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Hi there fellow Cayman owners/fans/etc. After reading this forum for about 6 months now I finally managed to get around to signing up and posting something. My club membership is all done but they quote 14 days to set it up - oh well, if there's one thing I'm good at by now it's waiting.
I went to see the Cayman S on the week it was launched as was pretty taken with it. I'd read every magazine article I could get my hand on so couldn't wait to see the real thing. It did NOT disappoint. Definately looked better in the flesh/metal and no photos do it justice. I then had a good hour long test drive just before Xmas and was pretty wowed to say the least. In the past I'd driven friends TT's and Boxsters and almost wanted a 350Z enough at one point to get one, but I didn't. The Cayman was in a different league than all those other cars, so much better than any (soft handling) Boxster and so much more connected to what was going on than my friend's 996 C4S (which had all this power but not much driver involvement - but it's a Tip' so that didn't help).
So for a few months it was eating away at me until I finally caved in. In March this year I put my deposit down & got in the queue for my build slot and then the real waiting began (sigh). Those of you who have been through this know how it goes so I won't bore you with the details. Got a July build slot, had my PDE at Millbrook the first week of August (just brilliant!) and the following week went and picked up my own Cayman S. It's a 07 model year (the first one for my dealer) and is identical to the 06MY spec except for the painted front spoiler lip is now standard as well as the Thatcham approved locking wheel nuts. Price increase was about 0.03% or something very minor. They tell me the power output is the same but it feels stronger to me than any other Cayman I've driven and it was like that from day 1. Given that I'd been out thrashing an S at Millbrook and it had already been run it I was fresh in my mind so I could make a real comparison and to me, my car feels like it has a stronger engine, but maybe it's my imagination, I don't know.
So 3 weeks into my first Porsche ownership experience, I've done about 1200 miles and I'm absolutely LOVING IT! I'm just constantly amazed at how much torque and flexibility the engine has. I'd been keeping the revs to 3.5K for the first 1000 miles and lately been visiting 4.5 in brief moments - however on occasion with Sport mode on it'll blip to the 5K rpm mark [
] and oh my what a sound! Can hardly wait for my 1800 miles to be done so I can really go for it.I could write reams and reams of enthusiastic praise about the killer combo of Sport Chrono with PASM. All I know is that putting Sport mode on (and having PASM join the party) just totally changes the character of the car. The PASM firms things up so your absolute focus is on the handling and the car's positioning, and the SC makes the engine THAT much more lively! The engine produces a whole new set of noises that you don't normally get, especially as you get past 4K rpm. I know you get that anyway in Normal mode, with the Variocam opening everything up, but with SC turned on it sounds like it's gargling with cobra venom or something, then it starts to ROOOOAARR like nothing else I have ever heard in my life and I have to cut it short before get carried away, being a new engine & all that, have to be careful...[
]Anyway, in my experience, the division of SC fans vs non-SC fans is quite simply down to those who have driven a Cayman with SC and those who haven't. My test drive had both SC & PASM and I couldn't imagine NOT having them and missing out on a whole new side to the Cayman which I really couldn't bear to be without. I really feel sorry for those who either didn't get to try these two options together or just couldn't stretch the budget to have them because they add so much more to the experience, there's like a whole 30% more fun to be had with these on board. Anyway I'll save the rest for another thread if anyone wants to debate the merits of SC & PASM. But for now, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hi!
Alex
