My new ride

[imported_garyo]

After I was made an offer I couldn`t refuse, I traded in my 996 for a Cayman S. Here is a quick and dirty picture in side my garage after applying some Z2. I will try and take some more outside if anyone is interested.

[autobahnshine]

Nice trade, hope it works out for you... and clean garage btw !

[Ben Kenobi]

Looking very nice! Please do post more photos when you can. I was just thinking that I hadn`t seen any Cayman`s on here. How do you like it so far? :2thumbs:

[imported_Nimble]

In good news, at least you kept the Roundel on the wall.



Oh yeah, nice Pcar.

[sneek]

Congrats!



I am guessing there was cash on on top of this deal?

[imported_garyo]

Roundel stays...wife still has the 3-series. Porsche flag is in front of the Pcar (you can see the yellow reflection and distorted crest of the flag on the bumper of under the passenager side headlight).



No cash. The 996 was a great car, however, it has depreciated immensely and was only going to get worse as the mileage was already at 72k (Porsche are effected more by mileage when they get over 60k or so). The trade offer was substantially more than I thought was going to be able to sell it in private party transaction and the deal on the Cayman S was very good (not to mention the sales tax credit). I was ready for a change. The Cayman S has the same power as the 996 but it weights about 100lbs lighter and is better balanced. Other than the new Lotus I have not driven a car as nimble as the Cayman S. So far I really like it but I will have to wait until after a break end to really comment comprehensively. Steering, feedback, balance and handling is far superior to the 996. It is a lot of fun to drive at semi-sane public road speeds.

[sneek]

LOL...none of my friends parents own a Cayman so I`m going to have to go down to the dealership to do some "testing" for myself. Although I doubt they will let me .

[stilez]

Great choice! The in-person looks of the Cayman really can`t be expressed through photos, but I`d love to see a few more!



Which options did you get (I know the have endless choices)?

[azenthusiast]

Very nice. I`ve seen a few on the road and think Porsche did a great job on the styling. it`s extremely aggressive.

[imported_garyo]

I really like the styling also. In fact I like the styling better than the 997. My only complaint from the day the car was released was the power. However, the aftermarket has responded to Porsche`s artificial limits on the power (not to threaten the 997 when it came to lap times at the ring) and it rather easy to get +25ish hp and torque with just bolt ons.

Great choice! The in-person looks of the Cayman really can`t be expressed through photos, but I`d love to see a few more!



Which options did you get (I know the have endless choices)?

Yeah the car is really difficult to photograph well. Not that is going to stop me from trying (which is the beauty of digital photography).



Options are:



PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management)

Sport Chrono Plus

PCM 2.1 (Nav)

Bose sound

19" Carrera Classic wheels

heated seats

power seats with memory (which are nice but wasn`t something I necessarily wanted)

colored crest (wheels)

floor mats



The only option it does not have that I wanted was bi-xenons. I will look into aftermarket HID`s later. The first mod will either be an ipod interface and/or exhaust (my wife actually thinks it is too quiet at idel ). But I am going to wait until I get it broke in first.

[stilez]

I really like the styling also. In fact I like the styling better than the 997. My only complaint from the day the car was released was the power. However, the aftermarket has responded to Porsche`s artificial limits on the power (not to threaten the 997 when it came to lap times at the ring) and it rather easy to get +25ish hp and torque with just bolt ons.







Yeah the car is really difficult to photograph well. Not that is going to stop me from trying (which is the beauty of digital photography).



Options are:



PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management)

Sport Chrono Plus

PCM 2.1 (Nav)

Bose sound

19" Carrera Classic wheels

heated seats

power seats with memory (which are nice but wasn`t something I necessarily wanted)

colored crest (wheels)

floor mats



The only option it does not have that I wanted was bi-xenons. I will look into aftermarket HID`s later. The first mod will either be an ipod interface and/or exhaust (my wife actually thinks it is too quiet at idel ). But I am going to wait until I get it broke in first.

Awesome, congrats again!



Keep us updated.

[golfdude]

Excellent choice! The Cayman S really does look best in person. The only options that I would like to have are the sport seats and the xenons, but you are obviously already trying to take care of the second wish! I never really knew what steering feedback was until I drove the Cayman S. Beautifully balanced, and I LOVE the sounds from inside the cabin...the intake sounds are music to my ear when downshifting. A question to you would be did you look at the BMW Z4 M coupe before making the purchase?

[awahl63]

Beautiful ride

[imported_garyo]

A question to you would be did you look at the BMW Z4 M coupe before making the purchase?

Yeah I did. Both cars are great but my personal preferences really drove me to the Cayman S. I decided against the Z4 (M coupe version) for a few of reasons (most very subjective). I thought the Cayman S had more of a go kart type of handling and I thought the steering feedback was better. I really like the turn -in and tossability of the Cayman S. The Porsche felt lighter and more agile than the Z4, while the Z4 felt heavier and more brutish to me. I think the Z4 and Cayman S would both handle beautifully on the track and produce very similar lap times, however, the majority of my driving will be on the streets (with only an occasional track day) and I thought I could enjoy the driving and have more fun at relatively sane speeds with the Cayman S vs. M.



Styling is definitely subjective, but I really like the styling of the Cayman S better (you have to see them in person because pictures don’t do justice to the Cayman). I thought the Cayman was more exotic looking with the flowing lines and the BMW just a little to awkward looking for my taste. While I really like BMW (and our sedan is a 3 series and I don’t think any manufacturer does sport sedan like BMW) I think that BMW has lost some of its luster with the Banglized “flame� surface styling and really is trying to hard to look stylish. BMW to me has always been about understated sport, function and aggression, not overt stylization. I also especially liked the interior of the Porsche vs. BMW. Once again I felt the Z4 was over styled in the interior but not in the cool Audi TT way.



Don`t get me wrong the BMW is a great car and is fun to drive, but it goes about its business differently. I think at 9/10th driving the BMW may be the more fun car to drive, however, below that I felt the Cayman was more rewarding. The mid engine layout and balance really makes the most mediocre driver feel like he/she is Michael Schumacher. That said I think at 9/10th the Cayman becomes more difficult to drive. In the end the Cayman S was the obvious choice for me. IMO the Porsche beat the BMW in every category except for power (which is somewhat offset by the BMW’s additional weight) and even this category was close. It was most complete package and gave me everything I wanted in a sports car.



Interesting enough I have driven 911’s for the last 7 years, but I also thought it bested the base 911 and was close if not better than the 911S in many ways. While there is no question the 911S is faster around the track, I seriously question whether the 911S is more fun to drive as a daily driver (I could go on a rant about how Porsche keeps moving the 911 into more of GT type category but I will save that for another day). If Porsche gave the Cayman S 35 more hp and torque, and used the same gear ratios as the 911 there is no question in my opinion the Cayman S would be better than the 911S.