GT86 to Base 981

[carbonSI]

Thinking of making this move in a few months after noticing that the 2.7s are around the 30K mark. I enjoy the handling of my car but now need more power..not a massive amount more but around 50lb more torque would do it. I'm not interested in the 987 as i never liked the looks. I'm not into tuning so don't want to turbo s/c mine. I've always wanted a fairly practical mid engine car and think the Cayman tops most lists in this regard. Just wanted to post on here to see if anyone used to have/driven an 86 and could tell me their thoughts on their 981 compared to mine. I would of thought a Cayman would be a lot less loose at the rear lol but is it really a massive step up in dynamics or just a bit better. Thanks.

Rob

[carbonSI]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks for the quick response. I thought someone might come back with something along those lines so not entirely surprised. Don't get me wrong the 86 has got a good communicative chassis but it's actually the playfulness/looseness on corner exit that is what i least like about the car. Guess i'm looking for more precision/race car feel..

[carbonSI]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

One thing i forgot to mention was steering on the 86..i feel it's too light when pushing on in a straight line robbing a little confidence. Does the 981's EPS weight up a bit? no it will never be as good as a Hyd though...

[carbonSI]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Haha yes i spose! Thanks for your input

[Sparkyhd]

I have a Cayman 2.7 but conversely I sometimes think less power is more fun for road driving. Something you can thrash but stay legal and also need to work hard on the bends to avoid spinning off. A Triumph Spitfire springs to mind.

[carbonSI]

Sparkyhd said:

I have a Cayman 2.7 but conversely I sometimes think less power is more fun for road driving. Something you can thrash but stay legal and also need to work hard on the bends to avoid spinning off. A Triumph Spitfire springs to mind.

Is yours a 981?

[neilf]

This is exactly the move I made. GT86 to new 981 Boxster in 2014.

Loved the GT86 but haven't regretted a moment upgrading to the 981. The perfect improvement in all departments.

[carbonSI]

neilf said:

This is exactly the move I made. GT86 to new 981 Boxster in 2014.

Loved the GT86 but haven't regretted a moment upgrading to the 981. The perfect improvement in all departments.

Ah yes mate! thanks for posting. So an improvement in general handling and power?

[Sparkyhd]

carbonSI said:

Is yours a 981?

Yes

[carbonSI]

Sparkyhd said:

Yes

Sounds to me you'd rather have a TR6 lol

[carbonSI]

Sparkyhd said:

Yes

Sounds to me you'd rather have a TR6 lol

[Sparkyhd]

Always wanted one of those but never got round to it.

[carbonSI]

Sparkyhd said:

Always wanted one of those but never got round to it.

Haha you're pulling my leg!

[Sparkyhd]

I'm not. My first car was a Triumph Herald. The TR6 was the car of my dreams.

[TB303]

carbonSI said:

One thing i forgot to mention was steering on the 86..i feel it's too light when pushing on in a straight line robbing a little confidence. Does the 981's EPS weight up a bit? no it will never be as good as a Hyd though...

Hi, regarding the steering, you may be disappointed with the 981. I have a Spyder and while I am personally happy with it, the steering is quite light - much lighter than the 987.

There is no robbing of confidence though - quite the opposite. I'm way more confident in the 981 than I was in my 987. The silver-lining of less steering feel is that you don't worry about every little camber, if that makes sense....

[FrankCayman]

carbonSI said:

One thing i forgot to mention was steering on the 86..i feel it's too light when pushing on in a straight line robbing a little confidence. Does the 981's EPS weight up a bit? no it will never be as good as a Hyd though...

I have a 981C 2.7....before that a couple of 987's....I can assure you the steering is fine....I drive lots of other Audi/BMW/Mercs....and they all feel stupidly light and vague compared to mine.

The 2.7 engine is perfect for thrashing around our roads......test drive one...you will not be disappointed!

Here's mine!

[bcr5784]

As everyone will tell you the gearing (especially on the 2.7) is stupidly high. While the PDK gearing is still too high it's usefully lower. You may have dismissed a "mere" auto as rubbish - but if you haven't tried a 981 PDK I'd recommend it - lots of us manuels have been amazed and seduced by how good it is.

[cheddar]

bcr5784 said:

As everyone will tell you the gearing (especially on the 2.7) is stupidly high. While the PDK gearing is still too high it's usefully lower. You may have dismissed a "mere" auto as rubbish - but if you haven't tried a 981 PDK I'd recommend it - lots of us manuels have been amazed and seduced by how good it is.

This

The silly gearing stopped me buying a Cayman because once moving it was only left with 2nd gear to wring out to the redline without hitting triple figure speeds

It's been discussed on here before:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Bennachie]

GT86 has no traction and you will find that you will drive like a circuit racer rather than a rally guy.

I drove a GT 86 and was appalled at its behaviour in the dry god knows what it is like in the wet!!!!

[carbonSI]

Bennachie said:

GT86 has no traction and you will find that you will drive like a circuit racer rather than a rally guy.

I drove a GT 86 and was appalled at its behaviour in the dry god knows what it is like in the wet!!!!

Thanks FrankCayman for the photo. Looks a beautiful car!

To the post above, i guess it's all down to the low grip primacies which i'm stupidly still on. In the wet they can be lethal..managed to recover from a huge tank slapper few months back going downhill on a fast dual carriageway with large roundabouts. Heart in mouth stuff. I guess you could make this car behave more like a cayman with some choice mods but never really been into that scene. Underneath you can tell there's a good handling agile car..it's just extracting it. People have mentioned the long gearing..that is something that would really annoy me but need to test one as i think it's the car i've been looking for. Thanks to everyone who posted