffice to say a deal was struck and I headed home a very happy bunny indeed. Events on the property front meant the car stayed at RPM from early January until I picked it up some 5 weeks ago. The journey home left me with a healthy dose of buyers remorse (not uncommon for me) the seats whilst wonderful, are set too high, this triggered my usual back problems, and added to the drive home being 95% motorway miles, I arrived back tired, irritable, achey and generally wishing I'd not bought the bloody thing... ! ! !
Twenty four hours later I ventured out in the car feeling refreshed, less achey and more open minded. Driven on some local twisties my enthusiasm was quickly rekindled
A couple of small faults have presented themselves, both noted whilst having a geo set up at Fearnsport (thankyou to Matty and Matt)
Firstly the outer third of the anulus of the inner face of the front discs has the obligatory deep corrosion and the stunning lightweight Spyder wheels look to have been cleaned with a Brillo pad and subsequently polished with a bottle of Colour Magic or similar. The good gents at RPM (who were excellent to deal with and made for one of the most painless buying experiences I've experienced, along with 911Box from whom I bought my first 996 Mk1 GT3 off) have been made aware and will no doubt step up to the plate to make both matters good as per their previous undertaking to do so.The geo adjustment was required as the car displayed some handling deficiencies under duress a couple of weeks ago (the "duress" was by way of a spririted Saturday morning drive with a 430 Scuderia, a 991 GTS PDK, a 3.9 450hp engined Mk1 996 GT3 and a Gen 1 997 GT3).
The deficencies manifest themselves in a willingness to turn into righthanders with some alacrity, but then oversteer when getting back on the throttle, and a distinct refusal to turn into lefthanders, but provide copious amounts of traction once back on the throttle ..... It made for some "interesting" moments when the rain came down I can tell you ! !
The lads at Fearnsport wound all the front camber they could on (aluminium doors but no GT3 split coffin arms or adjustable top mounts, what were the bean-counters thinking ?) and set the front toe parallel, the rear toe was set to toe in a smidge and the camber equalised. The end result ? The drive back along the Welsh road was "brisk" and resulted in something akin to this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJx-4SlItH0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9wZbXhqzM4
Suffice to say the car now handles like a go kart and has grip aplenty in both left and right handers
Struggling with the uncomfortable seating position, I elected to order a set of these from the States :
http://www.tarett.com/items/996-997-991-products/9...
Not cheap with the carriage (never mind what the robbing bar stewards from HMRC had off me) the lads at Fearnsport fitted them at the same time as doing the geo. They are an improvement, but I suspect I'll end up being utterly selfish and removing the sliders and bolting the seat in a fixed, lower position to a floor mounted adaptor. That should drop it another 10-15mm (making for a total of about 25mm). It should then be perfect.
The brakes always stop it, even under serious duress, but confidence inspiring they ain't, The pedal is mushy and the travel excessive.
The standard gearshift does exactly what it says on the tin, no complaints, it's fast enough and precise enough.
The engine in this car is a peach, waaaay stronger than the two other cars I've driven, it revs wonderfully freely and sounds superb even with the standard non-Sports exhaust.
A friend bought a stunning albeit low mileage Cayman R last year or the year before (can't remember) and as an ex-Mk 1 GT3 Clubsport owner said he thought the Cayman was slower when it came to overtaking when compared with the Mk1 GT3. I'd disagree with that and would say there's little in it up to 90-100mph (especially if you wring the Cayman's neck to redline), though I suspect the GT3 may edge it above 100mph.
The suspension is deeply impressive (all the moreso bearing in mind the 19" wheels) and whilst the spring and damper rates are excellent and well chosen, I have some reservations about the dampers (or specifically their quality) as whilst out for that Saturday morning drive, they were found wanting over some of the really fast cresty stuff (I won't divulge the speeds for obvious reasons...) though this slight waywardness may have been down to the less than perfect geometry settings pre adjustment. However the fact that the Cayman wasn't found wanting in such exalted company speaks volumes for it's overall abilities. Though it has to be said that extracting it's performance isn't especially difficult when compared to a 996 GT3...
I bought the car because I wanted something that was a bit special, relatively (In Cayman terms) rare and sought after, and it needed to have decent residuals. The latter as I suspected its tenure may be short lived, not because it's a bad car in any way, merely that as several of you (specifically Cmoose) have said, a Gen 2 S could be fettled to make something better, for a quite a lot less money. However ....
Even in the five short weeks I've been driving the car, it's got under my skin and proven itself to be very accomplished and fun. And there's the rub, it's actually such a good all round package (allied to what look to be decent residuals for the "correct" spec cars) that my plans to use it as a benchmark for a future Gen 2 S "project" have been somewhat thwarted Thus if finances will allow, it's tenure may well be extended
And the obligatory pictures :
[url=https://postimg.cc/sBYZ55Jk]
[url=https://postimg.cc/Thwp3zZM]
[/url}P.S Still hate the internal door pulls mind
Edit to add images.
Edited by Slippydiff on Wednesday 16th September 08:26
Is it not funny how many 911 owners fall the caymans charms! My pick of the 987.2 range is the manual caymanS on 18" wheels and passive suspension, the CR was a no brainer if bought new but the S model is/was a better secondhand proposition but prices have crept up on the 987.2S especially low miles examples!
Slippy if you like the CR you will love the 987spyder which IMHO is the better and more special car!
Slippy if you like the CR you will love the 987spyder which IMHO is the better and more special car!
GT4P said:
Is it not funny how many 911 owners fall the caymans charms! My pick of the 987.2 range is the manual caymanS on 18" wheels and passive suspension, the CR was a no brainer if bought new but the S model is/was a better secondhand proposition but prices have crept up on the 987.2S especially low miles examples!
Slippy if you like the CR you will love the 987spyder which IMHO is the better and more special car!
I doubt Slippy would be seen dead in a convertible looking at his car history. That R in red especially is the business. He obviously has a keen eye for special cars. Its not just the model etc so for example I personally think 6 GT3 Mk 2 looks wrong in midnight blue or silver - just not appealing. But the red one at JZM is amazing. Slippy if you like the CR you will love the 987spyder which IMHO is the better and more special car!
Spec v.important also , Buckets, manual, spyder wheels, enhanced geo goodies, stance on cup 2s so wheel/tyre against wheel arch ratio looks motorsport etc. Little things they all add up to a very special car. He's also right about power some cars pull harder than others.
Lovely motor. As a relative Porsche newbie, one of the things I notice on track days is how well the 'hot' Caymans - R/S/GT4 - go. They seem a really nicely balanced car and (this, to me, is also important) they look right too.
Oh, and welcome back.
Slippydiff said:
964 RS bought for £23k 15 years ago was as good as...)
Stop it! In the early 90's, as a die hard TVR fan, a mate and I were in the pits at Silverstone, looking at TVR Chairman Peter Wheeler's race Tuscan when a bloke - no idea who he was - parked up nearby in a 964 RS. Even and despite being TVR fans, both me and my mate were instantly drawn to that exhaust note and engine noise - it really did sound almost as raw and aggressive as a Tuscan racer. My mate didn't know what it was, so I explained to him as we went over to chat to the owner and compliment him on the car. I'm fairly sure that, at that time, the (brand new) car was about £80k. Strong money in those days.Oh, and welcome back.
Edited by Digga on Friday 12th May 08:13
ras62 said:
a.k.a Shameless slippydiff.
First Boxey, now Slippy. It's disturbing news. I've just been out to the garage to tell old 964 and I think she's wet herself....either that or I've got another oil leak;)
First Boxey, now Slippy. It's disturbing news. I've just been out to the garage to tell old 964 and I think she's wet herself....either that or I've got another oil leak;)
Come on those black against red accents you don't notice on other colours like around lights are popping and slowly hypnotising you into an R. Its a terrific modern day sports car and far closer to a 964 in DNA than any water-cooled 911.
Looks great in red, and is that a recovered steering wheel again looks great.
The R is a nice thing, yes it has a few down sides, but so does EVERY car, it's plenty fast enough for sure and as the OP has said, below 100mph not a lot in it vs GT3's, it does puff abit over 100mph if you are used to an extra 100bhp, but in the UK for fun it's enough BHP for sure.
A geo is a must have, and even maybe 7mm spacers up front, or go the whole hog and fit adjustable LCA as even on a stock geo on full camber I wear my outers still. My Spyder runs -2 up front and I get good wear and no need for spacers either as you gain more track by default. One may have to put a smaller spacer in the rear, I did to balance it back up a bit, it was a bit too much rear action with 28mm extra front track and no rear spacers, so I added 5mm each side on the back which feels better on the limit.
The shift is great once warm as noted, it is a 997 part after all for the short shift.
Brakes , and that's a rub :-) do over heat, the best way forward imo with out changing calipers and ££££ is upsizing disks to 340MM gyro units, Gyro supply the spacers for the calipers, some srf,, RS29 and the 997 GT3 lower air ducts. I would do that before any GT3 MC change as once you do,you may not think you need less pedal travel. And every one knows my MC issues, less travel is not a good thing for me on the limit, Threshold braking is far easier (what ever the moose says) with more travel, it's simple maths !
So geo fixed
brakes fixed sort of !
Tyres is a more tricky one, I hate all Nspec as they are very dated but the PS2 is the best of the lot, I loved the super sports I ran on my first R and have fitted PS4S on my 2nd R, I do in fact like the older supersports more !! the side walls are stiffer on the PS4S or feel stiffer so the ride comfort is reduced and the steering has less weight. I really did like the Super sports. I will drop pressures 1 psi on the PS4S and see how I get on.
The passive set up on the R makes it, but ofcourse it can be bettered, and Ohlins now have road and track for the cars so an option, but I quite like the jiggle on the R passives, it keeps speeds down and makes the car more alive, if you fix that you will just drive faster and for me that's not my aim, fun sub 80mph is key with these new speeding laws. (this really is a kick in the balls for GT3's as you just have to go faster by 20/30 mph imho)
I am happy Slippy has tried an R many 964 track warriors have and so have many a GT3 owner , most not by choice 1/2 the time as people cashed in on GT3 and the like found the R by default, 964 owners found a straight swap possible from a once £15k car ! , it is the poor mans Porker after all, but you have to live with that knowing you are having more fun.
I look forward to more reviews and to see what Slippy will do brake wise, the best option is to fit the 996 GT3 mk 2 caliper (this is the same calipers as fitted to the PCCB Cayman R and they also make a bespoke MC inbetween the R and the GT3 one to match, this will allow the 6 pots and 350mm disks.
My Spyder feels amazing with this set up but it is a tad more than the 340mm Gyro disk upsize.
Have fun I say, it really is a fun little car (little is a major plus point again, it does feel smaller even after driving the GT4)
PS the lucky bugger also got xenons, and while still not Audi like, they are night and day ;-) over the standard s
t !!! but so rare to see on an R.
The R is a nice thing, yes it has a few down sides, but so does EVERY car, it's plenty fast enough for sure and as the OP has said, below 100mph not a lot in it vs GT3's, it does puff abit over 100mph if you are used to an extra 100bhp, but in the UK for fun it's enough BHP for sure.
A geo is a must have, and even maybe 7mm spacers up front, or go the whole hog and fit adjustable LCA as even on a stock geo on full camber I wear my outers still. My Spyder runs -2 up front and I get good wear and no need for spacers either as you gain more track by default. One may have to put a smaller spacer in the rear, I did to balance it back up a bit, it was a bit too much rear action with 28mm extra front track and no rear spacers, so I added 5mm each side on the back which feels better on the limit.
The shift is great once warm as noted, it is a 997 part after all for the short shift.
Brakes , and that's a rub :-) do over heat, the best way forward imo with out changing calipers and ££££ is upsizing disks to 340MM gyro units, Gyro supply the spacers for the calipers, some srf,, RS29 and the 997 GT3 lower air ducts. I would do that before any GT3 MC change as once you do,you may not think you need less pedal travel. And every one knows my MC issues, less travel is not a good thing for me on the limit, Threshold braking is far easier (what ever the moose says) with more travel, it's simple maths !
So geo fixed
brakes fixed sort of !
Tyres is a more tricky one, I hate all Nspec as they are very dated but the PS2 is the best of the lot, I loved the super sports I ran on my first R and have fitted PS4S on my 2nd R, I do in fact like the older supersports more !! the side walls are stiffer on the PS4S or feel stiffer so the ride comfort is reduced and the steering has less weight. I really did like the Super sports. I will drop pressures 1 psi on the PS4S and see how I get on.
The passive set up on the R makes it, but ofcourse it can be bettered, and Ohlins now have road and track for the cars so an option, but I quite like the jiggle on the R passives, it keeps speeds down and makes the car more alive, if you fix that you will just drive faster and for me that's not my aim, fun sub 80mph is key with these new speeding laws. (this really is a kick in the balls for GT3's as you just have to go faster by 20/30 mph imho)
I am happy Slippy has tried an R many 964 track warriors have and so have many a GT3 owner , most not by choice 1/2 the time as people cashed in on GT3 and the like found the R by default, 964 owners found a straight swap possible from a once £15k car ! , it is the poor mans Porker after all, but you have to live with that knowing you are having more fun.
I look forward to more reviews and to see what Slippy will do brake wise, the best option is to fit the 996 GT3 mk 2 caliper (this is the same calipers as fitted to the PCCB Cayman R and they also make a bespoke MC inbetween the R and the GT3 one to match, this will allow the 6 pots and 350mm disks.
My Spyder feels amazing with this set up but it is a tad more than the 340mm Gyro disk upsize.
Have fun I say, it really is a fun little car (little is a major plus point again, it does feel smaller even after driving the GT4)
PS the lucky bugger also got xenons, and while still not Audi like, they are night and day ;-) over the standard s
t !!! but so rare to see on an R.
Desert Dragon said:
I think the nicest thing is that 911R doesn't have to say anything
I am happy for all R owners, me and Slippy are both car nutters and we are outspoken, We disagree in some area's but always shake hands on meets, we have petrol for blood. And my post was as far from a "I told you so post" as it could be , it was a good post I thought, helpful and welcoming to the R club :-)
Edited by Porsche911R on Friday 12th May 09:57
isaldiri said:
Slippydiff, are you actually saying that demon/991R was right all along....?
https://youtu.be/Oz8RjPAD2Jk
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