718 Cayman GT4 is here – at long last.!

[Motorhead]

Too true Geoff. I think it's accepted that Porsche principally are now an SUV supplier, with the sports cars taking second stage to some extent, but thankfully funded by punters' current love affair with SUVs. And with the continuing fall-out from Dieselgate, VAG no doubt are anxious to maximise profits from their highly profitable luxury brand to help pay for the eye-watering fines..!

I think Porsche design and quality is pretty decent, without being outstanding, and shows obvious signs of having been value-engineered in certain areas.

Just out of interest; ref my previous post, did you tick the Sport Chrono option box?

Jeff

 

[Nicks]

I think Porsche design and quality is pretty decent, without being outstanding, and shows obvious signs of having been value-engineered in certain areas.

Not according to warranty Direct. Porsche is near the bottom on reliability and near the top on cost to repair.

https://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer

Nick

 

[Motorhead]

Oh dear Nick.! But we're talking just one insurance company's statistics (and we know how unreliable statistics can be!), and the results can be skewed significantly by small sample sizes. It must be relevant that the worst performing makes are Porsche, AM, Bentley and Maserati and you have to wonder how many owners of these prestige makes choose Warranty Direct? Plus, you'd expect the cost of parts and labour on these cars to be significantly higher than for a Ford or Toyota, once again skewing the results in favour of basic tin boxes.

Apart from the unibodies, manufacturers rely upon third party specialist suppliers for the majority of their electrical and mechanical components, and many of these suppliers quite often will be supplying the same parts to different manufacturers. I suspect that it's mainly component reliability rather than bad design which drives the car warranty market.

Jeff

 

[Nicks]

We know how unreliable statistics can be!

Jeff

100% agree but feel Porsche has not benefitted from VW influence

 

[Motorhead]

We know how unreliable statistics can be!

Jeff

100% agree but feel Porsche has not benefitted from VW influence

The Cayenne and Macan essentially are tweaked VAG products aren't they Nick? I'm sure that "parts sharing" is high on the directives coming from the bigwigs in the VAG management structure too, but provided Porsche remains very profitable they'll probably just be left to get on with the job.

Jeff

 

[geoff lane]

Just out of interest; ref my previous post, did you tick the Sport Chrono option box?

Jeff

Jeff

Yes I did but I seem to have ticked most boxes, in honesty I have never really used Chrono and felt that for what it costs in the scheme of things to tick the box and to make a note to self that I should use it. I intend to track the car probably only 3 or 4 times a year so we shall see.

My thoughts when I specified the car were that it would be unlikely I would get an option on a 992 GT3 therefore this would be my only chance to spec a N/A GT car and on that basis it would be a keeper for at least 4 years, it would be used for continental road trips, track days and PCGB meets and drives therefore I might as well spec it for me and enjoy it. I do use the car I expect about 7K miles per year so I will loose money on it so I might as well have some niceties.

In 4 years I will be over 70 so probably time then to move onto a more standard car as I doubt I will then be doing trackdays.

 

[Motorhead]

Thanks Geoff,

I spec'd Sport Chrono on my ageing 987.2 CS manual back in the day (mainly for the other SC benefits), but have never used the timer at any of the Club track days I've attended - too busing concentrating on the driving to bother fiddling around with the damned thing..! Plus, I seem to recall that during the briefings we've been told that lap timing isn't allowed? Something to do with the track insurance conditions maybe, as lap timing could perhaps be construed as introducing an element of competitiveness into the proceedings which of course is not the purpose of these events.

Incidentally, I'm in my early 70s and am still enjoying the occasional track day, so hang in there. []

Hope the early days of 718 GT4 ownership are going smoothly, and as a previous owner of a 981 GT4 I'm sure we'd all be interested to hear your comments on the latest offering compared with the first edition.

Jeff

 

[geoff lane]

Jeff

Bit early yet as only got 400 miles on the car but once run in I'll let you know.

 

[Twinfan]

My GT4 will be very yellow, and as the standard clock/dials are black with yellow outer track markings I also ticked the chrono box purely for completeness. Not sure I'd have done the same if it was a £1500(?) option like last time, but as it costs less than black or gold wheel paint I don't feel too bad about it purely as a cosmetic option!

Like Geoff, I'm likely in for the long haul with my GT4 ownership so I've specced it pretty much to the hilt. I'm not into 911s so I would only be looking to change it in the future for another manual NA GT Cayman, which is sounding quite unlikely given that the next Cayster update will probably make them all fully electric.

 

[Motorhead]

Geoff, Dave; thanks both.

Yes, keep us posted after the running-in period Geoff. I've always run-in my cars carefully, but you have to wonder if it's really necessary these days with modern oils, filtering, materials and high-precision engineering processes. Anyway, 1k miles of relatively gentle driving can't do any harm and will allow everything to bed-in nicely.

Dave, I see that the Sport Chrono package on the non-GT 718 cars is an expensive £1271 option - it makes that option on the GT4 sound quite reasonable compared with the price of some Porsche options.

Jeff

 

[Twinfan]

I believe you get the Sport Chrono dynamic engine/gearbox mounts as standard on the GT4 unlike non-GT products, so the £336 is basically for the clock and the stopwatch. On the 981 GT4 it was the same, so it was a real rip-off option!

 

[Motorhead]

Yes, I'd appreciated that Dave. The GT4 already has the dynamic engine mounts, throttle blip and revised engine tune functions, so you're just paying for the stopwatch and app. I still can't understand why it's not a standard feature on the GT4 when it's included in the Spyder spec, given that GT4s are more likely to be seen on-track than their Spyder counterparts and that the GT4 is about £2k more expensive than the Spyder too. A bit mean-spirited on Porsche's part, but then they're in business to maximise profits.

Incidentally, 10-years ago when I bought my 987.2 CS the SC package was priced at £520, but dynamic engine mounts weren't available back then.

Jeff

 

[Twinfan]

It's the oddity of Porsche options Jeff - there's definitely no logic to them!

 

[MrDemon]

I believe you get the Sport Chrono dynamic engine/gearbox mounts as standard on the GT4 unlike non-GT products, so the £336 is basically for the clock and the stopwatch. On the 981 GT4 it was the same, so it was a real rip-off option!

I did not spec it on my GT4 , then found out you loose the G meter and gear change lights, but I had that coded back in for free.

in the newer cars it's nice as it is a clock, before it did nothing !

 

[Motorhead]

Just adding insult to injury, I note that the new GTS 4.0 twins come with the Sport Chrono Package as standard - wake up Porsche..!

Jeff

 

[OliR]

What are the allocations like on these then? I note that the limited availability asterisk has been removed from the website, and would it be reasonable to assume they are producing them in larger numbers with the announcement of the 718-6?

I have already spoken to my OPC and told them I'd like to buy after we move - is the wait to get a build slot potentially lower than I thought?

 

[Motorhead]

Oli',

As far as I know there have only been two allocations to date, with the Dealers only getting a limited number of cars - 2 or 3 maybe? The cars arriving now are from the first allocation and I expect that the second allocation cars will be arriving in March/April. I think the next allocation probably will come in February. Incidentally, your chances of getting a GT4 allocation are very small if you don't have a good relationship/purchasing record with the Dealership or if you don't have a GT car to trade-in.

The Caymans are produced on the Osnabrück line which has limited capacity, so with the introduction of the 718 GTS 4.0 I would expect GT4 slots to be even more limited, so quite the reverse of what you're thinking. The only positive point to make is that 718 production will have to continue through 2021 and most probably into 2022 because there doesn't appear to be a replacement at the moment, so there's always the possibility of getting a car later in the build-cycle.

Jeff

 

[OliR]

Thanks Jeff, we do have a good relationship with the OPC and I've been told it's not impossible, I guess I'll just have to wait and see. However I thought the Caysters were built on the same line as the 911?

 

[Twinfan]

Currently Boxsters/Spyders/911s are built at Stuttgart, Caymans at Osnabruck.

 

[Motorhead]

FYI Oli,

As Dave says, sports car production is now split between Stuttgart and Osnabrück, with Caymans being built at the latter site. The 981-series Cayman was built at Osnabrück but Porsche decided to move production back to Stuttgart with the introduction of the 718-series to have sports car production under one roof. I would imagine that increasing demand for the 992 meant that was becoming untenable and in September last year Cayman production was switched back to Osnabrück.

I think I'm correct in saying that Osnabrück has only a single assembly line on which all 718 Cayman variants are built, so the GT4 is competing for slots with all the other variants. As I said, the new GTS had added yet another complication into the mix - and we haven't included the GT4 and GTS PDK in the mix..! Will Porsche now be looking to build some cars in Stuttgart again?

Jeff