Things I don’t like about my 981
Discussion
Twinfan said:
They trump the steering for me - I'd take 981 over 987, and I did 
so did bcr5784 in all seriousness though, i have always thought that the steering feel in the 981 could be better and i didn't feel any different when i test drove a 718. would love a drive in a 987, and better still an R, at some point.
in terms of looks, i agree they are a key consideration when choosing a car, along with all the other key considerations such as performance and handling. my ideal looking Cayman would be a combination of all the generations so far; i like the curves of the 987 and it does look great from some angles, but very awkward from many others.
JasonSteel said:
so did bcr5784
in all seriousness though, i have always thought that the steering feel in the 981 could be better and i didn't feel any different when i test drove a 718. would love a drive in a 987, and better still an R, at some point.
in terms of looks, i agree they are a key consideration when choosing a car, along with all the other key considerations such as performance and handling. my ideal looking Cayman would be a combination of all the generations so far; i like the curves of the 987 and it does look great from some angles, but very awkward from many others.
It wasn't the looks that were key for me it was the whole package - ride, improvments in PDK in particular. The fact that I do prefer the looks of 981 is merely fortuitous.in all seriousness though, i have always thought that the steering feel in the 981 could be better and i didn't feel any different when i test drove a 718. would love a drive in a 987, and better still an R, at some point.
in terms of looks, i agree they are a key consideration when choosing a car, along with all the other key considerations such as performance and handling. my ideal looking Cayman would be a combination of all the generations so far; i like the curves of the 987 and it does look great from some angles, but very awkward from many others.
bcr5784 said:
It wasn't the looks that were key for me it was the whole package - ride, improvments in PDK in particular. The fact that I do prefer the looks of 981 is merely fortuitous.
i was only joking 
there are lots of reasons why we might desire or buy a particular car and we will all have different priorities.
I had a 987 Cayman from new for two years. Loved it, despite its slightly dumpy (to me) looks. Experienced the 981 Cayman at PEC when it came out and thought it a significant step forward (despite the electric steering, which is not so bad in my opinion and significantly better than almost everything else out there).
The 718 was introduced to me at launch. I found the interior different (not necessarily better) and the body shape, whilst not offensive was not a step up as far as I was concerned. The engine was started ........................ (no comment) Performance was impressive.
Five years on, I still have my 981.
The primary gripe I have is that despite having 'clever' windows that drop when you open or close a door so that slamming is not required, the system is not utilised on the tailgate, meaning a hefty slam is needed unless a door is open or a window manually cracked open. Apparently this function can be coded but OPC will not do it.
Secondary gripe is that the 'Sport' button does not remember its last setting and defaults to off. The same is true of the 'auto-stop/start' button.
Impressive car.
The 718 was introduced to me at launch. I found the interior different (not necessarily better) and the body shape, whilst not offensive was not a step up as far as I was concerned. The engine was started ........................ (no comment) Performance was impressive.
Five years on, I still have my 981.
The primary gripe I have is that despite having 'clever' windows that drop when you open or close a door so that slamming is not required, the system is not utilised on the tailgate, meaning a hefty slam is needed unless a door is open or a window manually cracked open. Apparently this function can be coded but OPC will not do it.
Secondary gripe is that the 'Sport' button does not remember its last setting and defaults to off. The same is true of the 'auto-stop/start' button.
Impressive car.
Well, for my twopence worth, i think that the 997 and 987 are the last link to the past if you will.
Many reasons of which everyone is aware, but the big one for me is the compactness, the 981 and 718 seem much wider , the driver seems to sit in the car instead of being part of it, if that makles sense.
So its NA, manual handbrake, natural steering , lower tax, and who can argue with a 987 S, full leather,manual gearbox, 2010 car with two years full Porsche warranty for 24k, and old school looks!
Many reasons of which everyone is aware, but the big one for me is the compactness, the 981 and 718 seem much wider , the driver seems to sit in the car instead of being part of it, if that makles sense.
So its NA, manual handbrake, natural steering , lower tax, and who can argue with a 987 S, full leather,manual gearbox, 2010 car with two years full Porsche warranty for 24k, and old school looks!
Roof down said:
Well, for my twopence worth, i think that the 997 and 987 are the last link to the past if you will.
Many reasons of which everyone is aware, but the big one for me is the compactness, the 981 and 718 seem much wider , the driver seems to sit in the car instead of being part of it, if that makles sense.
So its NA, manual handbrake, natural steering , lower tax, and who can argue with a 987 S, full leather,manual gearbox, 2010 car with two years full Porsche warranty for 24k, and old school looks!
I know what you mean about width - the 987 does LOOK narrower than the 981 - but it is exactly the same width to the millimeter (1801mm wide for both).Many reasons of which everyone is aware, but the big one for me is the compactness, the 981 and 718 seem much wider , the driver seems to sit in the car instead of being part of it, if that makles sense.
So its NA, manual handbrake, natural steering , lower tax, and who can argue with a 987 S, full leather,manual gearbox, 2010 car with two years full Porsche warranty for 24k, and old school looks!
Ergonomics and the 981
The Handbrake button!!!! For me it's about 50mm too far way? Why is it where it is?
I often wondered if there is some sort of convention on the way round the volume / station nobs are put. Several, if not most, stereo unit manufactures are Japanese, who drive on the correct side of the road () like us Brits. Off hand Blaupunkt are the only manufacturer of head units from Europe.
The Handbrake button!!!! For me it's about 50mm too far way? Why is it where it is?
I often wondered if there is some sort of convention on the way round the volume / station nobs are put. Several, if not most, stereo unit manufactures are Japanese, who drive on the correct side of the road (
) like us Brits. Off hand Blaupunkt are the only manufacturer of head units from Europe.Bennachie said:
...Five years on, I still have my 981.
The primary gripe I have is that despite having 'clever' windows that drop when you open or close a door so that slamming is not required, the system is not utilised on the tailgate, meaning a hefty slam is needed unless a door is open or a window manually cracked open. Apparently this function can be coded but OPC will not do it....
For what it is worth, I was told that it can't be coded on the 981 series because the relevant controller units are not separate as on the 987 cars. If it helps, you can just hold down the unlock button on the fob and after a couple of seconds the windows drop, holding the lock button raises the windows.The primary gripe I have is that despite having 'clever' windows that drop when you open or close a door so that slamming is not required, the system is not utilised on the tailgate, meaning a hefty slam is needed unless a door is open or a window manually cracked open. Apparently this function can be coded but OPC will not do it....
gpgts said:
Couldn’t agree more. A manual sports car and an electric parking hand break break - I hate it! c’mon Porsche.
Am I right in thinking that the 718 has autohold if you press the brake pedal really hard whilst stationary? I drove a 911 at PEC which had this feature. Absolutely brilliant and just about removes the need to ever have to grope about for that ridiculous handbrake (I can never remember whether to push or pull it anyway).n4aat said:
I don’t think I have ever looked at the analogue speedo. Why would you?
I have to agree with the opinion that the analogue speedo is so utterly useless that it's pointless looking at it as you can glean no information from it. Part of that is that Porsche like a big middle dial for revs and the speedo gets a teeny space to exist as a result. Not saying a nice big rev dial's wrong just that I personally would prefer two equal sized and executed rev and speedo dials like on most other cars. Not a fan of digital speed displays: I don't like the digital speed display on my R8 either btw.981 PCM unit is beyond unfathomable. Easily the worst on any car I've been in in recent years. Satnav is shocking but no biggy now we have Waze or Google on our phones with a decent phone holder.
Vol knob on the left? Just like every other car I've ever been in then. No biggy either.
The one thing that I'd really like to alter on my 981 is to speed up the steering, I find it far too slow. Some people love that but I don't, it's only slightly better than driving an Amarok in terms of having to twirl the wheel. 718 is a big improvement in this area at least.
DaveGrohl said:
Eh? What am I doing wrong then? I tried it as soon as I got home from the PEC to no avail.
first off, no need to press "really hard".say you need to come to a stop on a hill, when the car stops and you push the clutch in, with one foot on the clutch and one on the brake put the car in neutral and release the clutch pedal.
you should now see the green light come on indicating that the car is holding.
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