It's rolling around to my base Cayman's first birthday...where did that go? So a good opportunity to review my thoughts on my lovely base 2.0L (and not many extras) GT Silver (twin pipe) 718
There's a few things that might raise some eyebrows in the 'meh' section but here it goes:
First, the LOVES:x: 1. The looks are to die for - really. Can't get enough of walking around it and thinking this: the Porsche Cayman is the finest looking car on the road.
It doesn't look like a boy racer hatchback, a souped up high class coupé or an attention grabbing supercar. It (she, yes I know...) just looks like a superbly shaped bespoke sports car. 2. The start up sound. Fantastic. I'll admit to going out to it in the middle of the day to start it up just to hear it - especially in sports mode. And especially after the simple baffle mod had been done. Brilliant.
I hope my neighbours don't hate me too much.
Second, the LIKES: 1. Drives like a high speed smooth cruiser when you want it to, and an out and out racer when you need it to. It's such a shame we have speed limits...corners great. Pin point steering.
2. Very comfortable cabin, feels pretty luxurious. Quality all over. Feels like you're driving a special car - well you are of course!
3. Lots of space - more than I thought.
4. It does attract admiring looks - first car I've had that does. Nice.
5. The running exhaust and engine sound. Pretty good I'd say and far nicer than the rough wail of the 981 that I test drove before settling on a 718.
6. I like the rising spoiler thingy, I like it on at all times. Well, unless I forget to put it on..:|.
The Meh's : 1. Speed in a straight line on a nice speed-camera-less road. Not bad, but I'd really like it to be faster - personally. I guess the 2.5L is what I want, but can't afford :crying:
2. PDK gearbox, I can't fault it (smooth and almost thinks for me) but I think, now, I should have gone for the manual that doesn't think for me. Never mind, perhaps next time...although I see the option had been taken out of the base 718 configuration.
3. Road noise on concrete roads is loud. Too loud. It spoils the otherwise smooth and tranquil long distance cruiser image.
4. Indicator stalks feel flimsy and thin. Not in keeping with Porsche quality. They seem to bend when you move them especially as the switches themselves seem nice and taut. They feel like something you'd get on a cut-price city car. Compared to Cayenne stalks which are stiff and have just the right amount of tension in them.
5. Brakes - yes brakes! Okay so they do stop you and very well (tried them out fully on the track at Silverstone. But, and its a big but for me - they don't feel like they going to stop you. All my previous cars and especially Audi's (TTs /S1)- the brakes grab and hold on - it gives you a lot of confidence. The 718s well it's as though someone turned the power assistance down to minimum. Rather dead feeling - I'm probably alone in this so don't hate me!
6. The GPS is not in my good books. It's taken me or tried to take me to some pretty weird routes. I always have to consult Google maps just to make sure I am going where I think I should be going. Not the worst - but could do better.
7. Tyre judder on full lock - yes every time it does it, it irritates me. And yes I know it's not it's fault but it just, well, irritates me a bit.
8. Doesn't retain sport and spoiler settings...on mine (2018). Don't think I can justify the price of a £180 T-design module plus postage, plus VAT, plus customs fee.....
9. Another few inches of seat movement would be great. I'm 6ft 3 ins and although my legs are comfortable, but I'd like to lean to seat back a tad but of course no spare room behind to do that.... 10. My (admittedly nice freebie) official Porsche leather key ring is wearing badly (I've only done 2K in it). I hope the leather on the Porsche interiors is of better quality!
Yes I know it looks like there are too many 'meh's' but the loves and likes do, of course, far out weigh those minor blips.0
A fabulous car and I'm glad I chose it above all the other contenders.
My 718CB was a March 2018 build, April delivery, so the 1 year mark has arrived for me as well.
Thank you for your reflections on your first year of ownership. Here are my reactions:
A. Loves -- Agree.
B. Likes -- Agree 1-5; Not a fan of the spoiler look for daily driving; Track OK, but I think the spoiler on our cars are really more about looks than performance.
C. Meh's
1. Speed is fast enough for me.
2. Very happy with PDK. I've owned many manual sports cars including a Boxster S; no manual tranny in my future.
3. Haven't noticed excess tire noise; probably listened to too much loud heavy rock music in the day!
4. No complaint about the signal stalk.
5. Brakes are good, no lack of confidence in them.
6. I use Google maps when navigation is required which is very seldom.
7. ??
8. Not retaining settings is a [minor] pain.
9. Seat movement not an issue at 170 cm. I find the seating position and comfort are perfect.
10. Didn't get a leather fob; dealer "presents" were a Porsche hat, back pack and umbrella. I have a rubber wrist bracelet thingy for my keys which is useful when fishing them out of my pockets.
I totally agree with your conclusion. I love this car and I plan to keep it long term. Maybe the next one will be hybrid/electric.
Thanks for sharing your opinions. I've had my base 718 Cayman for 8 months now and I can add a couple. First of all. Love the car! Best car I've ever owned.
In response to your observations. I also love the look of the car and think it's not at all over the top. Everything there is functional. No fake air scoops or trim pieces. Porsche designed a car to function, not just to look good. The spoiler retracts when not needed (instead of slowing you down at slow speed!). I also love the sound. I like the burbly throatiness to it. The old boxer 6 also sounds excellent but for different reasons. The 718 is certainly different, but I can handle change.
I think I am one of many who will disagree with you about the brakes. The first time I drove a Porsche I thought something was wrong with the brakes. They felt like they needed too much travel for them to grip, like there was air in the lines. It was only after I drove the car a bit I realized the wonder of linear brake feel. Much easier to modulate the brakes than with grabby brakes. It seems most people want their brakes to be on-off buttons -- and I was the same. I now appreciate entering a turn with slight brake pressure to get just the right speed of approach and exit. I now can't stand it when I drive a "normal" car because the brakes and throttle are so non-linear.
Now for a couple "Meh's" from me:
1. I got the manual climate control. I was thinking "Nah, I don't need auto-climate control. I am perfectly capable of adjusting the controls myself." Well.. in most cars I am. But Porsche uses rocker switches for the blower speed and temperature, which is really... slow... To turn off the air you need to hold down the blower speed button and wait, click, click, click, click... and then, it doesn't turn off, stops at one bar. Need to release the rocker switch and press it again to really turn it off. Have the windows down but getting on the highway and want the air-con? Hold down the blower rocker switch and wait, click, click, click, click... Very time consuming and distracting. Many cars with manual climate control use three dials. Very easy to just flick up the blower dial to the speed you want. This is one poor ergonomic decision by Porsche. (Unless they did it to up-sell you the auto-climate control!)
2. The dead pedal is not quite the right angle for me. Had the same problem in my 987 Boxster. My left foot can get a little tired if cruising for too long and not moving it. This is nit-picky but the 718 is so close to ergonomic bliss that I have to say it.
3. Wish I got the rear wiper. It's my daily driver and for how cheap the wiper is I should have gotten it.
4. The sport chrono wart on the dash is useless and you can see a reflection of it in the windscreen. (But love sport chrono.)
5. Dare I say it? It's almost too good. The car can do anything I throw at it on public roads (acceleration is plenty for me). Cornering grip can handle any windy mountain road with ease. I tell the car to do something and it will just do it; Like slicing butter. PASM makes any rough road pleasant. And yet, I can cruise for hours at a time on the highway when on my way to the fun mountain road (except for the dead pedal angle). Or run errands in town with ease. Hmmm... This doesn't sound like a "Meh." I'm really torn about this. The car is incredible, but it lost something from the 987. It gained things in exchange, but there's a roughness and edginess that is now missing. Did it get too good? I should probably start a thread all it's own in this. : )
Are you referring to the clock? If you are, then I assume you do realise that it isn't purely just a stopwatch for track timing, but can also be set to show the time of day? Personally I love having an analogue clock in such a prominent position & it's anything but useless.
What seat do you have? My passenger seat has slight creak every other time when used. Solution might be just always drive alone, but would be great to have that solved for sure.
Me biggest peave are the disappearing instruments in low light conditions. Other than that it's all minor stuff. Things like I wish it would retain all settings (climate control, etc). Overall though an amazing car!
[/SIZE]1. The looks are to die for - really. Can't get enough of walking around it and thinking this: the Porsche Cayman is the finest looking car on the road.
It doesn't look like a boy racer hatchback, a souped up high class coupé or an attention grabbing supercar. It (she, yes I know...) just looks like a superbly shaped bespoke sports car.
Dittos and well said.
First: I really like the car overall. It's a phenomenal car to drive. I smile every time I am behind the wheel. Mine is a 100% base model with PDK as its only option.
I'm a "steering guy" (if that is a "thing"). I love cars with nice steering and I have driven plenty of otherwise decent cars that are ruined by bad steering (my old racing Datsun 510 comes to mind).
The steering in my Cayman (which I have read complaints about) seems just about perfect to me.
Due to the weight, the car is not quite as toss-able as my old M2 Miata, but low speed maneuvering is decent and overall high speed handling is excellent.
Brakes seem excellent for street use.
The engine sounds cool to me. Not like my old 356 or the Formula Vee I owned. Or even a 914. Very powerful-sounding with a deep "basso profundo" . By comparison the six cylinder Porsches sound whiney to me.
Appearance is outstanding. I'm a big fan of the TVR Griffith 400 from the '60s. Even thought it's a very different car, this Cayman has some of that same, muscular-looking appeal to me.
Getting in isn't too awful for a person of my age and size (I'm approaching 70, 6' tall and about 215#)
I'm getting to really like the PDK. Wasn't too sure about it at first. I currently own 6 other manual-trans cars and I am sort of a heal & toe purist, so paddle shifting didn't attract me initially. The fact that my wife can easily drive the PDK was a real plus in buying this car.
The juddering caused by the reverse toe-out on turns when backing up is annoying but I understand the reason so I can forgive it. All cars do it to some degree but this is the worst I've ever seen.
Tire noise is loud except on real smooth roads. Hoping a tire brand change will help but I'm not confident.
I dislike the heater/fan toggles. A poor execution.
The left side speedometer is silly. Graduations are too coarse. Luckily the tach gives a digital velocity reading so I can ignore the speedometer.
I love the tach position. Perfect.
I'm not a fan of the oil temp / oil press / fuel level and water temp gauges. The little bars are not an nice as a sweeping needle.
The cup holder is a joke.
Four stalks around the steering wheel seemed excessive but I'm getting the hang of it after 14 months and 7700 miles.
It's hard to imagine they never considered a better arrangement for the front license plate.
Storage areas in the car are nice and useful.
Not a fan of the shiny, chrome-like horn ring and other trim areas on the dash. Can catch sun glare. It's a pity because while static, I like the way it looks. I may eventually cover some of these areas to reduce glare.
I love the fancy script on the back of the car that says "718 Cayman" . It's hard for me to believe that people elect to delete that but to each, his own.
I hate the lack of a spare tire. I guess I could say that for all new cars. But my uber-non-fancy, base model 2018 GMC cargo van came with a spare.
Despite some of the minor niggles above, I think this car is the bee's knees. I am always looking forward to the next drive in it.
... I love cars with nice steering and I have driven plenty of otherwise decent cars that are ruined by bad steering (my old racing Datsun 510 comes to mind).
...
The engine sounds cool to me. Not like my old 356 or the Formula Vee I owned. Or even a 914. Very powerful-sounding with a deep "basso profundo" . By comparison the six cylinder Porsches sound whiney to me.
...
Getting in isn't too awful for a person of my age and size (I'm approaching 70, 6' tall and about 215#)
...
I'm getting to really like the PDK. Wasn't too sure about it at first. I currently own 6 other manual-trans cars and I am sort of a heal & toe purist, so paddle shifting didn't attract me initially.
...
The left side speedometer is silly. Graduations are too coarse.
...
The cup holder is a joke.
...
Four stalks around the steering wheel seemed excessive but I'm getting the hang of it after 14 months and 7700 miles.
In order of above:
An old 510 fan! Great little car with the Mulholland suspension but prone to rear-wheel steering.
Agreed about the sound. Love the "basso" which I woujd call baritone voice. Dislike the screamin'-banshee 6.
I've already hit 70 but I'm a bit smaller than you. Actually more than a bit. Most recent small cars were Triumph Spitfire and GT6, tiny but lightweight.
I used to heel-toe the Triumphs and the 510 and the other small cars I've owned. My only complaint with the PDK is when I put it in manual mode I forget I have to shift!
That small speedometer is one of the great silly features. 175 degrees to cover 0-175mph! Completely useless and I love it for that reason. If I raced or drove in the upper half of its range then I might appreciate its functionality.
Ah, the cupholders! Awesome little devices right up there with the speedometer for coolness. Actually they are quite functional for eating a picnic lunch with your sweetie while parked.
The PDK is awesome, but it has 6 stalks, not 4, if you count the paddles Took me a while to make them instinctive. They still aren't.
So I will throw in my 2 cents on my 718C after 16 months and 13k miles.
I love the handling and that the base suspension, on the 18 inch wheels, has enough "band width" to be perfectly comfortable for my daily commute (mix of streets and freeways) and become amazingly planted when I am playing in the local canyons. The weight of the clutch is about perfect, and the take-up is silky smooth. The ergonomics of the gear shift is also about perfect. Oh, and I love the 14-way power seats and the seat ventilation.
I also love that I didn't get navigation on mine. I did get the Bose upgrade and the stereo is nice but the user interface is a bit buggy. I could only imagine what it would be like if the system was bogged down by the navigation module.
I only have two niggles. The first is the buggy user interface on the center console screen (and who decided that the last 5 radio presets can't be user configurable? Does anybody choose to listen to a radio station simply because it is the strongest signal?). The other is that the interior aluminum can reflect sunlight into my eyes while driving. I like how the aluminum brightens the interior (I went with the gray interior to keep it from being too dark inside), but it makes me think that on my next 718 I will get the brushed aluminum.
So I will throw in my 2 cents on my 718C after 16 months and 13k miles.
...
I only have two niggles. The first is the buggy user interface on the center console screen (and who decided that the last 5 radio presets can't be user configurable? Does anybody choose to listen to a radio station simply because it is the strongest signal?).
...
The other is that the interior aluminum can reflect sunlight into my eyes while driving.
I've had my base Cayman w/20" wheels for 9 months. I love it, have little or nothing to complain about.
I can't say I've run into any PCM bugs. The Bose audio system is fine. About those strongest-signal presets, think of them like this. Instead of 20 presets you have only 15 plus automatic detection of the 5 strongest stations. When you are driving long distance through areas you don't go through very often your "preset" presets are worthless. Having ready access to the strongest local stations is a form of Search except that in urban areas you may have to hit your Search button dozens of times as it settles on each and every scrap of signal. The strongest stations may not be your cup of tea but if you are desperate for radio they might do.
As for interior reflections, ah, the downsides to dropping the canopy on a 'vertible include much more sunlight and mussed up hair.:laugh:
Loves: driving the car for no reason other than to experience it again. Seeing it in the garage. Knowing that I'm fortunate enough to be able to have one.
Likes: Washing the car, trying to decipher the owner's manual, and placing a few after-market goodies.
Meh: 2020 in general. Looking forward to getting back to the gym, eating out indoors, going to local outdoor events and the local microbrew, etc. All in the P car. I'm so ready...
Meh: 2020 in general. Looking forward to getting back to the gym, eating out indoors, going to local outdoor events and the local microbrew, etc. All in the P car. I'm so ready...
I'm glad to hear others have the same feeling (sorry) about the brakes. At the track, in the beginning I was a bit concerned because I could never seem to get beyond threshold braking to the jutting of locking them up and feeling the ABS. I didn't want to lock them up, but I remember early on kind of panic braking once in the braking zone. I began to wonder if, like other features of the car like PSM, that it senses it is on the track and won't allow locking the brakes. That seems a stretch and it may be that I can't bring myself to slam on the brakes. I've bought some new brake hoses from Rennline to see if I can get more feedback from the pedal, but haven't installed them yet.
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