Porsche Cayman S - To replace the Clio 172 Cup
Discussion
Hi everyone,
You may well remember the Clio 172 Cup I bought last year.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Well unfortunately we never really bonded. It was loud, uncomfortable, harsh and lacked any luxuries or creature comforts. Whilst I realise that is the point of the car, neither did it really thrill me or excite me, which resulted in a car with all the downsides of a sports car, without any of the upsides. All my personal opinion, and maybe owning a TVR Chimaera and a Caterham have rather ruined my expectations of a fun car, in any case the Clio wasn't for me. Furthermore, I've never owned a car that was so poorly built. Ever time I drove it something else broke, or fell off, or just decided it wasn't going to work any more. I got fed up with it, so I put it on eBay as a £0.99 no reserve auction, listing all it's faults where it ultimately sold for £780.
The reason I listed it on eBay with a no reserve auction was because I had my eye on a particular car. A Cobalt Blue Porsche Cayman S. Chosen for a few reasons,
1. It had just had a major service and an MOT at a Porsche specialist
2. It had new discs and pads and rear tyres
3. Low mileage (55k)
4. It was a 55 plate, so cheaper VED
5. It was blue and not silver or black!
6. It had the right options - full extended leather (inc. doors, dash, centre console etc), Bose and satnav
I picked the up the Porsche before the Clio was even collected so I had a few too many cars on the drive for a couple of days! So far I'm loving the car. It's so effortless to drive, pedals are nicely weighted and well positioned, steering and gearstick positions are perfect, the engine is smooth and powerful right through the rev range and put your foot down and it really moves.
I'm using it for my daily commute, other than being a bit heavy on fuel (to be expected) it's great. It has the phone, Bose, comfortable leather seats and air con, everything my Caterham and TVR do not, yet if I want to take the long way home, it provides nearly as much thrill and excitement!
Finally, it's practical! Probably just as practical as the Clio (unless I want to take out 4 people of course). It has two good sized boots and even the ability to add roof bars (stand by for the inevitable photo of a Porsche with two kayaks on the roof!)
I've had it for a couple of months now, although I've not done too many miles. I've replaced the front tyres with new N rated Bridgestones to match the rears, (only £230 for the pair fitted!) and I've replaced the front right lower control arm and the right track rod at a cost of £520. It drives like a different car now, so I'm happy I've had those jobs done.
So finally, the photos...
Thanks for reading,
Dan
You may well remember the Clio 172 Cup I bought last year.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Well unfortunately we never really bonded. It was loud, uncomfortable, harsh and lacked any luxuries or creature comforts. Whilst I realise that is the point of the car, neither did it really thrill me or excite me, which resulted in a car with all the downsides of a sports car, without any of the upsides. All my personal opinion, and maybe owning a TVR Chimaera and a Caterham have rather ruined my expectations of a fun car, in any case the Clio wasn't for me. Furthermore, I've never owned a car that was so poorly built. Ever time I drove it something else broke, or fell off, or just decided it wasn't going to work any more. I got fed up with it, so I put it on eBay as a £0.99 no reserve auction, listing all it's faults where it ultimately sold for £780.
The reason I listed it on eBay with a no reserve auction was because I had my eye on a particular car. A Cobalt Blue Porsche Cayman S. Chosen for a few reasons,
1. It had just had a major service and an MOT at a Porsche specialist
2. It had new discs and pads and rear tyres
3. Low mileage (55k)
4. It was a 55 plate, so cheaper VED
5. It was blue and not silver or black!
6. It had the right options - full extended leather (inc. doors, dash, centre console etc), Bose and satnav
I picked the up the Porsche before the Clio was even collected so I had a few too many cars on the drive for a couple of days! So far I'm loving the car. It's so effortless to drive, pedals are nicely weighted and well positioned, steering and gearstick positions are perfect, the engine is smooth and powerful right through the rev range and put your foot down and it really moves.
I'm using it for my daily commute, other than being a bit heavy on fuel (to be expected) it's great. It has the phone, Bose, comfortable leather seats and air con, everything my Caterham and TVR do not, yet if I want to take the long way home, it provides nearly as much thrill and excitement!
Finally, it's practical! Probably just as practical as the Clio (unless I want to take out 4 people of course). It has two good sized boots and even the ability to add roof bars (stand by for the inevitable photo of a Porsche with two kayaks on the roof!)
I've had it for a couple of months now, although I've not done too many miles. I've replaced the front tyres with new N rated Bridgestones to match the rears, (only £230 for the pair fitted!) and I've replaced the front right lower control arm and the right track rod at a cost of £520. It drives like a different car now, so I'm happy I've had those jobs done.
So finally, the photos...
Thanks for reading,
Dan
Edited by zed4 on Saturday 6th June 10:57
Oh, and photos courtesy of http://gfwilliams.net/
Ved said:
Nice! Engine bits still all cool? That's the only off-putting thing for me but you can't live your life worrying about that stuff. Great purchase and, like you say, nice to see one that's not the usual colours
Seems to be. If it breaks, it breaks! There are thousands of them out there, I guess it just depends on how they've been driven and looked after. 
JFReturns said:
Looking forward to the kayak picture!
How does the Cayman compare to the Chim performance wise?
I need to order the foot pack for my bars. Will be soon now that it's kayaking season! How does the Cayman compare to the Chim performance wise?
I think the TVR feels quicker, but probably isn't. The Porsche needs to rev, it gets into its own above 5000 RPM, so you need to keep the revs high to get the most out of it. It handles perfectly, so predictable and it just grips round corners. The TVR is a bit more scary, it rolls more and likes to drift! Great fun, but the Porsche is the quicker car round the bends.
I want to get hold of a Vbox or similar sort of thing and carry out some acceleration tests between all the cars, and my brother's VX220 Turbo as well. Be interesting to see how they all compare.
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