718 Cayman buyers advice - educate me on what I need to know

[Stubbsy]

Looking to change car next year at some point and seriously considering a 718 Cayman.

Just started doing some initial research on what my budget can get, I am looking at 35-40k and this would appear to stretch to 2016 onwards Cayman T or around the 40k you start seeing the odd S for that price also.
So I am looking to find out what I should be looking for in terms of must haves and have the following questions which I am hoping existing owners can guide me on:

Appreciate this might be stating the obvious, so the difference between a T and S is engine size and an extra 50 BHP ish and single tailpipe vs double circle tailpipe, is there anything else of note?
Not a deal breaker but is the Isofix on the passenger seat an option or does it come as standard?
Anyone remapped a T, I am seeing you can get another 50BHP out of a stage 1 remap which I am thinking if I did go with a T and needed a bit extra this could be a good compromise to get a bit more 'welly' out of it. With this in mind is the S a necessity for me over the T?
It looks like sports exhaust is an option (typical bloody Porsche!), I think this will be a must for me I always air on the side of a nice rumble louder than standard exhaust somewhere in between understated but not too intrusive. If I go for one without PSE is it possible to retrofit PSE and if so how much would I be looking at, or any alternative good systems to go for or cheaper 'hacks'?
What are the must haves that in your opinion need to be specced on the car?
Finally how do they drive, all the reviews clearly point to them being great to drive in their own right (separate from a 911)?

My recent car history is as follows:
Porsche 996 Carrera 2
Porsche 996 Turbo
Audi RS5
VW Golf R, which I currently own and has actually surpassed my expectations of what I had for it when buying, it is great to drive, really good fun and has good power. It is not excessively fast but I actually feel like that is good as I can use all of the power when I open it up when compared with my 996 Turbo I would hit the speed limit on a dual carriage way and still be in second gear and it had so much more to give, I absolutely loved the turbo it was a beast but I had it for 4 years and in reality I didn't even scratch the surface in terms of putting it to it's limits and opening it up!

Thoughts, advice and opinions welcome.

Thanks
Dan

Edited by Stubbsy on Tuesday 8th December 11:32

[Rojibo]

So, you're no doubt going to get the argument about the way the flat four sounds in this thread. I ran one for two years and really enjoyed it. No complaints around the sound from me, but it does split opinion. So be prepared for a few pages of flogging that dead horse... I had a 718 Base C and really enjoyed it, the car felt like it had a good amount of grunt, especially from the low end, obviously, the advantage of it being turbocharged, and it being a newer model it had nice features like car play.

I think the T is a bit of a sweet spot, personally, you get all the driver focused bits like a limited slip diff, as long as you want a manual? I think PSE was standard on the T too, so it probably has all the options you'd want. I cant seem to think of an option on the T other than PCM but most people would spec that anyway... With the base models I'd personally look for:

PSE
PASM (maybe if it's on 20" wheels)
PTV
Cruise Control (can be retrofitted)
Sports GT Steering Wheel
64L Fuel tank
Parking sensors

How do they drive? Brilliant fun, the chassis is excellent, regarding your Golf R, I had an S3 8V before I switched, so technically I was moving into a "slower" car, but the Cayman was far more fun and rewarding to drive than the point and squirt nature of the S3...

Oh, and if you're going for a 2016-2018 car, thats pre OPF and they are much louder, with pops and crackles on the overrun, if that's your thing.

Edited by Rojibo on Tuesday 8th December 11:41

[Twinfan]

Just a note on remapping. While you will get good gains Porsche will know it's been done, so the car can never enter into the OPC network again which will impact resale value. Might not be a problem to you of course, but it's something to be aware of.

[Dreamer12345]

I'm a newbie Porsche buyer and for me the choice was between specc'ing a brand new base car with similar options to what you're saying or buying a slightly used Cayman T. I went for the cayman T (got a good deal on a red one which had been sitting at OPC Aberdeen) and I'm happy - a 1 year old model will depreciate like crazy and you can get a good deal on a newish car with <10k miles on the clock and the T- spec options and T is a good spec - PASM, sport seats, sport exhaust, much better than a base car in my opinion. ok i get the whole four pot not nice sound argument the purists will throw at you but she's pretty quick for me and puts a smile on my face when i see her in the drive in the morning and that's what counts

my tuppence.

[churchie2856]

Later cars, the ones with GPF, all had sports exhaust as standard. My 718C (for sale) has sports exhaust even though as a base car it retain the single tail pipe.

I too had a Golf R (and at the same time, a 996, followed by 997) before buying my Cayman. The 718 is a daily and does everything really well. Personally I think it drives better than my two former porkers.