First Porsche - Cayman 987.1 or 987.2

[julianmander]

So I am in the market for my first Porsche, narrowed it down to a cayman 987 but cannot make my mind on between a 987.1 S or a 987.2

Lots of research/YouTube/Autotrader/EBay and have come to the following conclusions

- Exterior - prefer the 987.1
- interior - Aslong as clean enough not overly fussed
- Worry of the dreaded bore score
- Prefer grey to all colours then cobalt blue
- Must have the lobster claw wheels
- 987.2 drives a lot smoother and obviously newer and the 1x 987.1 I drove the gearbox didn’t feel as smooth

Your thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated - budget is up to 19k for reference

Thanks

 

[BrianJ]

I had a 2009 987.2 Cayman S manual from new. Great car. It was my daily driver until I retired, did 37k miles in it without problems. Very practical and enjoyable to drive. I thought the gearbox was brilliant. I specifically waited until Gen 2 was available before buying it because it designed out all the issues with the IMS etc in the previous engine and I preferred the exterior design and interior improvements compared with Gen 1. Enjoy your search!

 

[Motorhead]

Hi Julian,

If your budget allows I would definitely go for a Gen2 car. The engine is of a more robust and improved design in both 2.9L and 3.4L forms, the latter with the benefit of DFI, and the Gen2 cars included a number of minor brake and chassis updates among other revisions. I have a 987.2 CS and confirm that the 3.4L is much torquier than the 2.9L.

IMS issues shouldn’t be a significant problem on the Gen1 cars but bore scoring is something to be aware of, although less so on the 2.7L engine.

I believe that the Getrag manual transmission was just carried-over to the Gen2 car, and indeed is still in use on the latest cars. The gearchange quality should be very good. Maybe the car you drove was suffering from slackness in the cables or wear in the cable connections to the gearbox?

As always buy on condition and service history [main dealer or reputable independent] and with your desired options. A pre-purchase inspection will give you confidence in the car and help when negotiating the price.

Incidentally, I’m not sure that the lobster claw wheels were available for the Gen2 cars. Don’t discount silver as a colour since it suits the curving lines of the 987 better than the sharper profile of the 981/718 [I may be biased![]].

Good luck with your search.

Jeff

 

[julianmander]

Thanks for the help

So the gen 1 gearbox should feel similar if not the same to the gen 2?

Thanks

 

[BrianJ]

I wasn't sure what you meant by "lobster claw". The standard (no charge) 18" wheels on my 2009 Gen 2 Cayman S were like these:

Officially known as 18" Cayman S II alloy wheels on the build list.

 

[Motorhead]

Thanks for the help

So the gen 1 gearbox should feel similar if not the same to the gen 2?

Thanks

As far as I know that’s the case Julian. The Cayman has only ever had the same 6-speed transmission, and that includes the GT4, although there have probably been some revisions during the development cycle.

I’m assuming this is what you mean by the lobster claw wheel, and as said I don’t think that it was available for the Gen2 series cars.

Jeff