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I just finished 14 days of quarantine. While I was sitting around bored, I ordered a set of PS4s, a Softronic's 93 Octane tune and a DSC suspension unit for the '18 Cayman GTS.
Car looks the same, sounds almost the same but pulls stronger for longer and is nicer to steer. The car drives as nicely as stock during normal street driving...but there's more available for acting foolish, especially in the upper mids. Power now builds slightly more like an NA engine...more revs pulls harder. Easier to break the tires loose on dry pavement too.
The only negative so far with this software is that it's more fun to bring it to redline...Woohoo. So...I find myself doing that more often. So far, knock on wood, no tickets. I'm trying to be good, officer.
Installation does not require removing the ECU. It's a little bit "advanced" especially for a guy who switched to Macs right after the 3rd service pack of Windows 7. (I have a warped sense of time.) Had to borrow a Win 10 laptop to make it work, but with a little telephone help from Scott, the Softonics owner, things went pretty smoothly.
You need a 10 Amp or better battery charger, a half-decent PC and patience.
I like Softronic's stuff because you don't have to pull the ECU and you don't have to reprogram when you put a new widget on your engine....If you do something like change the turbo later, you can get a new map from Scott for $500, but things like exhausts and intakes are no problem for one of these flashes. They're adaptive, like the stock maps. It feels docile just driving around, but there's more power when you hammer it. The strongest part of the torque is now a bit higher up, so it builds a little bit, unlike the near-horizontal torque curve of the stock tune. Feels more sporty and rewards bad behavior. I'm sure that my rear tires are not going to last as long as before. It's just too fun to push it.
I had DSC on my '06 Cayman. The stock PASM was pretty crude on that car and DSC really helped. I put Damptronics coil-overs on it, which damped much better than the stock shocks and were actually more comfortable. Adding DSC really made it nice.
It was a tougher call on the 718. The PASM is, I think, very good on this car. The differences are not as night and day as the 987....but the new DSC is a very capable thing and it does offer some advantages:
DSC setting is not changed by the PASM wheel. It can only be changed by the console button. It stays where you put it, so you don't need to reset every time you re-start the car.
DSC in Normal, makes a very subtle difference from stock for normal driving. You get even less dive and squat than stock. The car corners maybe a little bit flatter, but just a little... There's no floaty feeling, yet the car soaks up bumps at least as well as stock, maybe better?
I think 718 (and 981.2) have fantastic PASM already. (I've owned both cars in the past 2 years but only had DSC on the 718.)
I had Alpins on the car for several months (stock suspension), then a few weeks ago, changed to last year's Eagle F1s with one 3-day track weekend and a season of miles....There is still decent life to them....more than 50%. I gave them to my tech, whose employees will use them up, I'm sure. They weren't terrible, but these PS4s are sublime. I used them stock for a couple weeks before making the DSC change....Long enough to notice the differences.
With the DSC Normal, you can drive autocross quick without feeling like the car needs to catch up with you. The ride on straight roads is slightly better or the same but never has that floaty feeling that the stock suspension has. You only notice a difference really when you start driving like a hooligan. Then it's just more controlled and less awkward. Also, with stock, you feel like the car isn't keeping up if you make fast transitions. DSC is ON IT, somehow without being too stiff.
DSC Sport is also very useable. I used Sport with stock PASM only occasionally because it didn't ride as well on most roads and it really didn't give much benefit except at track speeds. Even then, I wished for the lower springs of the Sport PASM.
If Sport were the only setting on DSC, I'd be happy. It's fine even on choppy roads in Sport....but rides even better in Normal. When you want to drive hard, there's a little more control of the big body motions with Sport. I would use it exclusively at a track day for that reason. If your car is tight enough and you get it out of whack in a corner, your chances of getting things back under control are better because you're not dealing with the complexities that longer wheel travel tend to add to the equation. For this reason, sport springs might be good for me. I think the car would still be comfortable. I'm not likely to change the sway bars on this car.
I've not had a track day with either DSC or Softronic yet. I think it will be a nice improvement with absolutely no sacrifice in everyday usability. Spousal Acceptance Factor is very high on this car. I want to keep it that way.
Had I ordered this car, it would have PASM Sport; auto climate; heated steering wheel with the controls... and would have come with dark aluminum dash and door pieces.
Instead of these good things, I ended up with SportDesign package; shiny black side intakes; shiny black window frame pieces and shiny black window triangle. These bits are espensive! I could have paid for most of the options that I really wanted with that money spent on an ordered car. I had to settle. My theory is that these "dress up" options are more for the dealers to show off the cars in the showroom than for actual driving. The shiny black chips very easily, especially around the side intakes. I've replaced my expensive shiny black ones with plain ole flat black plastic ones...It looks fine.
There weren't many GTS's around at the time. Prospects for getting one in on an order at the time were not good. Deliveries of Caymans had been stopped due to the 2019 recall thing with the gas tank supports...or whatever that was. I purchased the car in April 2019...a new left-over 2018 shipped in from NC dealer.
I've also added the GT4 sport shifter, Zunsport front grills (3) and CF dash, CF console and shifter kit. The door cards, alas, still have the silver inserts. The car looks amazing, but it's not "proper"...shoot me...I'm not gong to spend $3000 bucks on new door cards.
Recently, a rock hit my windshield on the expressway and put a tiny chip in the glass right in front of my eyes. I had insurance fill the rock chip, but it isn't right. I can still see it plainly. I will likely get a replacement window soon. Was hoping I could put up with it until the glass got worn hazy but maybe I won't wait.
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with this 718. The slightly higher stance of standard PASM pays off in city driving and when getting in and out of the car.
This is a 4-season car for me, not a garage queen or a track day only type of car. I've put about 14K on it so far. It has all weather mats, it goes to the grocery occasionally, goes into the city and lately, even back and forth to work. It goes in a quality commercial car wash that is 2 miles from my house.
Since Covid, no customers visit me and I can't take anyone to lunch. The company car sits in the garage and I'm not looking forward to driving it. Feels like a bus now!
The performance and handling of the 718 are a big step above my '06, which had about 25K worth of mods on it...plus, it's not a ticking time bomb with that inferior early oiling system and worry over the IMS bearing. 40% of my mods were to keep the first Cayman from blowing the engine at track days. Another 25% in coil-overs, sway bars, alignment experiments and toe links. The rest was safety related for track use...and GT2 buckets were a major expense that I don't regret at all. Loved them and drove cross country with them several times.
I can't say I love the sound of the 718 4cylinder engine (Soundaktor unplugged), but it got a little meaner sounding after about 10K miles...and a little meaner still with the Softronics flash added. The 6 sounded and felt better..no contest, but the 4 has power and the glory!!!
I have no other engine mods on this car. I'm thinking of maybe a Soul down-pipe if track days return to my life. If not, well, it's very nice this way. The Soul down-pipe with 200 cell cat might push it over the edge at the emissions testing station...I'm hearing that there's not much to gain power-wise, but that they make less heat in the engine compartment than stock. That would be a nice plus for track days. Heat is not your friend with these mid-engine cars.
Anyway, happy to hear from anyone who has tried these mods or has thoughts about them.
Cheerio!
.
Car looks the same, sounds almost the same but pulls stronger for longer and is nicer to steer. The car drives as nicely as stock during normal street driving...but there's more available for acting foolish, especially in the upper mids. Power now builds slightly more like an NA engine...more revs pulls harder. Easier to break the tires loose on dry pavement too.
The only negative so far with this software is that it's more fun to bring it to redline...Woohoo. So...I find myself doing that more often. So far, knock on wood, no tickets. I'm trying to be good, officer.
Installation does not require removing the ECU. It's a little bit "advanced" especially for a guy who switched to Macs right after the 3rd service pack of Windows 7. (I have a warped sense of time.) Had to borrow a Win 10 laptop to make it work, but with a little telephone help from Scott, the Softonics owner, things went pretty smoothly.
You need a 10 Amp or better battery charger, a half-decent PC and patience.
I like Softronic's stuff because you don't have to pull the ECU and you don't have to reprogram when you put a new widget on your engine....If you do something like change the turbo later, you can get a new map from Scott for $500, but things like exhausts and intakes are no problem for one of these flashes. They're adaptive, like the stock maps. It feels docile just driving around, but there's more power when you hammer it. The strongest part of the torque is now a bit higher up, so it builds a little bit, unlike the near-horizontal torque curve of the stock tune. Feels more sporty and rewards bad behavior. I'm sure that my rear tires are not going to last as long as before. It's just too fun to push it.
I had DSC on my '06 Cayman. The stock PASM was pretty crude on that car and DSC really helped. I put Damptronics coil-overs on it, which damped much better than the stock shocks and were actually more comfortable. Adding DSC really made it nice.
It was a tougher call on the 718. The PASM is, I think, very good on this car. The differences are not as night and day as the 987....but the new DSC is a very capable thing and it does offer some advantages:
DSC setting is not changed by the PASM wheel. It can only be changed by the console button. It stays where you put it, so you don't need to reset every time you re-start the car.
DSC in Normal, makes a very subtle difference from stock for normal driving. You get even less dive and squat than stock. The car corners maybe a little bit flatter, but just a little... There's no floaty feeling, yet the car soaks up bumps at least as well as stock, maybe better?
I think 718 (and 981.2) have fantastic PASM already. (I've owned both cars in the past 2 years but only had DSC on the 718.)
I had Alpins on the car for several months (stock suspension), then a few weeks ago, changed to last year's Eagle F1s with one 3-day track weekend and a season of miles....There is still decent life to them....more than 50%. I gave them to my tech, whose employees will use them up, I'm sure. They weren't terrible, but these PS4s are sublime. I used them stock for a couple weeks before making the DSC change....Long enough to notice the differences.
With the DSC Normal, you can drive autocross quick without feeling like the car needs to catch up with you. The ride on straight roads is slightly better or the same but never has that floaty feeling that the stock suspension has. You only notice a difference really when you start driving like a hooligan. Then it's just more controlled and less awkward. Also, with stock, you feel like the car isn't keeping up if you make fast transitions. DSC is ON IT, somehow without being too stiff.
DSC Sport is also very useable. I used Sport with stock PASM only occasionally because it didn't ride as well on most roads and it really didn't give much benefit except at track speeds. Even then, I wished for the lower springs of the Sport PASM.
If Sport were the only setting on DSC, I'd be happy. It's fine even on choppy roads in Sport....but rides even better in Normal. When you want to drive hard, there's a little more control of the big body motions with Sport. I would use it exclusively at a track day for that reason. If your car is tight enough and you get it out of whack in a corner, your chances of getting things back under control are better because you're not dealing with the complexities that longer wheel travel tend to add to the equation. For this reason, sport springs might be good for me. I think the car would still be comfortable. I'm not likely to change the sway bars on this car.
I've not had a track day with either DSC or Softronic yet. I think it will be a nice improvement with absolutely no sacrifice in everyday usability. Spousal Acceptance Factor is very high on this car. I want to keep it that way.
Had I ordered this car, it would have PASM Sport; auto climate; heated steering wheel with the controls... and would have come with dark aluminum dash and door pieces.
Instead of these good things, I ended up with SportDesign package; shiny black side intakes; shiny black window frame pieces and shiny black window triangle. These bits are espensive! I could have paid for most of the options that I really wanted with that money spent on an ordered car. I had to settle. My theory is that these "dress up" options are more for the dealers to show off the cars in the showroom than for actual driving. The shiny black chips very easily, especially around the side intakes. I've replaced my expensive shiny black ones with plain ole flat black plastic ones...It looks fine.
There weren't many GTS's around at the time. Prospects for getting one in on an order at the time were not good. Deliveries of Caymans had been stopped due to the 2019 recall thing with the gas tank supports...or whatever that was. I purchased the car in April 2019...a new left-over 2018 shipped in from NC dealer.
I've also added the GT4 sport shifter, Zunsport front grills (3) and CF dash, CF console and shifter kit. The door cards, alas, still have the silver inserts. The car looks amazing, but it's not "proper"...shoot me...I'm not gong to spend $3000 bucks on new door cards.
Recently, a rock hit my windshield on the expressway and put a tiny chip in the glass right in front of my eyes. I had insurance fill the rock chip, but it isn't right. I can still see it plainly. I will likely get a replacement window soon. Was hoping I could put up with it until the glass got worn hazy but maybe I won't wait.
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with this 718. The slightly higher stance of standard PASM pays off in city driving and when getting in and out of the car.
This is a 4-season car for me, not a garage queen or a track day only type of car. I've put about 14K on it so far. It has all weather mats, it goes to the grocery occasionally, goes into the city and lately, even back and forth to work. It goes in a quality commercial car wash that is 2 miles from my house.
Since Covid, no customers visit me and I can't take anyone to lunch. The company car sits in the garage and I'm not looking forward to driving it. Feels like a bus now!
The performance and handling of the 718 are a big step above my '06, which had about 25K worth of mods on it...plus, it's not a ticking time bomb with that inferior early oiling system and worry over the IMS bearing. 40% of my mods were to keep the first Cayman from blowing the engine at track days. Another 25% in coil-overs, sway bars, alignment experiments and toe links. The rest was safety related for track use...and GT2 buckets were a major expense that I don't regret at all. Loved them and drove cross country with them several times.
I can't say I love the sound of the 718 4cylinder engine (Soundaktor unplugged), but it got a little meaner sounding after about 10K miles...and a little meaner still with the Softronics flash added. The 6 sounded and felt better..no contest, but the 4 has power and the glory!!!
I have no other engine mods on this car. I'm thinking of maybe a Soul down-pipe if track days return to my life. If not, well, it's very nice this way. The Soul down-pipe with 200 cell cat might push it over the edge at the emissions testing station...I'm hearing that there's not much to gain power-wise, but that they make less heat in the engine compartment than stock. That would be a nice plus for track days. Heat is not your friend with these mid-engine cars.
Anyway, happy to hear from anyone who has tried these mods or has thoughts about them.
Cheerio!
.
